To optimize its marketing communications, a business can categorize media as either paid, earned, shared, or owned media (PESO). Analyzing these four categories is particularly useful for content-driven, online marketing strategies to build brand awareness, customer loyalty, and gain market share.
PESO Model
Key Elements
Analysis
Implications
Applications
Examples
Definition
The PESO Model is a framework used in public relations and communications to categorize and organize different types of media channels and communication channels into four main categories: Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned media. It helps organizations plan their communication strategies effectively.
Analyzing the PESO Model involves understanding the four media categories and how they interact with each other. Paid media involves advertising, earned media includes media coverage, shared media involves social media, and owned media pertains to the content owned by the organization. Effective communication often requires a strategic mix of these media types.
The PESO Model guides organizations in diversifying their communication efforts across various media channels. It emphasizes the importance of earned and shared media, which can be more credible and engaging than paid media alone. A balanced PESO strategy can enhance brand reputation and reach target audiences effectively.
The PESO Model is commonly applied in public relations, marketing, and communication campaigns to plan and execute communication strategies. It is relevant for businesses, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and PR professionals.
– Developing integrated communication plans that leverage all four media types to achieve specific communication goals. – Measuring the impact of different media channels on brand awareness, customer engagement, and overall campaign success. – Adapting PESO strategies to suit different industries, target audiences, and communication objectives.
Paid Media
Paid media refers to promotional content or advertisements that organizations pay for to reach a specific audience. It includes activities like paid advertising, sponsored content, and display ads.
Analyzing paid media involves evaluating the cost, reach, and effectiveness of paid advertising channels. It requires a budget allocation for advertising campaigns, targeting specific demographics, and measuring the return on investment (ROI) of paid media efforts.
Paid media offers organizations control over their messaging and audience targeting. It can quickly generate brand visibility and drive traffic to specific campaigns. However, it requires financial resources and may lack the authenticity and trust associated with earned and shared media.
Organizations use paid media for various purposes, including product launches, promotions, and reaching new audiences. Paid advertising can be executed through online channels, print media, television, and other paid platforms.
– Running Google Ads campaigns to appear prominently in search engine results for specific keywords. – Launching sponsored social media posts to increase visibility among target demographics. – Investing in display advertising on relevant websites to capture the attention of potential customers.
Earned Media
Earned media consists of media coverage, mentions, and publicity that an organization receives through external sources. It includes press coverage, reviews, social media mentions, and word-of-mouth referrals.
Analyzing earned media involves monitoring and measuring the extent of media coverage, social media mentions, and online reviews related to the organization. It requires building relationships with journalists, influencers, and other media sources to secure positive coverage and mentions.
Earned media is valuable for its credibility and authenticity. Positive coverage from trusted sources can enhance brand reputation and build trust among audiences. However, organizations have limited control over earned media and must focus on providing exceptional products or services to earn positive mentions.
Organizations can generate earned media through public relations efforts, media outreach, influencer collaborations, and by delivering exceptional customer experiences. Effective earned media strategies involve identifying key media outlets and influencers in the industry.
– Pitching story ideas and press releases to journalists to secure media coverage. – Collaborating with social media influencers to promote products or services to their followers. – Encouraging satisfied customers to leave positive reviews and share their experiences on social media and review platforms.
Shared Media
Shared media encompasses social media platforms and online communities where organizations engage with their audiences. It includes social media posts, user-generated content, and community interactions.
Analyzing shared media involves evaluating the organization’s social media presence, engagement levels, and the impact of user-generated content. It requires a proactive approach to building and maintaining an online community, responding to comments, and sharing relevant content to foster engagement.
Shared media allows organizations to interact directly with their audience, creating opportunities for two-way communication and relationship-building. It can amplify the reach of content through shares and retweets. However, it requires consistent engagement and moderation to maintain a positive online presence.
Organizations use shared media to connect with their target audience, share updates, provide customer support, and showcase their brand personality. Effective shared media strategies involve understanding the preferences and behavior of the online community.
– Creating and posting engaging content on social media platforms, including images, videos, and infographics. – Responding promptly to comments and messages on social media to provide customer support and build rapport. – Encouraging user-generated content and conducting social media campaigns to involve the audience in brand-related activities.
Owned Media
Owned media includes content and communication channels that an organization has complete control over. It encompasses the organization’s website, blog, email newsletters, and branded content.
Analyzing owned media involves assessing the quality, relevance, and effectiveness of owned content. It requires content planning, creation, and optimization to attract and retain the target audience. Owned media can serve as a hub for sharing information, educating customers, and promoting products or services.
Owned media provides organizations with control over their messaging and branding. It serves as a platform for sharing valuable content, showcasing expertise, and nurturing customer relationships. However, it requires ongoing content development and SEO optimization to remain relevant and competitive.
Organizations use owned media to establish their online presence, share industry insights, and provide valuable resources to their audience. Effective owned media strategies involve content strategy development, SEO optimization, and audience segmentation.
– Publishing regular blog posts and articles on the organization’s website to provide valuable insights and information. – Sending targeted email newsletters to subscribers with updates, offers, and educational content. – Creating informative videos and webinars to engage and educate the audience on relevant topics.
There is no more effective means of lead generation than online media. Businesses who use online media to their advantage build brand awareness, customer loyalty, and market share.
To derive maximum value out of online marketing, however, brands must use a variety of strategies across different mediums.
These mediums encompass four categories of media.
While each category will require professional strategies to be developed, it is important to note that the PESO model seeks to help each media channel act as a single, cohesive unit.
Let’s now look at them in more detail.
The four categories of online media
Paid media
Paid media is what most consumers associate with traditional advertising. Think print advertisements, TV commercials, or banner ads.
In most cases, one business is buying access to the audience or platform of another business.
Paid media can be tracked through performance metrics such as clicks, conversions, visits, or views. It is a highly effective (though resource-intensive) form of advertising.
But to maintain its efficacy, it does require continuous investment.
Earned media
Earned media is content that is created about a business by a separate entity, whether that be an individual or another business.
Earned media is not paid media, in a sense that earned media results when a business does something worth talking about.
Earned media includes backlinks, press coverage, reviews, and awards.
Because of its association with viral content, earned media has the potential to reach many more consumers than paid or owned media.
Shared media
Shared media is content shared across social media. It is a less explicit form of media since social media is a constantly evolving landscape.
Shared media includes social media content, but it also encompasses user-generated content and co-created partner content.
Owned media
As the name suggests, owned media is any type of media content that a business creates itself. This includes websites, videos, podcasts, e-books, and blog posts.
Owned media also includes content a business outsources to a freelancer – so long as the copyright is transferred from the freelancer to the business after completion.
The importance of integration in the PESO model
A fundamental concept of the PESO model is that each category is more effective when used in conjunction with other categories than it is in isolation.
Some businesses may be tempted to incorporate paid media as their only strategy, but this approach only works as long as funds continue to flow.
However, paid media is important when a business has high quality owned media that it needs to showcase in front of a large audience.
Super Bowl advertisements are one example of this process in action. Brands use a combination of paid, shared, and owned media to generate buzz. This in return creates earned media, where brand awareness increases through organic referrals, backlinks, and press coverage.
Drawbacks of the PESO Model
Complexity in Implementation
Effectively implementing the PESO model can be complex, requiring coordination across different types of media and consistent content creation.
Potential Overlap Between Categories
There can be significant overlap between the different media types, making it challenging to categorize and measure efforts distinctly.
Resource Intensive
Successfully executing a PESO strategy can be resource-intensive, requiring both financial investment and skilled personnel.
Rapid Changes in Digital Media
The digital media landscape is constantly evolving, especially in shared and owned media, requiring continuous adaptation and learning.
Difficulty in Measuring Impact
Measuring the impact and ROI of integrated media strategies, especially in earned and shared media, can be challenging.
When to Use the PESO Model
In Integrated Marketing Strategies
The PESO model is ideal for businesses looking to create a comprehensive and integrated marketingstrategy that utilizes all forms of media.
For Brand Building and Awareness
It’s particularly useful for brand building and increasing brand awareness across different platforms and channels.
In Content Marketing
The model provides a structured approach to content marketing, ensuring that content is distributed effectively across all types of media.
During Campaign Planning
The PESO model can guide the planning of marketing and PR campaigns, helping to identify the best channels and methods for distribution.
How to Implement the PESO Model
Develop a Coordinated Strategy
Plan a coordinated strategy that integrates paid, earned, shared, and owned media efforts.
Leverage Each Type of Media
Utilize the strengths of each media type – use paid media for reach, earned media for credibility, shared media for engagement, and owned media for control of the message.
Create Consistent and Quality Content
Develop consistent, high-quality content that can be adapted and shared across the different types of media.
Monitor and Measure Performance
Regularly monitor and measure the performance across each type of media to understand impact and ROI.
Adapt to Changes and Feedback
Be prepared to adapt your strategy based on performance metrics and feedback from audiences.
What to Expect from Implementing the PESO Model
Enhanced Media Reach
The PESO model can help extend the reach of your media efforts, covering a broader audience across multiple platforms.
Improved Brand Visibility
A well-executed PESO strategy can significantly improve brand visibility and recognition.
Greater Engagement with Audiences
By leveraging shared and owned media, businesses can foster greater engagement with their audience.
More Comprehensive Marketing Efforts
The model encourages a more comprehensive and holistic approach to marketing and public relations.
Increased Complexity in Media Planning
While beneficial, implementing a PESO strategy adds complexity to media planning and execution.
PESO Model Case Studies
Clothing Company
A clothing company might leverage the PESO model to build its marketingstrategy by:
Paid media: run performance marketing ads for their latest collection to build the bottom of the funnel and drive up sales for the products.
Earned media: favorable coverage from fashion bloggers and micro-influencers can drive brand awareness and sales.
Shared media: partnering with social media influencers in the same vertical, thus creating buzz about the brand and product collection.
Owned media: promote and build content on the blog and newsletter to ensure users who get there from other media channels understand the story behind the brand and the products and realize what differentiates you from other brands.
Restaurant
A restaurant might use:
Paid media to run ads for their daily specials on food or register restaurants on review sites like Yelp or Google My Business to promote restaurants’ new offerings.
Earned media incentivize customers to leave positive reviews on online platforms and social media to drive up demand.
Shared media by partnering up with food bloggers, or chefs, to create unique recipes for users on social media, thus creating buzz around the restaurant offering.
Owned media build a newsletter sharing special offers and experiences that the restaurant organizes, which makes it special compared to any other restaurant.
Travel Company
A travel company might use:
Paid media run ads through OTAs, like Booking, Airbnb, and more, to amplify the company’s offering.
Earned media get coverage from travel bloggers thanks to your ability to put together unique travel packages in unique destinations, which drive up demand.
Shared media enable travel bloggers to enjoy some of the travel packages so that those experiences get shared on the web and drive up demand.
Owned media use the site, blog, and newsletter to describe experiences in detail. Tell stories about these destinations to drive up demand.
Key takeaways
The PESO model is a marketingstrategy where businesses use a combination of paid, earned, shared, and owned media.
The PESO model is used to increase brand awareness, customer loyalty, and market share.
The PESO model is most effective as a holistic and fully integrated marketingstrategy. While each media category is effective in isolation, integration ensures a stronger and more cohesive strategy that drives outcomes.
Key Highlights
PESO Model Overview: The PESO model categorizes media into four types: Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned. This framework is particularly valuable for online content-driven marketing strategies that aim to enhance brand awareness, customer loyalty, and market share.
Lead Generation and Online Media: Online media is a highly effective tool for lead generation, enabling businesses to build brand awareness, customer loyalty, and market share. However, to maximize its value, a diverse range of strategies should be employed across various mediums.
Four Categories of Media:
Paid Media: Traditional advertising like print ads, TV commercials, or banner ads. Businesses pay to access another entity’s audience or platform. Tracking through metrics like clicks and conversions is crucial, and continuous investment is needed.
Earned Media: Content created about a business by external sources due to noteworthy actions. It includes backlinks, press coverage, reviews, and awards. Earned media has the potential to reach more consumers, driven by its association with viral content.
Shared Media: Content shared across social media, encompassing social media content, user-generated content, and co-created partner content. It’s a more subtle form of media due to the evolving nature of social media platforms.
Owned Media: Media content created directly by the business, such as websites, videos, podcasts, e-books, and blog posts. Outsourced content can also fall under owned media, as long as copyright is transferred to the business.
Integration in the PESO Model: The PESO model emphasizes that each media category is most effective when integrated with others. Relying solely on paid media isn’t sustainable, but combining it with high-quality owned media can yield better results. The model highlights the importance of cross-category synergy.
Case Studies:
Clothing Company: Utilizes paid media for performance marketing, earned media through favorable coverage, shared media via influencer partnerships, and owned media to convey brand story and differentiation.
Restaurant: Utilizes paid media for daily specials, earned media through positive reviews, shared media with food bloggers, and owned media to communicate unique offerings.
Travel Company: Utilizes paid media on online travel agencies, earned media through travel blogger coverage, shared media by involving bloggers in experiences, and owned media to tell detailed destination stories.
Key Takeaways:
PESO model combines paid, earned, shared, and owned media.
Enhances brand awareness, customer loyalty, and market share.
Effectiveness is optimized through integration across media categories.
Related Frameworks
Description
When to Apply
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
– A strategic approach to marketing that coordinates and integrates various promotional elements, such as advertising, public relations, direct marketing, and digital marketing, to deliver a consistent and cohesive brand message to target audiences. Integrated Marketing Communications aims to create synergy and maximize the impact of marketing efforts across multiple channels.
– When coordinating marketing communications activities or campaigns. – Implementing Integrated Marketing Communications strategies to align messaging, synchronize promotional activities, and create seamless customer experiences across multiple touchpoints effectively, enhancing brand visibility and resonance.
Paid Media
– Media exposure that requires payment, such as advertising placements, sponsorships, or paid social media promotions. Paid Media enables organizations to reach specific target audiences and amplify their brand messages through paid channels.
– When launching advertising campaigns or targeting specific audience segments. – Leveraging Paid Media channels to amplify brand messages, reach target audiences, and drive awareness, engagement, and conversions effectively, maximizing advertising ROI and visibility.
Earned Media
– Media exposure gained through public relations efforts, word-of-mouth, or viral sharing, without direct payment. Earned Media includes media coverage, social media mentions, and user-generated content that contributes to brand awareness and credibility.
– When building brand reputation or generating organic visibility. – Cultivating Earned Media through strategic PR campaigns, influencer partnerships, and brand advocacy programs to amplify brand messages, enhance credibility, and foster community engagement effectively, leveraging social proof and word-of-mouth endorsements.
Shared Media
– Media content co-created or shared by brands and their audiences through social media platforms, online communities, or user-generated content initiatives. Shared Media fosters collaboration, engagement, and brand advocacy among stakeholders.
– When building brand communities or encouraging user participation. – Engaging in Shared Media initiatives to co-create content, foster brand advocacy, and build online communities effectively, leveraging user-generated content and social sharing to amplify brand reach and engagement.
Owned Media
– Media assets and channels owned and controlled by a brand, such as websites, blogs, email newsletters, and branded content. Owned Media provides organizations with full control over content, messaging, and distribution channels.
– When establishing brand presence or delivering branded content. – Leveraging Owned Media channels to publish branded content, communicate brand messages, and engage with audiences directly, maximizing brand control and customization while building brand authority and loyalty.
Content Marketing
– A strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience and drive profitable customer action. Content Marketing aims to provide value to audiences and build long-term relationships.
– When educating audiences or building brand authority. – Implementing Content Marketing strategies to create high-quality content, address audience needs, and deliver valuable insights and experiences effectively, driving audience engagement, loyalty, and conversion.
Influencer Marketing
– A marketing strategy that involves collaborating with influential individuals or content creators to promote products, services, or brands to their audiences. Influencer Marketing leverages the credibility and reach of influencers to enhance brand visibility and credibility.
– When reaching niche audiences or driving word-of-mouth marketing. – Engaging in Influencer Marketing campaigns to partner with relevant influencers, tap into their audience networks, and leverage their influence and credibility effectively, expanding brand reach and driving engagement and conversions.
Social Media Marketing (SMM)
– Marketing efforts conducted through social media platforms to connect with audiences, build brand awareness, and drive engagement and conversions. Social Media Marketing encompasses organic content, paid advertising, and community management on social networks.
– When building brand presence or engaging with audiences online. – Deploying Social Media Marketing strategies to create compelling content, foster community engagement, and drive brand advocacy effectively, leveraging social platforms to amplify brand messages and interactions, and build meaningful relationships with customers and followers.
Public Relations (PR)
– The strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their audiences, stakeholders, or the public. Public Relations involves managing reputation, shaping narratives, and influencing perceptions through media relations, event planning, and corporate communications.
– When managing brand reputation or shaping public perceptions. – Implementing Public Relations strategies to cultivate positive media coverage, manage crises, and engage with stakeholders effectively, building trust, credibility, and goodwill for the brand while managing and mitigating reputational risks.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
– The process of optimizing website content, structure, and performance to improve visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs) and drive organic traffic. Search Engine Optimization aims to increase website visibility and attract relevant audiences through organic search.
– When improving online visibility or driving organic traffic. – Employing Search Engine Optimization techniques to optimize website content, structure, and technical aspects, enhance search engine visibility, and attract qualified traffic effectively, maximizing online presence and lead generation potential.
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.
