Creating Successful Marketing in Seven Steps
by Martin Cohn

Jay Conrad Levinson is the author of the Guerilla Marketing series of books. In his Guerilla Marketing for the New Millennium, he offers the following seven steps for creating successful marketing.

1. Find the inherent interest of your product or service. Why would someone want to buy from you?

2. Translate the inherent interest into a benefit. People buy benefits, not features.

3. State your benefits as believably as possible. Be honest and don't exaggerate. State your benefit in such a way so that it is accepted without a doubt.

4. Get people's attention beyond advertising. Many ads are memorable but the products advertised are forgettable. Is the product or service interesting?

5. Motivate toward action. Successful marketing tells people exactly what you want them to do, such as visit a store, make a phone call, fill out a coupon, etc.

6. Communicate clearly. Don't be too close to your message so you understand it but your audience doesn't. If one out of ten people don't know what you are talking about then ten per cent of your audience will misunderstand. That means that if you send out 1000 brochures, 100 people will miss the point. Aim to have one hundred per cent of the audience get the point.

7. Measure your finished product against your creative strategy. Whether it's an ad, letter or brochure, it should be created and used only if it helps you achieve your defined objectives.