123 eGuides

1 Minute Advice: The Year's "Most Relevant" Brands

The latest "Brand Relevance Index" from Prophet measures brands across four characteristics generally shared by the most relevant: customer obsession; ruthlessness; pragmatism; distinct inspiration; and pervasive innovation. As reported by Marketing Charts, the ten most relevant brands for 2021 are:

1. Apple
2. Peloton
3. KitchenAid
4. Mayo Clinic
5. LEGO
6. Costco
7. Honda
8. Johns Hopkins Medicine
9. PlayStation
10. Amazon

This post is brought to you by 123 eGuides, publisher of authoritative, affordable guides to help small businesses get the most from your marketing. Now available: The updated, revised Third Edition of the popular eGuide, Branding 123, that details a 3-part system for how small marketers can build a breakthrough brand. Included in the Third Edition are profiles of 5 small brands that grew up using techniques similar to those outlined in Branding 123. Read more about this eGuide here.

1 Minute Advice: Avoid These "Marketing Dangers"

There are plenty of dangers lurking out there for marketers. MarketingSherpa reports in detail on eight dangers in a highly informative article. Among them are:

• Blindly trusting data - Don't place "blind trust in your tools and platforms to spit out accurate data and recommendations... Track everything!"
• Unnecessary barriers that turn off would-be customers - “Too many brands build sites full of unnecessary barriers that turn off would-be customers from buying and ruin long-term customer relationships. It's tempting, with so much technology – tracking data, CRM tools, loyalty and reward program systems – to glean as much information as possible from your customers during the email signup and/or checkout process."
• Using deceitful practices to make quick gains - Questionable practices intended to increase your own SEO rankings "may seem tempting to marketers that want results fast, and there are even people on the web who will happily teach you these techniques. But the cost can be quite high."

This post is brought to you by 123 eGuides, publisher of authoritative, affordable guides to help small businesses get the most from your marketing. Now available: The updated, revised Third Edition of the popular eGuide, Branding 123, that details a 3-part system for how small marketers can build a breakthrough brand. Included in the Third Edition are profiles of 5 small brands that grew up using techniques similar to those outlined in Branding 123. Read more about this eGuide here.

1 Minute Advice: Yes, Email is Still Effective

Last year may have been generally challenging for marketers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but one bright spot was the continued resilience of email marketing. Open rates increased even as the volume of email grew, according to the latest report on the state of email marketing, as reported by Marketing Charts. In a survey of both B2C and B2B marketers, 39 percent of respondents said email marketing's effectiveness was "holding steady," while 38 percent said it was improving slightly (30 percent) or improving significantly (8 percent). The top uses of email marketing by companies are communicating with customers (71 percent), building brand awareness (69 percent), communicating with prospects (52 percent) and generating revenue (52 percent).

This post is brought to you by 123 eGuides, publisher of authoritative, affordable guides to help small businesses get the most from your marketing. Now available: The updated, revised Third Edition of the popular eGuide, Branding 123, that details a 3-part system for how small marketers can build a breakthrough brand. Included in the Third Edition are profiles of 5 small brands that grew up using techniques similar to those outlined in Branding 123. Read more about this eGuide here.

All eGuides 50% Off, March 7 - 13, 2021!

To celebrate "Read an eBook Week," 123 eGuides is offering 50% off every eGuide from March 7 - 13, 2021 -- just $1.49 each!

Simply click on any one of the titles below. The accompanying link will take you to a page where you can read more about each guide and then order it in the digital format you prefer -- PDF, Kindle, EPUB, etc. When you check out, just include the code EBW50 to get the eGuide of your choice at half-price.

Branding 123
Building a Breakthrough Brand in 3 Proven Steps
Newly revised Third Edition

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

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

This offer is good from March 7 through March 13, 2021. Order today!

1 Minute Advice: Are You Keeping Up with the Evolving Marketing Funnel?

It used to be that marketers thought of a traditional, uncomplicated "marketing funnel" when they were involved in lead generation and qualification. Basically, a larger number of prospects were dumped into the top of the funnel; then, through a fairly simple qualification process, prospects moved down the funnel until a smaller number of customers dropped out at the bottom.

Nowadays, marketing is a lot more complex. According to consulting firm McKinsey, the marketing funnel has evolved, and it's time to practice "full-funnel marketing." McKinsey calls full-funnel marketing "an approach that combines the power of both brand building and performance marketing through linked teams, measurement systems, and key performance indicators (KPIs). By adopting full-funnel marketing, companies can become more relevant to their customers, develop a fuller and more accurate picture of marketing’s overall effectiveness, and generate more value without having to spend additional marketing dollars."

Read more about it here:
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/why-every-business-needs-a-full-funnel-marketing-strategy?

This post is brought to you by 123 eGuides, publisher of authoritative, affordable guides to help small businesses get the most from your marketing. Now available: The updated, revised Third Edition of the popular eGuide, Branding 123, that details a 3-part system for how small marketers can build a breakthrough brand. Included in the Third Edition are profiles of 5 small brands that grew up using techniques similar to those outlined in Branding 123. Read more about this eGuide here.