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Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’

New Business Book Summary Available for Edge Strategy

Posted in Business Strategy, tagged , , on December 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »

119613433Companies that spend their entire time focused on their core products or on introducing new products to new markets seem to be the norm. However, a less risky, less volatile way to increase revenues and profits involves edge strategies. In Edge Strategy, strategy experts Alan Lewis and Dan McKone help leaders recognize and capitalize on these opportunities. By exploring the permission they have earned with existing customers, and the latent value of existing assets, businesses can capitalize on new profit centers without investing a lot of capital or changing the visions of their companies.

In business, growth strategies usually include expanding into new core products and services. However, there are strategies many leaders overlook that are easier to implement, less risky, and less costly. These strategies focus on the customers a company has already acquired and assets it has already developed. There are three basic types of these edge strategies:

  1.  Product edge. Giving customers options to add or remove elements of a core offering.
  2.  Journey edge. Adjusting the company’s role to increase its support of the customer’s ultimate objectives.
  3. Enterprise edge. Applying resources that support the core products in a different context for a different offering or set of customers

To learn more, please visit www.bizsum.com

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New summary available for China’s Super Consumers

Posted in Book Summaries, Global Business, Marketing, tagged , , , , on May 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

China’s Super ConsumersWith the rapid rise of China’s economy has come a new class of “super consumers” who are ready to assert themselves the way American consumers have over the last century. Already there are more than 500 million online shoppers in China and some 1.5 million millionaires in a country of over 1.2 billion people. This huge population—four times the size of the United States—presents an enormous opportunity for foreign companies, but the long history of China and a language and culture so different from those in Western nations present many pitfalls as well. As Savio Chan and Michael Zakkour explain in China’s Super Consumers, newcomers to the market must take the time to understand Chinese history and culture and the special challenges of doing business in China.

The authors provide the following tips on doing business in China:

  • Companies that want to succeed in China need to understand its historical culture. Group harmony matters more than individual liberty. Networks of trusted family and friends are so important that Chinese spend a good deal of energy maintaining these networks. Relationships are more complex and agreements more contingent than in the West. Even the language favors nuance and ambiguity over directness.
  • In the last decade, the Chinese consumer has been on a meteoric rise with rapid urbanization and growing disposable incomes. This new wealth, together with the sheer size of the country, has made the Chinese consumer a global force. In addition to the mainland Chinese market, there is a huge demand for the products, services, and experiences Chinese overseas travelers want to buy.
  • Retail channels, supply chains, and marketing in China differ somewhat from those in the West, even when they appear outwardly similar. However, China’s distribution infrastructure does not yet match that in the West. Retail channels tend to be single brand and can be expensive to sustain. Therefore, e-commerce is highly attractive and a low-risk path to entry. For luxury goods, Chinese buyers expect to see flagship stores.
  • China is not really a single market–it is an amalgamation of markets that are defined both geographically and by customer type. Businesses must understand the need to customize their offerings and approaches to serving each of these markets differently.

To learn more, please visit http://www.bizsum.com

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Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation

Posted in Book Summaries, Influence, Marketing, tagged , , , on August 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

FascinateIn Fascinate, world-renowned brand consultant Sally Hogshead introduces readers to the seven universal fascination triggers: lust, mystique, alarm, prestige, power, vice, and trust. Exploring research from behavioral and social studies, historical precedents, neurobiology, evolutionary anthropology, and feedback from thousands of consumers, Hogshead explains what fascinates people and why and shows marketers how to apply this valuable knowledge to their own brand campaigns. By knowing how to use the right fascination triggers in the right ways, companies can more effectively achieve their desired results.

Marketing professionals can use the seven universal fascination triggers to more effectively influence consumer decision making. As they put the triggers to use, however, they must consider several concepts:

  • There are several factors to consider when determining how fascinating a message already is. Marketers must think about how much consumers gravitate toward their messages, how much interest they generate, what kind of response they elicit, and how they prompt people to think.
  • The lust trigger uses the anticipation of pleasure to seduce a consumer. Marketers can use lust to create an experiential attachment by getting consumers to stop thinking and start feeling, making the ordinary more emotional, using all five senses, and teasing and flirting.
  • The mystique trigger intrigues consumers with unanswered questions. Marketers can use mystique by sparking curiosity, withholding information, building mythology, and limiting access.
  • The alarm trigger causes consumers to take action under the threat of negative consequences. Marketers can trigger alarm by defining consequences, creating deadlines, increasing perceived danger, focusing on the most feared crises, and using distress to steer positive action.
  • The prestige trigger causes consumers to focus on symbols of rank and respect. Marketers can enhance prestige by developing emblems, setting new standards, limiting availability, and making consumers earn it.
  • The power trigger forces consumers to focus on the people and things that control them. Marketers can use the power trigger to dominate, control the environment, and reward and punish.

To download three free summaries, please visit our site.

 

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The Art of Social Selling

Posted in Book Summaries, Marketing, Selling, Social Media, tagged , , on May 13, 2014| 1 Comment »

95798493The process of selling has transformed dramatically with the advent of social media, and customers are abandoning traditional purchasing influences in favor of online digital marketing stimuli. This means that businesses that want new customers will have to devote some skillful efforts to reaching them through social media channels. In The Art of Social Selling, Shannon Belew describes how to use social media to enhance marketing and sales success. She emphasizes that social selling success comes from building relationships via social networking sites, blogs, and online communities, as well as through the professional use of practical sales strategies tailored to the specifics of the different platforms.

 Success in social selling will come to those who understand the following:

  • Social sellers need to maintain positive personae online. This means being genuine and sincere, listening carefully, and responding to customer or prospect concerns.
  • Engaging with sales prospects will require increasing levels of mobility. The number of people using mobile devices to view information and interact on social networking sites is growing constantly, providing tremendous marketing and sales opportunities.
  • Social selling is based on relationship building. This means establishing trust and offering value to develop mutually beneficial relationships.
  • A salesperson on a social media site needs to be viewed as a go-to resource. This means that a salesperson who is active in a forum, group, or other community must contribute and engage frequently to become a trusted influencer.
  • Social selling efforts should be targeted carefully. Indiscriminately spreading a message over all the top social networking sites is impractical. It is better to look to those few sites where prospects spend the most time and will be most likely to see the message.
  • Social indicators are highly useful in identifying and reaching potential customers. These indicators are the items of information found on social networking channels, blogs, forums, and groups that give clear signs that a person needs a product or is curious about it.
  • A valuable component of effective social selling strategy is the establishment of a schedule of social media posts that will invite conversations. This is best done by creating a calendar that sets out what, when, and where the user will post content or conversation starters.
  • Social selling requires teamwork. This means that customer service, marketing, and sales teams must fully understand their responsibilities and work together.

To download three free summaries, please visit our site.

Related book summaries in the BBS library: Do It! Marketing, Content to Commerce, The Mobile Marketing Revolution

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New summary available for Pinfluence

Posted in Book Summaries, Marketing, Social Media, tagged , , , on December 13, 2013| 2 Comments »

9781118393772_cover.inddSocial media has become a mainstream marketing tool must for any business that wants to succeed in today’s competitive environment. Pinterest, a social media tool centered on creating and sharing collections of digital images by “pinning” them to digital bulletin boards, is rapidly joining Facebook and Twitter as an essential avenue for reaching and appealing to customers. In Pinfluence, social media guru, blogger, and Pinterest expert Beth Hayden provides a step-by-step method for business professionals to engage customers and grow their businesses by leveraging the power of Pinterest.

According to Hayden:

  • For an ever-increasing group of savvy business owners, Pinterest is a must-have component of their marketing strategies. Pinterest is easy to use, has emotional appeal, and is a great way to drive traffic to a business’s website and increase sales. The number of businesses that are using Pinterest is increasing rapidly.
  • Pinterest should not be used “standalone,” without strategic intent. For the best results, Pinterest must be strategically positioned within a broader marketing strategy and work in an integrated way with other social media channels to appeal to defined target audiences.
  • Combining images and words has the most impact. Pinterest provides both. Descriptions that accompany pins can be as important as the images themselves, capturing the viewer’s attention and creating a personal connection. Descriptions provide the opportunity to inject honesty and humor, which can help build trust and deepen relationships.
  • Pinterest is all about creating connections. Growing a following is just as important as choosing what content to pin to the boards. Pinterest has several built-in connection tools for drawing in new followers. All efforts to build a following should be centered on attracting the pre-defined ideal client.
  • Pinterest pins must add value for followers, not sell to them. While Pinterest as a business tool is intended to drive increased profits, it should be implemented in a way that brings value to customers, either in terms of solving a problem or entertaining them. It should not be used to sell them something.

To download three free summaries, please visit our site.

Related book summaries in the BBS library: Likeable Social Media, Going Social, Engagement Marketing

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New book summary available for Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit

Posted in Book Summaries, Marketing, tagged , , , , , on April 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The key to a successful business is customer loyalty. Building enduring business relationships is a timeless strategy that transcends factors that are out of a service organization’s control, including technological changes, economies of scale, and exchange rates. Solid customer loyalty serves as insurance against the risks of a commodity being viewed as replaceable or interchangeable. In Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit, Leonardo Inghilleri and Micah Solomon share a variety of strategies to help organizations make the shift from reactive to anticipatory service and build a client base that will keep coming back for more. These positive relationships can then lead to free word-of-mouth advertising and boost employee pride and morale.

For a free trial of EBSCO Business Book Summaries click here.

Related book summaries in the BBS library: Lead with Your Customer, 10 Steps to Successful Customer Service, The Customer Rules

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New summary available for If You’re Not First, You’re Last

Posted in Adaptability, Book Summaries, Customer Focus, Marketing, tagged , , , , on January 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The concept of being first remains vital to all businesses no matter the economic conditions. Indeed, being foremost in value, sales, or market is never more important than when businesses are struggling to get by. When the economy slows, or when a recession hits, businesses must learn not only how to survive, but how to thrive in the new economic environment. With the right actions, businesses can become first in their market and dominate even in an economic contraction. Grant Cardone’s If You’re Not First, You’re Last lays out the sales ground rules to make this happen.

For a free trial of EBSCO Business Book Summaries click here.

Related book summaries in the BBS library: Accelerating Out of the Great Recession, How to Sell When Nobody’s Buying, The Adversity Paradox

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New book summary available for The Female Brand

Posted in Book Summaries, Marketing, tagged , , , on October 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »

In her book The Female Brand, author Catherine Kaputa speaks from her background in advertising and personal branding to encourage women to view themselves as a “product” in the marketplace and to learn how to differentiate themselves from the competition. She argues that women bring unique strengths and aptitudes to the workplace, and that these “gender-based strengths” may be especially valuable in a twenty-first century marketplace in which most jobs are no longer machine-based and emphasize cooperation and teamwork. Women following her practical advice will learn how to cultivate a “female brand” which is both authentic and distinctive, and which strategically addresses specific needs in the marketplace.

For a free trial of EBSCO Business Book Summaries click here.

Related book summaries in the BBS library: Women Lead the Way, Why Women Mean Business

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New book summary available for Free

Posted in Book Summaries, Marketing, tagged , , , on April 23, 2010| 25 Comments »

The costs associated with technology are rapidly approaching zero at an unprecedented rate, while at the same time the digital world is increasingly moving into the physical realm as people are working and playing on the Internet more than ever before. According to Chris Anderson in Free, as costs for online products plummet, traditional economics do not make sense for digital manufacturers any longer. Offering goods for free is no longer simply just a marketing gimmick or something consumers have to pay for in another way; free is rapidly becoming a way to turn an actual profit, whether monetary or non monetary.

For a free trial of EBSCO Business Book Summaries click here.

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