It’s funny to think that the Web, which hundreds of millions of people use every day for shopping, dating, gaming, news, and socializing, began as a technology to help improve, of all things, physics research – a topic of interest to only a fraction of the world’s population. Yet today the Web is huge. According to What Technology Wants by Kevin Kelly, himself a chronicler of the early days of the Web, it holds more than a trillion pages. Twenty years plus since the first website was created … [Read more...]
Chapter 13 – Advertising
Advertising is the most romantic marketing discipline. The popularity of the television drama Mad Men, set in the nascent days of Madison Avenue, has helped to cement that image. So, who better than Don Draper, the handsome but moody creative director from the series, to define advertising: “Advertising is based on one thing, happiness. And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It’s freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of the road that screams whatever … [Read more...]
Chapter 12 – Events: From Trade Shows to Webinars
Marketers stage events for one overriding reason: to put sellers in direct contact with buyers. This practice has been around for hundreds – some experts claim thousands – of years. The direct ancestor of today’s trade show first emerged in medieval Europe, where produce and craft vendors visited towns to participate in trading fairs, where they would sell and showcase their products and services. In 1851, intent on expanding into new overseas markets to assure its status as a leading … [Read more...]
Chapter 11 – Leads, Opportunities and the Funnel
Peter Drucker’s measure of successful marketing is the point at which the act of selling becomes unnecessary. Some companies have reached the point where their product is so essential or desirable that no one needs to “sell” to their customers, or to consumers in general. They are already sold. In most cases, however, a salesperson from your company or one of your partners is essential for answering questions, alleviating consumer fears, ensuring that your products advantages are understood, … [Read more...]
Chapter 10 – Marketing Lists and Databases
In the previous chapter we discussed how marketers increasingly rely on carefully targeted direct marketing to reach and — ideally — elicit some type of response from prospective customers. Let’s assume you have used your segmentation exercise to identify the appropriate demographic targets for your campaign, and you want to contact them via direct mail or telemarketing. The question you now face is, Where do you get the names and contact information for these individuals? And at a price you … [Read more...]
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