Read the corresponding Print Solutions marketing cover story, "Marketing Magic"

Bonus Marketing Tip

Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba are co-authors of Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force (www.creatingcustomerevangelists.com).

* Give customers emotional connections to your company.
"Who wants to support a company whose values are out of whack with the rest of society?" asks McConnell and Huba. "Companies driven solely by quarterly sales figures and stock price increases demonstrate they're in business largely for themselves. But companies with a cause—how they're making the world a better place—often create emotional connections with customers. Those customers, in turn, tend to become its advocates and biggest supporters."

McConnell and Huba say firms create customer "evangelists" in two ways: 1) Adopting a charitable cause—form a partnership with a charitable cause like beauty-supplies maker Avon does breast cancer research. 2) Selling dreams instead of products—communicate a popular emotion in brochures, press releases and online like beer company Corona communicates escapism or Southwest Airlines communicates freedom.