Best Web sites for marketing tips
Written by Shirley Lichti for The Record, January 23, 2002

Anyone who has ever searched for marketing information on the Internet realizes just how daunting the task can be. The problem is sifting through and quickly getting to sites that provide useful information and resources.

To help with this, I asked a variety of people who work in marketing to recommend Web sites they consider to be the best. Here's what they had to say.

Dr. Gord McDougall, professor of marketing, School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University

MarketingProfs (www.MarketingProfs.com) offers marketing know-how from marketing professors and professionals. It has all the basics, from what is marketing, to very specific topics - for example, viral marketing on the Net.

It is well laid out, has a search engine, and the articles are easy to read. Most advice and articles are practical but are based on fundamental marketing principles. While a “true” academic would say they are fluff, I believe there is substance to most of them.

There is continual updating with new articles - a compelling reason to return. [You can subscribe to their free bi-weekly newsletter as well.] Overall, the breadth and depth of the articles is very good. Examples used in the articles are easy to relate to and easy to understand. The site serves the needs of beginners (see the tutorials) to us “experienced” folks. That’s not easy to do, but I think they do it.

Peggy Jarvie, vice president of brand expression at Clarica (with help from Mary Margaret, manager, corporate advertising and promotion and Dave Dineen, brand creative director)

We like the Marketing Magazine site (www.marketingmag.ca) because the daily news email keeps us up to date on current news and the articles provide good analysis of current issues and changes in the industry. [Note: This is a Canadian weekly magazine. While there is a general section to this Web site, the most useful content is only available to subscribers. Marketing Daily Service is an additional fee-based service.]

We also like BrandChannel (www.brandchannel.com). It has an excellent focus on brand, with case studies, reviews, research and background info. [The site is international in scope and offers free weekly updates.]

And we read Strategy Magazine regularly. The Internet site (www.strategymag.com) provides a Canadian perspective, and has a free, searchable archive for finding past articles.

Glen Drummond, partner at Quarry Integrated Communications

The Harvard Business Review (www.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbr) has a good site. It offers authoritative, provocative, ground-breaking, peer-reviewed ideas about business. The site's content provides access to the full archive of what has been published, searchable by author, title, keyword, and date. In addition, it places this information in the context of the new ideas that are emerging at any given time.

They have created a distinctive “branded experience,” something that few sites do well today. The effect is that the visitor’s expectations are fulfilled and surpassed, reinforcing the meaning of the brand and the relevance of that meaning in the visitor’s mind, and predisposing the visitor to a habit of repeated visits.

Not only is the information available at varying degrees of depth, it is also available instantly via e-commerce transaction and PDF download. People will pay for the right ideas at the right time.

Joanne Yates, marketing services specialist at Northern Digital

One site that gives a lot of basic information for any level of marketer is found at www.knowthis.com. It helps you determine if you’ve covered all the bases when you are working on a project and gives you definitions of terms you may not be familiar with. The site has information in many marketing areas such as advertising, customer relations, sales, market research, Internet marketing and even job hunting. There is information about other useful sites as well. It's great for reference or as a learning tool.

A good site for web marketing tips and best practices is www.wilsonweb.com. The site is an online magazine with useful Internet questions about Web marketing. Issues have questions and answers. The site also covers hot topic books and has a career centre. The drawback with both sites above is that they are American. As Canadians we have to take this into consideration.

Victor Krahn, president of The Enterprising Edge (a small business training program delivered in part via the Internet)

We recommend three Web sites to our clients. Number one on the list is www.gmarketing.com from Guerilla Marketing. This site gives our clients access to numerous formats and resources. The site is comprehensive and includes a weekly update letter, a newsletter, presentations, speakers and trainers, a vendor’s and resource directory and three daily tips: Marketing Daily, Online Daily and Selling Daily.

Most individuals who are starting a business don't know what type of questions they need to ask as they are planning their marketing strategies or when meeting with a marketing firm. This site helps them formulate their questions. And it always has fresh and new ideas so even the seasoned entrepreneur can get new marketing ideas and resources.

The two other sites that we recommend are:
Inc Magazine (www.inc.com/marketing_and_advertising)
Business Owner Café (www.businessonwersidea.café.com)

Close Window