Ethnographic Research

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Ethnographic research is a qualitative research method that involves the systematic study of people and their cultures. It is a holistic approach that seeks to understand how people live, interact, and make meaning within their cultural context.

Origins of Ethnographic Research

The roots of ethnographic research can be traced back to anthropology, a discipline dedicated to the study of human societies and cultures. Ethnography, as a research method, emerged as anthropologists ventured into the field to observe and document the practices, beliefs, and behaviors of different cultures. The term “ethnography” itself is derived from two Greek words: “ethnos,” meaning people or nation, and “grapho,” meaning to write. It reflects the practice of writing about different cultures.

Anthropologists like Bronisław Malinowski and Franz Boas played significant roles in the development of ethnographic research. Malinowski’s immersive fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands in the early 20th century set a precedent for living among and studying the cultures he researched. Boas emphasized the importance of cultural relativism, which acknowledges that every culture has its own unique context and cannot be judged by the standards of another.

The Ethnographic Research Process

Ethnographic research is characterized by its immersive and participant-observer approach. Researchers embed themselves within the culture they are studying, actively engaging with and observing the daily lives of the people involved. Here are the key steps involved in the ethnographic research process:

  1. Selection of Field: Researchers choose a specific field or cultural setting for their study. This could be a remote village, an urban neighborhood, a workplace, or any other environment where the culture of interest is present.
  2. Entry and Immersion: Researchers enter the field and immerse themselves in the culture. This often involves living among the community, participating in their activities, and building relationships with the people.
  3. Participant Observation: The core of ethnographic research is participant observation. Researchers keenly observe and take part in the daily lives of the people they are studying. They document behaviors, practices, rituals, and interactions.
  4. Data Collection: Data is collected through various methods, including field notes, interviews, audio and video recordings, photographs, and artifacts. Researchers often maintain detailed journals to record their observations and thoughts.
  5. Building Rapport: Establishing trust and rapport with the participants is crucial. It helps researchers gain access to deeper insights and ensures that their presence doesn’t disrupt the natural flow of the culture.
  6. Data Analysis: Researchers analyze the collected data to identify patterns, themes, and cultural phenomena. This may involve coding and categorizing information and looking for recurring themes.
  7. Interpretation: Ethnographers interpret their findings within the cultural context. They seek to understand the meanings behind behaviors and practices and often use cultural theory to guide their interpretations.
  8. Writing Ethnography: The final step involves writing an ethnographic account or report. This is a detailed narrative that presents the findings, insights, and interpretations of the study. Ethnographies are often rich in descriptive detail and aim to convey the lived experiences of the people studied.

Key Principles of Ethnographic Research

Ethnographic research is guided by several key principles that distinguish it from other research methods:

  1. Holism: Ethnographers aim to study cultures holistically. This means considering all aspects of a culture, including social, economic, political, and symbolic dimensions. The goal is to provide a comprehensive understanding.
  2. Cultural Relativism: Ethnographers adopt a non-judgmental stance and refrain from imposing their own cultural values and norms on the people they study. Instead, they seek to understand cultures on their own terms.
  3. Emic and Etic Perspectives: Researchers strive to balance both emic (insider) and etic (outsider) perspectives. Emic perspectives involve understanding the culture from the viewpoint of the participants, while etic perspectives provide an outsider’s analysis.
  4. Long-Term Engagement: Ethnographic research often requires long-term engagement with the community or culture being studied. This extended presence allows for a deeper understanding of complex social dynamics.
  5. Contextual Understanding: Ethnographers emphasize the importance of context. They consider how cultural practices and behaviors are shaped by historical, environmental, and social factors.

Applications of Ethnographic Research

Ethnographic research has found applications in various fields and disciplines:

  1. Anthropology: Ethnography is a foundational method in anthropology. It has been used to study indigenous cultures, urban communities, tribes, and societies across the globe.
  2. Sociology: Ethnographic research is valuable for understanding social phenomena, such as the dynamics of social groups, subcultures, and communities.
  3. Education: Ethnography helps researchers gain insights into educational settings, including classrooms, schools, and learning environments. It can inform educational policy and practice.
  4. Market Research: Ethnography is used in market research to understand consumer behavior and preferences. Researchers observe how consumers interact with products and services in real-life settings.
  5. Healthcare: Ethnographic research is employed in healthcare settings to study patient experiences, healthcare practices, and the cultural factors that influence health behaviors.
  6. Business and Organizational Studies: Ethnography can shed light on workplace cultures, organizational dynamics, and communication patterns within businesses and institutions.

Contributions of Ethnographic Research

Ethnographic research has made significant contributions to our understanding of human behavior and culture:

  1. Cultural Insights: Ethnography provides deep insights into the values, beliefs, customs, and rituals of different cultures. It helps us appreciate the diversity of human societies.
  2. Social Change: Ethnographic studies have documented social change and its impact on communities. This research can inform strategies for addressing social issues.
  3. Policy Development: Ethnographic findings are used to inform policy decisions, especially in areas like education, healthcare, and community development.
  4. Cross-Cultural Understanding: Ethnography fosters cross-cultural understanding by highlighting the commonalities and differences between cultures.
  5. Humanizing Data: Ethnography humanizes data by grounding it in the lived experiences of individuals and communities. It adds a human dimension to statistical analysis.

Challenges in Ethnographic Research

While ethnographic research is a valuable approach, it comes with its own set of challenges:

  1. Time-Consuming: Ethnography often requires extended periods of fieldwork, which can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.
  2. Subjectivity: Researchers’ own backgrounds, biases, and perspectives can influence data collection and interpretation. Maintaining objectivity is a constant challenge.
  3. Access and Ethics: Gaining access to certain communities or groups can be difficult, and ethical considerations, such as informed consent and privacy, must be carefully addressed.
  4. Analysis Complexity: Analyzing qualitative data from ethnographic studies can be complex, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to analysis.
  5. Generalizability: Ethnographic findings are context-specific and may not be easily generalized to other settings or populations.

Ethnography in the Digital Age

In today’s digital age, ethnographic research has expanded into online communities and digital spaces. Ethnographers now study virtual cultures, social media interactions, and online gaming communities. This adaptation reflects the evolving nature of culture and human behavior in the digital realm.

Conclusion

Ethnographic research is a powerful and versatile method for gaining deep insights into human behavior and culture. By immersing themselves in the lives of the people they study, ethnographers provide rich and contextual understandings of diverse societies. Whether applied in anthropology, sociology, education, or other fields, ethnographic research continues to contribute to our appreciation of the complexity and diversity of human cultures and societies. It reminds us that to truly understand a culture, one must experience it from within.

Key Highlights

  • Ethnographic research originated from anthropology and involves studying human societies and cultures through immersive fieldwork.
  • Key figures in the development of ethnographic research include Bronisław Malinowski and Franz Boas, who emphasized cultural relativism.
  • The ethnographic research process includes selecting a field, immersing in the culture, participant observation, data collection, building rapport, data analysis, interpretation, and writing ethnography.
  • Key principles of ethnographic research include holism, cultural relativism, balancing emic and etic perspectives, long-term engagement, and contextual understanding.
  • Ethnographic research has applications in anthropology, sociology, education, market research, healthcare, and business studies.
  • It contributes to our understanding of culture, social change, policy development, cross-cultural understanding, and humanizing data.
  • Challenges in ethnographic research include the time-consuming nature, subjectivity, access and ethics, analysis complexity, and limited generalizability.
  • Ethnography has adapted to the digital age, with researchers studying online communities and virtual cultures.
  • Ethnographic research provides rich and contextual insights into human behavior and culture, highlighting the complexity and diversity of societies.

Related FrameworkDescriptionWhen to Apply
Ethnographic Research– Ethnographic Research involves studying people in their natural environments to understand their behaviors, interactions, and cultural contexts. Researchers immerse themselves in the culture being studied to gain deep insights into societal norms, values, and practices.– Use Ethnographic Research to gain profound insights into consumer behaviors, preferences, and cultural influences by observing individuals in their natural environments. This approach is particularly valuable for understanding complex behaviors, uncovering unmet needs, and informing product development or marketing strategies.
Qualitative Research– Qualitative Research encompasses methods like Ethnographic Research to gather non-numerical data, such as attitudes, opinions, and behaviors. It aims to explore underlying motivations and perceptions through open-ended interviews, observations, and immersive experiences.– Incorporate Ethnographic Research into Qualitative Research initiatives to delve into the rich context of consumer behaviors, beliefs, and cultural influences, providing nuanced insights that quantitative methods may overlook. This approach is ideal for uncovering deep-seated consumer preferences and informing strategic decisions.
Cultural Anthropology– Cultural Anthropology studies human cultures, beliefs, and practices, aiming to understand the complexities of human societies. Ethnographic Research draws heavily from principles of Cultural Anthropology, employing participant observation and immersive fieldwork to gain insights into cultural dynamics.– Apply Ethnographic Research techniques rooted in Cultural Anthropology to study cultural phenomena, societal trends, and consumer behaviors. By immersing in diverse cultural contexts, researchers can uncover deep-seated cultural norms, values, and practices that shape consumer preferences and behaviors.
User Experience (UX) Research– UX Research focuses on understanding users’ behaviors, needs, and motivations to design products or services that provide meaningful and intuitive experiences. Ethnographic Research methods, such as user observations and contextual inquiries, provide insights into users’ interactions with products in real-world contexts.– Integrate Ethnographic Research into UX Research processes to observe users in their natural environments, uncover usability issues, and understand the contextual factors that influence user behaviors and preferences. This approach facilitates the design of user-centric solutions that address users’ needs and enhance overall experience.
Market Research– Market Research employs various techniques to gather insights about target markets, customers, and competitors. Ethnographic Research adds depth to Market Research by immersing researchers in consumers’ environments, allowing them to observe behaviors, preferences, and decision-making processes firsthand.– Incorporate Ethnographic Research into Market Research endeavors to gain holistic insights into consumer behaviors, preferences, and purchasing motivations. By observing consumers in real-life settings, researchers can uncover unmet needs, identify market trends, and inform strategic marketing decisions with actionable insights.
Cultural Studies– Cultural Studies explore the cultural aspects of society, including media, literature, art, and everyday practices. Ethnographic Research methodologies align closely with Cultural Studies principles, emphasizing the importance of context, interpretation, and cultural reflexivity in understanding human behavior.– Utilize Ethnographic Research techniques within Cultural Studies frameworks to investigate cultural phenomena, societal trends, and consumer behaviors. By immersing in cultural contexts, researchers can gain deep insights into cultural meanings, representations, and practices, contributing to broader cultural understanding.
New Product Development (NPD)– New Product Development involves bringing innovative products or services to market. Ethnographic Research plays a vital role in NPD by uncovering user needs, preferences, and pain points through real-world observations and interactions, informing the design and development of products that resonate with consumers.– Integrate Ethnographic Research into NPD processes to gain firsthand insights into users’ behaviors, preferences, and challenges. By immersing in users’ environments, researchers can identify unmet needs, validate product concepts, and iteratively refine designs to create products that meet users’ expectations and enhance their experiences.
Anthropology– Anthropology studies human societies, cultures, and behaviors, aiming to understand the diversity of human experiences. Ethnographic Research, rooted in Anthropological principles, employs participant observation and qualitative data collection methods to explore cultural phenomena and societal dynamics.– Apply Ethnographic Research methodologies informed by Anthropological principles to study human behaviors, cultural practices, and social interactions. By immersing in diverse cultural contexts, researchers can gain insights into the complexities of human experiences and inform decision-making in various fields, including marketing, healthcare, and education.
Social Sciences– Social Sciences encompass disciplines like Sociology and Psychology, which study human behavior, societies, and mental processes. Ethnographic Research draws from Social Sciences theories and methods, employing qualitative research techniques to investigate social phenomena and individual experiences.– Incorporate Ethnographic Research approaches informed by Social Sciences perspectives to explore human behaviors, attitudes, and social interactions. By observing individuals in their natural environments, researchers can uncover underlying motivations, social dynamics, and cultural influences that shape behaviors and inform intervention strategies.
Consumer Behavior Studies– Consumer Behavior Studies investigate the psychological, social, and cultural factors that influence consumers’ purchasing decisions. Ethnographic Research offers valuable insights into consumer behaviors by observing interactions with products, brands, and environments in real-world contexts.– Integrate Ethnographic Research methods into Consumer Behavior Studies to gain nuanced insights into consumers’ decision-making processes, preferences, and motivations. By observing consumers in situ, researchers can uncover subconscious behaviors, identify contextual influences, and inform marketing strategies to effectively engage target audiences.
Cross-Cultural Research– Cross-Cultural Research compares cultural phenomena across different societies to understand similarities, differences, and universal patterns of human behavior. Ethnographic Research provides a qualitative approach to Cross-Cultural Research, allowing researchers to immerse in diverse cultural contexts and explore cultural dynamics firsthand.– Utilize Ethnographic Research techniques in Cross-Cultural Research endeavors to explore cultural variations, norms, and practices across diverse populations. By conducting comparative analyses, researchers can identify cultural commonalities and differences, gain insights into cultural diversity, and inform cross-cultural communication and marketing strategies.

Visual Marketing Glossary

Account-Based Marketing

account-based-marketing
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

ad-ops
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.

AARRR Funnel

pirate-metrics
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

affinity-marketing
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.

Ambush Marketing

ambush-marketing
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

affiliate-marketing
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.

Bullseye Framework

bullseye-framework
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

brand-building
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.

Brand Dilution

brand-dilution
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. 

Brand Essence Wheel

brand-essence-wheel
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.

Brand Equity

what-is-brand-equity
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

brand-positioning
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

business-storytelling
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

content-marketing
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.

Customer Lifetime Value

customer-lifetime-value
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

customer-segmentation
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

developer-marketing
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.

Digital Marketing Channels

digital-marketing-channels
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

field-marketing
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.

Funnel Marketing

funnel-marketing
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.

Go-To-Market Strategy

go-to-market-strategy
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.

Greenwashing

greenwashing
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

grassroots-marketing
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

growth-marketing
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

guerrilla-marketing
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

hunger-marketing
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 Communication

integrated-marketing-communication
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

inbound-marketing
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

integrated-marketing
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.

Marketing Mix

marketing-mix
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

marketing-myopia
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

marketing-personas
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

meme-marketing
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

microtargeting
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.

Multi-Channel Marketing

multichannel-marketing
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

multilevel-marketing
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”.

Net Promoter Score

net-promoter-score
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

neuromarketing
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

newsjacking
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.

Niche Marketing

microniche
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.

Push vs. Pull Marketing

push-vs-pull-marketing
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

real-time-marketing
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

relationship-marketing
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

reverse-marketing
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

remarketing
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

sensory-marketing
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

services-marketing
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

sustainable-marketing-green-marketing
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

word-of-mouth-marketing
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

360-marketing
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.

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