Marketing Archives

Bad Marketing: The 2 Strategies You Should Avoid

What are bad marketing strategies? Why are people so inclined to use these strategies for their marketing campaigns? There are plenty of marketing strategies to utilize for your business, but you should be wary of some of them. Bad marketing strategies can cost your company thousands of dollars, and you’re less likely to gain new customers from them. Here are two bad marketing strategies to avoid if you want your business to be successful, according to Byron Sharp in his book How Brands Grow.

The 3 Marketing Myths That Most People Fall For

What are the most common marketing myths that are easy to fall for? How are these misconceptions hurting businesses? In How Brands Grow, Byron Sharp claims that modern marketing strategies are less likely to gain businesses profits. Instead, he says that traditional marketing is still the superior strategy, as it avoids dangerous marketing myths. Keep reading to learn more about these marketing myths, and why you shouldn’t believe them.

Personal Preferences: Why Do We Like What We Like?

Why do we like what we like? How do we determine our own preferences? Are our judgments about our own likes and dislikes always accurate? We’re good at making fast judgments about what we do and don’t like. But, surprisingly, sometimes these snap judgments about our own preferences can be inaccurate. Here’s why your judgments about what you do and don’t like may not reflect your actual preferences.

A Guide to Finding Your Target Audience in Marketing

Are you trying to find your target audience in marketing? How do you choose the demographic that fits you the best? In their book Playing to Win, former CEO A.G. Lafley and consultant Roger Martin explain that there are five questions you should ask yourself when choosing your target market. They also share the most common pitfalls and advice on how to avoid them. Here’s how to choose the right target market for your business.

How to Beat Your Competitors and Win the Market

Is your business part of a competitive market? How can you beat your competitors and become the market leader? There are two main strategies for winning your chosen market: cost leadership and differentiation. Different companies have different strengths that contribute to their ability to excel in unique ways. For instance, small companies can often provide a more targeted, boutique service (differentiation) while larger companies can often deliver quality products at a more competitive price point (cost leadership). Let’s take a look at each strategy in more detail.

A Complete Guide to the Best Sales Methods

What are the best sales methods? How can you decide which method is best for your business? A sales method is a set of rules you use to determine how to sell a product or service to customers. Now that the traditional sales model is barely effective in the digital age, many businesses are searching far and wide for modern methods to stand out in the consumer market. Here’s a basic rundown of six popular sales methods so you can decide which one works best for your business rather than relying on the dying traditional sales model.

What Is the Purpose of Marketing? A Marxist View

What is the purpose of marketing? What does it accomplish? Whom does it serve? According to John Berger, the author of Ways of Seeing, the purpose of marketing is to keep the machines of capitalism moving: to keep the rich rich and the poor poor. It is accomplished by evoking envy and giving a promise of a better life. Continue reading to learn more about Berger’s view.

Liking Bias: Why You Buy Things You Don’t Need

What is liking bias? Have you ever used the likeability factor to sway someone towards a decision? Liking bias is the tendency to grant requests from people you know and like. This bias is often used in sales to influence purchasing decisions. Keep reading to learn about the psychology behind liking bias and how it is used in marketing.

The 3 Elements of Ethos: Persuasion Basics

What is ethos in the context of persuasion? How can you use the three elements of ethos to make a persuasive argument? Ethos is used in persuasive arguments to establish trustworthiness and credibility as a speaker or writer. There are three essential elements to developing ethos: virtue, personal disinterest, and practical wisdom. Keep reading to learn about the three building blocks of ethos and how to use them in a persuasive argument.

Blue Ocean Strategy Graph: Mapping Your Competition

How do you chart a blue ocean strategy graph? How do you determine whether your product is unique enough to classify as a “blue ocean”? Kim and Mauborgne present a graphic tool to help you visualize how your product (and the strategy behind it) differs from others in the market. If your curve has a completely different shape from other curves, this implies a unique combination of value, consistent with the blue ocean strategy. Here is how to use the blue ocean strategy chart to gauge where your business stands against competitors.