What are different types of Marketing or Marketing Strategies?
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Marketing is an art of getting products and services created, priced, communicated, and delivered to potential consumers by meeting the objectives of the organisation.
To address “the types of marketing” question, we will consider marketingas activity for promoting the brand and products of a business for achieving market growth. Itcan be put into two types – Traditional marketing and Digital marketing. The tool of reaching the customer may overlap in these two types. For example, Internet as a tool is also used for Direct marketing purposes like email.
Before the advent of the internet, marketing involved pretty basic activities of communicating with the masses or individuals through TV, radio, personal selling, public relations, sales promotions and (mail) posts, tele-calling, catalogue marketing, etc.
We will discuss major Traditional marketing and Digital marketing types below –
Traditional marketing tools –
1. Direct response marketing – TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc. carry ads of products that an individual can order by dialing a toll-free number. Almost all the TV channels have these kind of Ads where people from different walks of life share their experience of using the product and how a person can buy the same product exclusively by dialing a toll-free number or sending an email. These Ads can be for 5 minutes to 60 minutes. Some sellers have a dedicated channel of their own which broadcasts 24 hours and 7 days a week. For example, Home Shopping Network. We hear similar ads on radio stations.
2. Sponsorship – Sponsoring sports, cultural programs, music competitions, educational workshop, or other events that are followed by majority of the audience. The organisation pays a fee to have its name associated with such programs.
3. Organisations publications – Annual reports, brochures, articles, newsletters, magazines, etc. It is not necessary that this material will get picked up by communication media like newspapers, etc. Public relations team personally create these materials for the organisation.
4. Press Releases – a press release is released by the organisation to promote the organisation, a product, or a person. The PR team personally works on the news story to create a positive image. Writing article for the editorial page in a newspaper or a magazine – guest editorial, letters to the editor, etc. These can be in audio or audio-visual mode as well for radio and TV broadcasting.
5. Catalogue marketing – The organisations send details of their products in the form of a catalogue to the potential buyers. These can be in the form of a print media or even a CD or an online link.
6. Organizing events/ Event marketing – Organizing news conference, seminars, trade shows, competitions, etc. that will reach the masses.
7. Telemarketing – It involves reaching the potential customers over the phone to sell the product and services. To run a successful telemarketing campaign, the organisation has to rely on well researched customer data. The customer’s profile should match the product which the customer may buy. This is a tool that is gaining lot of significance as it reduces the cost of personal selling, and is considered reliable on following up on direct marketing campaigns. For example, after sending a catalogue or an offer via direct mail, telemarketing representatives do follow up calls to remind as well as influence buyers to buy the product or service. The organisations need to ensure that the telemarketing representatives are well trained on products as well as soft skills.
8. Cause-related marketing/ Public-Service activities – Contributing to marathon events, blood donation events, raising awareness about breast cancer, AIDS, etc. For example, the leading news channel NDTV often invests and carries full day coverage of awareness about building toilets, etc. in rural schools. Celebrities are often invited to visit one of these schools and share their views.
9. Personal selling is a face-to-face communication between seller and buyer to make a sale. Simply put, Personal selling is selling personally. A personal presentation or demo is given by the seller to the potential buyer.
10. Retail Marketing – Here the manufacturer sells its products to a retailer who in turn promotes and sells the products via presentation by their staff, shelf display, attractive offers, etc. The retailers promote the products, and create awareness and interest of their goods and services in an effort to generate sales from their consumers.
11. Word of Mouth Marketing – The awareness of the product takes place when a satisfied customer talks about the product in his/ her friend circle. Marketers create testimonials of the experience of their customers. This strategy is of great importance as it has a psychological influence and doesn’t costs the firm.
12. Outbound marketing – Here the organisations focus of letting their potential customers know about their brand and products available under their brand. The marketers select potential customers by doing market research and target them for generating sales.
13. Inbound marketing – Here the organisation makes their existing customers valued by reaching out to them for any feedback, newsletters about the company, information about new products, blogs and entries on social media. This creates a psychological satisfaction and over a period of time, the customer gives more business to the company.
14. Multi-level marketing (MLM) – It is a marketing strategy of selling products through a network of distributors. The profits are generated through sale of products to customers and commission made through the sale made by a recruited team member.It is also called pyramid selling, network marketing and referral marketing. Due to its Pyramid scheme, it is made illegal in some jurisdictions.
15. Relationship marketing – it focusses on customer retention and satisfaction. Studies have proved that a customer which stays loyal to an organisation account for 30% – 70% of the sales for an organisation. It extends to inbound marketing, Personal relations, social media, etc. Organisations maintain a database of their existing customers. Basis the customers buying behaviour, organisation reaches out to its customers to ensure they are satisfied. Efforts are made to retain the customer in case they stop buying company’s products like a magazine, etc. To study this in detail, kindly check The Super Customer and Customer Relationship
16. Community Marketing – It focusses on engaging the existing customers in an active and open conversation. A community is made which consists of existing customers and needs of this group are addressed. This helps organisations understand the unfulfilled needs and problems of the existing customers. The customers feel valued and they recommend the organisations products in their social circle. They not only help get new customers but also help in improving the existing product and creating a new product. This is achieved through online social networking, community or membership enrolment, partnerships, and even engaging the participation of customers to elect community officials or board members.
17. Database marketing – It is a form of direct marketing where database if used to target existing as well as potential customers. The selected customers are reached through personalised messages via email, post, etc.
18. Content marketing – Organisations create and publish content to educate potential as well as existing buyers about the brand and its products.
19. Cross-Media marketing – Organisations utilise multiple channels to communicate with their customers like email, post, online advertisements, TV, Radio, in-store promotions (e.g. samples), personal selling.
20. Product placements – Placing a company’s product on Television shows, movies, special events, video games, or book is product placement. On various reality TV shows one can see the judges consuming different types of colas with company’s names distinctly visible, giving away Kitkat, etc. at kids shows.
21. Speeches – Executives from the organisation often address media or give talks at various shows like trade shows, discussion forums, etc. This builds the company’s image and value.
Digital or Internet advertising –
Internet advertising has gained lot of momentum in recent times as most of the regions in the world have access to internet. Advertisers look for the most accessed websites to advertise their products. The internet sites take fees for giving space on their web page. The cost of preparing an internet advertisement is also less as compared to television, etc.
As online shopping is mostly opted for by buyers, an online advertisement takes the interested buyers directly to the shopping webpage. The advertisers have to ensure that the content of advertisement is attractive and appealing to the site visitor.
Internet advertising is only going to grow as it is not accessed only for information but also for entertainment. It may slowly replace television viewing through cable operators or dish TVs.Internet today is accessed for everything from reading news, buying merchandise, communication, information, relationships, etc. This gives a great opportunity for marketers to reach the masses directly and individually.
The internet advertising is not restricted geographically or has time constraints. Customers also have greater control of closing the advertisement or accessing it.
Online advertising is of different types like – Display advertising, sponsorship, Affiliate marketing, search engine marketing, Rich media, keyword advertising, Search engine optimization (SEO), and “pop ups”” and pop unders”, etc.
1. E-mail marketing – This is a very cost effective direct marketing tool. It can include newsletters, promotional offers to generate sales. The marketers can send the message at any time as it is at the discretion of the customer when to access the email. Most of the customers get irate to receive a telemarketing call at an unpleasant time. It is also easy and inexpensive to edit the email and send to different potential buyers.
2. Mobile marketing – The marketers try to reach out the prospective buyer via messages on their mobile phones like SMS, MMS, push notifications, mobile APS, etc. When a mobile user opens a certain APP, he/she may receive various notifications, ads, etc. promoting certain products. The APPs (Application) automatically detect a person’s location information and displays relevant promotion message. Organisations strive to make this tool as efficient and effective as possible. If the user is inclined to explore or buy a certain product, he/ she should face minimum hassle for the same.
3. In Display advertising or Banner advertising on internet, an advertiser charges some amount to display an advertisement banner for a certain period. It is aimed to tempt visitors to visit the advertiser site. Advertisers have to study the websites on which they can place their advertisement banners to ensure majority of the people visiting these sites are prospective buyers.
4. In Sponsorship, the marketers sponsor a section of a website and integrate their advertising message there. This gives more exposure to the visitors as compared to display advertising on internet.
5. In Affiliate marketing, the marketers place their advertisements with different websites and the fees is paid basis the traffic received by the advertisement.
6. Search Engine Marketing refers to the advertisements a visitor comes across when checking the search engine results.
7. In Rich Media the site visitor doesn’t needs to leave the website that he has visited but comes across drop-down boxes, sound on mouse-over, small games, etc.
8. Through Keyword advertising, the advertiser pays a search engine or a website to have his/ her link to the site when a visitor types the search words for accessing a site. If someone it typing “times”, the options that the person may get will be of some advertiser’s site on the top of search.
9. Social media marketing and blogging – In today’s times where the people spend on an average 3 hours on the internet, reaching them through social media and blogs becomes important for an organisation. It helps organisations to reach directly with the audience – consumers, investors, dealers, media, prospective buyers, etc.
10. Search engine optimizations (SEO) is done to allow search engines to rank the advertisement a high result in search engine results. The websites visibility is increased in the search results.
11. In “pop-up” and “pop-under” marketing, an advertisement opens in a new window. In Pop-up the visitor sees the pop-up while in pop-under the advertiser’s site opens under the site he/ she visited. So when the visitor closes the site, the advertisement is seen. These are mostly not opted for as these are irritating and most of the web browsers have “pop-up blockers” preinstalled.
12. Share of Voice – It is part of online advertising which is an ad revenue model depending on weight and percentage among advertisers. Each ad gets equal share of advertising weight on a website. There won’t be situations when one ad gets more exposure than the others.
To read in detail on the Promotion Mix and Promotion tools of Marketing, please check the chapters-