Marketing for dummies

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About the Author
Alexander Hiam is a consultant, corporate trainer, and public speaker with
20 years of experience in marketing, sales, and corporate communications.
He’s the director of Insights for Marketing, which offers a range of market-
ing services including design, branding, and strategy consultations for both
nonpro t and for-pro t marketers. He’s also active in developing the next gen-
eration of leaders in the workplace through his educational publishing  rm,
Trainer’s Spectrum.
Alexander has an MBA in marketing and strategic planning from the Haas
School at U.C. Berkeley and a BA from Harvard. He has worked as a marketing
manager for both smaller high-tech  rms and a Fortune 100 company, led cre-
ative retreats for top consumer and industrial  rms, and served as an instruc-
tor at the business school at U. Mass Amherst, where he taught marketing
and advertising.
He is the coauthor of the bestseller The Portable MBA in Marketing (Wiley),
as well as numerous other books and training programs. Additionally, he has
consulted to a wide range of companies, nonpro ts, and government agencies.
Alexander is also the author of a companion volume to this book, Marketing
Kit For Dummies, 3rd Edition (Wiley), which includes more detailed coverage
of many of the hands-on topics involved in creating great advertising, direct-
mail letters, Web sites, publicity campaigns, and marketing plans. On the CD
that comes with Marketing Kit For Dummies, 3rd Edition, you’ll  nd forms,
checklists, and templates that may be of use to you. Also, he maintains an
extensive Web site of resources (www.insightsformarketing.com) that
he organized to support each of the chapters in this book.
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registra-
tion form located at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our
Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax
317-572-4002.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media
Development
Project Editor: Chad R. Sievers
(Previous Edition: Tere Drenth)
Acquisitions Editor: Stacy Kennedy
Copy Editor: Jennifer Tebbe
(Previous Edition: Laura K. Miller)
Assistant Editor: Erin Calligan Mooney
Editorial Program Coordinator: Joe Niesen
Technical Editor: Alberto F. Hidalgo Jr.
Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker
Editorial Assistant: Jennette ElNaggar
Cover Photos: © Brand X Pictures
Cartoons: Rich Tennant
(www.the5thwave.com)
Composition Services
Project Coordinator: Patrick Redmond
Layout and Graphics: Samantha K. Cherolis
Proofreader: Toni Settle
Indexer: Potomac Indexing, LLC
Special Help
Megan Knoll, Todd Lothery
Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies
Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies
Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel
Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel
Publishing for Technology Dummies
Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User
Composition Services
Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services
Contents at a Glance
Introduction 1
Part I: Designing a Great Marketing Program 7
Chapter 1: Optimizing Your Marketing Program 9
Chapter 2: Strengthening Your Marketing Strategy 25
Chapter 3: Writing a Marketing Plan 43
Part II: Leveraging Your Marketing Skills 67
Chapter 4: Researching Your Customers, Competitors, and Industry 69
Chapter 5: Engaging Your Marketing Imagination 87
Chapter 6: Pumping Up Your Marketing Communications 107
Part III: Advertising for Fun and Profit 125
Chapter 7: Perfecting Your Printed Materials 127
Chapter 8: Signing On to Outdoor Advertising 147
Chapter 9: Broadcasting Your Message 167
Part IV: Finding Powerful Alternatives to Advertising 183
Chapter 10: Maximizing Your Web Marketing 185
Chapter 11: Making a Positive Impression in Low-Cost Ways 209
Chapter 12: Leveraging Face-to-Face Marketing Opportunities 223
Chapter 13: Going Direct with Your Marketing 237
Part V: Selling Great Products to Anyone,
Anytime, Anywhere 257
Chapter 14: Making Your Brand Stand Out 259
Chapter 15: Finding the Right Pricing Approach 279
Chapter 16: Distributing Your Product Where Your Customers Are 299
Chapter 17: Succeeding in Sales and Service 313
Part VI: The Part of Tens 333
Chapter 18: Ten Common Marketing Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) 335
Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Launch Guerilla Marketing Attacks 339
Chapter 20: Ten (Or So) Ways to Survive Sales Downturns 343
Chapter 21: Ten (Plus One) Tips for Boosting Web Sales 347
Index 353
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 2
Foolish Assumptions 3
How This Book Is Organized 3
Icons Used in This Book 6
Where to Go from Here 6
Part I: Designing a Great Marketing Program 7
Chapter 1: Optimizing Your Marketing Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Knowing Your Customer 9
Asking the right questions 10
Filling the awareness gap 11
Focusing on your target customer 12
Identifying and playing up your strengths 13
Discovering the best way to  nd customers 13
De ning Your Marketing Program 15
Finding your in uence points 17
Analyzing your Five Ps 17
Re ning your list of possibilities 18
Avoiding the pricing trap 19
Controlling Your Marketing Program 19
Re ning Your Marketing Expectations 22
Projecting improvements above base sales 22
Preparing for (ultimately successful) failures 22
Revealing More Ways to Maximize Your Marketing Impact 23
Chapter 2: Strengthening Your Marketing Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Finding and Riding a Growth Wave 25
Measuring the growth rate of your market 26
Responding to a  at or shrinking market 27
Growing with a Market Expansion Strategy 28
Offering more products 28
Riding a bestseller to the top 29
Specializing with a Market Segmentation Strategy 30
Gauging whether specializing is a good move 31
Adding a segment to expand your market 31
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Developing a Market Share Strategy 31
Choosing a unit 32
Estimating market share 32
Understanding where your product  ts in the market 33
Knowing your competitors 35
Studying market trends and revising if need be 35
Designing a Positioning Strategy 36
Envisioning your position: An exercise in observation
and creativity 36
Writing a positioning strategy: The how-to 37
Considering Other Core Strategies 38
Simplicity marketing 38
Quality strategies 39
Reminder strategies 39
Innovative distribution strategies 40
Selling Innovative Products 40
Writing Down and Regularly Reviewing Your Strategy 41
Chapter 3: Writing a Marketing Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Reviewing the Contents of a Good Plan 44
Starting with baby steps 45
Maximizing ef ciencies 46
Understanding the Do’s and Don’ts of Planning 46
Don’t ignore the details 46
Don’t imitate the competitors 47
Do  nd your own formulas for success 47
Don’t feel con ned by last period’s budget and plan 47
Don’t engage in unnecessary spending 47
Do break down your plan into simple subplans 48
Writing a Powerful Executive Summary 49
Preparing a Situation Analysis 50
Knowing what to include in your analysis 51
Being prepared for economic cycles 52
Taking stock with a competitor analysis table 53
Explaining your marketing strategy 54
Clarifying and Quantifying Your Objectives 55
Think about the limitations in your resources 56
Don’t expect to make huge changes in customer behavior 56
Summarizing Your Marketing Program 58
Exploring Your Program’s Details 60
Managing Your Marketing Program 61
Projecting Expenses and Revenues 62
Buildup forecasts 63
Indicator forecasts 63
Multiple scenario forecasts 63
Time-period forecasts 64
Creating Your Controls 65
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Table of Contents
Part II: Leveraging Your Marketing Skills 67
Chapter 4: Researching Your Customers, Competitors,
and Industry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Knowing When and Why to Do Research 70
Researching to  nd better ideas 70
Researching to make better decisions 71
Researching to understand love and hate 71
De ning Your Marketing Decisions Before Starting Your Research 75
Conducting Primary Research 76
Observing your customers 77
Asking customers questions 77
Doing Low-Cost Research 80
Compare your approach to that of your competitors 80
Create a customer pro le 81
Entertain customers to get their input 81
Use e-mail to do one-question surveys 81
Surf government databases 82
Establish a trend report 82
Analyze competitors’ ads and brochures 83
Research your strengths 83
Probe your customer records 84
Test your marketing materials 84
Interview defectors 85
Ask your kids about trends 85
Keeping an Eye on Demographics 86
Chapter 5: Engaging Your Marketing Imagination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Turning the Tide with Creativity 88
Conducting a creativity audit 88
Changing (almost) everything 90
Applying Your Creativity 90
Writing a creative brief 92
Including creativity in product development 94
Considering creativity and brand presentation 94
Generating Rich Ideas 96
Coming up with new ideas from simple activities 97
Making creativity a group activity 99
Managing the Creative Process 103
Harnessing All Creative Types 104
Chapter 6: Pumping Up Your Marketing Communications . . . . . . . . .107
Pursuing Your Communication Priorities 107
Achieving high frequency without sacri cing quality 108
Being clear 110
Being consistent 112
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Adding stopping power to catch the customer’s eye 113
Being as persuasive as possible 115
Checking the accuracy of your communications 117
Communicating to the Entire Brain 117
Exploring Four Strategies for Boosting Your Communications’
Appeal 119
Pull Power: Building Customer Traf c 120
Tightening Your Writing 121
Creating Great Visuals 122
Embracing hierarchy in design 122
Relying on experience to avoid homemade design disaster 123
Part III: Advertising for Fun and Profit 125
Chapter 7: Perfecting Your Printed Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
Designing Printed Marketing Materials 128
Including the eight necessary parts 128
Putting the parts together: Design and layout 130
Going with a professional designer 130
Doing the design on your own 131
Finding your font 132
Bringing it all together in a perfect  ow 137
Producing Quality, Effective Brochures 138
Knowing the purpose of your brochure 138
Laying out your brochure 140
Printing your  nished product 142
Placing a Print Ad 142
Determining whether you can afford an ad 142
Finding inexpensive places to advertise 143
Selecting the ad size 144
Testing and improving your print ad 145
Chapter 8: Signing On to Outdoor Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Heading Back to Basics: The Essential Sign 148
Knowing what your sign can do 148
Finding reputable sign producers 149
Writing good signs 149
Researching the regulatory constraints before posting a sign 152
Going Big: Posters and Billboards 152
Deciding on formats for outdoor ads 152
Grasping the limitations of outdoor ads 154
Maximizing the returns on outdoor advertising 154
Putting Your Name on Portable Items 156
Trying your hand at T-shirts 157
Getting slapped on with bumper stickers 157
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Table of Contents
Putting your name on bags 158
Staying dry (or shaded) with umbrellas 158
Taking Your Message to the Streets 159
Leveraging your vehicle  eet 159
Flagging down your customers 160
Capturing attention with canopies and awnings 162
Eyeing different alternatives 163
Keeping Your Message on the Move with Transit Advertising 164
Chapter 9: Broadcasting Your Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
Producing Ads for Radio 167
Recognizing the cost value of radio time 168
Going the direct route with your goals 169
Targeting your radio advertising 170
Looking into audio podcasts 170
Considering Web radio 172
Identifying Less Expensive Ways to Use the Power of Video 172
Planning your video shoot 173
Shooting your own high-quality video 174
Designing Ads for TV 175
Proceeding with TV ads 175
Getting emotional 176
Being visual: Show, show, show 178
Answering the question of style 178
Purchasing ad time on TV 180
Buying spot television and Web video ads on a shoestring
budget 181
Part IV: Finding Powerful Alternatives to Advertising 183
Chapter 10: Maximizing Your Web Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185
Creating and Managing a Web Identity 185
Standardizing your Web identity 186
Using the top inch to advantage 187
Registering domain names 187
Developing Your Hub Web Site 188
Designing a hub Web site on the cheap 189
Hiring a professional designer or  rm 189
Looking at the core elements of a good hub site 190
Fashioning a registration-based site 191
Getting Your Site Noticed in Search Engines 192
Taking advantage of header and META magic 192
Boosting visibility on search engines 193
Driving traf c with content 194
Reaching your traf c tipping point 195
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Adding Satellites around Your Hub Site to Draw Visitors 196
Using landing pages effectively 196
Building relationships by blogging 197
Getting active on social networking sites 198
How to Advertise on the Web 199
Starting with pay-per-click search ads 200
Adding banner ads to your repertoire 201
Furthering your Web campaign with creative display ads 202
Knowing How Much to Budget 203
Understanding E-mail Etiquette 204
Sending appropriate individual e-mails 204
Going over the guidelines for mass e-mails 205
Chapter 11: Making a Positive Impression in Low-Cost Ways . . . . .209
Making the Most of Word of Mouth 210
Managing word of mouth 210
Capturing the power of viral marketing 211
Using Publicity to Your Advantage 212
Snif ng out good stories 213
Finding the hook: Think like a journalist 214
Communicating a story to the media 215
Considering the hodgepodge of video releases and wire
services 218
Premiums: The Most Abused and Misused Medium of All! 219
Creating an impact with your premiums 219
Prizing premium quality over quantity 221
Chapter 12: Leveraging Face-to-Face Marketing Opportunities . . . .223
Harnessing the Power of Face-to-Face Marketing 223
Considering your options 224
Avoiding boredom to ensure interesting events 225
Sponsoring a Special Event 226
Know your options 226
Run the numbers 227
Screen for relevance 229
Express your values and convictions 229
Putting On Your Own Public Event 229
Selling sponsorship rights 229
Getting help managing your event 230
Exhibiting at Trade Shows and Exhibitions 230
Knowing what trade shows can accomplish for you 231
Building the foundations for a good booth 231
Locating trade shows 232
Renting the perfect booth 233
Setting up other kinds of displays 233
Doing trade shows on a dime 235
Passing out premiums 235