Whether or not you’ve seen the "Moneyball” movie or read Michael Lewis’ terrific book, you surely know the basic premise: a small-budget team beats the big boys by analyzing the data that really matters, rather than relying on the established stats the others continue to use.  Billy Beane, Paul DePodesta and others used new measures like Wins Above Replacement and OPS to find price/value players and win more games than the pundits expected from low-spending teams.  Beane and his upstart protégés effectively applied Apple’s “Think Different” maxim and shook up a sedentary world. A growing number of smart marketers are …

We all know the script now, don't we? The latest financial crisis comes, the markets overreact, the politicians throw up their hands, and the consumers hide under the bed and stop spending. Then the marketers try to figure out how to grow while their staffs and budgets are being cut for the second time in three years. Not a recipe for a happy ending -- or for holding on to your CMO position.

Given the popularity and frequency at which social/mobile applications emerge, we've reached a point where it's assumed that when a new platform is introduced, opportunities for marketers to leverage the platform should be in place at launch. In theory, this makes sense: after all, the only thing you need to do to generate a potential lead on Facebook is to click that "like" button. What's not quite as clear is the role that emerging platforms play in attracting customers.

It's no secret -- smartphone adoption won't be slowing down anytime soon. And as advances in mobile technology bring these devices closer to the experience provided by the standard computer, there will be an opportunity for marketers to bring consumers richer advertising experiences. Through the power of mobile applications or clever use of the mobile web, marketers will have several channels to try and generate solid leads. But before you launch that next campaign, perhaps take the tips below into account.

Without question, social media is proving itself increasingly valuable as a way to reach out to and connect with consumers. Plus, it's easy to measure and provides nearly instant gratification -- for both our online audience and for us as marketers, too. Does that mean you should be focusing solely on social media for lead generation?

What state of mind are you in when you read your favorite news source, check sports scores, or gossip sites? What about when you are in the market for something (could be a car, could be a new recipe for dinner, information on health matters, whatever) or when you just need to connect, to feel like the people, places and opinions that matter most to you are close and accessible? Despite all the digital analytics, it's surmising your state of mind that is the ultimate goal: are you searching car sites because you are in market or because you just …

Whether you're running an inbound call center or generating leads online, the most important first step is knowing the identity of whom you're communicating with. There is no point in overlaying a host of attributes -- purchasing scores, home ownership, credit worthiness, vehicle ownership, purchasing patterns and lifestyle characteristics - unless you know who is on the other end of the line. The keystone is still "identifiers," because attributes are useless without association to a true and current identity.

What we see has a profound effect on what we do, how we feel, and who we are. Through experience and experimentation, we continually increase our understanding of the visual world and how we are influenced by it. Psychologist Albert Mehrabian demonstrated that 93% of communication is nonverbal. Past research at 3M Corporation concluded that we process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. Further studies found that the human brain deciphers image elements simultaneously, while language is decoded in a linear, sequential manner taking more time to process. Therefore the ability of visual stimuli to communicate and influence is undeniable …

Time and time again, we in this industry are asked the same question, "what is the most effective way of generating leads??? The answer to this question lies in one truth, and that is the attention span of the user. When a user signs up for a product they are at the peak of their personal interest level, but that level quickly diminishes. With each different type of advertising technique, the user is one-on-one with a product, and they longer they spend with it, the better the lead will ultimately be. The goal is to keep the user as interested …