These are the most important marketing conclusions. They come from hundreds of studies. Use them wisely.
+ Are you stuck in the same marketing focus?
+ Marketing services implies more feelings than logic.
+ Strong motivation moves to fast decision-making.
+ Ideas that stick in mind are simple, unexpected, concrete, credible and emotional.
+ Yes, you can convince people that drinking wine in a US$20 cup tastes better than doing it in a US$1 cup.
+ Most advertising has divorced from the consumer. Are you still connected with your consumers?
+ Traditional media is OK, but web media is OK, too.
+ Design is very important.
+ Today's design needs planning, simplicity, a good font, usability, refinement and to be practical.
+ Good advertisements are similar. Bad advertisements are bad for a number of reasons.
+ Before promoting, establish a value proposition.
+ Memorable commercials can also be cheap.
+ Truth can be great for sales.
+ Fulfil your word always.
+ Internet ads are the most annoying; ads in the theatre are the less ones.
+ Today traditional advertising is agonizing and people are following influential people instead.
+ A complete campaign may have to include music, media ads, nudity and blogs to generate enough buzz.
+ Pay particular attention to the images you use.
+ Animal pictures in your products can sell.
+ Most minds are already conditioned to the idea of advertising.
+ In advertising sometimes less is more.
+ Keep the attention at the focus point. Use the unexpected.
+ Have a word-of-mouth and referrals policy.
+ Make people spread the word because referrals are the most effective way to promote a company.
+ Consider advertising in video games and mobile phones.
+ Provoking controversy can generate a buzz fast.
+ Include mums in your marketing mix.
+ Beware of the meaning of words when translating your advertising.
+ Think about interactive advertising: have people take part of it by votes.
+ Really good products do not need advertising.
+ Have a beginning, but also an end in mind.
+ Are you using all your available resources?
+ What about helping break gender stereotypes?
+ Be nice. It pays.
+ Can you abandon cliché phrases like "have a nice day"?
+ Every member of the company is part of the company's marketing strategy.
+ A personalized service implies that you have to give a service that tries to create loyal customers, but to a variety of individual persons.
+ Customer service is important, so have your employees greet and smile, establish polices aimed at customer satisfaction.
+ Help your customers a little more than you should and they will be happier.
+ Don't forget this: Everybody thinks he is right.
+ Have you thought how are your employees going to manage complaints?
+ Don't wait to call an interested customer.
+ Don't focus to much in what you are when speaking. Focus in the benefit the clients can get with your service.
+ In a few words, if you do not differentiate, you will die.
+ Do you have a corporate culture?
+ Differentiation is more important that you are probably thinking.
+ Use several marketing approaches at the same time.
+ Marketing is not just developing a brand. It includes human relations, research and development and customer service too. Get involved into that.
+ Marketing strives for demand generation, customer messaging and sales effectiveness.
+ Marketing strives for continuous conversion both off-line and on-line.
+ Sales, marketing and public relations should work together.
+ Benchmarking will make you average, not different.
+ Think about everyday progress rather than in an overnight success.
+ Ask yourself what small changes can give you a great success.
+ Think on who has the power in your organization: suppliers? buyers? competitors? how hard is it to get into a market?
+ If you cannot measure something, you will not be able to know how to improve it afterwards.
+ Be the first in something and you will probably be famous, as long as your invention is in line with consumers' needs.
+ The law of supply and demand is still in force.
+ Standard press releases don't work because they abuse vague claims, industry jargon and silly superlatives.
+ Press releases must have clear dates, announcements and a web page to complete the message.
+ Small businesses must use both awareness and a relevant differentiation.
+ Think on corporate social responsible measurements.
+ People usually lie in focus groups.
+ Are you using thank you cards? Not e-mails, cards... No? mm...
+ Sometimes you just have to take the leap of faith.
+ Internet conversations can make you both known and relevant. Are you doing it?
+ Blogs are made to be honest. Are you using copyright in a blog?
+ Blogs can generate conversation but not sales.
+ Start a blog to get some feedback and suggestions!
+ You don't only need to sign up to a social website, you need to take part, too!
+ Media lives from advertising, but consumers are paying less attention to advertising day by day. What will happen with media in the future?
+ Invite guest speakers to your conference, column or website.
+ If you want passionate followers, educate them.
+ Offer help and you will probably get help in exchange.
+ Influence those who influence.
+ Does your product make people feel in control? Remind them their childhood? Make them feel warm and safe? Offer a sensual experience? Make people feel smart or important? Help them feel the person they've always wanted to be? Help them plays out a fantasy? No? Why not?
+ Use your communications department to organize all the messaging.
+ You can create a buzz either by talking about current issues, making reference to famous people, giving visual impact, being unexpected, being controversial, being outrageous, talking about something of human interest, educating, entertaining, having a local angle, representing a significant milestone, giving or receiving a major honour, using special occasions.
+ If you know that only few people will care to read completely what you write, do you still need to sweat the details? Answer: Yes.
+ Goals for your website: visibility, credibility, creation of connections and conversions.
+ Have your visitor have a good time on your website. Teach him or her. He will sure buy from you later.
+ Include a game on your website.
+ Many websites are made without a plan. If you have a plan, you will have an advantage.
+ Good websites are focused, deep and sticky.
+ After reading all this, don't you think the corporate website needs a redesign?
+ Are you marketing for the rich or the poor ones?
+ Brand is very important for a consumer.
+ Your product covers a need, OK. But what advantage will your consumer have if he or she buys your product? Show them one.
+ Forget positioning. Nowadays societies have been to bombarded with advertising. Give more solutions and waste less in advertising.
+ Marketing works better if it sells ideas.
+ Going against the grain can sometimes give you wonderful results.
+ Don't be afraid of making big changes but also be modest.
+ Yes, marketing can do a stupid idea work.
+ No, marketing cannot make an absurd idea work.
+ Companies that stand the test of time establish a long set of values before thinking about the money.
+ How are you working customer loyalty, search engine marketing, public relations, customer tracking and intellectual property?
+ Awareness is built on frequency, consistency, distinctive symbols, shapes, colours, mnemonics and background clutter.
+ Generating press and buzz are important when building a brand.
+ Mutant logos are in fashion. They also enhance branding.
+ If you are well targeted, even with small audiences you can be successful.
+ Is it not attacking your competitors better than targeting markets?
+ What about helping the world become a better place just by showing less greedy policies?
+ Why not offering things for free and letting the customers donate what they want?
+ What about selling just one of your products at a remarkable price?
+ Don't compete on price but rather give your customers a reason to pay for a premium service.
+ Consumer behaviour is not based on common sense.
+ People make decisions on emotions.
+ In marketing, stories work better than facts.
+ People are in general too lazy to switch.
+ People tend to keep their rituals and traditions.
+ No one can consciously know or express what he or she truly wants.
+ No one can predict the characteristics of what he or she will like.
+ Subliminal messaging works.
+ Knowledge can be a curse if you do not know how to express it in a simple way.
+ These days there are too many options. Part of the marketer's job is to teach people how to choose.
+ When customers deal with a lot of options, they go for the long tail: highly specialized products or services.
+ Customers can easily go for extremes.
+ People usually go for the items then want before going for the items they should.
+ Between several good options, people will go for the more useful.
+ If you are making a presentation, don't be boring.
+ How are your ethics doing, huh?
+ Break the standards and people will likely love you.
+ These days, people are turning more virtual than real.
+ Check out teens: They have their own alter egos (blogs and community profiles), they are getting used to write and publish, they turn the computer on just to feel connected.
+ Pets are now treated like furry little human beings.
How are you working customer loyalty, search engine marketing, email marketing, public relations, customer tracking and intellectual property?
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