If you have a business or entrepreneurial project, this list will help you to make it famous. Here’s a compilation of the 25 extremely outstanding marketing strategies that a brand can use to reach its audience. You can choose the ones that suit you best. Creatively combine them, shake them and make a good marketing mix!
There are multiple ways that a company can use to reach the public at large. You can use various tools to attract and retain customers by meeting their needs. We have made a compilation of the most crucial ways to do marketing. We want to share it with you so that you can advertise without any interruptions.
The 5 great ways to do marketing.
To begin with, we are going to differentiate five major areas of marketing that encompass all the others. It also defines the different ways of advertising for “approaching” the consumer.
1. Interruption Marketing.
It is the type of marketing that has always been practiced in the traditional media. It consists of interrupting the user in their activity and offering them something striking that captures their attention.
Consumers are quite tired of this form of advertising and usually shy away from it because it is annoying. In fact, a very common practice when viewers watch television is to zap when the commercials arrive. In addition, for brands and companies, it is an expensive option that does not allow them to target exactly the customer profile they want to capture. But Interruption Marketing also has its advantages. It provides quick and easy to measure results.
Consumers in the United States are estimated to receive an average of one million such ads per year. One million! It’s a very high figure, don’t you think? Therefore, in order not to saturate the public too much, Interruption Marketing must be practiced in small doses.
2. Indirect or Permission Marketing.
Unlike interruption marketing, this way of doing marketing is not as direct and invasive. It is not outright advertising. It is a more subtle way of attracting potential consumers by offering them content and material of interest. With this Indirect or Permission Marketing, the user might get confused with the brand strategy. To this group belongs, for example, Content Marketing that we will see later.
3. Recommendation Marketing.
Before defining it, I ask you a question. Imagine there are two very good looking restaurants that you would like to try. You know one only from seeing it on the Internet and the other has been recommended to you by several friends. In which table reservations? If we survey our readers, surely the majority would choose the second option, right? Well, that’s Recommendation Marketing! Take advantage of “word of mouth” (or “tweet to tweet”) for the benefit of a brand. Because in the end …
This type of marketing is widely practiced on social networks, especially on Facebook, where the capacity for dissemination and viralization of recommendations is brutal. For this, companies must have registered consumers satisfied with their services. Those customers can become the best brand ambassadors.
4. Loyalty Marketing.
In advertising, it is often said that keeping a customer costs 10 times less than getting a new one. Following this maxim, many brands bet on Loyalty Marketing. In other words, use techniques and resources so that customers remain happy and do not go to the competition. The objective is that the relationship between the company and the consumer is as lasting and satisfactory as possible. A good way to achieve this is by knowing the buyer well (knowing their tastes, opinions, hobbies …) and then offering what interests them the most. Another loyalty strategy is to have special details with the customer such as gifts, offers, discounts or exclusive products.
This form of marketing works very well on platforms like Facebook or Instagram.
One of the main tools used to build customer loyalty in marketing is a CRM (Customer Relationship Management).
5. Sponsorships.
It is one of the most used marketing strategies and to which brands dedicate a good part of their budget. It consists of sponsoring events (sporting, musical, cultural …), content (blog articles, for example), videos, workshops, conferences or even spaces. The purpose of sponsorship is usually twofold: on the one hand, there is a commercial objective and, on the other, it serves to enhance the brand image. The fact that a company appears linked to certain events and is behind them helps to create and strengthen its branding. Social networks, in this case, are used, above all, to disseminate and publicize these Sponsorships.
20 Specific and Concrete Marketing Strategies.
Each type of marketing that we offer you below is part of one of the large groups that we have just defined. All strategies are complementary and compatible with each other. Neither rules out the others. Depending on the business, its objectives and its target audience, it will be advisable to implement one or more. Choose the ones that interest you the most.
6. Email Marketing.
It consists of using email (individually or collectively) to present products, services or special discounts to consumers.
If this communication channel is misused and the emails are sent to massive databases that do not belong to the brand, it can be invasive for the user and would fall within the Interruption Marketing. But used well, Email Marketing continues to be one of the most useful and effective tools for connecting with the public. For this, it is essential that companies obtain their customers’ data and implement a good strategy. You can use an free smtp server to send transactional emails for free, for people who does not know what is an smtp server here is an article for you.
Doing an Email Marketing campaign consists mainly of setting specific objectives (what I want to achieve with my emails), using newsletter design tools that optimize and facilitate the process, write well the messages that I want to transmit and measure the results of what I do. Some of the most used applications for creating and sending emails is Mailchimp or AWeber.
7. Pop-ups, banners and ads on web pages.
It is increasingly common to find ads when we browse the Internet. Some appear more discreetly on the side of the web. But there are also more invasive modalities that prevent reading the content of the page or seeing the images of a video. To prevent users from perceiving our advertising as SPAM, we must think, define and configure our campaigns well.
8. Affiliate Marketing.
This form of online marketing is similar to the one we have just seen but with an important nuance. To begin with, it has two main protagonists: the advertiser and the affiliate. The relationship between the two consists of the following: one company (advertiser) advertises itself on the website of another (affiliate) in exchange for a commission for each of the sales achieved through that site. So Affiliate Marketing only brings benefits if users click on the ad and make a purchase.
9. Content Marketing.
It is the basis of Online Marketing and consists of offering non-advertising information of interest to the user. The company provides useful and relevant content related to its sector to capture the attention of potential consumers who, later, can become customers. The idea is to get strangers to become friends, friends into customers, and customers into brand ambassadors. It is proven that this formula is currently one of the ones that work best. The user no longer wants companies to bombard him with direct mail.
If you want to know more about Content Marketing and how to position your articles,
10. Positioning in Search Engines.
Using the necessary tricks so that a brand appears among the first in the results offered by Internet search engines is another way of marketing. Search engine optimization is technically called SEO and is part of every Digital Marketing strategy.
11. Participation Marketing.
It consists of intervening in social networks, forums and Internet debates without a direct commercial spirit, simply so that they know you. It is important not to waste these connection channels with potential customers and to carry out a good strategy with which, basically, what we want is to attract followers. In social networks, one of the actions that works best is to be active. What does this mean? Leave your brand’s wall and participate in other profiles. In other words, “like”, comment and share what others publish. In short, be sociable.
12. Advertising on Social Networks.
Most social networks allow companies to create ads. The data shows that, for the moment, the most beneficial and profitable promotions are those of Facebook and Twitter. Perhaps it is because they have an advantage that other channels do not have: they allow advertising that is highly segmented and directed to a specific audience. For example, single men, between 25 and 40 years old, who live in Madrid and who like sports. The possibility of hitting and reaching exactly interesting users is very high. Other networks such as LinkedIn, YouTube or Pinterest also offer brands the option to advertise, although for now, the return on investment is not so obvious.
13. Video Marketing.
It is nothing more than using video to offer valuable content that is interesting, attractive and captures the attention of users. Unlike the conventional advertisements that we see on television, Video Marketing is usually used in the online environment, it is not so direct nor does it interrupt the activity of the viewer. Many times a video that goes viral on social networks can be the best advertisement for a brand or company. There are many different audiovisual formats that a brand can do: demonstration of how a product works, a promotional video where the company tells about its services, testimonials from various clients, interviews with experts, tutorial or screencast, photos with music, interactive video.
14. Marketing through Influencers.
A formula used by brands to gain visibility is to make themselves known to influencers in their sector. To put it simply: if you get into the boat to the referents of your field you will be able to multiply your diffusion. This type of marketing is used and works very well in Social Media. When brands “conquer” influencers and make them their ambassadors, the ability to reach many more people increases exponentially.
Now what is called unboxing is fashionable. It is a video in which someone is seen unpacking, testing and counting the functions or characteristics of a technological product. Some brands send their news to influencers so that they can unbox and spread it on their social networks. A good way to promote yourself? It looks like it is!
15. Growth Hacking.
This type of marketing has been established in the United States for years, but in Spain, it is still something new. It consists of implementing a set of specific tricks to grow a startup or small business. To create these tactics, the Growth Hacker must study your product or service very well, know (and use) all the possibilities that online marketing offers and, finally, use analytics to reach conclusions. Some Growth Hacking actions could be: offering a free online course in exchange for subscriptions, having special details with the most active followers of your social networks or using remarketing to show advertising of your brand to everyone whoever visits your website.
16. Online-offline connection.
It is a form of marketing that fosters the link between the “real” world and the online universe. It basically consists of taking the regular customers of a brand to its website or social networks by offering them something juicy in return. And also the reverse: promoting the followers of a company on the internet to take a specific action offline (or in the real world). For the online-offline connection to be really effective, the brand has to offer the user something really good that motivates them to get active.
17. Telemarketing.
They are the telephone calls that a brand makes directly to users to publicize their products or services. In Spain, telephone companies abuse this form of marketing a lot to offer discounts or new rates.
18. Print Advertising.
They are the ads we see in newspapers and magazines. In general, the publications that dedicate the most pages to advertising are the so-called feminine or “lifestyle” ones.
19. Television, radio and film advertisements.
They are the advertising breaks that are made in the middle of the programming. If the user is really interested in the content they are seeing, they have no choice but to “swallow” the ads they are shown. But if the consumer is not completely convinced or is not willing to see the advertising imposed on him, he renounces both: the advertisement and the content. So it is a risky formula for both parties and it does not always achieve the desired results.
20. Product placement.
It is to place a product or brand in a movie, series, television program or video game. This advertising technique, which was born in the United States, became very popular in the 80s and is still used in audiovisual content. The movie “The Truman Show” makes a parody of this type of marketing with the protagonist’s wife exaggerating the products she uses in her kitchen.
21. Outdoor advertising.
Outdoor Advertising has always existed. They are the advertising messages that are in public places: billboards, canopies, building facades, buses, metro stops… Some are really striking and manage to capture our attention. But, in general, we are so used to this bombardment of posters everywhere that in many cases we do not even notice.
We are also going to include in this group the flyers that are distributed on the street. In my opinion, an ineffective way of advertising because it is offered indiscriminately to all passers-by, regardless of whether they fit the target audience of the brand or company. In fact, what is the first thing you look for when they give you a brochure on the street? A trash can to get rid of it without even having read it!
22. Street Marketing.
They are advertising proposals in the street that are characterized by their creativity, originality and innovation. They go beyond the classic posters. They are usually eye-catching ideas that surprise the passerby and quickly capture their attention. Sometimes Street Marketing actions are so cool that they are considered art work.
23. Merchandising.
Pens, lighters, calendars, keyrings or T-shirts with a brand logo. That is Merchandising. This marketing technique has been used (and continues to be used) a lot to promote the activity of any company, character or event. Many businesses create these types of objects in order to give them to their regular customers and have a detail with them. Something that, by the way, works. Who doesn’t like to receive detail from time to time! It is one more way to keep them happy. Also, if you put the image of your brand on coffee cups you make sure that every time users have breakfast with it, they remember you.
Merchandising is also used to give greater diffusion to festivals, concerts, movies or television series. In general, a cap with the face of a Disney character sells more than one that does not wear it. That’s how it is.
24. Endomarketing.
Some advertising experts claim that every marketing strategy begins within the brand or company itself. That is if you want the public to speak well of your products or services, you must, first of all, convince and win over your own employees. This is Endomarketing. To achieve this, it is important to have your staff happy, motivated, involved, motivated and thus increase productivity and improve business. Everything is related. It is like the whiting that bites its tail. Happy employees, better products, and more satisfied customers.
25. Neuromarketing.
Neuromarketing is called advertising that sells sensations to the consumer. It is proven that people react to stimuli and that response will lead us to make decisions. Brands can take advantage of this information to achieve their goals. The colors, sounds, smells or images that we see can be decisive when purchasing a product or service. According to the data, 90% of purchase decisions are made unconsciously and quickly based on sensations. To give a concrete example, it has been studied that the smell that comes off when unwrapping Apple products causes comfort and safety. Is it intentional? Of course, without any doubt.
Neuromarketing applies to all phases of the product creation and promotion process. From the shape of the objects to their location in the places of sale or the music that is put in the background in the advertisements. Even the colors chosen for an e-commerce website can be key to business success.
What Marketing Strategy convinces you the most?
The world of marketing is exciting, don’t you think? There are so many different ways of approaching the consumer and trying to catch him that it is sometimes difficult to choose one.
Of all, what are your favorites? Perhaps one that we have not included in this compilation? What is clear is that the marketing strategies with the most future are those that offer something more to the user than mere advertising. Do you agree? We would love to know.
