Loveable Marketing Campaigns

This slim primer offers basic tips on digital marketing via the Internet, social media and specialized software called HubSpot.

Marketing might call to mind distinctly unlovable commercials featuring postnasal drip, dandruff, stomach ailments, exterminators and pushy auto salesmen. However, Bodnarchuk, who runs a marketing firm in Toronto called N5R, takes the edge off the M-word, touting lovable marketing as an approach that will make people respond to pitches “time and time again.” In this quick read, made quicker by copious diagrams, graphics and extra-large font, the author walks readers through the basics of digital marketing. Elementary steps include developing a marketing offer to lure visitors to websites; capturing their information, including email addresses; analyzing response rates; and qualifying sales leads, among other tasks. He gives little detail on any particular point, though, so the book tends to come off as a marketing glossary and sales pitch for N5R rather than a how-to guide for readers who’d like to launch their own Internet campaigns. For instance, for those suffering from a low click-through rate, Bodnarchuk recommends calls to action—freebies offered on a website in exchange for contact info—to “make your offer more compelling.” Yet he doesn’t give any suggestions as to how. Similarly, he notes that “one of the best things you can do to capture readers’ attention…is to write an awesome blog title.” He’s silent on the tricky business of writing awesome blog titles, however, providing neither examples of bad ones nor suggestions for good ones. Elsewhere, he merely advises readers to call or visit N5R to get the job done. Like any good salesman, Bodnarchuk is prone to hyperbole, often punctuating his advice with wow words like “Awesome,” though the enthusiasm isn’t quite as catchy on the printed page as it might be in person or on the phone. The flashy, full-color presentation is impressive, but a few of the blurry screenshots are barely legible, and the illustrations sometimes cramp the page. Additionally, two succeeding pages repeat the same text word for word.

A thin volume that might serve as a quick reference and introduction to marketing terms for Web initiates, but there’s not much deep insight beyond the basics.