One of the biggest draws of any marketing automation platform is the ability to create messages aimed at prospects and customers without all of the manual work on behalf of the sender. Marketing departments strapped for resources can now send out emails on Sales' behalf with the click of a button. High fives and fist pumps all around, right? Maybe so, but don't forget this is only half of the story; The other half, of course, is making a personal connection with the prospect.

We've all been there before. We've planned out new email marketing campaign and need to start pulling things together to execute in a timely manner. Everyone approaches the implementation of their email campaigns differently, and in the process people tend to forget some important pieces that have a large impact on timing, budget and resources. At this point a lot of clients ask me what the best practices are behind email campaigns.

This is a loaded question that leads to questions of my own.

I can't believe we're already near the end of October, but that’s actually a good thing. November 2-4, Rubicon will be at the annual Eloqua Experience, held this year in San Francisco. If you weren't able to attend last year's, here's some of the highlights. The conference aims to be even more enriching this year, with a heavy emphasis on a wide array of user training.