123 eGuides

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123 eGuides are authoritative guides published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost. Every 123 eGuide is just 3 bucks or less ($2.99 to be exact).

123 eGuides are designed for today’s reader who wants information in a quick, convenient, easily readable format. Each 123 eGuide is intended to provide a functional overview rather than a detailed roadmap. Every 123 eGuide always includes additional resources if the reader wants to learn more.

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1 Minute Advice: Strong E-commerce Growth Across the Board

Despite all of the awful things the pandemic is doing to the world's economy, one positive side effect globally and in the U.S. has been the strong growth of retail e-commerce. Retailers who are more dependent on in-person shopping are suffering: Just recently, the venerable Lord & Taylor, Jos. A. Bank and Men's Wearhouse all declared bankruptcy, joining a growing list of traditional retailers devastated by the pandemic. Not surprisingly, consumers have been turning to online shopping as a safer alternative to visiting brick-and-mortar stores.

eMarketer reports a stunningly robust growth year-over-year in e-commerce sales as of May 2020. The leading retail category in e-commerce, food and beverage, has seen a 58.5 percent increase. Next in line is health, personal care and beauty at 32.4 percent. Toys and hobby saw a 20.9 percent increase; computer and consumer electronics 17.9 percent; office equipment and supplies 17.9 percent; and books, music and video 13.9 percent. eMarketer predicts the number of U.S. digital grocery buyers to surge 41.9 percent this year, representing 131 million consumers who are shopping for food via the Internet.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Read about 156 best and worst brands of the 50s and 60s!

1 Minute Advice: What GE's Light Bulb Sale Says About Brands Today

Say tissue and you think "Kleenex"... copy and you think "Xerox"... light bulb and you think "GE." That's the power of brand positioning in the consumer's mind.

But "light bulb" is no longer synonymous with GE (General Electric), because two months ago, the company announced the sale of its storied lighting business. According to The New York Times, "For nearly 130 years, G.E. Lighting was at the forefront of every major lighting innovation, from the dawn of incandescent bulbs to the first energy-saving fluorescent bulb, introduced in 1974, according to the company. But the business began to dwindle with the proliferation of LEDs, which need to be replaced less frequently because they are longer-lasting and more energy-efficient than traditional incandescent lights."

Paul Israel, director and general editor of the Thomas A. Edison Papers at Rutgers University told The Times, “From the standpoint of people who associate the light bulb as the symbol of modern invention and innovation, there’s a kind of sadness to the fact that G.E., which for many years was at the forefront of that industry, has moved away from it."

What lesson can be gleaned from GE's financial move? Brands need to stay current and vibrant and keep up with changing times. Even when it means leaving behind a lasting brand legacy, difficult decisions must be made. Still, as Mr. Israel suggests, it is sad to see a brand being forced to sell off a product for which it has been known for generations.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

For the month of July only, all eGuides are on sale for half price. Further details about this sale are available here.

1 Minute Advice: 6 Changes in Consumer Behavior

According to consulting firm McKinsey, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed consumer behavior in at least six important ways:

1. Shopping: Catching up to the great digital migration to expand digital borders
2. E-services: New 'service platforms' to help consumers take care of business
3. Home: Finding a spot in the new 'command central' for all activities
4. Community: Localizing the experiences
5. Trust: Creating a space for health and affordability
6. Purpose: Holding brands to higher standards.

McKinsey say marketers need to "modernize and reimagine their playbooks" if they are to "succeed in COVID-19-altered markets."

Read more about each of the above six consumer behavior changes here: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/reimagining-marketing-in-the-next-normal?

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

For the month of July only, all eGuides are on sale for half price. Further details about this sale are available here.

 

1 Minute Advice: COVID-19 Causes Big Shifts for Marketers

The coronavirus pandemic is affecting the way marketers communicate as well as their marketing plans in significant ways. MarketingProfs reports on recent research conducted by LinkedIn and Vision Critical with 452 U.S. marketers. Here are some key findings:

• 56 percent of respondents say they have increased their usage of social media content
• 53 percent of respondents have increased their thought leadership
• 47 percent of respondents indicate their content has become more emotional in nature
• 67 percent of respondents have increased their use of webinars
• 43 percent of respondents have targeted audiences whose needs changed because of COVID-19.

Check out more results here.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

For the month of July only, all eGuides are on sale for half price. Further details about this sale are available here.

1 Minute Advice: Consumers Like Brand Surveys

If you've ever wondered whether or not surveys are an effective way to engage consumers, this is encouraging data. Marketing Charts reports that 85 percent of consumers share their opinions with brands through taking surveys. This makes the survey the most popular form of consumer feedback. The same percentage (85 percent) of consumers believes that brands do pay attention to consumer feedback.

It should be noted, however, that 72 percent of consumers believe they should receive some kind of reward for sharing their opinion via a survey. While surveys are far and away the most popular feedback mechanism, consumers also share opinions via posting online reviews (36 percent), contacting customer support (30 percent) and posting on social media (22 percent). Nearly 40 percent of Millennials use social media on a weekly basis to provide feedback to brands.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

For the month of July only, all eGuides are on sale for half price. Further details about this sale are available here.

July Sale: All eGuides Half Off!

We're celebrating July by cutting the prices on all eGuides in half! From July 1 through July 31 only, you can purchase any eGuide at half price. This special promotion is only available on Smashwords.com, where you can select your choice of eBook format, including Kindle (mobi), EPUB and PDF.

To take advantage of this half-price sale, just click on the eGuide titles below that interest you. When you check out, simply use the code SSW50 to get the eGuide of your choice at half price -- just $1.50 each. Order today!

Low Cost / No Cost Marketing 123
3 Steps to Effective Marketing with Little or No Money

B2B Marketing 123
A 3 Step Approach for Marketing to Businesses

Branding 123
Building a Breakthrough Brand in 3 Proven Steps
Second Edition

Product Launch 123
Launch a Product or Service in 3 Proven Steps

Sales Leads 123
Generating, Qualifying, and Converting Sales Leads in 3 Proven Steps

On Your Own 123
Launch a 1-Person Business in 3 Proven Steps

1 Minute Advice: 3 Key Tips for Brands

In an article for Think with Google, Mark Read, CEO of major advertising agency WPP, shares three tips for brands in a post-pandemic world:

1. Be visible
   Read advises, "marketers must resist the temptation to launch another plain vanilla corporate ad that talks about the current crisis but does little. Empathy is important, but it’s more important to actually do something to help. People are smart enough to work out when you do."
2. Be relevant
   According to Read, "Loyalty is up for grabs. We’re seeing more than one-third of U.S. consumers choosing brands they normally wouldn’t. And, it’s worth noting, 80% of Americans are likely to support a brand that has taken action and helped communities impacted by COVID-19. Don’t count on these new preferences being temporary."
3. Be disruptive
   Read says, "Planning now for an uncertain but hopeful future means making contingencies, anticipating different scenarios, and being ready to respond as things shift day to day. It’s moments like these when we all need to embrace creativity and collaboration, and to focus not only on getting through today, but on the possibilities of tomorrow."

More at: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/organizational-culture/helping-customers-in-a-disrupted-market/?

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Check out the new book featuring 156 best and worst brands of the 50s and 60s!

1 Minute Advice: Digital Shopping Soars

Not surprisingly, the pandemic that continues to plague the U.S. and the world has had a massive impact on consumers shopping online. eMarketer predicts that more than 204 million consumers age 14 and older will make a purchase online this year. The 45-plus age group will be especially active: two-thirds of online shoppers will be over 45, adding nearly 5 million new digital buyers in that category. 

eMarketer suggests "it’s likely that consumers who have tried online shopping for the first time will stick with it, at least for occasional purchases." That's good news for any business with an active digital presence and e-commerce capabilities.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Check out the new book featuring 156 best and worst brands of the 50s and 60s!

1 Minute Advice: Brands Must Stand Against Racism

According to a new flash poll conducted by leading PR firm Edelman:

"Sixty percent of respondents said that brands must take a stand to publicly speak out against racial injustice. That same 60 percent of Americans said that they will buy or boycott a brand based on if and how it responds to the current protests.

"Young adults—ages 18-34—are the most proactive in their response, with 78 percent of respondents saying that a brand must speak out, versus 48 percent of those 55 plus."

In addition, "Four times as many respondents say that taking a stand gains brand trust versus loses it."

According to CEO Richard Edelman, "This is a deeply important study. We have proven that brands can no longer dodge America’s original sin and third rail: systemic racism and inequality."

Read more about the poll here: https://www.edelman.com/research/universal-demand-change 

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Check out the new book featuring 156 best and worst brands of the 50s and 60s!

1 Minute Advice: 3 Strategies for a Soft Marketing Pipeline

Demand for many products and services is down right now -- so how do you get your marketing pipeline chugging along again? Writing for Marketing Profs, Bhaskar Roy of Workato shares three smart ideas:

1. Maximize inbound leads by responding in five minutes or less
   Roy cites research that indicates only 42 percent of B2B companies respond to leads within five days, much less five minutes! You can differentiate yourself by being extra responsive right now. Needs have changed and prospects could be looking for more responsive, new vendors.
2.  Make buyer intent data actionable
   Roy suggests automating processes so you can have buyer intent data available quickly. High-intent accounts need to be quickly identified so sales people can act on them immediately.
3. Provide incentive to attend virtual events
   Virtual events have become the leading if not the only option in many cases right now. Roy suggests using "high-quality, engaging content that provides real value and makes your audience feel good about themselves for attending, and think about how you'll get them to not only attend but also stick around for the entire event."

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Check out the new book featuring 156 best and worst brands of the 50s and 60s!