Developer marketing encompasses tactics designed to grow awareness and adopt software tools, solutions, and SaaS platforms. Developer marketing has become the standard among software companies with a platform component, where developers can build applications on top of the core software or open software. Therefore, engaging developer communities has become a key element of marketing for many digital businesses.
Aspect
Explanation
Definition
Developer Marketing is a specialized form of marketing that focuses on promoting technical products and services to developers. It involves creating strategies and campaigns that resonate with developers’ unique needs, preferences, and motivations. Developer marketing aims to build brand awareness, attract developer communities, and drive product adoption within this specialized target audience.
Key Target Audience
The primary audience for developer marketing includes software developers, programmers, engineers, and technical decision-makers. These individuals play crucial roles in selecting and implementing technical solutions within organizations, making them a critical audience for technology-related products and services.
Key Characteristics
Developer marketing is characterized by several key elements: 1. Technical Content: It relies heavily on technical content such as tutorials, documentation, and code samples. 2. Community Building: It emphasizes building and nurturing developer communities around products and technologies. 3. Hands-On Experience: Developers often prefer to try products firsthand, making trial versions and sandbox environments essential. 4. Open Source Engagement: Involvement in open source projects and contributions can be a significant aspect of developer marketing. 5. Developer Events: Participation in and hosting of developer-focused events, such as hackathons and conferences, are common. 6. Developer Advocacy: Companies often have developer advocates who serve as liaisons between developers and the organization.
Challenges
Developer marketing comes with unique challenges: 1. Technical Expertise: Marketers need a deep understanding of technical subjects. 2. Content Quality: Technical content must be accurate and valuable to developers. 3. Changing Technologies: Keeping up with rapidly evolving technologies is essential. 4. Community Building: Building and maintaining developer communities can be time-consuming. 5. Developer Trust: Developers are often skeptical of marketing, requiring a high degree of authenticity.
Strategies and Tactics
Successful developer marketing employs various strategies: 1. Educational Content: Creating educational content such as tutorials, webinars, and blog posts. 2. Developer Evangelism: Having developer evangelists who engage with the developer community. 3. APIs and SDKs: Offering APIs and software development kits (SDKs) to facilitate integration with products. 4. Hackathons and Competitions: Hosting hackathons, coding competitions, and challenges. 5. Open Source Contributions: Actively contributing to and supporting open source projects. 6. Developer Conferences: Organizing or participating in developer-focused conferences and events. 7. Feedback Loops: Creating feedback mechanisms for developers to influence product development.
Tools and Platforms
To reach developers effectively, marketerstypically use various tools and platforms: 1. Developer Portals: Dedicated online portals with documentation and resources. 2. Social Media: Utilizing platforms like Twitter, GitHub, and Stack Overflow to engage with developers. 3. Content Management Systems: Employing CMS for content creation and distribution. 4. Email Campaigns: Running targeted email marketing campaigns. 5. Developer Communities: Establishing and maintaining online forums or community platforms. 6. Analytics: Using analytics tools to track engagement and measure campaign effectiveness. 7. Developer Events: Promoting and managing developer events and webinars.
Metrics and KPIs
Measuring the success of developer marketing campaigns involves tracking various metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs): 1. Engagement: Measuring website visits, content downloads, and social media interactions. 2. Conversion Rate: Evaluating how many developers take desired actions, such as signing up for a newsletter or trying a product. 3. Community Growth: Tracking the growth of developer communities and forums. 4. User Retention: Assessing how well products retain developer users over time. 5. Developer Feedback: Gathering feedback through surveys, reviews, and forums. 6. API Usage: Monitoring usage of APIs and SDKs. 7. ROI: Calculating the return on investment for developer marketing campaigns.
Importance
Developer marketing is vital because developers often hold significant influence over technology adoption and purchasing decisions within organizations. It serves several crucial purposes: 1. Product Adoption: It helps drive product adoption and integration within developer communities. 2. Feedback Loop: Developers provide valuable feedback that can inform product improvements. 3. Advocacy: Engaged developers can become strong advocates for products, influencing others. 4. Innovation: Encourages innovation and collaboration in the developer ecosystem. 5. Brand Awareness: Enhances brand awareness and credibility within the developer community. 6. Market Expansion: Supports market expansion by targeting a tech-savvy audience.
Examples
Several companies excel in developer marketing: 1. Google: Known for its developer-focused initiatives, including Google Developers and Google Cloud Platform. 2. Microsoft: Invests in developer resources such as Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and GitHub. 3. Amazon Web Services (AWS): Offers extensive documentation and developer support. 4. Twilio: Provides APIs for developers to add communication capabilities to applications. 5. GitHub: As a platform for developers, it inherently engages in developer marketing. 6. Slack: Actively targets developers to build integrations and applications on its platform.
Conclusion
Developer marketing is a specialized discipline that recognizes the unique needs and preferences of technical audiences. It focuses on engaging with developers through educational content, community building, and hands-on experiences. Successful developer marketing can lead to increased product adoption, valuable feedback, and the advocacy of influential developer communities. However, it requires a deep understanding of technology, authenticity, and a commitment to continuously adapt to evolving developer trends and preferences.
In most businesses, the sales and marketing teams communicate with other businesses (B2B) and consumers (B2C) to drive revenue.
With the increasing prevalence of tech start-ups, however, there is a growing demand for business-to-developer (B2D) engagement. Developers are consumers in the theoretical sense of the word, but they are very different from the typical consumer.
Consumers who are also developers are more discerning and tend to default to skepticism and analysis as a general rule. They become quickly disenfranchised with traditional sales and marketing methods.
Developer marketing means thinking like a developer. Most developers are well-read and are aware of the latest methods and technologies. These are only adopted once the developer has seen them in action and experimented with their use in a low-risk environment.
Furthermore, developers are not the only end-users of software tools and solutions. Marketing messages for a developer would be inappropriate for a product leader, and vice versa.
Some important developer marketing strategies
There are several ways developers can be marketed to. These include:
Developer content – in the form of an authentic and consistent blog that speaks the language of a developer. This means writing about development stacks, engineering teams, and common use cases.
Advertising – traditional forms of advertising can work provided the message is crafted in such a way that it resonates with developers.
Source code – whether that be sample applications to open source, code is usually effective at attracting developer attention.
Documentation – a form of content rare in traditional marketing strategies that developers prioritize. However, documentation content must be high quality to be successful.
Social media – this means determining where developers spend time and marketing to them. CodeProject, CodePlex, HTML.net, Hacker News, and StackOverflow are good places to start. Reaching developer communities in this way adds value to community conversations and increases peer validation. It also allows marketing teams to identify and then solve real-world developer problems.
Advocate creation – the most successful businesses will use developers who are akin to influencers. These individuals will champion software products across their personal and professional networks.
Measuring the effectiveness of developer marketing
Traditional marketing uses KPIs around breadth and reach to gauge success.
On the other hand, developer marketing should focus on the depth of engagement as a determinant of success. Specifically, early adopters of the software product must be empowered to mobilize their contacts – whether that be through tools, knowledge, or other resources.
Businesses can also ask themselves three questions, with each being a key indicator of success:
Are early adopters talking about the product organically? In other words, without provocation or incentivization?
Does the target developer audience see the brand or company behind the product as a solution provider or a solution partner?
Are target developers actually using the product beyond initial adoption? Are they integrating the solution into their workflow without being prompted to do so?
Case studies
Developer Conferences and Hackathons:
Description: Many companies host developer-centric events, like hackathons or developer conferences, to showcase their tools, APIs, or platforms. These events offer developers hands-on experience and are often accompanied by workshops, tutorials, and networking opportunities.
Effectiveness: Such events can rapidly increase the adoption rate of a tool or solution because developers have direct experience with it and can immediately see its value.
Dedicated Developer Portals:
Description: Some companies set up dedicated portals for developers. These portals offer resources, tutorials, API documentation, and forums for developers to discuss and troubleshoot issues.
Effectiveness: A well-maintained developer portal can foster a community feeling, leading to increased loyalty and engagement.
Sponsoring Open-Source Projects:
Description: Companies can sponsor open-source projects or even initiate their own. By supporting open-source, they demonstrate a commitment to the developer community and transparency.
Effectiveness: Developers appreciate open-source contributions and are more likely to trust and adopt tools from companies that support the open-source ecosystem.
Tailored Content on Platforms like GitHub:
Description: Developers spend significant time on platforms like GitHub. Companies can release code snippets, libraries, or even full projects on such platforms, accompanied by comprehensive READMEs.
Effectiveness: Offering valuable resources where developers already spend their time can increase visibility and adoption.
Webinars and Tutorials:
Description: Hosting regular webinars or creating video tutorials targeting developers can help in demonstrating the capabilities of tools or solutions.
Effectiveness: Visual demonstrations can simplify complex topics and make it easier for developers to understand and adopt new tools.
Engaging in Developer Forums:
Description: Actively participating in developer forums or Q&A sites like Stack Overflow can help companies directly address queries or concerns related to their product.
Effectiveness: Direct engagement in problem-solving can build trust and portray the company as genuinely interested in assisting developers.
Early Access or Beta Programs:
Description: Offering developers early access to new tools or features can get them excited and invested in the product.
Effectiveness: Early adopters can provide valuable feedback, and their endorsements can influence the broader developer community.
Swag and Merchandise:
Description: Offering developer-centric swag, like branded t-shirts, stickers, or even software licenses, can act as a tangible reminder of the company’s products.
Effectiveness: While not a primary driver, developer-centric merchandise can enhance brand visibility and create a sense of community.
Feedback Channels and Roadmap Sharing:
Description: Transparently sharing product roadmaps and opening dedicated channels for feedback allows developers to feel involved in the product’s direction.
Effectiveness: Developers appreciate transparency and are more likely to stick with tools where they feel their feedback is valued and considered.
Ambassador Programs:
Description: Companies can create ambassador or champion programs where influential developers in the community are recognized and given exclusive access, training, or other benefits.
Effectiveness: Ambassadors can influence their peers and act as organic promoters of the product within their networks.
Key takeaways:
Developer marketing involves the marketing of software services, tools, and SaaS products to developers to grow awareness and adoption.
While developers are end-users, they tend to be more skeptical and analytical than the typical retail consumer. They are also highly resistant to traditional marketing strategies.
Developer marketing uses many of the same mediums as traditional marketing. However, the message is much different. Developers respond well to content marketing provided the content speaks their language and is well documented.
Key Highlights:
Developer Marketing Definition: Developer marketing focuses on promoting software tools, solutions, and SaaS platforms to developers to increase awareness and adoption.
Business-to-Developer (B2D) Engagement: With the rise of tech start-ups, there is a growing need to engage developers as a unique audience. Developers are discerning and analytical consumers who require a different approach from traditional marketing.
Thinking Like a Developer: Successful developer marketing involves understanding the developer mindset, staying up-to-date with the latest technologies, and providing opportunities for hands-on experimentation.
Targeted Messaging: Different marketing messages are required for developers compared to other end-users like product leaders, highlighting the importance of tailored content.
Effective Developer Marketing Strategies:
Developer Content: Authentic blogs focusing on development stacks, engineering teams, and common use cases.
Advertising: Crafting messages that resonate with developers in traditional advertising channels.
Source Code: Providing sample applications or open-source code to attract developer attention.
Documentation: Prioritizing high-quality documentation, which developers value.
Social Media: Engaging developers on platforms like CodeProject, CodePlex, HTML.net, Hacker News, and StackOverflow to add value, increase peer validation, and identify and solve real-world problems.
Advocate Creation: Using developer influencers to champion products within their networks.
Measuring Success: Instead of focusing on breadth and reach, developer marketing emphasizes the depth of engagement. Key indicators of success include:
Organic Discussions: Early adopters spontaneously discussing the product without incentives.
Solution Perception: Developers viewing the brand as a solution provider or partner.
Product Integration: Target developers using the product beyond initial adoption and integrating it into their workflow willingly.
Content Marketing for Developers: Content marketing is highly effective for developers when done right, providing value and speaking their language through well-documented materials.
Related Frameworks
Description
When to Apply
Product-Led Growth
– A go-to-market strategy that focuses on leveraging the product itself as the primary driver of customer acquisition, retention, and expansion. Product-Led Growth emphasizes delivering value through the product experience, enabling users to discover, adopt, and derive value from the product independently.
– When marketing products or services to developer audiences. – Adopting Product-Led Growth strategies to empower developers to self-serve, experience the product value firsthand, and drive adoption organically.
Community Building
– A strategic approach to engaging and nurturing a community of developers around a product, brand, or shared interest. Community Building involves fostering connections, facilitating knowledge sharing, and providing support within developer communities through forums, meetups, online groups, and developer events.
– When building relationships with developer audiences, fostering collaboration, or gathering feedback and insights. – Investing in Community Building initiatives to create vibrant developer communities, drive engagement, and cultivate brand advocacy effectively.
Open Source Marketing
– A marketing strategy that leverages open source software projects to build developer communities, drive adoption, and establish thought leadership. Open Source Marketing involves contributing to open source projects, releasing code libraries or tools, and engaging with developer communities on platforms like GitHub and GitLab.
– When marketing products or services with open source components or targeting open source enthusiasts. – Embracing Open Source Marketing to build credibility, foster collaboration, and gain exposure within developer communities effectively.
Developer Evangelism
– A role within organizations responsible for advocating, educating, and engaging with developer audiences to promote products, platforms, or technologies. Developer Evangelists serve as liaisons between developers and the company, sharing knowledge, providing technical support, and fostering relationships within the developer community.
– When driving developer adoption, promoting developer-centric initiatives, or representing the company within developer communities. – Deploying Developer Evangelism programs to build trust, credibility, and engagement with developer audiences effectively.
Hackathons
– Events that bring together developers, designers, and other tech enthusiasts to collaborate on software projects within a limited timeframe. Hackathons provide opportunities for hands-on learning, innovation, and networking, often sponsored by companies seeking to engage with developer communities and showcase their technologies.
– When fostering creativity, innovation, and collaboration within developer communities. – Hosting Hackathons to showcase products, drive developer engagement, and identify potential talent or partnership opportunities effectively.
Content Marketing
– A strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. Content Marketing aims to drive profitable customer action by providing valuable information, entertainment, or solutions to customer needs.
– When aiming to educate, engage, or entertain developer audiences with relevant content. – Implementing Content Marketing strategies to share technical insights, best practices, and tutorials effectively.
Online Developer Communities
– Digital platforms and forums where developers gather to collaborate, share knowledge, and seek support from peers. Online Developer Communities provide spaces for developers to ask questions, share resources, and discuss topics related to software development, programming languages, tools, and technologies.
– When engaging with developer audiences, facilitating knowledge sharing, or providing technical support. – Participating in Online Developer Communities to connect with developers, gather feedback, and build brand awareness effectively.
Developer Education
– Programs, courses, and resources designed to educate and upskill developers on programming languages, frameworks, tools, and technologies. Developer Education initiatives provide learning opportunities through tutorials, documentation, online courses, workshops, and certification programs.
– When empowering developers with knowledge and skills to use products or technologies effectively. – Offering Developer Education resources to support learning, adoption, and proficiency among developer audiences effectively.
Developer Advocacy
– A strategic function within organizations focused on representing developer interests, gathering feedback, and influencing product decisions. Developer Advocates serve as advocates for developers within the company, championing their needs, addressing concerns, and advocating for improvements to products or developer experiences.
– When advocating for developer-centric initiatives, gathering insights, or driving product improvements. – Leveraging Developer Advocacy programs to engage with developer communities, gather feedback, and foster collaboration effectively.
Technical Documentation
– Comprehensive and user-friendly documentation that provides developers with guidance, reference materials, and examples for using products or technologies. Technical Documentation plays a crucial role in supporting developers throughout the integration, implementation, and troubleshooting process.
– When providing developers with resources to understand and use products effectively. – Creating clear, concise, and well-structured Technical Documentation to facilitate developer onboarding, troubleshooting, and integration effectively.
Account-based marketing (ABM) is a strategy where the marketing and sales departments come together to create personalized buying experiences for high-value accounts. Account-based marketing is a business-to-business (B2B) approach in which marketing and sales teams work together to target high-value accounts and turn them into customers.
Ad Ops – also known as Digital Ad Operations – refers to systems and processes that support digital advertisements’ delivery and management. The concept describes any process that helps a marketing team manage, run, or optimize ad campaigns, making them an integrating part of the business operations.
Venture capitalist, Dave McClure, coined the acronym AARRR which is a simplified model that enables to understand what metrics and channels to look at, at each stage for the users’ path toward becoming customers and referrers of a brand.
Affinity marketing involves a partnership between two or more businesses to sell more products. Note that this is a mutually beneficial arrangement where one brand can extend its reach and enhance its credibility in association with the other.
As the name suggests, ambush marketing raises awareness for brands at events in a covert and unexpected fashion. Ambush marketing takes many forms, one common element, the brand advertising their products or services has not paid for the right to do so. Thus, the business doing the ambushing attempts to capitalize on the efforts made by the business sponsoring the event.
Affiliate marketing describes the process whereby an affiliate earns a commission for selling the products of another person or company. Here, the affiliate is simply an individual who is motivated to promote a particular product through incentivization. The business whose product is being promoted will gain in terms of sales and marketing from affiliates.
The bullseye framework is a simple method that enables you to prioritize the marketing channels that will make your company gain traction. The main logic of the bullseye framework is to find the marketing channels that work and prioritize them.
Brand building is the set of activities that help companies to build an identity that can be recognized by its audience. Thus, it works as a mechanism of identification through core values that signal trust and that help build long-term relationships between the brand and its key stakeholders.
According to inbound marketing platform HubSpot, brand dilution occurs “when a company’s brand equity diminishes due to an unsuccessful brand extension, which is a new product the company develops in an industry that they don’t have any market share in.” Brand dilution, therefore, occurs when a brand decreases in value after the company releases a product that does not align with its vision, mission, or skillset.
The brand essence wheel is a templated approach businesses can use to better understand their brand. The brand essence wheel has obvious implications for external brand strategy. However, it is equally important in simplifying brand strategy for employees without a strong marketing background. Although many variations of the brand essence wheel exist, a comprehensive wheel incorporates information from five categories: attributes, benefits, values, personality, brand essence.
The brand equity is the premium that a customer is willing to pay for a product that has all the objective characteristics of existing alternatives, thus, making it different in terms of perception. The premium on seemingly equal products and quality is attributable to its brand equity.
Brand positioning is about creating a mental real estate in the mind of the target market. If successful, brand positioning allows a business to gain a competitive advantage. And it also works as a switching cost in favor of the brand. Consumers recognizing a brand might be less prone to switch to another brand.
Business storytelling is a critical part of developing a business model. Indeed, the way you frame the story of your organization will influence its brand in the long-term. That’s because your brand story is tied to your brand identity, and it enables people to identify with a company.
Content marketing is one of the most powerful commercial activities which focuses on leveraging content production (text, audio, video, or other formats) to attract a targeted audience. Content marketing focuses on building a strong brand, but also to convert part of that targeted audience into potential customers.
One of the first mentions of customer lifetime value was in the 1988 book Database Marketing: Strategy and Implementation written by Robert Shaw and Merlin Stone. Customer lifetime value (CLV) represents the value of a customer to a company over a period of time. It represents a critical business metric, especially for SaaS or recurring revenue-based businesses.
Customer segmentation is a marketing method that divides the customers in sub-groups, that share similar characteristics. Thus, product, marketing and engineering teams can center the strategy from go-to-market to product development and communication around each sub-group. Customer segments can be broken down is several ways, such as demographics, geography, psychographics and more.
Developer marketing encompasses tactics designed to grow awareness and adopt software tools, solutions, and SaaS platforms. Developer marketing has become the standard among software companies with a platform component, where developers can build applications on top of the core software or open software. Therefore, engaging developer communities has become a key element of marketing for many digital businesses.
A digital channel is a marketing channel, part of a distribution strategy, helping an organization to reach its potential customers via electronic means. There are several digital marketing channels, usually divided into organic and paid channels. Some organic channels are SEO, SMO, email marketing. And some paid channels comprise SEM, SMM, and display advertising.
Field marketing is a general term that encompasses face-to-face marketing activities carried out in the field. These activities may include street promotions, conferences, sales, and various forms of experiential marketing. Field marketing, therefore, refers to any marketing activity that is performed in the field.
interaction with a brand until they become a paid customer and beyond.
Funnel marketing is modeled after the marketing funnel, a concept that tells the company how it should market to consumers based on their position in the funnel itself. The notion of a customer embarking on a journey when interacting with a brand was first proposed by Elias St. Elmo Lewis in 1898.
Funnel marketing typically considers three stages of a non-linear marketing funnel. These are top of the funnel (TOFU), middle of the funnel (MOFU), and bottom of the funnel (BOFU). Particular marketing strategies at each stage are adapted to the level of familiarity the consumer has with a brand.
A go-to-market strategy represents how companies market their new products to reach target customers in a scalable and repeatable way. It starts with how new products/services get developed to how these organizations target potential customers (via sales and marketing models) to enable their value proposition to be delivered to create a competitive advantage.
The term “greenwashing” was first coined by environmentalist Jay Westerveld in 1986 at a time when most consumers received their news from television, radio, and print media. Some companies took advantage of limited public access to information by portraying themselves as environmental stewards – even when their actions proved otherwise. Greenwashing is a deceptive marketing practice where a company makes unsubstantiated claims about an environmentally-friendly product or service.
Grassroots marketing involves a brand creating highly targeted content for a particular niche or audience. When an organization engages in grassroots marketing, it focuses on a small group of people with the hope that its marketing message is shared with a progressively larger audience.
Growth marketing is a process of rapid experimentation, which in a way has to be “scientific” by keeping in mind that it is used by startups to grow, quickly. Thus, the “scientific” here is not meant in the academic sense. Growth marketing is expected to unlock growth, quickly and with an often limited budget.
Guerrilla marketing is an advertising strategy that seeks to utilize low-cost and sometimes unconventional tactics that are high impact. First coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his 1984 book of the same title, guerrilla marketing works best on existing customers who are familiar with a brand or product and its particular characteristics.
Hunger marketing is a marketing strategy focused on manipulating consumer emotions. By bringing products to market with an attractive price point and restricted supply, consumers have a stronger desire to make a purchase.
Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is an approach used by businesses to coordinate and brand their communication strategies. Integrated marketing communication takes separate marketing functions and combines them into one, interconnected approach with a core brand message that is consistent across various channels. These encompass owned, earned, and paid media. Integrated marketing communication has been used to great effect by companies such as Snapchat, Snickers, and Domino’s.
Inbound marketing is a marketing strategy designed to attract customers to a brand with content and experiences that they derive value from. Inbound marketing utilizes blogs, events, SEO, and social media to create brand awareness and attract targeted consumers. By attracting or “drawing in” a targeted audience, inbound marketing differs from outbound marketing which actively pushes a brand onto consumers who may have no interest in what is being offered.
Integrated marketing describes the process of delivering consistent and relevant content to a target audience across all marketing channels. It is a cohesive, unified, and immersive marketing strategy that is cost-effective and relies on brand identity and storytelling to amplify the brand to a wider and wider audience.
The marketing mix is a term to describe the multi-faceted approach to a complete and effective marketing plan. Traditionally, this plan included the four Ps of marketing: price, product, promotion, and place. But the exact makeup of a marketing mix has undergone various changes in response to new technologies and ways of thinking. Additions to the four Ps include physical evidence, people, process, and even politics.
Marketing myopia is the nearsighted focus on selling goods and services at the expense of consumer needs. Marketing myopia was coined by Harvard Business School professor Theodore Levitt in 1960. Originally, Levitt described the concept in the context of organizations in high-growth industries that become complacent in their belief that such industries never fail.
Marketing personas give businesses a general overview of key segments of their target audience and how these segments interact with their brand. Marketing personas are based on the data of an ideal, fictional customer whose characteristics, needs, and motivations are representative of a broader market segment.
Meme marketing is any marketing strategy that uses memes to promote a brand. The term “meme” itself was popularized by author Richard Dawkins over 50 years later in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene. In the book, Dawkins described how ideas evolved and were shared across different cultures. The internet has enabled this exchange to occur at an exponential rate, with the first modern memes emerging in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Microtargeting is a marketing strategy that utilizes consumer demographic data to identify the interests of a very specific group of individuals. Like most marketing strategies, the goal of microtargeting is to positively influence consumer behavior.
Multichannel marketing executes a marketing strategy across multiple platforms to reach as many consumers as possible. Here, a platform may refer to product packaging, word-of-mouth advertising, mobile apps, email, websites, or promotional events, and all the other channels that can help amplify the brand to reach as many consumers as possible.
Multi-level marketing (MLM), otherwise known as network or referral marketing, is a strategy in which businesses sell their products through person-to-person sales. When consumers join MLM programs, they act as distributors. Distributors make money by selling the product directly to other consumers. They earn a small percentage of sales from those that they recruit to do the same – often referred to as their “downline”.
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a measure of the ability of a product or service to attract word-of-mouth advertising. NPS is a crucial part of any marketing strategy since attracting and then retaining customers means they are more likely to recommend a business to others.
Neuromarketing information is collected by measuring brain activity related to specific brain functions using sophisticated and expensive technology such as MRI machines. Some businesses also choose to make inferences of neurological responses by analyzing biometric and heart-rate data.
Neuromarketing is the domain of large companies with similarly large budgets or subsidies. These include Frito-Lay, Google, and The Weather Channel.
Newsjacking as a marketing strategy was popularised by David Meerman Scott in his book Newsjacking: How to Inject Your Ideas into a Breaking News Story and Generate Tons of Media Coverage. Newsjacking describes the practice of aligning a brand with a current event to generate media attention and increase brand exposure.
A microniche is a subset of potential customers within a niche. In the era of dominating digital super-platforms, identifying a microniche can kick off the strategy of digital businesses to prevent competition against large platforms. As the microniche becomes a niche, then a market, scale becomes an option.
We can define pull and push marketing from the perspective of the target audience or customers. In push marketing, as the name suggests, you’re promoting a product so that consumers can see it. In a pull strategy, consumers might look for your product or service drawn by its brand.
Real-time marketing is as exactly as it sounds. It involves in-the-moment marketing to customers across any channel based on how that customer is interacting with the brand.
Relationship marketing involves businesses and their brands forming long-term relationships with customers. The focus of relationship marketing is to increase customer loyalty and engagement through high-quality products and services. It differs from short-term processes focused solely on customer acquisition and individual sales.
Reverse marketing describes any marketing strategy that encourages consumers to seek out a product or company on their own. This approach differs from a traditional marketing strategy where marketers seek out the consumer.
Remarketing involves the creation of personalized and targeted ads for consumers who have already visited a company’s website. The process works in this way: as users visit a brand’s website, they are tagged with cookies that follow the users, and as they land on advertising platforms where retargeting is an option (like social media platforms) they get served ads based on their navigation.
Sensory marketing describes any marketing campaign designed to appeal to the five human senses of touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are enabling marketers to design fun, interactive, and immersive sensory marketing brand experiences. Long term, businesses must develop sensory marketing campaigns that are relevant and effective in eCommerce.
Services marketing originated as a separate field of study during the 1980s. Researchers realized that the unique characteristics of services required different marketing strategies to those used in the promotion of physical goods. Services marketing is a specialized branch of marketing that promotes the intangible benefits delivered by a company to create customer value.
Sustainable marketing describes how a business will invest in social and environmental initiatives as part of its marketing strategy. Also known as green marketing, it is often used to counteract public criticism around wastage, misleading advertising, and poor quality or unsafe products.
Word-of-mouth marketing is a marketing strategy skewed toward offering a great experience to existing customers and incentivizing them to share it with other potential customers. That is one of the most effective forms of marketing as it enables a company to gain traction based on existing customers’ referrals. When repeat customers become a key enabler for the brand this is one of the best organic and sustainable growth marketing strategies.
360 marketing is a marketing campaign that utilizes all available mediums, channels, and consumer touchpoints. 360 marketing requires the business to maintain a consistent presence across multiple online and offline channels. This ensures it does not miss potentially lucrative customer segments. By its very nature, 360 marketing describes any number of different marketing strategies. However, a broad and holistic marketing strategy should incorporate a website, SEO, PPC, email marketing, social media, public relations, in-store relations, and traditional forms of advertising such as television.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
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