Vol. 2 , No. 32     November 26, 2002

In this Newsletter:

Don't Miss the New Top Ten Section

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Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba
Top 6 Tips to Understand Customer Evangelism

Continual improvement of products and services is an effective approach to maintaining existing customers and winning new ones, especially if your goal is to create strong word-of-mouth. Strong word-of-mouth tends to create customer evangelists, those passionate advocates who tell others about your products and services.

To truly understand what your current evangelists think about you, say about you, and do about you, you must dig deeper than the typical satisfaction survey.

Get the full story.

Christopher Kenton
Ten Fundamentals That Matter More Than a Big Budget, Part 2

If you’re at a loss for how to plan your marketing programs in the current economy, take a clue from nature. In natural systems, chaos and destruction are always followed by rebirth. If you’ve been burned by the recession, now is the time to start planting seeds.

In part one of this two-part series, we looked at five low- or no-cost initiatives you can pursue to shore up your marketing organization. In part two, we’ll now look at five initiatives to prepare for rebirth.

Read the whole enchilada.

Stern Dixon
Are You Trying Too Hard To Measure Ad Effectiveness?

The economic downturn of the past two years has put marketers on the defensive. As budgets have been reduced and reduced again, marketers have stepped up efforts to find the Holy Grail of marketing--the formula, the software, even the general rule of thumb that enables marketers to measure the effectiveness of a marketing campaign.

The trouble comes when marketing strategy becomes driven solely by the need and ability to measure marketing effectiveness.

Here's what we mean.

A Note to Readers

Growing Up

Last week’s @d:tech trade show in New York is being talked about online and offline as a clear sign of the Internet marketing and advertising industry’s rebirth.

There wer e plenty of attendees at the sess ions and plenty of bodies on the trade show floor, along with plenty of “partying like it was 1999,” as my friend and colleague Rick Bruner wrote in his blog.

As significant a show as @d:tech was, equally significant was what it wasn’t: Parties, but no lavish binges; lots of exhibitors, but no extravagant booth giveaways; some new technology exhibited, but nothing touted as being even close to that marvelous sliced bread.

Overall, the show exuded the feel of an older and wiser industry, still full of potential but also acutely aware of its limitations.

The Internet advertising and marketing industry has been battered by life a little, scarred by economic shrapnel. But as a result, it has matured. Internet marketing has grown up.

As we’ve all found: It may not always be as much fun to be a grown-up, but we wouldn’t want it any other way.

As always, your feedback is both welcome and encouraged.

Until next week,

Ann Handley
ann@marketingprofs.com
Chief Content Officer
MarketingProfs.com

Last Issue's Top 5

Copy/Content Top 5

Celebrate the Holidays in Style in France

Golf holidays in beautiful Dordogne. Stay in a luxurious chateau and golf to your heart's content while enjoying gourmet cuisine.
Click for details.

Dana Blankenhorn
How to Set a Price

Once you have a product or service, you have to set a price for it. This may be the most misunderstood exercise in all of marketing.

Lucky for you, Dana is prepared to clue you in. Ready?

Dana tells all.

Michael Fischler
Cooling The Branding Iron

Are you a B2B company, putting (or considering putting) significant effort and significant resources into developing a coherent brand for your product? Researching the marketplace and analyzing competing brands? Establishing strategy sessions to review and select the best brand identity?

If you are, you're probably wasting a lot of time and a lot of money. For the majority of B2B companies, branding is very likely of little or no value.

At least , that's Michael's opinion. Read why.

Bruce Kasanoff
Less is More Marketing

Sometimes, less is more. That's especially true in this business climate.

If you want to grab a customer’s attention and lock in their loyalty, the key is to save them time, money and effort. And that won't necessarily happen with simply more advertising.

Here's what we mean.

Tig Tillinghast
Dear Tig: When Publicity Is A Bad Thing, Customers Vs. Clients, and Marketing Criticisms

Tig weighs in on whether all publicity is indeed good publicity. He also gives his take on the difference between customers and clients, and offers up the most common criticisms leveled at marketers.

Read Tig's take.

Contact

Publisher:Allen Weiss
amw@MarketingProfs.com

Content: Ann Handley
ann@MarketingProfs.com

Partnerships:
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