In addition to starting the New Year with great optimism about the prospects for all of us marketers, I am excited and privileged to serve you as ReachForce’s new President.  Based on feedback from you, I plan to continue communicating within our present theme of lessons learned, insights and tips to help increase the effectiveness of your B2B marketing efforts.

In 2010, B2B marketers will face new challenges and have new priorities.  Here are three key challenges and priorities I see:

1. Budgets are stretched thin. So why not look at your in-house databases as the goldmine they could be? The hidden gems in your database are ripe to be unearthed.  Marketing data hygiene and database maintenance should be key initiatives for every marketer in 2010.
2. Increasing market reach and generating leads are more important than ever.  What are your plans for growing your contact database this year?  But sheer numbers alone aren’t the answer.  Filling your marketing database gaps with the right, most relevant contacts will be critical for success.
3. Separating yourself from the herd is crucial to differentiating yourself.  Do you have all the crucial demographics you need to slice and dice your data? If not, this is the time to act.  By segmenting your database, you can get the right message to each of your prospects and customers with laser-sighted precision.

I look forward to exploring all of this with you and more and wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year!