Top Story

• How B2C marketers employed B2B ideas this year's Super Bowl
  B2B marketers largely avoided the Super Bowl this year, writes Tom Nightingale, president of sales and marketing for ModusLink. But B2C firms clearly emulated B2B by seeking a conversation with the buyer, "evidenced by the fact that 26 of the 52 national TV spots on The Super Bowl touted Twitter handles," Nightingale writes. Big-game marketers were also consistent in their use of teasers and ancillary marketing materials to make sure their spots weren't isolated efforts. "While they may not have been the funniest batch of ads, they probably were the most productive and high yielding ads," Nightingale concludes. BtoB Magazine (2/13)     

Eye on Marketing

• Developing a schedule for content marketing
  How often you need to update your marketing content depends on what types of media you are using, writes Pawan Deshpande, founder and CEO of Curata. Post on your company's social media accounts frequently, and consider using a tool such as HootSuite to schedule your tweets. Update your blog at least once a week, and schedule e-mail newsletters based on your customers' preferences. MarketingProfs (2/11)     

• Making your website easy for customers to use
  Make sure your company's information is clear about what you do and that contact information isn't hidden, writes Monika Jansen. Consider using video to explain something the company does, and anticipate questions with a good FAQ. Cut back on unwanted customer contact by making instructions downloadable and providing transparent information about company policies. NetworkSolutions.com (2/14)     

• Software-review site seeks to guard against bias
  G2 Crowd has added a credentialing twist to its business-software-review site that's geared toward enterprise solutions, Chris Kanaracus writes. The G2 Grid ratings system requires reviewers to log in with a LinkedIn account, preventing companies with a vested interest from raising or lowering a rating. Computerworld/IDG News Service (2/14)     

Tech Edge

• Facebook's Graph Search holds promise for enterprises
  Facebook's natural-language Graph Search presents some interesting possibilities if enterprises can adapt the technology for "[i]mproving marketing engagements with customers and internal collaboration," writes Jamie Yap. But implementing the technology within internal social networks and customer-relationship management tools could prove difficult, so for now the biggest Graph Search advantage will likely be in more targeted Facebook marketing, experts said. ZDNet (2/14)     

• Other News

• Kenshoo's SmartPath aids ad-bid optimization and attribution
  BtoB Magazine (2/14)     

Innovation

• Don Quixote would have made a lousy innovator
  Innovators hate the risk-averse culture of the modern workplace -- but taking a quixotic stand against corporate conservatism won't get you anywhere, writes Gijs van Wulfen. It's better to accept such resistance as a given and work around it, Van Wulfen writes. "Managing innovation has everything to do with managing expectations and reducing risks," he argues. InnovationManagement.se (Sweden) (2/14)     

• Lies, logic and creativity
  There are a number of traits that mark highly creative individuals, writes Jeffrey Baumgartner, including being thoughtful, playful, logical and spontaneous -- but also being markedly less honest than less creative counterparts. "The reason for this seems to be that creative people can use their creativity to justify their actions in ways that less creative people cannot do," Baumgartner writes. InnovationExcellence.com (2/13)     

Association News

• BMA Chicago Chapter -- Event -- Driving Leads Through Channel Ecosystem
  This breakfast event will be held Wednesday, Feb. 20, from 8 to 9:30 a.m., at IIT Stuart GSB, 565 West Adams St., in Chicago. Since lead generation is often top-of-mind for most marketers, this event will focus on how to develop successful demand generation campaigns that allow sales and marketing to seamlessly work together. SAP's Eric Martin, senior director of marketing, will share how they are driving qualified leads through the marketing and channel ecosystems. Through a case study, he'll demonstrate how SAP built its Marketing Service Bureau to effectively drive indirect revenue and generate ROI through partners. You'll hear the challenges SAP has encountered in the market, and how they are trying to meet their strategic mission to grow channel sales and information on the MSB. Eric will also discuss management roles and responsibilities, success and measurement and how to implement these learnings in your organization. Read more.     

• Do you know your top channel partner sales reps?
  If you would like to increase channel revenue by 30% in the next year, how many clones of your No. 1 channel partner sales representative would you need? I'll bet that it's a surprisingly small number. Keeping these people top-of-mind is important -- that is, if you know who they are. Who "owns" YOUR channel partner sales rep relationships? Read more.     

On Leadership

Top five news stories from SmartBrief on Leadership this week. Want more leadership news?

• Defining workplace culture as your company grows (The New York Times (tiered subscription model))

• The young CEOs who are out to change the world (CNNMoney/Fortune)

• What executives can learn from Pope Benedict XVI quitting (Harvard Business Review online)

• The year in photographs (The Atlantic online)

• Why the next pope should think like a manager (Bloomberg Businessweek)

SmartQuote

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal. Not to people or things." --Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist