Marketing Snark » Marketing

Marketing For Dummies® (For Dummies (Career/Education))

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:52:59 +0000

Marketing is the most important thing that you do in business today, even if your job title doesn’t have the word marketing in it. That is because marketing, in all its varied forms, is concerned with things like attracting customers, and Getting them to buy your product Making sure that they are happy with their purchases Persuading them to come back for more What could be more important? Ever try to run a business without customers? Marketing encompasses several specialized fields

Humor Sells. Or Does it? A Resource for Marketers

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:33:20 +0000

Like sex, humor sells. Or does it? The answer is “Sometimes.” If the humor is appropriate for the audience, it can work. If not, it can be counterproductive.

That sex sells is accepted as common wisdom in advertising copywriting circles, but it has to be handled carefully. Ad backlash in recent years, such as last year’s J Crew ad brouhaha, shows that.

Thirty years ago you would still see industrial ads with bikini-clad women draped over equipment and tools. Then a major study at University of Texas found that, oh, yes, men remembered those ads more—and so did women. The problem was, they did not remember the product being advertised. Results were negative for sales.

Humor sells when it is on target for the target audience—buyers of the product or service being sold. Teenage humor will not sell retirement planning services, for example. Frat boy humor often offends women, just as women’s humor is seldom appreciated by men.

Even if the humor gets laughs, it may not help sell the product. And with kids, you have to also consider the reactions of parents.

So what am I writing about today? A new humor website: BuzLol. One of the interesting things about this site is that it covers topics like Photoshop Fail.

Yes, the examples they show are extreme, but all marketers need to take a very good look at any photoshopped photos we use. What may look good to us may be obvious to someone who knows more about either the topic of the photo or about using Photoshop, as many people do today.

This site is a good place to monitor humor trends, including humor fads that are trending downward, how to use each trend effectively, and when to give them a miss. For example, look at these examples of the duckface photo trend, with explanations of why some fail and a prediction that the trend will last awhile longer.

While also entertaining, the trend analysis articles on BuzLol are actually pretty astute. They can be especially valuable for marketers who sell (or hope to) in niches they are not a part of themselves, including what works—and what fails. For example, this article on the popularity of funny autocorrect messages on iPhones.

There are a lot of sites where you can research what items are selling well: Amazon, eBay, and so on. But seldom can you find much info on what currently works for selling to the audiences that buy them.

BuzLoL is a great place to get some clues on what appeals to your target demographic. Marketing is still an art, not a science. You have to do your own research and draw your own conclusions. But at least while using this resource, you will have a smile on your face—and maybe occasionally LoL.

Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:52:59 +0000

Duct Tape Marketing is the small business marketing road map – A collection of proven tools and tactics woven together in a step-by-step marketing system that shows small business owners exactly what to do to market and grow their businesses. This guide combines insights gained from over twenty years of successfully working, in the field, with real-life small businesses. There are no theoretical complexities presented in Duct Tape Marketing – just simple, effective and affordable marketing tha

Sale Price:$14.99

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk!

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:52:59 +0000

There are laws of nature, so why shouldn’t there be laws of marketing? As Al Ries and Jack Trout—the world-renowned marketing consultants and bestselling authors of Positioning—note, you can build an impressive airplane, but it will never leave the ground if you ignore the laws of physics, especially gravity. Why then, they ask, shouldn’t there also be laws of marketing that must be followed to launch and maintain winning brands? In The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, Ries and Trout off

Sale Price:$8.37

Principles of Marketing (13th Edition)

admin — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:52:59 +0000

Todayâ€™s marketing challenge is creating vibrant, interactive communities of consumers who make products and brands a part of their daily lives. Learn how to create value and gain loyal customers. Kotler/Armstrong is a comprehensive, classic principles text organized around an innovative customer-value framework. Students learn how to create customer value, target the correct market, and build customer relationships. The changing nature of consumer expectations means that marketers must learn

Sale Price:$74.00

The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:52:57 +0000

David Meerman Scotts marketing bible has become a modern day business classic.This is the book every ambitious, forward-thinking, progressive marketer or publicist has at the front of their shelf. Business communication has changed over the recent years. Creative ad copy is no longer enough. The New Rules of Marketing and PR has brought thousands of marketers up to speed on the changing requirements of promoting products or services in the new digital age. This is a one-of-a-kind, pioneering gui

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UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging.

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:52:56 +0000

From one of the leading experts in viral and social marketing-market your business effectively to today’s customersFor generations, marketing has been hypocritical. We’ve been taught to market to others in ways we hate being marketed to (cold-calling, flyers, ads, etc.). So why do we still keep trying the same stale marketing moves?UnMarketing shows you how to unlearn the old ways and consistently attract and engage the right customers. You′ll stop just pushing out your message and praying that

Sale Price:$14.46

The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:52:56 +0000

Social media is a crucial tool for success in business today. People are already talking about your business using social media, whether youâ€™re using it or not. By becoming part of the conversation, you can start connecting directly to your customers, as well as finding new ones, easily and inexpensively spreading the word about your products or services.But social media marketing isn’t like traditional marketing-and treating it that way only leads to frustration. Let Shama Hyder Kabani, pre

Sale Price:$10.18

Creating a Marketing Plan: An Overview

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:52:56 +0000

Effective marketing cannot begin without an effective marketing plan. The marketing plan serves to define the opportunity, the strategy, the budget, and the expected results of product sales. In this chapter, the individual elements that comprise the plan are introduced, as are details on how to implement adequate research in considering each decision therein. This chapter is excerpted from Harvard Business Essentials: Marketer′s Toolkit.

Sale Price:$3.95

Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide

admin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:52:56 +0000

Sale Price:$9.05