Business Marketing

If you need good examples of marketing strategies in action, you've come to the right place. We discuss different types of marketing strategies and offer some successful marketing strategy samples from a variety of industries, as well as a few examples of marketing strategy disasters. (36 articles)

A well-written marketing plan is your roadmap to a successful business. We offer advice on how to create a marketing plan, provide example marketing plans, and walk you through all aspects of writing marketing plans -- all based on the latest thinking on marketing planning best practices. (20 articles)

Market research is critical to marketing success. Get to know your market, understand people's buying behaviors, and base your product or marketing plan on that knowledge. (13 articles)

Become a marketing mix master! Put product, price, place, and promotion to work to kick your business growth into overdrive. We cover everything from what is a marketing mix to how to define your optimal marketing mix strategy. (11 articles)

Good marketing plans and programs will make for a successful startup. Learn about small business marketing basics. (82 articles)

Naming companies and naming products sounds simple enough, but the choices you make can determine whether your business succeeds or fails. (34 articles)

Logos can be powerful allies in growing a business or they can work against your business objectives. What constitutes a great logo? We offer tips on logo design, everything from how much to pay for a logo to how to work effectively with a logo designer. (11 articles)

Have you ever heard of a successful business that didn't have business cards? Probably not, and for good reason. Good business cards are good for growing a business. To create the best business cards, follow our business card advice. You'll be amazed what a good business card can do for your company. (19 articles)

Launching a new product? A new product launch can make or break a company. We explain how to write a product launch plan and make the most of your product launches. (6 articles)

A loyalty customer is a customer that remains loyal to a product, brand or company. We discuss how to build customer loyalty through customer loyalty programs, how to measure customer loyalty satisfaction, and why it's important to have loyal customers. (13 articles)

Telemarketing tips galore! We teach you how to create a telemarketing program, build your own call center out, what to look for in a telemarketer, and what it takes to effectively sell by phone. Whether you're interested in lead generation, appointment setting or want to close sales by phone, this telemarketing advice is invaluable. (9 articles)

Direct marketing is an effective marketing tactic that involves contacting potential customers directly, typically by mail, email or phone. For businesses looking to grow, this can be an excellent marketing technique. (13 articles)

Need pricing advice? Pricing is an art form. Price too high and customers will leave you. Price too low and you'll leave money on the table. We offer tips and best practices on how to price your products and services. (21 articles)

There's more to email marketing than simply buying email blast software and mass sending emails out. We take a look at business email marketing best practices and how you can make the most of evey email campaign in your bulk email marketing outreach. (17 articles)

Ready to tap into the power of testimonial marketing? Customer testimonials are a proven way to promote a business and accelerate sales cycles. Find how to get customers to give testimonials that will drive your business to new heights! (6 articles)

How effective are your marketing materials? We offer tips on creating great sales brochures, product spec sheets, leave-behind sell sheets, case studies, presentation folders and other important collateral materials. (8 articles)

Quality promotional products offer a creative way to connect with existing customers, prospective customers, employees and others. Learn how to use promotional marketing items to make a strong, positive impression on the people who matter to your business. (8 articles)

Writing white papers is a great way to establish your company as a thought leader. If done right, white paper writing and distribution can also be used to generate new sales leads and turn prospects into customers. (9 articles)

Learn couponing best practices. More than eight out of 10 Americans use coupons when shopping. If your business hasn't tapped into the power of coupons, you may be missing out on a big opportunity to grow your business. (6 articles)

Get toll free numbers for small business marketing and watch your sales skyrocket. Find out why so many businesses use 800 numbers and how to get a toll free number for your business. (7 articles)

At first blush, niche marketing seems like a simple concept -- find a niche and market to it. But every niche has unique marketing needs. We take a look at what it takes to be an effective niche marketer and offer insights on how to tap into a few high-potential niche markets. (12 articles)

Niche market mailing lists can be hard to find. We explain everything you need to know about buying mailing lists, lead lists and prospect databases for niche markets. (1 article)

Viral marketing is rare. If you can tap into viral marketing and you are prepared for its effect, you can create massive business success in a very short timeframe. (7 articles)

Word of mouth marketing is an ancestral cousin of viral marketing (covered in a separate section of this site). You know you've succeeded at word of mouth marketing if your customers are talking about your offerings to their friends and families and creating new customers for you. (7 articles)

Local marketing spans everything from door-to-door flyer distribution to sponsoring community events, from advertising in the local newspaper to getting active in your local chamber of commerce. If getting local customers is important to you, you'll find some great marketing ideas here that are focused exclusively on growing your local customer base. (8 articles)

Looking for event marketing tips? Learn how to successfully promote marketing events, seminars, festivals, online webinars, conventions, user conferences, awards presentations and expositions. This useful advice on effective event marketing and event management will come in handy for any marketer. (4 articles)

Exhibiting at a trade show can be a great idea, but only if you make the most of a tradeshow appearance. We cover everything you need to know about tradeshows. With this advice in hand, your trade show booth will be a huge success! (10 articles)

Our articles on point of sale marketing covers everything a business can do to maximize business results at the point of sale, from having effective point of sale displays to tapping into the marketing power of point of sale software systems. (6 articles)

Business signs are a strategic investment. A good business sign can make your business successful, and a bad business sign, or not having a business sign at all, can put your business at risk. We cover best practices for buying business signs, including a discussion of the various types of business signs and how much business signs costs. (8 articles)

Sweepstakes and contests offer an excellent way to raise awareness and drive customer actions. Having said that, there are quite a few things to consider before you launch marketing contests and sweepstakes. (6 articles)

Using video in marketing is all the rage. We get you up to speed on YouTube video marketing, promotional videos, online video, video search optimization, product placements in TV and movies, and other topics related to the use of video in marketing. (5 articles)

Business networking is a marketing technique that has proven to be very effective for growing companies. It used to involve face-to-face networking meetings, but, increasingly, online business networking tools have made it possible to network for new customers and referrals without ever leaving your desk. (38 articles)

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) marketing is all about building strong relationships with customers, thereby improving a company's capabilities in customer acquisition, customer revenue, customer profitability and customer retention. In this section of our site, we take a look at anything and everything related to CRM, from CRM software to best practices in managing customer relationships. (7 articles)