Marketing is one of the most important aspects in business today, but it's also highly competitive and complicated, with intricate strategies and methods of delivery to understand and retain. This straight-forward guide leads you through every aspect of marketing. Fully updated to include all the recent marketing trends, including digital marketing and using new media, it's packed with expert tips on identifying customers, using online resources, satisfying your customer's needs and boosting your sales. Discover how to: * Understand the basics of effective marketing * Research customers, competitors and industry * Create a compelling marketing strategy * Increase consumer awareness * Satisfy clients' needs and boost sales About the author Ruth Mortimer is the editor of Brand Strategy magazine and often appears on CNN, Sky and the BBC to discuss marketing issues. Greg Brooks is a freelance journalist who has written for a number of broadcasters, newspapers, and magazines on how to communicate with consumers and journalists using interactive channels.

Table of Contents

Introduction. Part I: Where You Are, Where You're Going. Chapter 1: Making the Most of Your Marketing. Chapter 2: Clarifying Your Marketing Strategy. Chapter 3: Writing a Marketing Plan. Part II: Creative Thinking, Powerful Marketing. Chapter 4: Researching Your Customers, Competitors and Industry. Chapter 5: Harnessing Creativity in Your Business. Chapter 6: Making Your Marketing Communications More Powerful. Part III: Advertising Everyone can Do. Chapter 7: Brochures, Press Ads and Print. Chapter 8: Signs, Posters and More. Chapter 9: TV and Radio Ads (or Your Own Show!) Part IV: Powerful Alternatives to Advertising. Chapter 10: E-marketing. Chapter 11: Using Search Engines. Chapter 12: Tapping into Networking Sites. Chapter 13: Direct Marketing and Telemarketing. Chapter 14: Public Relations and Word of Mouth. Chapter 15: Face-to-Face Marketing. Part V: Connecting With Your Customers. Chapter 16: Branding, Managing and Packaging a Product. Chapter 17: Using Price and Promotions. Chapter 18: Distribution, Retail and Point of Purchase. Chapter 19: Sales and Service Essentials. Part VI: The Part of Tens. Chapter 20: Ten Common Marketing Mistakes to Avoid. Chapter 21: Ten (Or So) Ways to Save Money in Marketing. Chapter 22: Ten (Or So) Ideas for Lower-Cost Advertising. Index.

Author Biography

Ruth Mortimer is associate editor for Marketing Week magazine. In charge of a team of dedicated features writers at the publication, she appears regularly in national press such as The Independent and the Daily Express discussing issues relating to business, marketing and branding. She also appears on TV and radio as an expert commentator in this fi eld for multiple programmes, including those on the BBC and Sky. Previous to joining Marketing Week, Ruth was editor of global business title Brand Strategy, as well as writing for Channel 4's '4talent' service to let young people know about new talents in music, design, arts and digital techniques. At Brand Strategy, she took the magazine through a full redesign and repositioning, introducing a new range of supplements and a conference programme, while contributing articles to sister titles Design Week and New Media Age. Before writing about marketing for a living, Ruth was an archaeologist, working mainly in the Middle East. Greg Brooks is Content Strategy Director at C Squared, publisher of M&M magazine, creative media website www.creamglobal.com and producer of the Festival of Media. He is also a freelance journalist and digital media consultant with ten years experience covering the global digital industry. He has been a regular contributor to UK national titles such as Marketing, New Media Age, Brand Strategy, Broadcast, Future Media, The Guardian and Channel 4's 4Talent online portal. He is also co-author of Digital Marketing for Dummies. In a consultancy he role he has worked with Sky, McDonald's, News International, BT, Red Bull, Camelot (UK Lottery operator), EnergyWatch, Visit Britain and OfCOM (UK communications regulator), advising on the future strategic use of digital media. Craig Smith is the former editor of Marketing, the UK's highest circulation weekly magazine, and PPA Weekly Business Magazine of the Year, serving the marketing and advertising industries. He has worked as a business journalist for many years and is a regular commentator on marketing issues to the national press and broadcast media. Craig works closely with industry trade bodies the Association of Publishing Agencies and Business in the Community to promote best practice in the areas of customer magazines and cause related marketing. Alex Hiam is a consultant, corporate trainer, and public speaker with 20 years of experience in marketing, sales, and corporate communications. He is the director of Insights, which includes a division called Insights for Marketing that offers a wide range of services for supporting and training in sales, customer service, planning, and management. His fi rm is also active in developing the next generation of leaders in the workplace through its Insights for Training & Development. Alex has an MBA in marketing and strategic planning from the Haas School at U.C. Berkeley and an undergraduate degree from Harvard. he has worked as marketing manager for both smaller high-tech fi rms and a Fortune 100 company, and did a stint as a professor of marketing at the business school at U. Mass. Amherst. Alex is the co-author of the best-seller, The Portable MBA in Marketing (Wiley) as well as The Vest-Pocket CEO and numerous other books and training programmes. He has consulted to a wide range of companies and not-forprofit and government agencies, from General Motors and Volvo to HeathEast and the U.S. Army (a fuller list of clients is posted at www.insightsformarketing.com). Alex is also the author of a companion volume to this book, the Marketing Kit For Dummies (Wiley), which includes more detailed coverage of many of the hands-on topics involved in creating great advertising, direct mail letters, Web sites, publicity campaigns, and marketing plans. On the CD that comes with the Marketing Kit For Dummies, you'll find forms, checklists, and templates that may be of use to you. Also, Alex maintains an extensive Web site of resources that he organised to support each of the chapters in the book.