Standard Pre-Sorted U.S. Postage
Is there a Sea Change Coming?
The way we introduce ourselves to prospects and engage our customers is undergoing a profound transformation – a sea change if you will. The Internet has made the amount of information about products and services readily available to buyers, while opinion and rating web sites simultaneously provide prospective buyers with collective knowledge about how those products perform. It’s a wonderful world of buyer empowerment that will benefit strong businesses.
PAID
Murfreesboro, TN Permit No. 86
Wax Family Printing, LLC
215 MTCS Drive Murfreesboro, TN 37129
Yo u r G u i d e t o U n d e r s t a n d i n g P r i n t i n g • M a r c h 1 5 , 2 0 11
Kevin Wax General Manager
This transformation means that marketing – the image we present to the world – assumes even greater importance. A customer-centric approach to marketing means that all parts of an organization contribute, and are therefore responsible, for marketing. It also means that our marketing image, in print and online, must be consistent and appealing.
Do You Have a Marketing System? In 2007 the board of directors of the American Marketing Association adopted this definition of marketing:
To help our customers and prospects deal with this new reality, we’ve added web site development and web-based communication services to the list of ways we help our customers communicate with their customers. Call us today and let us show you what we can do!
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. For another take on the definition of marketing, consider this from The Chartered Institute of Marketing, a professional association based in the United Kingdom:
CPrint® is a registered trademark and the CPrint® Logo is a trademark of Crouser & Associates, Inc.
Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.
B2?
Whether you are using print-and-mail or e-mail to distribute your company’s newsletter, there are three main styles: B2C, B2B and membership. Each one has different characteristics, and the one you use will depend on your target audience. B2C: The B2C newsletter style is for businesses that sell mainly to consumers. The content is transactional, meaning it features products and services and information about them. Readers of these newsletters expect straightforward information about products and services to help them make the buying decision. To allow for display of a number of products or services, construct the newsletter so it is a series of summaries with continuation to an inside page (printed newsletter) or link to a full article (eletter). B2B: The B2B newsletter style is for businesses that sell mainly to other businesses and organizations. For B2B, the sales cycle is usually longer than B2C and depends on gaining the trust and confidence of the buyer. Therefore a primary goal of the B2B style is to build a relationship. Retention is also an important aspect of B2B marketing as it provides the opportunity for cross-selling.
215 MTCS Drive, Murfreesboro, TN 37129
Management guru Peter Drucker defines marketing this way:
Content for B2B newsletters is crafted to meet the specific needs of the target audience and is based around information that will help the decision makers. Good B2B content includes features on products and services, expert advice, case studies, industry news and white papers. Frequency is another important aspect of the B2B newsletter – sent too frequently, a newsletter can be annoying; not sent often enough, and it loses its effectiveness. The most popular cycle for newsletters is monthly.
Marketing is not only much broader than selling; it is not a specialized activity at all. It encompasses the entire business. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of the final result, that is, from the customer’s point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise.
Finally, Regis McKenna, an influential marketing consultant whose professional career includes authorizing five books on marketing, succinctly states Marketing is everything. What all these definitions have in common is the recognition that marketing requires businesses and organizations to be customercentric – to shift from a focus on production to a focus on what customers need and want.
Professional services/membership: The membership newsletter is for businesses and organizations that are communicating with members or offering expert advice. Content centers on things of interest to the membership, including recent and upcoming events. These newsletters often include many photographs of members engaging in events and activities sponsored by the organization.
615.893.4290
w w w. Wa x F a m i l y P r i n t i n g . c o m
CPrint® is a registered trademark and the CPrint® Logo is a trademark of Crouser & Associates, Inc.
Traditionally, marketing activities have included advertising, distribution and selling. However, with the shift in emphasis from products to customers, marketing now includes insight gained from the study of customer behavior (incorporating the disciplines of social science, psychology and sociology) as well as input from hard science (economics and mathematics). Thus relationship marketing and social marketing are now being added to traditional marketing activities.
Consider these facts about traditional print media: • •
Marketing basics In the sixth edition of his book Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them, Professor Malcolm McDonald of Cranfield University School of Management in the United Kingdom suggests that marketing consists of three types of activities: • • •
•
Review of the external marketing environment which studies the market, customers and competitors and identifies current and developing trends. Review of the internal marketing activities with emphasis on the seven Ps of marketing: price, product, promotion, placement, people, positioning and packaging. Review of the marketing system including the marketing organization, how market research is conducted, and current marketing objectives and strategies.
But what marketing strategies should small companies and organizations use? The buzz is in favor of abandoning traditional marketing strategies based on print media in favor of entirely new ones, largely built on Internet marketing. Social media – including online communication like blogging and social networking as well as opinions and review – are appealing because of a lower cost-pertouch than print media. But we suggest that these new tools are just that – a new way to reach customers and prospects that enhances rather than replaces what is already working.
According to the United States Postal Service 2007 Household Diary Study, 80% of households read or scan advertising mail. In a 2008 survey sponsored by the Direct Marketing Association and Pitney Bowes, 39% of respondents said they tried a business for the first time because of direct mail advertising, and 70% said they renewed a business relationship because of a direct mail promotion. An iProspect study conducted in 2007 found that 67% of online searches were driven by offline messages, resulting in purchases 39% of the time. In addition, shoppers who receive a direct mail piece directing them to an online site spend on average 13% more than those who do not receive a printed piece.
Enhancements to traditional marketing Our statement that traditional print media remains important does not mean that we don’t recognize how communicating with customers and prospects is changing. More and more, customers and prospects are taking control of the buying situation by seeking information on their terms – looking for what they want as the need arises. We are well past the time when a small business could use only word of mouth and yellow pages advertising to attract new customers. Businesses and organizations today need a web site supported by a consistent direct mail program to point prospects to the web site. Web sites have also evolved since their earliest days. A web site that is no more than an online yellow pages ad will disappoint visitors looking for information and interactivity. Pictures, descriptive text, detailed explanations, downloadable information, videos, and an easy way to contact the business to request more information are now minimum requirements for a web site. Who is responsible for marketing? With marketing becoming customer-centric and customers taking control of the information-seeking process prior to making a
Q&A
How can I keep readers interested in my marketing message?
Keeping readers interested in what you send to them may not be as hard as you think. Here are a few tips to help you: Be passionate about your subject. Passion, which can take the form of expertise and knowledge, will be evident to your readers and will reinforce that they are making the right choice to buy from you. Show that you know your products and services inside and out by presenting interesting performance facts and features. Discuss the superior beauty or design of your product and prove it with pictures. Give examples of your amazing customer service with customer testimonials
215 MTCS Drive, Murfreesboro, TN 37129
Provide compelling content. Useful content saves customers and prospects time and/or money, helps them make a wise buying decision, or provides interesting or unusual information about products and services. Adopt a personal perspective. Enliven the marketing message with a personal approach. Use first- and second-person personal pronouns (I, we, and you). Include anecdotal information and case studies. Be brief. Keep writing concise and to-the-point, grammatically correct, and without spelling errors. If making a point, get to it quickly.
615.893.4290
w w w. Wa x F a m i l y P r i n t i n g . c o m
buying decision, the responsibility for marketing within the business or organization has changed. While the owner of a small business or the president of an organization may continue to control or decide about the specific marketing strategies, all parts of the organization are now involved in implementing the marketing plan. Customers and prospects will form an opinion about a business or organization based on several factors: • the image projected in print and online; • the staff members who are responsible for customer service and product or service delivery; and • the responsiveness of the organization to resolving customer problems. For consistency and marketing effectiveness, the print and online image must support the marketing strategies, and the staff members in customer service, delivery and problem resolution must understand and implement the marketing strategies. The core concepts of a marketing system A modern, successful marketing system for businesses and organizations is built on three core concepts: a customer-centric rather than product-centric focus that identifies current needs of customers and predicts their future needs; expanding the responsibility for marketing to the entire organization; and using new marketing strategies to enhance but not replace traditional ones. If you need help with your image in print – business stationery, brochures and marketing materials, direct mail marketing campaign, or web site development and improvement, we can help. Contact Justin at (615) 893-4290 for an appointment now.
What’s in a Word? 4 Ps: the parameters that define the choices that must be made to bring a product or service to market. First described by E.J. McCarthy in 1960, they are: product (or service); placement; price; promotion. 7 Ps: an expansion of the four Ps to include people, positioning and packaging. 4 Ps of social marketing: publics, partnership, policy, purse strings. B2B marketing: business-to-business marketing; one business selling to another business. Distinguished from consumer marketing. B2C marketing: business-to-consumer marketing; a business selling directly to consumers. Distinguished from B2B marketing. Direct marketing: a form of marketing that communicates directly with the target audience. Contrasts with media marketing through a third party using billboards, print, television or radio. Loyalty marketing: a method of growing sales by retaining existing customers through incentives.. Mobile communicating: currently, a synonym for mobile marketing. Mobile marketing: distribution of promotional or advertising messages using wireless networks; marketing to a mobile device such as a smart phone. Niche marketing: marketing that targets a specific segment of buyers who share distinct characteristics. Niche markets, though sometimes small, can be very profitable. Prospect: in selling, an individual, company or organization that has been qualified as a potential customer. Relationship marketing: a marketing strategy that seeks to establish and maintain a relationship with a customer. Relationship marketing emphasizes customer retention over customer acquisition. Social marketing: the application of commercial marketing concepts to noncommercial ends that promote the well-being of society. Social marketing as a concept was developed in the 1970s by Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman, who defined social marketing as “differing from other areas of marketing only with respect to the objectives of the marketer and his or her organization. Social marketing seeks to influence social behaviors not to benefit the marketer, but to benefit the target audience and the general society.” Social media: media for social interaction using web-based technology. Social media turns one-way communication into interactive dialogue. Sometimes called consumer-generated media
Everything Old Is New Again!
In a relevant demonstration that everything old is new again, there is renewed interest in loyalty marketing. Loyalty marketing is the process of retaining customers and growing sales from them by offering incentives to purchase. Some of the oldest loyalty marketing programs are Betty Crocker coupons (initiated in 1929, discontinued in 2006), S&H Green Stamps (initiated in the 1930s and discontinued in the 1960s) and American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyer program (initiated in 1981 and still ongoing). Loyalty marketing, which began as a model for conducting business, has expanded into a marketing and advertising strategy that not only rewards existing customers for loyalty, but also encourages those customers to refer others. The success of loyalty marketing rests on the ability of the organization to deliver a quality product or service that so completely satisfies customers that they become loyal to the brand. This positive experience then becomes the basis for consumer advocacy – when satisfied customers refer others. Word-of-mouth has been the traditional method customers have used for their advocacy; viral marketing is a more recent method.
Traditionally, marketing activities have included advertising, distribution and selling. However, with the shift in emphasis from products to customers, marketing now includes insight gained from the study of customer behavior (incorporating the disciplines of social science, psychology and sociology) as well as input from hard science (economics and mathematics). Thus relationship marketing and social marketing are now being added to traditional marketing activities.
Consider these facts about traditional print media: • •
Marketing basics In the sixth edition of his book Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them, Professor Malcolm McDonald of Cranfield University School of Management in the United Kingdom suggests that marketing consists of three types of activities: • • •
•
Review of the external marketing environment which studies the market, customers and competitors and identifies current and developing trends. Review of the internal marketing activities with emphasis on the seven Ps of marketing: price, product, promotion, placement, people, positioning and packaging. Review of the marketing system including the marketing organization, how market research is conducted, and current marketing objectives and strategies.
But what marketing strategies should small companies and organizations use? The buzz is in favor of abandoning traditional marketing strategies based on print media in favor of entirely new ones, largely built on Internet marketing. Social media – including online communication like blogging and social networking as well as opinions and review – are appealing because of a lower cost-pertouch than print media. But we suggest that these new tools are just that – a new way to reach customers and prospects that enhances rather than replaces what is already working.
According to the United States Postal Service 2007 Household Diary Study, 80% of households read or scan advertising mail. In a 2008 survey sponsored by the Direct Marketing Association and Pitney Bowes, 39% of respondents said they tried a business for the first time because of direct mail advertising, and 70% said they renewed a business relationship because of a direct mail promotion. An iProspect study conducted in 2007 found that 67% of online searches were driven by offline messages, resulting in purchases 39% of the time. In addition, shoppers who receive a direct mail piece directing them to an online site spend on average 13% more than those who do not receive a printed piece.
Enhancements to traditional marketing Our statement that traditional print media remains important does not mean that we don’t recognize how communicating with customers and prospects is changing. More and more, customers and prospects are taking control of the buying situation by seeking information on their terms – looking for what they want as the need arises. We are well past the time when a small business could use only word of mouth and yellow pages advertising to attract new customers. Businesses and organizations today need a web site supported by a consistent direct mail program to point prospects to the web site. Web sites have also evolved since their earliest days. A web site that is no more than an online yellow pages ad will disappoint visitors looking for information and interactivity. Pictures, descriptive text, detailed explanations, downloadable information, videos, and an easy way to contact the business to request more information are now minimum requirements for a web site. Who is responsible for marketing? With marketing becoming customer-centric and customers taking control of the information-seeking process prior to making a
Q&A
How can I keep readers interested in my marketing message?
Keeping readers interested in what you send to them may not be as hard as you think. Here are a few tips to help you: Be passionate about your subject. Passion, which can take the form of expertise and knowledge, will be evident to your readers and will reinforce that they are making the right choice to buy from you. Show that you know your products and services inside and out by presenting interesting performance facts and features. Discuss the superior beauty or design of your product and prove it with pictures. Give examples of your amazing customer service with customer testimonials
215 MTCS Drive, Murfreesboro, TN 37129
Provide compelling content. Useful content saves customers and prospects time and/or money, helps them make a wise buying decision, or provides interesting or unusual information about products and services. Adopt a personal perspective. Enliven the marketing message with a personal approach. Use first- and second-person personal pronouns (I, we, and you). Include anecdotal information and case studies. Be brief. Keep writing concise and to-the-point, grammatically correct, and without spelling errors. If making a point, get to it quickly.
615.893.4290
w w w. Wa x F a m i l y P r i n t i n g . c o m
buying decision, the responsibility for marketing within the business or organization has changed. While the owner of a small business or the president of an organization may continue to control or decide about the specific marketing strategies, all parts of the organization are now involved in implementing the marketing plan. Customers and prospects will form an opinion about a business or organization based on several factors: • the image projected in print and online; • the staff members who are responsible for customer service and product or service delivery; and • the responsiveness of the organization to resolving customer problems. For consistency and marketing effectiveness, the print and online image must support the marketing strategies, and the staff members in customer service, delivery and problem resolution must understand and implement the marketing strategies. The core concepts of a marketing system A modern, successful marketing system for businesses and organizations is built on three core concepts: a customer-centric rather than product-centric focus that identifies current needs of customers and predicts their future needs; expanding the responsibility for marketing to the entire organization; and using new marketing strategies to enhance but not replace traditional ones. If you need help with your image in print – business stationery, brochures and marketing materials, direct mail marketing campaign, or web site development and improvement, we can help. Contact Justin at (615) 893-4290 for an appointment now.
What’s in a Word? 4 Ps: the parameters that define the choices that must be made to bring a product or service to market. First described by E.J. McCarthy in 1960, they are: product (or service); placement; price; promotion. 7 Ps: an expansion of the four Ps to include people, positioning and packaging. 4 Ps of social marketing: publics, partnership, policy, purse strings. B2B marketing: business-to-business marketing; one business selling to another business. Distinguished from consumer marketing. B2C marketing: business-to-consumer marketing; a business selling directly to consumers. Distinguished from B2B marketing. Direct marketing: a form of marketing that communicates directly with the target audience. Contrasts with media marketing through a third party using billboards, print, television or radio. Loyalty marketing: a method of growing sales by retaining existing customers through incentives.. Mobile communicating: currently, a synonym for mobile marketing. Mobile marketing: distribution of promotional or advertising messages using wireless networks; marketing to a mobile device such as a smart phone. Niche marketing: marketing that targets a specific segment of buyers who share distinct characteristics. Niche markets, though sometimes small, can be very profitable. Prospect: in selling, an individual, company or organization that has been qualified as a potential customer. Relationship marketing: a marketing strategy that seeks to establish and maintain a relationship with a customer. Relationship marketing emphasizes customer retention over customer acquisition. Social marketing: the application of commercial marketing concepts to noncommercial ends that promote the well-being of society. Social marketing as a concept was developed in the 1970s by Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman, who defined social marketing as “differing from other areas of marketing only with respect to the objectives of the marketer and his or her organization. Social marketing seeks to influence social behaviors not to benefit the marketer, but to benefit the target audience and the general society.” Social media: media for social interaction using web-based technology. Social media turns one-way communication into interactive dialogue. Sometimes called consumer-generated media
Everything Old Is New Again!
In a relevant demonstration that everything old is new again, there is renewed interest in loyalty marketing. Loyalty marketing is the process of retaining customers and growing sales from them by offering incentives to purchase. Some of the oldest loyalty marketing programs are Betty Crocker coupons (initiated in 1929, discontinued in 2006), S&H Green Stamps (initiated in the 1930s and discontinued in the 1960s) and American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyer program (initiated in 1981 and still ongoing). Loyalty marketing, which began as a model for conducting business, has expanded into a marketing and advertising strategy that not only rewards existing customers for loyalty, but also encourages those customers to refer others. The success of loyalty marketing rests on the ability of the organization to deliver a quality product or service that so completely satisfies customers that they become loyal to the brand. This positive experience then becomes the basis for consumer advocacy – when satisfied customers refer others. Word-of-mouth has been the traditional method customers have used for their advocacy; viral marketing is a more recent method.
Standard Pre-Sorted U.S. Postage
Is there a Sea Change Coming?
The way we introduce ourselves to prospects and engage our customers is undergoing a profound transformation – a sea change if you will. The Internet has made the amount of information about products and services readily available to buyers, while opinion and rating web sites simultaneously provide prospective buyers with collective knowledge about how those products perform. It’s a wonderful world of buyer empowerment that will benefit strong businesses.
PAID
Murfreesboro, TN Permit No. 86
Wax Family Printing, LLC
215 MTCS Drive Murfreesboro, TN 37129
Yo u r G u i d e t o U n d e r s t a n d i n g P r i n t i n g • M a r c h 1 5 , 2 0 11
Kevin Wax General Manager
This transformation means that marketing – the image we present to the world – assumes even greater importance. A customer-centric approach to marketing means that all parts of an organization contribute, and are therefore responsible, for marketing. It also means that our marketing image, in print and online, must be consistent and appealing.
Do You Have a Marketing System? In 2007 the board of directors of the American Marketing Association adopted this definition of marketing:
To help our customers and prospects deal with this new reality, we’ve added web site development and web-based communication services to the list of ways we help our customers communicate with their customers. Call us today and let us show you what we can do!
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. For another take on the definition of marketing, consider this from The Chartered Institute of Marketing, a professional association based in the United Kingdom:
CPrint® is a registered trademark and the CPrint® Logo is a trademark of Crouser & Associates, Inc.
Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.
B2?
Whether you are using print-and-mail or e-mail to distribute your company’s newsletter, there are three main styles: B2C, B2B and membership. Each one has different characteristics, and the one you use will depend on your target audience. B2C: The B2C newsletter style is for businesses that sell mainly to consumers. The content is transactional, meaning it features products and services and information about them. Readers of these newsletters expect straightforward information about products and services to help them make the buying decision. To allow for display of a number of products or services, construct the newsletter so it is a series of summaries with continuation to an inside page (printed newsletter) or link to a full article (eletter). B2B: The B2B newsletter style is for businesses that sell mainly to other businesses and organizations. For B2B, the sales cycle is usually longer than B2C and depends on gaining the trust and confidence of the buyer. Therefore a primary goal of the B2B style is to build a relationship. Retention is also an important aspect of B2B marketing as it provides the opportunity for cross-selling.
215 MTCS Drive, Murfreesboro, TN 37129
Management guru Peter Drucker defines marketing this way:
Content for B2B newsletters is crafted to meet the specific needs of the target audience and is based around information that will help the decision makers. Good B2B content includes features on products and services, expert advice, case studies, industry news and white papers. Frequency is another important aspect of the B2B newsletter – sent too frequently, a newsletter can be annoying; not sent often enough, and it loses its effectiveness. The most popular cycle for newsletters is monthly.
Marketing is not only much broader than selling; it is not a specialized activity at all. It encompasses the entire business. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of the final result, that is, from the customer’s point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise.
Finally, Regis McKenna, an influential marketing consultant whose professional career includes authorizing five books on marketing, succinctly states Marketing is everything. What all these definitions have in common is the recognition that marketing requires businesses and organizations to be customercentric – to shift from a focus on production to a focus on what customers need and want.
Professional services/membership: The membership newsletter is for businesses and organizations that are communicating with members or offering expert advice. Content centers on things of interest to the membership, including recent and upcoming events. These newsletters often include many photographs of members engaging in events and activities sponsored by the organization.
615.893.4290
w w w. Wa x F a m i l y P r i n t i n g . c o m
CPrint® is a registered trademark and the CPrint® Logo is a trademark of Crouser & Associates, Inc.