3.1 Introduction
This module will teach you about the importance of different marketing strategies, and the benefits of finding out the ones that are best for your business.
We will also look into the different marketing strategies and understand them in a better way, and how they can be applied in a practical way.
3.2 Different Types of Marketing Strategies
When it comes to promoting your brand and spreading awareness, marketing strategies help businesses to get their brand noticed and improve reach to their target audience.
These strategies help businesses reach out to their customers and educate them about their products and services. These strategies also help communicate the message of the company to the right audience for sales and promotional purposes.
There are several marketing strategies that businesses practice, and some new ones are being discovered on a daily basis. With the changing market trends and customer perception, marketing strategies keep evolving. Furthermore, if a business wants to grab a greater share of the market, it has to look into several strategies to promote its products and services. Using a couple of marketing strategies and sticking with them forever is not good for your business.
Let's take a look at some of the most common marketing strategies used by businesses:
Word of Mouth Marketing
Word of mouth marketing is a popular form of marketing, and it is highly acclaimed by consumers. This works by people reaching out to their friends, family members, and previous customers to learn about a product/service and its effects. In turn, they get more influenced by other people's opinion about any particular brand.
When someone wants to buy a new product, they will ask previous customers or look into customer reviews to decide whether the product is worth it or not. This type of marketing is highly effective and helps companies sell goods and services.
For instance, one customer may share a positive thing about your company to their Twitter followers, and in turn, these followers go to your company's website. Of course, this can work the opposite way, too, should a customer tweet something negative.
Mass Marketing
Mass marketing is a marketing strategy that is most commonly used for new products because marketers are looking to promote the newly launched product and spread awareness. To do this, they need to promote it on a large scale. This type of promotion can and does appear anywhere. For example, if a company launches a new energy drink, they will likely want to feature the adverts everywhere, including radio, television, magazine, social media and billboards.
This type of marketing works by reaching out to the mass audience. This marketing strategy is also used by brands that want a product to reach out to everyone or when the target audience is not selective.
Diversity Marketing
Diversity marketing is the type of marketing in which a marketer looks at every customer as a different individual. Since every individual is different from the other, the marketer has to examine and research the different types of people and how each one of them would react to a particular type of advertising.
A company that is targeting different ethnic groups and audiences belonging to different geographical locations, will have to create ads that are different for each part of the audience. The adverts for an African British audience will be different to the ones targeting the Asian British crowd.
This type of marketing is most commonly used by companies that target a national audience. If a marketer is going with this marketing strategy, then they should be careful not to let any community or group feel ashamed. This strategy requires extensive research on the different types of people on the given target audience, which may be difficult for some companies.
Seasonal Marketing
Do you see certain products and services advertised more during the Christmas season?
These products and services are being marketed through a marketing strategy known as seasonal marketing. We see winter clothes being promoted in the late autumn, for instance, because that's the time when people begin to shop for winter clothes. Similarly, soft drinks, juices, and soda are mostly promoted during the hot months when people are more likely to reach for cool, refreshing beverages.
Gifts companies use this strategy often, and will begin to promote products and services through seasonal marketing during the weeks or even months leading up to a certain holiday, i.e. Christmas or Halloween.
Close Range Marketing (CRM)
Close Range marketing, also known as proximity marketing, makes use of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to target customers in close proximity. A company sets up a CRM strategy to send promotional messages to anyone who is close to their store. These messages can only be sent to those who have their Wi-Fi or Bluetooth turned on, however.
These messages usually promote a brand's products and services or advertise sales. Some companies also ask customers to download their app to receive coupons and discounts. So, if a company's coupons and discount offers can only be seen by those who have their app, then they need to make sure that the texts they send are promoting their app so that their customers can get these updates. CRM has become more popular as technology has developed, as people are using mobile devices more often than ever.
Relationship Marketing
Relationship marketing is gradually gaining lots of attention by marketers and businesses. There was a time when businesses would only focus on selling their products and services. Today, every brand has come to realise that selling is not everything. They have understood that customer relationships hold the most value. When a brand tries to build connections and relationships with their customers, they can keep them hooked to their brand and also increase sales.
Many brands are organising events and connecting with their customers through social platforms to enhance their relationship with them. Customers who are happy with your efforts are the ones who will continue to buy from you. So, relationship marketing allows brands to get closer to customers, build relationships, and in turn, customers will buy.
Scarcity Marketing
Scarcity marketing is a type of psychological marketing in which the marketer tries to scare the customer using fear of shortage. When a company wants to make rapid sales, it tells the audience that they have limited stock. This makes people take immediate action in the fear that the product will disappear before they have a chance to buy it.
Have you ever been to a store where you tell the salesperson that you will come back to buy the product later and the salesperson tells you that they might be running out of it pretty soon? This is called scarcity marketing, and is used when companies want to sell their products immediately. They tell customers that the product will only be available for a short time. This is a great strategy to sell products at a higher price in a short period of time.
Call to Action Marketing
Call to action marketing is a type of web marketing in which businesses make use of online tools and techniques, along with certain aspects of web design, to convert website visitors into customers. Call to actions, or CTAs, attract visitors' attention and encourage them to click on the button, which leads to a subscription form or another page.
Ambush Marketing
This is the type of marketing in which businesses connect their product to an event without making any sponsorship agreement. This marketing strategy allows businesses to sell their products where customers will buy or take products directly to the customers. The name ambush is given to this strategy because the event organiser is not aware of this and it happens without their consent.
Cross Marketing
This is the type of marketing that involves the promotion of a product or service through different media and channels. If a product is being promoted on television, through cross marketing, it will also be promoted through magazines, radio commercials, and billboards.
The companies that want their product or service to reach the maximum audience make use of cross-marketing. Since different media target different audiences, a marketer who chooses this strategy wants to target the maximum number of people.
Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is a technologically advanced form of marketing in which businesses connect with their customers through online platforms, texts, emails, computers, tablets, and mobile phones. Digital marketing strategies have become quite prominent, and due to their effectiveness, these strategies are being used by every business.
When businesses connect to their customers on a one-on-one basis, it becomes easier to form relationships and keep them hooked to the brand. There are also several sub-strategies that come under digital marketing.
Direct Marketing
Direct marketing is another effective marketing strategy in which a business promotes its products/services directly to the customers. This type of marketing strategy allows businesses to target specific people and tell them about different products and services. This strategy is also very cost-effective and can make a strong impact.
When a business is making use of this strategy, they can promote their messages through direct mail, leaflets, flyers, pamphlets, texts, and door-to-door marketing. Although door-to-door is not practiced a lot today, it is still a part of direct marketing, and it can work well for some industries.
Event Marketing
Event marketing is a smart way to increase sales. Today, many brands are opting for event marketing strategies to attract customers. What happens in event marketing is that a brand organises and promotes its products at a certain event to make their products sell. Many businesses set up tables, stalls or tents at popular festivals to entice the audience into making a purchase.
Alliance Marketing
Alliance marketing is a type of marketing strategy in which two businesses join hands to promote their products and services with each other's help. Let's say you go to buy trousers from one shop and the salesperson tells you about the best shoes to go with the trousers you just bought. However, the shoes that the salesperson is promoting are from another shop down the road.
Since both of the brands sell different products, the businesses form an alliance that they will promote each other's products to save money and reach a greater number of customers. Alliances can only be formed between non-competitive companies, however.
Outbound Marketing
When businesses promote their products to specific bodies and groups of people to influence a larger group, then it is known as outbound marketing. In this marketing strategy, the company is not directly promoting its products, but it makes use of others to attract customers and tell them about their products and services. An example of outbound marketing is when you pay a person to promote your products to others, such as when products are being promoted on television shows by the host.
Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is the opposite of outbound marketing. When someone calls a store to get information about something, the operators often promote other products. If you call a restaurant chain to order a meal, for instance, the operator will tell you about a new deal and ask you if you'd like to add it to your order. This is an inbound marketing strategy where the main idea is to entice the customers that are already doing business with you.
Inbound marketing strategies are usually more effective than outbound strategies because a customer is already making a purchase.
Content Marketing
When a business writes and publishes content to promote their products and services, it is known as content marketing. This type of marketing is usually seen online, where businesses try to attract customers with their words. Content marketing is not limited to promotion alone, but in order to get customers' attention, businesses need to solve their problem and educate them about different things. When a customer receives value from a business through their content, that's when they want to do business with them.
Niche Marketing
Niche marketing is a perfect marketing strategy for businesses looking to do tremendously well. When a company is promoting a product that several other brands are also promoting, its chances of earning massive sales decrease. However, if a company targets a niche segment, then they will likely get a great response. Let's say all of your competitors are selling bicycles, but you decide to sell mountain bikes. This will target a niche market and turn you into a market leader within that niche. This strategy is most useful for overcrowded marketplaces.
Community Marketing
Community marketing is a marketing strategy in which businesses connect with their customers and talk to them about their needs and wants. They ask the customers to share their views and give suggestions. A great example of this type of marketing is social media. Many brands are getting in touch with their customers through their online pages and hearing their views. This strategy is not to make sales, but it is to establish solid relations with customers and to win over their trust.
Drip Marketing
When a business sends emails or text messages to its customers from time to time, then this strategy is known as drip marketing. This marketing strategy is not just used to promote products and services, and to make customers buy, but it is used to educate the customers and make them feel valued.
When a company sends valuable information to its customers through email messages, then the customers are more likely to read these emails. If a business is just trying to promote its products/services to earn more sales, this strategy may not be the best choice.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing has gained a lot of popularity during the recent years. This marketing strategy is new, advanced, and highly effective. When a company promotes its products and services through social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube, the strategy is known as social media marketing.
The reason that social media marketing is doing wonders for businesses is that it allows businesses to connect with their customers on a more personal level. Businesses can keep their customers updated about their latest campaigns and work; they can talk to them, solve their problems, and reply to them directly. Things like these make social media marketing an outstanding strategy for businesses.
B2B Marketing
B2B marketing is a marketing strategy where a business directly promotes its goods and services to another. Similar to consumer marketing, a company that employs B2B marketing must market based on price and value, instead of status, emotional and popularity triggers.
Promotional Marketing
Promotional marketing is a commonly used marketing strategy that businesses use to promote their products/services to increase sales. Businesses might also make use of this strategy when they are launching new products.
Contests, coupon, discounts, and free samples are different types of promotional marketing strategies that businesses use to entice customers into purchasing products/services.
B2C Marketing
B2C marketing is a marketing strategy which businesses use to directly promote their products/services to their customers. This strategy includes promotion of coupons, special offers, and discounts. A company makes use of these tactics to attract customers and urge them to make a purchase.
Reverse Marketing
Reverse marketing is the traditional technique of marketing in which a business makes customers come to them by making use of advertising tactics, but the company does not directly sell their products. Television commercials, newspaper ads, and other forms of media can be used to promote a message or target a problem to make customers come to the business for a solution. A good example of reverse marketing is Dove's 2004 ad campaign known as 'Real Beauty'. The brand did not focus on selling soap, but portrayed a true picture to the audience, which lead to its sales.
Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing is a relatively new marketing strategy in which businesses target customers on their mobile devices. Promotional messages and ads are sent to customers' devices when they turn on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or are near a target location.
Mobile marketing also includes personal promotion, or highly targeted promotion, in which a company sends specific messages to different customers. With this technique, a retail store can keep their customers up-to-date on the products that they usually buy from them. This marketing strategy is extremely effective as it allows businesses to target customers regardless of their location.
Telemarketing
Telemarketing is another type of marketing strategy in which businesses connect to their customers through the phone. In telemarketing, a salesperson calls customers and tries to sell products and services through verbal communication. Although this marketing strategy is not used by many businesses these days, it can still be really fruitful for some.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is another form of direct marketing, in which businesses connect to their customers directly through email messages.
These emails should not be too salesy and should contain information that could benefit the reader. Emails that are educational and valuable are the ones people tend to read. Email marketing also includes promotional messages that are sent to customers. If a clothing brand is launching its new collection, it will send emails to its customers to keep them informed. Similarly, businesses also send promotional offers through emails. Every email that is sent to the target audience consists of a call to action at the end of the mail. This CTA is the most effective tool that helps businesses make the readers take a desired action.
Personalised Marketing
Personalised marketing strategies are used by businesses to provide a point of differentiation to their customers. Personalised marketing is often used by big car brands such as Rolls Royce and Ferrari. These car companies offer personalised services to their clients for increased value. This marketing strategy allows businesses to turn customers into loyal customers by making them feel special.
Guerrilla Marketing
A more creative and cost-effective marketing strategy that involves a large group of people is known as guerrilla marketing. This marketing strategy includes unconventional methods of promotion and advertising. This type of marketing strategy is highly creative and is aimed at creating a buzz in the market. It is also very unique and attractive, which is the reason it gets the attention of a greater number of people. Another aim of guerrilla marketing is to make the campaign more memorable for the audience and let them get involved with it at a more personal level.
Cause-Related Marketing
Another highly-effective marketing strategy used by many businesses is cause-related marketing. When a business is selling its products and services to give a small part of its profit to help a cause, it is known as cause-related marketing. The reason that this type of marketing strategy is successful and results in great success is that people want to support good causes and help the people in need.
When a business tells its customers that it is going to give a portion of its profits to support a cause, people automatically want to make a purchase. Of course, businesses must follow through on this.
FACT
At the beginning of 2017, the total number of social media users in the UK had reached over 39 million users, with estimates going up to 42 million users.
Source: statista.com
3.3 Identify Your Strengths
Every marketer and business needs to understand their strengths. There are numerous marketing strategies, but in order to shine out and get good results, businesses need to focus on their marketing objectives first, and then pick the strategies that are a perfect fit for those goals.
Remember, the marketing strategy you choose will affect your business and its future.
Every strategy that you employ is a representation of your business. So, whatever you do, make sure it can bring the best out of your business. An important aspect of every company's marketing strategy is its strengths. That's the reason it is important for every business to conduct a SWOT analysis, or Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, which is what SWOT stands for. When a company performs this analysis, it can choose the right marketing strategies to target customer needs by focusing its strengths.
When a company identifies its strong points, it can present itself in a much more attractive way. By highlighting the good parts, the company can make all of its marketing efforts pay off. If your strongest point is customer service, then consider a marketing strategy that will enhance this strength and make you achieve your targets.
Module Summary
From drip and outbound marketing to niche and email marketing, there are a variety of known ways for a business to get their message out to their target customers. In turn, these customers will purchase goods and services from the company in question. Though all of these marketing strategies have the potential to be successful, not all of them will work in all situations, so it is up to the business owner/marketing team to research and work together to determine which strategies will work for them.
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