Marketing book aids independents

A new book on retail marketing succeeds where other marketing books often fail in addressing the needs of the typical MRA member business.

Marketing Your Retail Store in the Internet Age, by Bob and Susan Negen of Whizbang! Training in Grand Haven, is full of practical suggestions for capitalizing on the competitive advantage that independent retailers have: their ability to build a genuine personal relationship with customers.

The book is written specifically for the small and mid-size independent business owner. The examples show that the authors, who train and consult for retailers, have plenty of experience working with this type of client.

It offers a good mix of general principles to bear in mind (“The real value in a customer comes after the first transaction.”) and specific, practical suggestions.

Unlike books that focus specifically on websites or e-mail marketing, this is a full-service marketing handbook that reviews and builds on the basics of marketing, but with a specific eye toward the changes in marketing brought about by the Internet. The authors seek to help retailers become what they call “new millennium merchants,” employing strategies and tactics designed for today’s retail environment.

The book lays out four steps: getting new customers, turning first-time buyers into regular customers, getting customers to shop more often and keeping customers for life.

These sections are divided into “key concepts,” “low-tech tactics” (non-Internet) and “high-tech tactics,” such as including valuable “expert” information included in your e-mail newsletter.

The sections on e-mail marketing and web-sites do a great job of starting with the basics (which more advanced readers can skip) and moving on to more sophisticated tactics. Even among independent retailers, there’s a range of technical ability and comfort level, but most retailers will find new and creative “high-tech” ideas in the book.

The authors also use a coding system to help a retailer quickly identify ideas that fit with his or her style and budget. Three scales—time, money and relationship-building, each indicated by a simple icon—show what each suggestion will require or provide. This way of visually indicating “what goes into” and “what results from” a tactic could be a time-saver for browsers.

The tone of the book is light and not at all academic. If anything, at times it reads too much like marketing copy than like a book, but most readers will enjoy the fun style.

A retailer with little training in marketing (or who needs to brush up) might read the book from cover to cover in a few evenings. Those with more marketing experience might browse it or use it as a “recipe” book, looking for the clearly labeled specific tactics.

Author Bob Negen owned the Mackinaw Kite Co. for 20 years, growing it from annual sales of $17,000 to $3 million before becoming a retail consultant. His wife and coauthor, Susan Negen, has an extensive background in retail as well—she’s a featured speaker at the upcoming MRA Retail Education Conference on March 5 (see page 1).

If you want to get more out of your marketing budget or you need some convincing that effective marketing can make a difference, this books for you. It’s a much smaller investment than another ad buy, and it might provide a much higher return on investment in the long run.

This review was written by staff writer Amy Buttery.