Marketing is an integral tool for any successful business strategy. It is a constantly evolving process of communicating and promoting a product or service to its target audience. And when prepared and implemented correctly, marketing can generate more sales and revenue.
Whether you sell products online or own a local business, you must find the right marketing strategies to grow your audience. But because there are many different types, figuring out which is ideal for your business can be very unclear.
In this article, we will share the four major types of marketing and how they can be used effectively in their different forms to promote your brand.
The Different Types of Marketing
Traditional Marketing
This is also known as print media advertising and out-of-home marketing campaigns. It is the oldest form of marketing that existed before the internet, and it is especially needed when an advertiser wants to reach the local audience quickly.
Traditional marketing relies on offline strategies, like direct mail (brochures, flyers, letters, postcards), direct sales, tradeshows, print advertising (coupon books, newspapers, billboards, magazines), television and radio.
Although not all traditional marketing methods are relevant in this modern age, there are still several methods that a modern marketer can select.
1. Print Marketing
Print marketing is one of the oldest forms, which creates awareness of a product or service to target prospective clients via offline means. Email adverts, brochures, ads in a newspaper, flyers, yellow pages, and are some examples to reach wider audiences.
This marketing method is expensive, however, but the consumers today who enjoy looking at ads prefer, by a huge margin, ads in print magazines.
2. Billboard Marketing
Billboards are still very common now, like in the 80s, and they feature content on larger physical surfaces, exposing more consumers to a brand. All billboards follow the same principles of print marketing – being image focused with a small amount of text with eye-catching images, which is a great way to raise brand awareness.
But it gets challenging to calculate the ROI on a billboard. They’re not a direct response marketing tactic but focused on creating brand awareness. Hence, billboards are more about the long-term game than short-term sales, as they do not immediately bring in a rush of sales and revenue.
3. Event Marketing
This considers public events where a business can converse with customers and spread its brand through physical materials. Each event allows marketers to meet people in the relevant industry in bulk.
They get to answer any queries from clients in doubts, share about their brand or company’s, and get extra new customers. Bear in mind that interactions may take different forms. It could be networking, trying out a product or watching a product demonstration, participating in a seminar or conference, attending launches, etc.
4. Referral Marketing
Referral marketing (word-of-mouth) takes advantage of your existing customers to speak on behalf of your brand. It typically costs little to execute (some companies provide referral payments to customers who bring in other customers).
Word-of-mouth marketing can take many forms. It can start as a PR or referral campaign with incentives for spreading the company’s message.
Digital Marketing
Digital marketing, also known as online marketing or internet marketing, is the modern style of marketing opposite to traditional marketing, and it leverages the internet to reach the target audience.
While traditional mediums like magazines, television, radio, etc., are still used today, the digital marketplace has made room for many new digital marketing opportunities.
They enjoy some advantages over the traditional space because, going digital, businesses can control what and how their target audiences see their ads, and they can measure the results of their advertisements in real-time.
1. Content Marketing
This focuses on creating interesting, relevant, and valuable content that attracts an audience and converts them into customers. This type of marketing is all about providing value to your potential customers rather than just promoting a product or service.
It can be done in various content types, like blog posts, infographics, videos and vlogs, podcasts, webinars, eBooks, quizzes, templates, datasheets, etc. social media, emails, or via other channels, where each channel may demand a different format.
Marketers are switching to this type of style because it pushes SEO traffic and boosts the number of customers, and even the and quality aslo.
2. Social Media Marketing
This involves using social media channels (like Instagram, SnapChat, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube) to promote a brand or product through relatable content. The methods can be free (engaging and sharing great content) or paid (buying ads on those networks).
The marketer has to develop targeted marketing ad campaigns and timely posts (or also posts offering special offers, e.g. giveaways), all in the bid to increase social media engagement with brands and boost revenue.
In some cases (or all), marketers need to obtain detailed demographic information about locations, ages, sex, and specific hours on the site to pinpoint particular target groups for campaigns.
An advantage of Social Media Marketing is the interaction potential and the possibility of getting closer to your audience. A disadvantage is, sometimes, the engagement and conversions do not leave your social media handle page, so no traffic goes to the intended site.
3. Email Marketing
This is still one of the most effective channels of marketing a brand when used strategically, and it involves delivering content and promotional offers to customers through email.
Typically, marketers use email marketing software to automate the process, forward customized emails, and even add analytics functions and performance optimization.
By monitoring key performances, brands can learn which email marketing campaigns have direction and which do not.
4. Mobile Marketing
This involves getting across to customers via mobile devices. Marketing to mobile devices can include push notifications, text messages, in-game marketing, QR codes, and other strategies. And given the vast number of mobile users, it is logical for marketers to concentrate on the mobile marketing style.
In contrasting to other marketing streams, marketing emails are shared only with the clients that have authorized a go-ahead to the brand. Here, the customers care about what the brands offer. This is contrary to social media ads, where it is not your discretion as to whether you want to see ads or not.
5. Influencer Marketing
This type of social media marketing relies on how viral the social media influencers, who are paid to promote and endorse products, are. The key is to find the perfect influencer who aligns with your brand purpose and target audience, because a trusted influencer’s endorsement can help build credibility and trust with potential customers.
Digital influencers may produce specific content for your brand if it fits their voice, and their followers’ loyalty may get many new clients to your brand. This type of marketing is effective because following others’ examples or advice helps people to make choices.
6. SEO Marketing
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is an element of digital marketing that assists businesses in improving their online visibility and attracting organic traffic by optimizing websites and online content.
It lets your content rank in the top positions of search engines. Thereby, your website will be found by someone actively looking for what you have to offer. To apply SEO, you should know the keywords that the audience you want to reach is searching for. Then, you must develop your content around those queries.
7. Affiliate Marketing
Like referral marketing, it maximizes the presence of others to help support your brand’s products and services in exchange for a commission. It involves partnering with individuals or organizations, known as affiliates, who promote through their website, social media channels, blog, or other platforms.
This method allows for easy tracking and measurement of performance, as businesses can track clicks, conversions, and other metrics to weigh the effectiveness of their affiliate program.
8. Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
This model is popularly used to drive website traffic and generate leads and sales. An advertiser typically pays a fee to search engines (Amazon Advertising, Google Ads, or Microsoft Advertising) every time a user clicks on one of their ads.
The cost per click (CPC) depends on the site’s quality score and the chosen keyword’s competition. Brands generally use Google Ads tools to get any of the needed requirements.
Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing, which can also be called community marketing, content marketing or social media marketing, is about attracting prospective customers organically by providing some kind of value or experience. With inbound, instead of buying attention, you earn it.
This marketing system is for everyone who wants to foster more dynamic and lasting relationships with prospects, and consumers (initially driven by great content). If you know the sort of questions your target audience generally ask, inbound marketing content is the perfect method to give the answer.
This is a long-term strategy that connects many distinct digital marketing tactics to encourage potential customers to keep them coming back for more. It uses content marketing, SEO strategies, and email marketing to attract potential customers to interact with a brand or business more regularly.
Examples of inbound marketing include eBooks, blogs, newsletters, podcasts, whitepapers, and videos.
Outbound Marketing
Outbound marketing can be termed paid digital or top-of-funnel marketing. It focuses on pushing marketing messages out to many people who haven’t yet shown strong interest in a product. And this is usually through paid search ads, social media ads, cold calls, cold emails, etc. Think of it as marketing that initiates the first move.
This also is an “interruptive” traditional form of marketing which, although effective, can be intrusive and annoying to some customers. For example, many people hastily delete spam emails or hang up on telemarketers.
Outbound marketing attempts to increase awareness of a product or build do-able actions (e.g., subscribing, visiting a shop, buying) among the potential customers irrespective of their non-interaction.
Examples of outbound marketing include TV ads, PPC, and billboards.
Conclusion
The process of letting people know what you have to offer and making it simple for them to find and interact with you is through marketing. Choosing any type of marketing will not make you right or wrong when compared to your competitors. But it is better to pick some types from the list, study to see if they’ll work for your business, and adopt a unique strategy thereafter.
