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    Small Biz Trio: Three eGuides for Marketing Success
    Small Biz Trio: Three eGuides for Marketing Success
    Small Biz Trio: Three eGuides for Marketing Success
    Ebook175 pages1 hour

    Small Biz Trio: Three eGuides for Marketing Success

    By Barry Silverstein

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    About this ebook

    This eGuide is a compilation of three previously published eGuides, produced in one handy, specially priced eGuide. The eGuide includes the full text from:
    - Branding 123: Build a Breakthrough Brand in 3 Proven Steps
    - Product Launch 123: Launch a New Product or Service in 3 Proven Steps
    - Sales Leads 123: Generating, Qualifying, and Converting Sales Leads in 3 Proven Steps

    “Branding 123” offers small businesses with fledgling brands the opportunity to apply proven strategies and techniques used by the big guys. It provides readers with a comprehensive yet simple plan to follow so they can (1) build a brand positioning statement, (2) build a brand identity, and (3) build a brand marketing plan. “Product Launch 123” offers small businesses an overview of a proven product launch process so they can (1) conduct market research, (2) create and market test a prototype, and (3) create a product launch plan to successfully launch a product or service. “Sales Leads 123” is an authoritative eGuide to help small businesses understand and implement a sales lead process, including information about audience profiling and targeting, developing lead generation offers, outbound vs. inbound lead generation, the basics of sales lead conversion, and more.

    The three eGuides included in “Small Biz Trio” were authored by Barry Silverstein, a marketing consultant and professional freelance writer. Silverstein has over 30 years of experience in branding and marketing. During his professional career, he has helped scores of large and small clients build brands, launch products and services, and generate and qualify leads. He has authored numerous branding and marketing books and ran his own direct and Internet marketing agency for two decades.
    123 eGuides is a new series of authoritative guides published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost. 123 eGuides are designed for today’s reader who wants information in a quick, convenient, easily readable format. Each 123 eGuide is a functional overview rather than a detailed roadmap. Every 123 eGuide always includes additional resources if the reader wants to learn more.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBarry Silverstein
    Release dateFeb 15, 2012
    ISBN9781465875334
    Small Biz Trio: Three eGuides for Marketing Success
    Author

    Barry Silverstein

    I am an author, blogger, brand historian and retired marketing professional.I have a background in advertising and marketing. I founded a direct and Internet marketing agency and ran it for twenty years, and I have over forty years of business experience.I have authored the following non-fiction books: World War Brands; Boomer Brand Winners & Losers; Boomer Brands; Let's Make Money, Honey: The Couple's Guide to Starting a Service Business - co-author (GuideWords Publishing); The Breakaway Brand - co-author (McGraw-Hill); Business-to-Business Internet Marketing (Maximum Press); Internet Marketing for Technology Companies (Maximum Press); and three books for small business managers in the Collins Best Practices series (HarperCollins). I have also written the following eGuides, all published by 123 eGuides: Branding 123 (Second Edition), B2B Marketing, Low Cost/No Cost Marketing 123, Product Launch 123, Sales Leads 123, and On Your Own 123.I have written two novels: The Doomsday Virus and Water's Edge.I publish a blog for Boomers (www.happilyrewired.com) and a blog for dog lovers (www.cmdog.com).

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      Book preview

      Small Biz Trio - Barry Silverstein

      Small Biz Trio

      Three eGuides for Marketing Success:

      Branding 123

      Product Launch 123

      Sales Leads 123

      Barry Silverstein

      A 123 eGuide

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2012, Barry Silverstein

      123 eGuide is a trademark of 123 eGuides

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      This eGuide is a compilation of three previously published eGuides, produced in one handy specially priced eGuide:

      Branding 123, Product Launch 123, and Sales Leads 123

      Branding 123

      Build a Breakthrough Brand in 3 Proven Steps

      Table of Contents

      The Starting Line: Branding Basics

      1: Build Your Brand Position

      2: Build Your Brand Identity

      3: Build Your Brand Marketing Plan

      The Finish Line: Take Action

      Product Launch 123

      Launch a New Product or Service in 3 Proven Steps

      Table of Contents

      The Starting Line: Product Launch Basics

      1: Research Your Market

      2: Create and Market Test Your Prototype

      3: Bring Your Product to Market

      The Finish Line: Keeping the Fire Alive

      Sales Leads 123

      Generating, Qualifying, and Converting Sales Leads in 3 Proven Steps

      Table of Contents

      The Starting Line: Sales Leads Basics

      1: Generating Sales Leads

      2: Qualifying Sales Leads

      3: Converting Sales Leads

      The Finish Line: After You Make the Sale, the Selling Continues

      About the Author

      About 123 eGuides

      Branding 123

      Build a Breakthrough Brand

      in 3 Proven Steps

      Barry Silverstein

      A 123 eGuide

      The Starting Line: Branding Basics

      Do you think creating a breakthrough brand is something only really big companies can do?

      Not true. The same branding principles employed by world-class marketers can be applied to any company, large or small, or any product or service.

      This eGuide is intended to give you a jump start in building your brand from the ground up. It is designed around one thing: to help make your brand a breakthrough brand, because that’s what a brand needs to be to succeed today.

      Before we get started, let’s cover some branding basics.

      What is a Brand

      Contemporary brands probably got their start with the Industrial Revolution. Once products were mass produced, it became more important to distinguish one product from another, and one manufacturer from another, especially if a product had competition.

      A good example of this is Coca-Cola, invented in 1886, and Pepsi-Cola, invented in 1893. These products were very similar: They were brown colored, sweet flavored carbonated water with brand names that sounded alike. In the early days, even the typeface used to represent the products looked alike. (By the way, here’s an interesting historical note: The soft drink Dr. Pepper was actually concocted in 1885, a year before Coca-Cola was invented. But obviously, this brand did not have the same breakthrough qualities as Coca-Cola, which became and still remains the leading soft drink brand.)

      From the earliest days, Coca-Cola was regarded as the original cola and attempted to distinguish its brand from Pepsi-Cola, at first by creating a uniquely shaped bottle. Even today, Coke and Pepsi continue to battle it out as the Number 1 and Number 2 cola brands. In the branding world, this huge fight has often been called the Cola Wars.

      Today, the number of company and product brands is overwhelming. Tens of thousands of new consumer products are introduced each year. While some of them might be brand extensions – new products, but with the same brand name as an already existing product – many of them are given brand new brand names.

      So a brand can be either a company name, like Apple, for example, or a product name, like iPhone. Sometimes the company brand name and the product brand name are the same, as in Coca-Cola (the company) and Coca-Cola (the product). But just as often, the product brand name becomes a kind of super-brand, the core of a series of brand names that might be called sub-brands. Some of the Coca-Cola sub-brands include Diet Coke, Caffeine-Free Coke, Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Vanilla, and Coke Zero.

      A brand can be represented by the name alone, but more often than not it is represented by a distinctive type treatment (logotype), or a graphic symbol (logo or mark). When a brand is marketed in a particular way that draws attention to it, it can achieve brand awareness – it is recognized by people – and it can develop a brand image – a way in which people perceive the brand (which could be good, bad, or indifferent).

      High brand awareness and a very positive brand image may result in brand preference – that’s when a consumer prefers or picks one brand over another. Sometimes high brand awareness and a positive brand image can also result in a brand becoming a category leader – that means it becomes the top brand in a particular category, determined either by market share or by consumer brand preference.

      People Think and Feel About Brands

      This is an important concept in building a breakthrough brand: brands have both rational and emotional appeal. People think about brands, but they also have feelings about brands.

      The rational aspect of a brand is the part of the brand that appeals to a consumer’s rational mind – the brain, the head, the thought process, whatever you want to call it. The emotional aspect of a brand is the part of the brand that appeals to a consumer’s emotions – that person’s heart and soul – how that person feels about a brand.

      If a brand appeals to a consumer on both a rational and emotional level, it has a very strong chance of becoming a memorable, long-lasting brand. Brands that accomplish this often achieve category leader status.

      How does a brand appeal to both the rational and emotional sides?

      Basically, the rational argument for a brand involves conveying sensible, practical facts in the brand’s marketing messages. Depending on the product, it may be facts such as saving money, protecting the environment, or offering high quality.

      The emotional side is quite different, however. Typically, to evoke emotion, a brand has to make a compelling case or paint a picture that creates a certain feeling. Instead of facts, the emotional side of the brand deals with benefits and feelings – things that make the consumer feel good. Often a brand will lead with the emotional aspect because it has higher impact (and it is less rational) so it might create a desire on the part of the consumer to purchase the brand. The rational aspect is then used to support the purchase decision.

      A good example of how the rational and emotional sides come into play in brand marketing is the way Miller Lite beer was first marketed in 1975. At the time, there was no other light beer, so Miller had to find a way not only to promote the beer, but to actually introduce a new beer category. The branding message, or slogan, the company came up with was: Tastes Great. Less Filling.

      Let’s analyze that slogan. Notice that it really embeds both the emotional and rational appeal of a light beer. You might say that tastes great plays to the emotional side, because great taste is what connects emotionally with most beer drinkers, while less filling could be interpreted as a rational message, implying that a Miller Lite beer drinker would be subject to less bloating and, potentially, would avoid weight gain (which for some people is a very emotional issue, too!)

      Miller Lite’s branding strategy worked. At the time of Miller Lite’s introduction, Miller was the number four brewery in the U.S. By 2004, the Miller Lite brand helped Miller rise to number two. Miller Lite created a revolution as other beer breweries started to produce light beer brands to compete with Miller Lite.

      Brands that are Built to Last

      In July 2009, BusinessWeek magazine reported on the Top 25 Healthiest Brands, based on consumers’ perceptions across six categories. Here’s what is striking about the report: 15 of the top 25 healthiest brands are over 50 years old, and 8 of them are over 100 years old. The century-old brands include such well-known names as Campbell’s Soup, Black and Decker, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, and Whirlpool.

      There is no better proof of a brand’s lasting power than its ability to appear on a contemporary list of top brands and yet be over 100 years old. In fact, the five century-old brands mentioned above are generally regarded as not only healthy brands, but leaders in their categories. They all have high brand awareness, largely positive brand images, and generate a high degree of brand preference.

      How does this happen? For the most part, a brand that is built to last becomes known for particular company or product attributes that are valued by consumers. Consumers get to know the brand and come to depend on it to deliver the same quality, day in and day out, year after year. Some brands are even passed down from generation to generation, either literally or figuratively. Consumers rely on, prefer, and eventually demonstrate loyalty to the brand, not only by purchasing it repeatedly, but telling family and friends about it (and today, via social media, telling lots of acquaintances about it). In a sense, they become brand fanatics.

      When this happens, a brand works its way into the daily life and lifestyle of the consumer, and it can even become a cultural icon.

      Brands as Cultural Icons

      Can a brand really become a cultural icon? Oh yes. When a brand is so tightly woven into the fabric of many consumers’ lives, it becomes part of the culture.

      Before the digital revolution, there was one company that was so well-known for its ability to make copies of things that its name became a substitute for the copying process. In offices all around the world, you would hear bosses tell their assistants, Make a Xerox of this. The company name Xerox was at risk of becoming a generic term because it was so widely used.

      The same thing happened to a particular brand of tissues that represented the entire tissue category: Could you get me a Kleenex?

      When a person says, Please get me a Coke, they may be referring to any kind of cola soft drink that’s available, not just Coca-Cola.

      When it comes to delivering something overnight, people often say FedEx it. In fact, that’s one of the reasons Federal Express eventually changed its brand name to FedEx.

      All of these brands were category leaders, but they also became cultural icons, because they actually worked their way into our everyday vocabulary. Some brands are so iconic that they become what Kevin Roberts calls Lovemarks in his book of the same name. Roberts, CEO of ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi, says in his book, Consumers are becoming more and more attracted to where the Love is. Every Lovemark, whether it’s a breakfast cereal, a shoe, a car, or a country, must both love and respect consumers and the world those consumers live in.

      Remember what we said about the emotional appeal of a brand? The ultimate emotional appeal is when a consumer loves a brand. That is a very emotional reaction. The kind of emotional reaction that happens with iconic brands like Apple, Nike, and Starbucks.

      People who buy Apple’s products don’t just like the brand, they love it. Those buyers are among the most loyal brand followers. Many of them can’t wait until Apple releases its next product.

      Nike has engendered the same kind of brand fanaticism. Nike lovers will pay a premium price for shoes or athletic gear branded with the renowned Nike swoosh logo. They’re the athletes who live by Nike’s slogan, Just do it. The Nike swoosh, by the way, appears on

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