University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
UnMarketing
Book

UnMarketing

Stop Marketing. Start Engaging.

Scott Stratten
Wiley, 2010
Buy book or audiobook

Read offline

Amazon Kindle

Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Concrete Examples
  • Engaging

Recommendation

Traditional marketing strategies have lost steam as social networking and other tools provide companies with more options for engaging directly with potential and current customers. The “UnMarketing” way encourages connecting, listening and engaging. Scott Stratton delivers his unmarketing advice in a series of vignettes written in a personable, humorous style. Though the author breaks little new ground here, getAbstract recommends his entertaining stories, examples and how-tos. They perfectly illustrate how to stop marketing and start unmarketing to make friends, attract new business and retain current customers.

Summary

Create Customer Relationships with “UnMarketing”

Relationships build businesses. Unmarketing discards cold calling and other traditional techniques and embraces a method based on connecting and engaging. Unmarketing lets you gain trust and eventually turn prospects into customers.

No business instantly earns trust. Marketers advertising in the yellow pages hope customers will choose their company out of all the competitors listed. But why would prospects select a company they don’t know? A business applying unmarketing may instead suggest that prospects subscribe to an email newsletter or visit a blog for advice. This allows potential customers to get to know a firm and develop sufficient trust for the next step: a complimentary consult.

Consider small-scale free offers. Which would more likely entice you to try a new restaurant: an ad or an invitation to sample a select dish for free? There is an initial outlay of costs and resources involved in inviting nearby residents for a limited seating tasting. But if they love the food, they’ll come back. An ad can’t convince them to pay for food they’ve never tried.

An artist who engages prospective clients doesn...

About the Author

Scott Stratten, president of UnMarketing.com, is a consultant whose clients’ videos have garnered more than 60 millions views online.

Comment on this summary