Top Story

• B2B best practices include acting as leaders, brand stewards
  The first five of the 10 best practices for business-to-business marketers are outlined here, derived from work by the Institute for the Study of Business Markets at Penn State University and Blue Canyon Partners. B2B marketers are encouraged to take the driver's seat when it comes to corporate marketing planning operations, act as brand stewards who direct such activities as product transitions, and deploy teams of specialists strategically, among other suggestions, writes Dave Thomas. Business.com/B2B Online Marketing Blog (6/6)     

Eye on Marketing

• Nearly 1 in 4 online buy recommended brands
  Brand recommendation via social networks varies considerably by region, according to an Ipsos OTX and Ipsos Global @dvisor study. More than half of Latin Americans (53%) recommend products or services they like, whereas North Americans are less likely (31%). Worldwide, 22% of consumers will buy a product because of a recommendation, the survey says. MarketingProfs (6/7)     

• B2B companies lag in social media follow-up
  There's a disparity between how business-to-business and business-to-consumer companies worldwide track and follow up on their social media leads, according to a Satmetrix survey. B2C companies track and follow up social leads 53% of the time, whereas B2B companies do it only 27% of the time, the survey showed. Nearly half of B2B companies neither track nor follow up. eMarketer (6/8)     

• Other News

• SEO spammers prey on page-rank anxiety, wrong metrics
  Search Engine Optimization Journal (6/7)     

• Your B2B business has a good story to tell
  B2BBloggers.com (6/7)     

• The topical, polarizing, subtle, content-driven lessons of "South Park"
  Forbes (6/7)     

• Survey: 59% plan more automated marketing campaigns
  BtoB (6/7)     

• Interview: Jason Falls says engagement can't be forced
  eMarketer (6/8)     

Tech Edge

• W3C slaps an unmoved Microsoft with "noncompliant" label
  The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is preparing to label Microsoft's Internet Explorer 10 "noncompliant," the latest salvo in a growing outcry against the software giant's decision to ship the browser with "Do Not Track" as the default, against the Digital Advertising Alliance standard. "While we respect the W3C's perspective, we believe that a standard should support a privacy-by-default choice for consumers," responded Microsoft's chief privacy officer, Brendon Lynch. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (6/7)     

• Eloqua's tie with Kapost monitors content marketing
  Eloqua is integrating its AppCloud with content-marketing software company Kapost, allowing B2B marketers to direct users to specific content giving them "visibility into which leads are digesting their content," according to Eloqua Chief Marketing Officer Heidi Melin. B2B Marketing (6/7)     

• Shoutlet's self-serve model attracts more investors
  Self-serve social marketing platform provider Shoutlet has nabbed an additional $15 million in venture capital, raising its total to $24.2 million in external funding. "The wave of customers making the change to in-house management has exceeded our wildest expectations and has validated our do-it-yourself model," said Shoutlet Chief Executive Officer Jason Weaver. MediaPost Communications/Online Media Daily (6/6)     

• Other News

• Applying Quality Score can optimize sites for search
  MarketingVOX (6/7)     

• Understanding Google's Panda and Penguin
  SearchEngineWatch.com (6/7)     

Innovation

• 66 ways to unfuzz your innovation
  Innovation is sometimes called the "fuzzy front end" because it's inherently a vague and ambiguous process, writes Gijs van Wulfen. To make things simpler and clearer, it helps to follow an extensive checklist when embarking on an innovation project. InnovationManagement.se (Sweden)/Gijs van Wulfen's blog (6/7)     

• Don't reward people for being "right"
  Companies that want to spur innovation should accept that much of their knowledge is based on untested assumptions, writes Rita McGrath. That means that guesswork is a big part of innovation, and that it's often better to guess incorrectly than to uncritically accept the status quo. "I worry when managers of innovation are rewarded for being 'right' when the easiest way to be right is to take very few risks," McGrath writes. Harvard Business Review online/HBR Blog Network (6/5)     

Association News

• BMA corporate membership program offers great group rate option
  BMA membership has traditionally been open to individuals. However, BMA's corporate membership program introduces a great group rate option, offering companies significant savings and benefits such as free annual conference registration as well as free B2 Award entry submissions. Read more.     

• BMA Phoenix -- Event -- Tapping Into Audience Potential Through Neuroscience
  This event will be held Thursday, June 21, at 3:00 p.m., at ASU SkySong, Room 301 (North Building), 1475 N. Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale. Humans are fundamentally wired to connect with each other. In order for companies to be successful in connecting with the audiences they want to do business with, they must strive to see themselves through the eyes of their audience rather than their own. Gaining an understanding of the neuroscience behind what is possible (and impossible) when communicating with customers and prospects will help you to determine how you can successfully win the hearts and minds of the audiences you seek to engage. Read more.     

Featured Content

On Leadership

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

• Why good CEOs have sleepless nights (The New York Times (tiered subscription model))

• 5 ways Wal-Mart could have avoided its bribery scandal (Harvard Business Review online)

• 6 reassurances about your crippling self-doubt (ArtPetty.com)

• Don't neglect strategy in pursuit of execution (Strategy+Business online)

• Bicycle designers get creative (MentalFloss.com)

SmartQuote

For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work." --Doug Larson, American newspaper columnist