How to Market Your Business : A Practical Guide to Advertising, PR, Selling, and Direct and Online Marketing

by Patten, Dave

• ISBN13: 9780749451455
• ISBN10: 0749451459
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-05-01
• Publisher: Kogan Page Ltd

Summary

Written in straightforward language, this useful guide offers you tried and tested advice on constructing profitable marketing strategies for your business. Revealing how you can revitalise your products and services with some basic marketing know-how, "How to Market Your Business" covers market research, advertising, promotion, selling techniques, product launches, and use of the internet - everything you need to ensure your product reaches your market successfully. Now fully updated, this new sixth edition has been thoroughly rewritten to keep you up to date with all the new channels to market, in particular those offered by the internet. With a strong emphasis on practical advice this is an essential guide to good marketing on a tight budget for anyone, regardless of their level of marketing experience.

Author Biography

Dave Patten runs his own marketing advisory business. He has 20 years of first-hand experience in finance and marketing.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
What is marketing?	p. 1
Service or product?	p. 2
Who is the customer?	p. 3
Parting people from their money	p. 5
Price is king?	p. 6
Features and benefits	p. 7
Isolate the segment	p. 8
Heavy users	p. 10
Growth segments in the consumer market	p. 11
Growth segments in the business market	p. 12
Make your product different	p. 12
Avoid lone products	p. 14
Positioning	p. 14
Hunt for gaps	p. 16
The distribution chain	p. 17
Margins and mark-ups	p. 18
Brand identity	p. 19
Pricing for profit	p. 20
Pricing policy	p. 21
The special problems of marketing services	p. 24
The product life cycle	p. 29
The marketing mix	p. 31
Location	p. 32
Marketing plans	p. 33
Summary	p. 39
Market research	p. 40
Using the internet	p. 44
The reference library	p. 46
Marketing information	p. 48
Where to find specialist libraries	p. 49
The trade press	p. 52
Trade fairs and exhibitions	p. 53
Trademarks, patents and registered designs	p. 54
Assessing the competition	p. 54
Testing the idea	p. 57
Spotting new markets	p. 58
Market research checklist	p. 60
The Internet	p. 63
Objectives	p. 64
The costs of setting up a website	p. 65
Domain names	p. 66
What your website should include	p. 67
Help the search engine	p. 69
Ad-words	p. 71
Test the site	p. 72
Help (and hook) the visitor	p. 72
Keeping customers coming back	p. 73
Branding	p. 74
Monitoring visitors	p. 74
Newsgroups, blogs and mailing lists	p. 74
Trading on-line: e-commerce	p. 75
Setting up an e-commerce site	p. 77
Summary	p. 78
Further reading	p. 78
Advertising	p. 79
Some figures	p. 81
Think of a customer	p. 81
Setting objectives	p. 82
Positioning	p. 84
Where to advertise	p. 85
Which media to choose?	p. 90
And the costs	p. 90
Some advertising jargon	p. 92
Using an advertising agency	p. 93
Designing your own ads	p. 95
Some common mistakes	p. 97
Text	p. 101
Some advertisement techniques	p. 102
Inserts can be most effective	p. 108
Freephone	p. 110
What to say	p. 111
Cooperative advertising	p. 112
The Yellow Pages problem	p. 113
Project a corporate image	p. 114
Buying print	p. 119
Desktop publishing	p. 122
Some printing terms	p. 123
Photography	p. 125
Product liability	p. 126
Packaging and point of sale	p. 128
Franchising	p. 130
Further sources	p. 131
Summary	p. 132
Direct response marketing	p. 133
Where the profit lies	p. 136
Off-the-page advertising	p. 137
Why direct mail can be so cost-effective	p. 143
Lifestyle lists	p. 148
What do you send?	p. 149
How to write effective sales letters	p. 150
Testing, testing	p. 157
It all costs money	p. 161
Growth areas	p. 163
Catalogue design	p. 164
Door to door	p. 164
Form a club	p. 166
Party plan	p. 167
The Post Office	p. 167
Useful addresses	p. 167
Telephone marketing	p. 168
Network marketing	p. 168
Summary	p. 169
Public relations	p. 170
PR objectives	p. 171
Understanding the media industry	p. 172
Keeping up the momentum	p. 177
Other PR techniques	p. 181
Charity work	p. 183
Open days	p. 184
Summary	p. 190
Selling and sales promotion	p. 191
People who buy people	p. 193
Setting objectives	p. 194
Know your product	p. 195
Planning saves time	p. 195
Get organized	p. 196
How to get past the personal assistant	p. 196
The presentation	p. 197
What the buyer worries about	p. 199
Learn to listen	p. 200
Difficult buyers	p. 200
Buying indicators	p. 200
Concessions	p. 201
Handling objections	p. 201
Second sourcing	p. 202
Closing the sale	p. 203
Other products and other customers	p. 208
The dangers of sale or return	p. 208
The art of demonstrating	p. 209
Quotations, invoices and terms of trading	p. 210
Using agents	p. 212
Telephone sales	p. 214
Customer care	p. 218
Sales promotion	p. 218
Price manipulation	p. 219
Loyaltyschemes	p. 220
Competitions	p. 222
Promotional gifts	p. 222
Summary	p. 224
Exhibitions and shows	p. 225
How to choose the right show	p. 227
Objectives	p. 227
Cost	p. 228
Stand design	p. 229
Pre-show publicity	p. 235
Staff training and selling	p. 236
Showing the welcome mat	p. 237
Sales literature	p. 238
Stay smart	p. 238
After the show	p. 238
Summary	p. 239
Sources	p. 239
Starting in exports	p. 240
Staying in the United Kingdom	p. 242
Freight forwarders	p. 244
Where to export	p. 244
Getting paid	p. 245
Some export terminology	p. 246
Reference sources	p. 247
New products: innovation, patents, licensing and design	p. 248
So what's the big idea?	p. 249
Be realistic	p. 249
Keep it confidential	p. 249
Intellectual property	p. 250
Licensing	p. 252
What are the rewards?	p. 253
Other help	p. 253
Reference sources	p. 254
A moral tale	p. 254
And finally - my 12 golden rules	p. 255
Index	p. 257
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