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BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS VOCABULARY · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

MARKETING
STRATEGIES

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1 Warm up

In pairs, match the images below to the correct definitions.

a) cold calling b) word of mouth

c) billboard advertising d) pay-per-click advertising
e) email marketing f) viral marketing
g) search engine optimization (SEO) h) social media marketing

1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8.

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2 Pre-listening task: vocabulary focus

Part A: Match words with the correct definitions.

1. Pay-per-click advertising is a low-cost method of targeting potential customers. (v)

2. Email marketing allows us to build customer loyalty. (collocation)

3. Our company blog helps us connect with people in our niche. (n)

4. The biggest advantage of billboard ads is their visibility. (n)

5. SEO is a great way of driving traffic to our website and generating leads. (collocation)

6. Cold calling is a waste of time. We no longer use it to contact prospects. (n)

7. Social media marketing helps us gain more exposure through word of mouth. (collocation)

8. Viral marketing gives us the best ROI. Considering the low cost of producing a short video clip, it’s
really worth it. (n)

a. attract potential customers to your business

b. create an emotional relationship between you and your customer

c. get public attention for your business through marketing, advertising, etc.

d. a potential customer for a company

e. the fact of attracting attention or being easy to see

f. try to have an effect on a particular group of people or a particular thing

g. a small section of the market for a particular kind of product or service

h. the amount of profit directly related to an expense or group of expenses

Part B: Complete the text below with the words and phrases from the above exercise. You may need
to change the tense of the word or phrase.

1
At work, my responsibility is to contact . As an organized person, I have created
2
my own computer program in order to . All I need to do is enter some
instructions, such as the age range and area, and the software does the rest. My boss was a bit
3
annoyed when he first found out that I was using a computer to potential
4
customers, but we started seeing good results, and I think he’s happy with the ,
considering that it’s cheaper to use my program than to hire more employees.

A friend of mine, who also works in marketing, has had less success with a similar method. He
5
tried to make his own phone application to for his business. After
6
spending a lot of money on the app, he discovered that his company’s hadn’t
increased at all. Apparently, there was a similar piece of software that was much more effective. In
7
the end, he decided to try something new. As his business was a idea (a virtual
8
friend for lonely dogs), he decided to focus on rather than trying
to attract huge numbers of clients.

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Discuss these questions in pairs.

1. How can a new business gain more exposure and increase its visibility?

2. Is it more important for a small business to target new prospects or focus on building customer
loyalty?

3. Do you think that some new businesses don’t consider ROI when planning a marketing strategy?
What other mistakes might a new business owner make?

4. Is it easier or more difficult for niche businesses to generate leads?

3 Listening for specific information

Listen to the report. Complete the gaps with the items mentioned in the recording next to the things
they relate to.

1. the number of years of experience Sarah Lewis has in marketing

2. the thing that most people want for their business

3. the best way to attract someone’s attention in the past

4. the number of spam emails that Adam has received this morning

5. Sarah’s first business

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4 Listening for comprehension

Listen to the report again. Answer the questions true, false or not given.

1. According to the host of the podcast, Sarah Lewis is a successful business owner.

2. Sarah’s first piece of advice is for business owners to do their research before spending money on
advertising.

3. According to Sarah, a new business has a choice between searching for customers, or attracting
customers.

4. Sarah gives two examples of items that can help to attract customers.

5. Sarah thinks that sending out emails is the best way to find new customers.

6. According to Sarah, most businesses are looking for the best way to gain more exposure.

7. Sarah’s second business was more successful than her first one.

8. Sarah’s second business offered products, rather than services.

5 Reading: general vocabulary

Part A: Match words with the correct definitions.

Group 1

1. display (v) a. put something in a place where people can see it easily

2. campaign (n) b. something that encourages you to do something

3. incentive (n) c. a series of planned activities that are intended to achieve a

particular social, commercial or political aim
4. crucial (adj.) d. extremely important, because it will affect other things

5. counterproductive (adj.) e. having the opposite effect to the one that was intended

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Group 2

1. investigate (v) a. without being aware

2. feature (n) b. a judgement that you make without having the exact details or
figures about the size, amount, cost, etc. of something
3. estimate (n) c. find out information and facts about a subject or problem by
study or research
4. expose (v) d. let somebody find out about something by giving them
experience of it or showing them what it is like
5. unconsciously (adv.) e. a special article or show about somebody/something in the
media

Part B: Look at the sentences below. In pairs, discuss what you think the underlined phrases in each
sentence could mean. Can you think of a time in which you made a decision because of a fear of
missing out? In which ways could a new company draw customers in?

• I bought the jacket when it was on sale because of a fear of missing out.
• In order to draw customers in, we paid a man to stand outside the shop in a bee costume.

6 Pre-reading task: reading for general understanding

You are going to read a text about four different types of marketing. Scan the text quickly and match
the headings to the correct paragraphs. One heading cannot be matched to any of the paragraphs in
the text and should be marked ‘Not given’.

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Marketing Your Business

If you want to promote your business and find new customers, there are a variety of methods you
can use. We look at four examples below.

1.

Perhaps the most obvious way to attract interest in your products or services is through advertising. Think of an
ad as a message from you to your potential customers. Ads are designed to make people feel certain emotions,
and as such, emotive language is often employed. For example, an ad encouraging customers to "buy our product
before it’s too late" is creating a fear of missing out. Ads can appear in many different types of media, such as
television, radio, newspapers or leaflets and flyers. Pop-up ads are an example of Internet advertising. Selecting
the correct media for your adverts is crucial: a feature in a local newspaper would be much more beneficial to a
small restaurant than broad internet marketing campaign.

2.

We’ve all seen special offers displayed in shop windows, or posted through our letterboxes. An example of a
sales promotion, a special offer creates an incentive for customers to make a purchase. Other forms include
competitions, free gifts, discount vouchers and loyalty cards. The idea is to draw the customer in with a lower-
than-usual price, with the hope that a sale will follow. Regular offers can generate brand loyalty. Promotions work
as a way of training your clients to want to return to you and make repeat purchases, but can, of course, involve
an up-front cost that might be too high for new businesses. There is also a danger of attracting discount-hunting
customers, who are unlikely to be loyal to your company in particular.

3.

For new business owners, the concept of direct marketing, in which a company approaches potential clients
directly in order to attempt to make a sale, may be particularly attractive. Approaches include sending bulk emails,
contacting individuals by phone or text message, or door-to-door efforts. While such methods may result in a
sale eventually, direct marketing is often counterproductive and can be expensive and time-consuming. Some
estimates put the total number of spam emails sent and received daily at almost 320 billion. We are so used to
receiving promotional emails that we often unconsciously block them out, and if they do make an impact, it is
usually a negative one.

4.

As an alternative to other methods of advertising, content marketing is, perhaps, the least direct. The focus here
is on creating material that attracts customers to a particular website. The prospect will then read or engage with
the content, which could be in video, audio, image or text form, before deciding to investigate your product or
service further, based on the information they have been exposed to. An example would be a website offering
reviews of products, with links to each item that the customer can follow. The writer of the review is usually paid
by the company responsible for the products, either directly or indirectly. While content marketing can feel more
natural, it can also appear less honest than more obvious approaches.

Sources: businessnewsdaily.com, entrepreneur.com, investopedia.com

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MARKETING STRATEGIES

7 Reading comprehension

Read the article again. Complete the sentences with between one to three words from the article.

1. Advertising may well be the way to attract interest in your business.

2. As a business, it is crucial to choose the media for your ads.

3. Special offers can encourage customers to .

4. The cost of offering may be a little too high for new businesses.

5. Approaching a potential client can be an alternative to other forms of advertising.

6. Customers often ignore emails, and any impact they may leave is usually a negative
one.

7. Content marketing focuses on the creation of material that prospects will with,
such as video, image, audio or text-based content.

8. Content marketing may seem less than other marketing methods.

8 Reading: marketing vocabulary

Part A: Using the text on page six for reference, complete the definitions of the marketing phrases
below by filling in the gaps with the correct phrases from the list.

customers deals effect items

money paper screen shop

1. discount voucher: a piece of that gives a customer the right to purchase a product
or service for a lower-than-usual price

2. pop-up ad: a type of ad that appears on a user’s computer even though it has not
been requested

3. loyalty card: a card given to customers by a to encourage them to shop there

regularly

4. brand loyalty: the fact of buying or services from the same brand

5. up-front cost: the that needs to be spent at the beginning of a new commercial
project, etc.

6. discount-hunting: trying to find cheap or special offers in many different shops

7. direct marketing: the business of selling products or services directly to by mail,

phone or the Internet

8. make an impact: the powerful that something has on somebody/something

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Part B: Complete the sentences with the correct word or phrase from Part A.

1. My shop is offering to encourage customers to try our products.

2. We’re hoping that our new ad will on customers.

3. My job involves . I have to make hundreds of phone calls a day!

4. I find really annoying. I use a special program to block them on

my computer.

5. If you want to create in your customers, you need to build a brand

that they will remember.

6. My parents used to go every week. My mother would never buy

an item if it wasn’t on sale.

7. If the of your advertising campaign is too much, you should consider

a different approach.

8. The local grocery store gave me a the other day. It actually made
me want to shop with them again so that I can get discounts in the future.

9 Talking Point

In pairs or small groups, discuss the following questions.

1. What are some advantages and disadvantages of advertising?

2. Are sales promotions effective for all types of businesses? Why/why not?
3. How can new businesses benefit from direct marketing?
4. Why do you think that content marketing has become more popular in recent years?
5. How will marketing change in the future?
6. Can you think of any marketing strategies that haven’t been mentioned in the lesson?
7. Is word-of-mouth marketing still possible in the twenty-first century? Can you think of any types
of businesses for which this type of advertising would be suitable?

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10 Roleplay activity

Work in three groups. Each group will be given one business roleplay from the options below.

Groups should roleplay a marketing ideas session, taking on the role of the marketing team for a
company. Using information from the lesson, each group should identify the best way to market
their given product or service.

1) A tech business that has created a new

type of phone that can read thoughts. The
phone will be aimed at high-end markets
at first.

2) A food delivery service that works on a

subscription base. The service is currently
limited to one small city.

3) A business that takes photos customers

have sent and turns them into luxury 3D
printed sculptures, which can be delivered
all over the world.

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