“This is not, I repeat, not, a marketing textbook.” A strange, if somewhat bemusing opening to a book with the word ‘Marketing’ firmly placed in its title. The author then goes on to explain why it is not a marketing textbook, which also becomes apparent as you read the chapters.
This book will not tell you how to market your practice, but it will give you plenty to think about when developing your own marketing strategy. It will give you ‘pointers’ in the right direction and make sure you have considered all aspects of marketing from billboards, to print, to digital and social media: and it will, help you to decide on which forms of marketing are best for your business.
It will also help you think about who you are marketing to. Who are your prospects and where do they come from? It will make you consider different approaches to marketing based on whether you are appealing to the clients themselves, their significant others, their local doctors or their insurance companies. Yes, I mention insurance companies because this book has a significant US market bias, although many of the concepts could be adopted globally.
The book is very well laid out. I liked the long chapters, broken down into very manageable sections, enabling the reader to pick it up and put it down again as time allows. It also enables the reader to find relevant topics easily. I like the different styles of writing used by the six different authors, each one penning their own chapter. However, the use of so many authors has led to some repetition of content in places and I wonder how much collaboration between the authors was undertaken.
I was surprised to find a chapter discussing comorbidity of disease in a marketing reference book, but it certainly made for interesting and, as it turns out, relevant reading. However, I’m not sure how beneficial the final chapter entitled ‘Marketing University and Other Nonprofit Audiology Clinics’ will be in the current UK market, unless some NHS clinics feel the need to market their services in order to ensure their survival.
Overall, this is a book that I will keep for reference as it is easy to read and is written in plain English; not in marketing jargon. It is not for the expert marketer, but for someone who needs guidance and ideas as to how to get round the world of marketing and develop a brand identity. It is for those who don’t know where to begin with developing a marketing strategy. This book will tell you the what, who and how of things you need to consider. Finally, I agree with the Brian Taylor when he states: “This is not, I repeat, not, a marketing textbook.”
