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.
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Understanding field marketing
Field marketing is used to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and build customer relationships. It is the domain of experienced and well-trained marketers who are tasked with interacting with the brand’s target audience to encourage them to make a purchase decision.
These marketers may work in the B2B context and as a result, possess marketing and sales expertise to meet with prospects across multiple touchpoints. They may also work in the B2C context and present themselves in locations where the ideal buyer tends to congregate.
Field marketing campaign types
In truth, there are many different settings in which a field marketing campaign can be run. Some of these include:
Experiential marketing– a face-to-face strategy where the consumer is immersed in a product or service to engage them with a brand.
Product demonstrations – this is a common approach that many consumers are now averse to. However, free samples and giveaways are still effective in some situations if the consumer is also able to experience the brand hands-on.
Conferences – for B2B campaigns, it can be useful to offer educational experiences at conferences to build brand awareness.
Tradeshows – another approach well suited to B2B brands. In this case, businesses demonstrate their products and services to prospective customers at industry-specific tradeshows.
VIP dinners – for a more intimate form of field marketing, exclusive restaurant dinners for very important prospects can also be effective in turning them into customers.
Direct selling – where brand representatives make sales at the point where the interaction is made. This is sometimes used in combination with demos if the prospect has expressed interest in the product or service.
Retail audits – not every field marketingstrategy must be customer-facing. Retail audits involve companies visiting retail stores to collect data on the way their products are displayed, signed, and promoted. This allows them to determine the effectiveness of in-store marketing and adjust the strategy if necessary.
Field marketer responsibilities
Some consider field marketers to be more like salespeople than marketers. As we noted earlier, however, the field marketer is a well-trained and specialist role that combines elements of both sales and marketing.
Here are some of the main responsibilities of a field marketer:
Researching, planning, and executing the delivery of field marketing campaigns.
Ensuring they possess detailed knowledge of products and services.
The monitoring of industry trends or the emergence of new competitors.
Negotiate mutually beneficial deals with third-party retailers and partners with respect to merchandise and promotional display placement.
Manage social media accounts for each campaign.
Share important lead and customer intel with sales departments.
Case Studies
Experiential Marketing:
Red Bull’s Wings Team engages consumers through sampling and immersive experiences at events like extreme sports competitions.
Coca-Cola’s Happiness Truck surprises people with free drinks and creates joyful moments in public spaces.
Product Demonstrations:
Samsung sets up in-store kiosks where customers can try out the latest smartphones, showcasing their features and functionality.
Food companies like Ben & Jerry’s offer free samples of new ice cream flavors at grocery stores to encourage purchases.
Conferences:
Tech companies like Google and Microsoft sponsor and participate in industry conferences to showcase new products and technologies.
Medical device manufacturers host educational sessions at healthcare conferences to connect with professionals and introduce innovations.
Tradeshows:
Automotive companies like Ford and BMW exhibit their latest vehicle models at auto shows to generate interest and potential sales.
Technology companies present their solutions at technology trade fairs to attract business clients and partners.
VIP Dinners:
Luxury fashion brands like Louis Vuitton organize exclusive dinners for high-net-worth individuals to preview new collections.
Software companies invite key decision-makers from businesses to private dinners to discuss their software solutions.
Direct Selling:
Avon representatives conduct home visits to demonstrate and sell beauty products directly to customers.
Cutco employs sales representatives who conduct in-home presentations to sell high-quality kitchen knives.
Retail Audits:
Beverage companies send auditors to retail stores to ensure their products are displayed prominently and in accordance with brand standards.
Consumer goods manufacturers collect data on the placement and visibility of their products on store shelves.
Street Promotions:
Food delivery apps distribute promotional codes and freebies to passersby in busy city areas to encourage app downloads and orders.
Mobile network providers set up booths in shopping districts to promote new plans and offer on-the-spot sign-ups.
Local Community Engagement:
Real estate agents host neighborhood open houses to showcase properties and connect with potential buyers.
Banks sponsor community events and provide financial literacy workshops to engage with local residents.
Brand Ambassador Programs:
GoPro employs brand ambassadors who use their action cameras to capture adventures and share content on social media, promoting the brand.
Beverage companies hire brand ambassadors to attend music festivals and distribute samples to festival-goers.
Guerrilla Marketing:
IKEA placed sofas and living room setups at bus stops to create a comfortable waiting experience for commuters while promoting their furniture.
Sony placed life-sized cutouts of characters from a popular video game in public places to create intrigue and generate interest in the game.
Key takeaways:
Field marketing refers to any marketing activity that is performed in the field to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and build customer relationships. It may occur in both a B2B and B2C context.
Field marketing campaign types include tradeshows, conferences, VIP dinners, retail audits, direct selling, product demonstrations, and experiential marketing. Note that not all campaigns are necessarily customer-facing.
Field marketers possess a blend of sales and marketing skills, which makes the role highly specialized. Some of their duties include the research, planning, and execution of campaigns and the monitoring of industry trends or the emergence of new players. They must also be able to negotiate beneficial outcomes with key stakeholders.
Key Highlights of Field Marketing:
Definition: Field marketing encompasses face-to-face marketing activities conducted outside of traditional office or retail settings. It includes various tactics such as street promotions, conferences, sales, and experiential marketing.
Purpose: Field marketing aims to boost brand awareness, generate leads, and establish and nurture customer relationships. It involves interactions with the target audience to influence purchase decisions.
Audience Context: Field marketers may operate in both B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) contexts. In B2B, they engage with prospects across multiple touchpoints, while in B2C, they connect with potential customers where they gather.
Campaign Types:
Experiential Marketing: Immerses consumers in a product or service to engage them with the brand.
Product Demonstrations: Involves showcasing products with the potential for giveaways and free samples.
Conferences: Useful for B2B campaigns, offering educational experiences to raise brand awareness.
Tradeshows: Businesses display products and services at industry-specific tradeshows for B2B outreach.
VIP Dinners: Intimate gatherings for important prospects to convert them into customers.
Direct Selling: Representatives make sales at the point of interaction, sometimes combined with product demos.
Retail Audits: Involves collecting data on product display, signage, and promotion in retail stores.
Field Marketer Responsibilities:
Researching, planning, and executing field marketing campaigns.
Possessing in-depth knowledge of products and services.
Monitoring industry trends and emerging competitors.
Negotiating beneficial deals with third-party retailers and partners.
Managing social media accounts for campaigns.
Sharing lead and customer insights with sales departments.
Specialized Role: Field marketers blend elements of both sales and marketing, making their role highly specialized and vital for driving brand engagement and customer conversions.
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.
