If you started researching marketing types, you must have come across numerous names and definitions that make it clear that marketing has numerous derivations.
Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals. – American Marketing Association
Within this concept, marketing is subdivided into numerous types, each using specific elements to achieve the same goal: to meet needs profitably.
Marketing is not limited to the relationship between companies and the consumer market.
It is everywhere, especially in everyday situations for all of us.
Situations are sometimes so banal that you don’t even realize that a marketing action is happening in front of your eyes.
A conversation between friends, where one is impressed by the shine of the other’s hair and wants to know what she is doing to get that result. When one explains to another about their treatment and tells which products they are using, they automatically engage their friend to seek the same solution. They’re doing marketing.
All these possibilities generate infinite opportunities for companies and their brands, which start to adopt specific types of marketing for each of these situations.
Today, let’s get to know the most used and most efficient types of marketing to drive business.
Seven Types of Marketing To Boost Your Business
1. Digital Marketing
When talking about types of marketing, I decided to start with Digital Marketing because we mostly use it.
Digital Marketing brings together all the marketing actions of a business that take place in the digital environment, such as:
- Generate organic traffic and increase audience through search engine optimization (SEO).
- Create a relationship with the audience through email marketing.
- Create and maintain customer relationships through social media management.
- Invest in the production of strategic content.
The goal is to meet needs profitably but in the digital environment. It is not exclusive to virtual companies, but an obligation of all businesses since the efficiency of offline marketing is not the same.
Success Case
Ice cream brand Ben and Jerry’s used digital marketing strategies to launch new flavors, which used high-quality products such as natural jellies and caramel.
Instead of simply putting the new product up for sale, the brand decided to put content on the production process and product photos on its website to arouse the desire to buy and, of course, where to find the news.
In addition, several reviews and articles from consumers who had already tasted the new flavors began to appear, giving more power to word of mouth.
2. Omni-channel Marketing
Omni-channel marketing is another one of the high current types of marketing. Increasingly, people are switching their attention between online and offline channels.
You are thinking about buying a TV. You can look for prices and brands in a physical store and analyze its features “live” but decide to buy it online because of a better price offer; the reverse can also happen.
The user experience doesn’t happen on just one channel but several simultaneously, providing an easy transition between these channels.
But omni-channel marketing is not just about the transition from offline to online. For example, if a customer starts browsing via mobile and purchases on a computer, omni-channel applies here.
Success Case
One company that knows how to do omni-channel marketing with excellence is Disney.
The user experience starts on its website, which has a stunning, precise and responsive design, making it easy to access via cell phones and tablets. You can define your travel details, such as booking hotels and buying tickets quickly, without having to leave your phone.
Once users have made their reservations, they can use My Disney Experience to book restaurants and even the Fast Pass (scheduling appointments to “jump the line” at the most popular Disney attractions). This same application works to find out the waiting time in the toy queue and more details about the attractions.
Disney also offers a product called the Magic Band, a wristband with a digital reader that can be used as a room key for Disney hotels, for entrances to parks, for Fast Pass tickets and even for shopping for photos taken with characters inside the parks.
3. Content Marketing
Content marketing is one of the pillars of digital marketing.
While the digital strategy is more comprehensive and can include both inbound and outbound marketing tactics, content marketing focuses on gaining audience interest and trust by delivering value in content format.
Creating relevant content makes it possible to engage, attract and stimulate customer action. This action can be a sale, filling out registration, downloading material and sharing content.
Good planning is essential to the success of any marketing tactic. For content marketing, it would be no different. Effective strategizing can lead people through a conversion funnel. This is primarily through building awareness of your brand.
Then people rate you according to the credibility you’ve conveyed through your content, and finally, they’re ready to do business with you.
Use your content to resolve objections your customer may have. Then use it to tell exciting stories about how others have benefited from your offer.
Learn more about content marketing and know its importance for eCommerce brands.
Success Case
Samsung and Vimeo have partnered to produce ten videos about the complicated relationship between humans and technology for a content marketing campaign called “The Connected Series.”
This marketing strategy focuses entirely on the content, not the forced brand insertion in the videos. Samsung distributes these videos whenever they interest you, but they are displayed on the Vimeo player.
In addition, mentions of the two brands are kept as little as possible to preserve the artistic vein of the shorts.
The same happened with the short “Two Bellmen” by Marriot, a giant hotel chain.
The entire film takes place in the brand’s hotel, showing the physical environment, the service and the commitment to the customer through fun and well-produced content.
4. Relationship Marketing
There is no way to remain in the market for years and years without having a loyal and engaged audience in your niche market.
Relationship marketing is a set of actions designed to cultivate the right relationship with the right group. I spoke here about the importance of having a loyal customer base, but relationship marketing is not restricted to the relationship between company and customer. It also involves its relationship with its suppliers, distributors and other partners, forming a marketing network.
Relationship marketing requires the company to access its customers’ data and take personalized actions to create a genuine connection.
Airline loyalty programs are a clear example of relationship marketing. They aim to create a relationship between the company and the customer, giving advantages such as points accumulation, preferential check-in and larger seats for those who always fly with the same company – relationship where both sides win while forming a partnership.
Success Case
Mars is a manufacturer not only of sweets but also of food for cats and dogs.
In Germany, it carried out a relationship marketing action, first getting in touch with the country’s veterinarians and offering material for free distribution that taught “How to take care of your cat.”
To gain access to the book, the customer had to fill in a form with the pet’s name, age and birthday.
With this data in hand, the company started to send birthday cards to the kittens and samples of feed or discount coupons from the brand.
5. Experience Marketing
Experience marketing does much more than send a message to potential customers; it involves them in the product or service by providing unprecedented experiences related to the brand.
If possible, when interacting with a product using multiple senses, the consumer’s perception changes completely. As a result, the brand comes alive for them.
The most significant benefit of experiential marketing is not the more efficient dissemination of the product but the connection between the brand and its audience. That’s why the experience needs to be memorable, interactive, arousing emotions and, of course, in line with people’s desire to increase sales and brand loyalty.
Once the customer experiences your product or service, they can attest to how it can fit into their life, thus becoming more willing to buy.
Success Cases
The European sports equipment brand, Globetrotter, created a simulator of adverse weather conditions, such as storms and sub-zero temperatures, so that customers could test the efficiency of their products in a situation as close to reality as possible.
IKEA, a furniture manufacturer, decided to furnish some hotel rooms in Canada with its products, from beds to tables, chairs, sofas and even household items. Thus, guests could experience, for a few days, what it would be like to have their own home furnished with the brand.
Making people realize what their day-to-day product can be like is much more efficient than simply advertising its benefits.
A slightly different example is the Hard Rock Café, which sells experiences, serving a good meal in a physical environment with themed décor and musical instruments from famous people, not to mention live music shows – experience that you can find in all its branches around the world.
6. Viral Marketing
Virality reaches impressive numbers of hits, and in addition to distributing content very efficiently, it works as great social proof.
This type of marketing focuses on spreading information and opinions about a product or service from person to person, preferably using digital media, which can expand the reach of word of mouth.
Viral content is impossible to ignore. It increases our adrenaline, provokes intense emotions and guarantees a high level of sharing.
And they are also a powerful tool for:
- Promote your brand
- Disseminate your content
- Increase the engagement of your users
Success Case
Blender maker Blendtec has managed to attract the attention of millions of potential customers with its “Will it blend?” campaign.
The company produced a series of videos to increase brand recognition for its line of blenders. The viral element is because the videos show how the blender could grind golf balls, lighters and iPhones instead of grinding food.
Undoubtedly, a campaign that was entirely out of the ordinary and that, on top of that, showed the quality of the product.
The initial budget for viral campaigns was $50, and in two years, the company’s sales increased by 700 percent.
7. Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla marketing is a strategy that focuses on unusual, low-cost actions with great results, therefore requiring creativity. It doesn’t seem like a straightforward thing, does it?
The curious name was created by Jay Conrad Levinson and relating to small, irregular warfare strategies used by civilians in the Vietnam War. Many of these tactics included elements such as surprise and emotional charge.
Small companies generally use guerrilla marketing to achieve results on a larger scale but do not have enough budget to do so through traditional media. It doesn’t, however, mean that a big company hasn’t bet on this type of marketing.
In 2010, Coca-Cola created the happiness machine, a beverage machine that served much more than a single product after payment and placed it at St. John’s University in New York.
With five hidden cameras recording the students’ spontaneous reactions, Coke generated a viral video, reaching 4.5 million views on YouTube.
Success Case
Another well-executed example of guerrilla marketing was The Blair Witch Project, released in 1999. At the time, the film’s producers did not have a lot of money to film, let alone promote the movie.
The solution was to create an internet campaign spreading rumors about the existence of the Blair Witch.
The campaign generated absurd buzz long before the film was ready, and according to CNN, the film raised $250 million at the time, with its publicity investment being just $50,000.
Conclusion: What About Other Types of Marketing?
I could name several other types of marketing, such as personal marketing, internal marketing, direct marketing, green marketing, social marketing, service marketing – it’s an extensive, expansive list. Regardless of the approach you’re planning to focus on, make sure it’s aligned with your short-term objectives and your long-term, overarching vision for the brand.