PyroMarketing

I recently finished PyroMarketing by Greg Stielstra, Vice President of Marketing for Christian Books at Thomas Nelson Publishers. Stielstra promotes a four-step strategy to ignite customer evangelists that’s based on a fire metaphor. Basically, these are the four steps:

1. Gather the driest tinder. Promote to the people most likely to buy.
2. Touch it with the match. Give them an experience with your product or service.
3. Fan the flames. Help them tell others.
4. Save the coals. Keep a record of who they are.

Here are some of my favorite thoughts from the book:

• "Relevance is the key. Relevance, more than reach, more than frequency, more than creativity, more than anything else, determines whether your message will sell your product or alienate the consumer."
• "If you want people’s attention, be attentive to their needs. If you want them to trust you, then be trustworthy. If you want them to believe you, tell them the truth."
• "The personal recommendation of a friend or family member is the most influential marketing force."
• "Louder ads won’t help."
• "…though our eyes and ears take them in, our brain stops paying attention to advertisements we encounter repeatedly."
• "If you want people to remember your product, it’s best to let them experience it."
• "Products promoted with puffery and exaggeration will disappoint the people who buy them. When advertising overpromises, products underdeliver."
• "People spread messages more effectively than advertising."
• "Once you know who your customers are and how to contact them, you may be tempted to contact them too often, or to send them messages they haven’t requested, or promotions for products that don’t really interest them. Don’t!"