Table of Contents Your Marketing Companion....................................................................................1
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Advertising: The Last Choice in Marketing................................................3
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Personal Recommendations: The First Choice in Marketing. ............................................................................ 31
The Myth of Advertising’s Effectiveness..........................................................................5 Why Customers Lured by Ads Are Often Not Loyal............................................. 13 Why Dependence on Advertising Is Harmful........................................................... 14 Advertisers: Poor Company to Keep.............................................................................. 16 Honest Ads................................................................................................................................... 21 Branding........................................................................................................................................ 23 Listings: “Advertising” That Works.................................................................................. 24
Cost-Effectiveness..................................................................................................................... 33 Overcoming Established Buying Habits....................................................................... 38 Basing Your Marketing Plan on Personal Recommendations.......................... 39 When Not to Rely on Word of Mouth for Marketing.......................................... 42
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The Physical Appearance of Your Business............................................. 47
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Pricing. ........................................................................................................................................ 67
Conform to Industry Norms . ........................................................................................... 49 Your Business’s Appearance ............................................................................................. 52 Fantasy: A Growing Part of Retail Marketing............................................................ 60 The Test of Time........................................................................................................................ 64
Easy-to-Understand Prices.................................................................................................. 68 Complete Prices........................................................................................................................ 70
Giving Customers Choice About Price......................................................................... 74 Internet Pricing.......................................................................................................................... 77
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How You Treat the People Around You. .................................................... 81
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Openness: The Basis of Trust. .............................................................................111
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Deciding How to Educate Potential Customers...............................127
Tracking Reputations via the Grapevine...................................................................... 82 How Employees Spread the Word.................................................................................. 84 Common Employee Complaints..................................................................................... 88 Handling Employee Complaints...................................................................................... 91 Finding Out What Employees Are Thinking............................................................. 93 Suppliers........................................................................................................................................ 97 Business Friends and Acquaintances...........................................................................102 Individuals Who Spread Negative Word of Mouth About Your Business........................................................................................................106 Your Behavior in Public.......................................................................................................108
Financial Openness................................................................................................................113 Physical Openness..................................................................................................................117 Openness in Management................................................................................................119 Openness With Information............................................................................................120 Openness With Ideas...........................................................................................................123
What Does Your Business Do?........................................................................................128 Defining the Domains in Which Your Business Operates................................136 Providing Information on Businesses in Established Fields.............................139 Businesses in New or Obscure Fields...........................................................................143 Whom to Educate..................................................................................................................152
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How to Let Customers Know Your Business Is Excellent.........163
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Helping Customers Find You..............................................................................189
Tell Them Yourself..................................................................................................................165 Help Customers Judge for Themselves.......................................................................171 Giving Customers Authority for Your Claims.........................................................184
Finding Your Business..........................................................................................................191 Convenience of Access........................................................................................................194 Signs...............................................................................................................................................198 Telephone Accessibility.......................................................................................................198 Listing Your Services Creatively and Widely............................................................207 Getting Referrals From People in Related Fields....................................................210 Trade Shows and Conferences.........................................................................................213
Recourse......................................................................................................219 10 Customer Elements of a Good Recourse Policy...........................................................................221 Designing a Good Recourse Policy...............................................................................224 Telling Customers About Your Recourse Policy....................................................228 Putting Your Recourse Policy in Writing...................................................................231
on the Internet....................................................................................235 11 Marketing Business Uses of the Internet: Demystified..............................................................237 The Geographic Reach of the Internet.......................................................................240 What to Put on Your Site...................................................................................................243 Designing an Internet Site.................................................................................................249 Interactivity and Customer Screening........................................................................254 How to Help People Find You Online.........................................................................257 International Marketing......................................................................................................263
Interactive Marketing.......................................................................271 12 Dynamic Beginning Architecture.......................................................................................................272 Attracting Customers..........................................................................................................273 The Look and Feel of Your Site........................................................................................274 Pricing...........................................................................................................................................276 eBay and Supplemental Outlet Sites...........................................................................280 Customer Education.............................................................................................................280 Customer Comments...........................................................................................................282 Security........................................................................................................................................282 Podcasting..................................................................................................................................286 Video Clips.................................................................................................................................286
and Implementing Your Marketing Plan. ...................289 13 Designing Your Marketing List: The “Who” of Your Marketing Plan................................290 How to Evaluate Your List..................................................................................................292 Marketing Actions and Events: The “What” of Your Marketing Plan........294 Direct Marketing Actions..................................................................................................297 Parallel Marketing Actions................................................................................................310 Peer-Based Marketing Actions........................................................................................317
a Calendar of Events............................................................................325 14 Creating Marketing Calendar for an Interior Design Firm...................................................327 Marketing Calendar for Jerry and Jess’s New Chiropractic Clinic................329 Marketing Calendar for Lolly & Criggles—an eBay Children’s Boutique Clothing Website..........................................................................................336
A Appendix................................................................................................................................341 I Index...........................................................................................................................................389