Customer Reviews

Business to Business Direct Marketing: Proven Direct Response Methods to Generate More Leads and Sales

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Many business people setting up shop these days desire to market their products and services to a variety of prospective customers, whether broad-based or targeting a specific audience, according to the sales objectives they plan to accomplish. Often overlooked as potential customers are fellow business people who are very much like themselves.

Robert Bly has written Business To Business Direct Marketing to offer a serious look at targeting other businesses. Special attention is needed to target fellow business people. Business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing requires two very different approaches. Bly points out that businesses must buy a variety of merchandise to keep their businesses operating and producing, whereas consumers are not obliged to buy anything and everything that hits the marketplace shelves. This is a key point for us to remember!

A perfect example of business-to-business marketing can be seen in the promotional incentive item industry. Thousands of companies and individual distributors sell those rubbery squeezable tension toys that come in hundreds of shapes, sizes, and colors. There is a tension toy for any company that wants to promote itself and someone has to make and sell these items! Anyone who attends tradeshows and job fairs can count the number of companies handing out those colored balls, sharks, animals, bananas, trucks, cellphones, and computers with company contact information stamped on them. I've got many of them adorning my office to remind me of the companies I do business with (or would like to!).

Bly provides a wealth of workable solutions to effectively market businesses through traditional and hi-tech methods such direct mail advertising, polished correspondence, brochures, newsletters, press releases, speaking engagements, multimedia presentations, telemarketing, and the Internet. All of these require talent and commitment. Bly will help prepare you to face these challenges!

This is a heavy hitting book - definitely not for beginners. This book is recommended for companies and business consultants who have already established themselves in the marketplace who want to promote themselves as truly professional. This is top-notch advice from someone who knows his business. Do you know how to effectively market your business? This book will get you results!

Get the jump on the competition! Guaranteed! This book is a proven way to boost the sales and increase the bottom line of any business! I have the track record to prove it.In the summer of 2000, it helped me close deals with three b-to-b clients. It also, after reading it five times in two months, enabled me to increase the sales and visibility of three other clients. And I did it all within the space of about five months.In no uncertain terms, the book helped me to increase the response rate to a number of direct marketing campaigns for myself and both service and produt oriented businesses.In this hefty volume, Bly explains the differences between consumer and b-to-b marketing. He shows the relation between "features" and "benefits" in copy as well as the effective use of technical info to sell various products in catalogs, ads, brochures and direct mail.Bly is the preeminent authority on b-to-b marketing who successfully writes for some of the largest businesses in the United States. His wealth of knowledge shines through.Besides showing you how to sell through direct marketing, he explains in detail how to measure and track your results. He gives tips on testing and explains what you should do before, during and after a campaign.His information on technical writing and selling technical products is especially useful, given the fact that he is an engineer.If you are serious about starting or improving a b-to-b direct marketing campaign, and you want details about the vital tools and mechanics of marketing, this is the book you should have.Be sure to get it before your competition does.

This book is well worth the cover price. It will make you think about every single word you put on your marketing material. I encourage sales professionals to read it too. Reason: So many of the Salespeople I consult with are responsible to write their own letters and are sending numerous emails to clients. The more you can understand the art of persuasion and word power, the better your sales!

Reading Business-to-business Direct Marketing was a real revelation to me.  I am a sales trainer and consultant and I had some difficulty in genuinely advising my clients on the copywriting  side of sales. I now realise I did not really understand the fundamentals of this rich and vast issue.  Thanks to this book I now feel able to evaluate clients' material and to give good and professional advise.  This book is the link between preparing the sales call and getting the sale. It is nothing less than an ongoing chain of valuable tips, from the first till the last page.

Business to Business Direct Marketing focuses on what you need to know as a business leader or as a copywriter to produce effective B2B direct marketing campaigns. Bob not only explains what needs to be done, by why. The book is filled with clear examples from past successful campaigns.

Whether you are a marketing manager or a copywriter, you need this book.

This book was a good buy. It covers all areas and medium where you can get in touch with potential customers (ads, mail, flyer, catalogs, sales brochures etc.). Mr. Bly always emphasizes the importance of including direct contact information. The book is full of useful hints, checklists, and examples of successful direct marketing measures.

The best book I've found on B2B marketing. Bly's straightforward writing style makes it easy to understand the different direct marketing mediums and how to utilize them for success, especially for lead generation and keeping your company's name first in a customer's mind. I amazed more businesses don't use these techniques. The chapters on hard sell and soft sell marketing should be read by every marketing manager as Bly explains where and how to use these selling techniques. Another great section in this book is the "Checklist of Direct Response Tips and Techniques" so you can refer to these bullet points when you need guidance in creating sales letters, direct mail packages, self-mailers, postcards, ads, brochures, catalogs, newsletters, websites and more.

One of the few business books I have not regreted buying. Will give it to my marketing communications manager, fair and events manager, etc to read the respective sections. The part about "lazy" copywriting is especially amusing.

All too often direct mail is given short shrift by many in marketing and advertising. After all, it has no place in today's Web world, right?

Wrong!

Bob Bly, one of the acknowledged "jedi masters" of direct mail marketing provides a clear, well-written (duh) guide that should be near-at-hand of anyone who has something they want to sell. Why? Because well-crafted words work! Following the key principals that Bob lays out here will help you write promotional material that better connects with the reader.

It doesn't matter if you have to write a direct mail letter, a sales letter, a Web page, a brochure, or whatever. Your goal is to connect with the reader, to establish a level or rapport, and, dare I say it, trust.

And if you connect better with your audience, you'll sell more. Simple as that.

The book offers many useful advices, which I have already applied at work. Some issues regarding e-marketing are little bit outdated (the book was written in 1998), but it's overall still a good investment.