segmentation-targeting-positioning

Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning

Segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) are fundamental concepts in marketing that form the basis for successful marketing strategies. These three interconnected processes allow businesses to identify and understand their target audience, tailor their marketing efforts effectively, and position their products or services in a way that resonates with their customers. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll delve into the intricacies of STP, exploring their significance, methodologies, and real-world applications.

Understanding Segmentation

Segmentation is the process of dividing a heterogeneous market into smaller, more manageable segments or groups based on shared characteristics, needs, or behaviors. The goal is to identify meaningful and distinct segments that allow businesses to tailor their marketing strategies to meet the unique requirements of each group.

Types of Segmentation

  1. Demographic Segmentation: This involves dividing the market based on demographic factors such as age, gender, income, education, and marital status. For example, a skincare company might target different age groups with specialized products.
  2. Psychographic Segmentation: In this approach, segments are created based on psychological and lifestyle traits. It considers factors like values, interests, attitudes, and activities. A luxury car brand might target consumers with a high affinity for prestige and status.
  3. Behavioral Segmentation: This method classifies consumers according to their behaviors, including their purchasing habits, brand loyalty, product usage, and decision-making processes. A soft drink company may target frequent consumers of their product.
  4. Geographic Segmentation: Geographic factors like location, climate, population density, and region are used to divide the market. Companies selling winter clothing, for example, would focus on regions with colder climates.
  5. Technographic Segmentation: In the digital age, technographic segmentation considers consumers’ technology preferences and behaviors, such as their use of smartphones, social media, or e-commerce platforms.

Benefits of Segmentation

  • Improved Targeting: Segmenting the market helps businesses focus their resources on the most promising customer groups, resulting in more efficient and effective marketing efforts.
  • Enhanced Personalization: Understanding the unique needs and preferences of each segment allows for tailored marketing messages and product offerings.
  • Competitive Advantage: Segmentation can help companies identify niche markets or underserved segments, providing opportunities for differentiation and competitive advantage.

The Role of Targeting

Targeting is the process of selecting one or more market segments as the primary focus of a marketing strategy. After identifying various segments through segmentation, businesses must decide which segments to pursue based on factors like segment size, growth potential, competition, and alignment with the company’s capabilities and objectives.

Target Market Selection Strategies

  1. Undifferentiated Targeting: This strategy involves targeting the entire market with a single marketing mix. It assumes that all consumers have similar needs and preferences. It’s often used for basic, widely consumed products like salt or sugar.
  2. Differentiated Targeting: With this approach, a company targets multiple segments with different marketing strategies and products. Each segment is seen as unique, and efforts are made to meet their specific needs. An automaker may offer different car models for various segments, such as economy, luxury, or sports.
  3. Concentrated Targeting: Concentrated targeting focuses on one specific segment. It’s ideal for niche products or markets with specialized needs. For example, a company might exclusively target professional photographers with high-end camera equipment.
  4. Micromarketing: Micromarketing takes targeting to an extreme by tailoring products and marketing efforts to individual customers. It’s often seen in personalized marketing approaches like email marketing and recommendations on e-commerce platforms.

Benefits of Targeting

  • Efficient Resource Allocation: Targeting allows companies to allocate their resources, such as advertising budgets, more efficiently, as they are directed toward the most relevant segments.
  • Higher Conversion Rates: By focusing on segments that are more likely to have an interest in the product or service, companies can achieve higher conversion rates and sales.
  • Stronger Brand Loyalty: Targeting can lead to deeper connections with customers, resulting in stronger brand loyalty and advocacy.

The Significance of Positioning

Positioning is the final step in the STP process and involves creating a distinct image or perception of a product or brand in the minds of the target audience. It answers the question, “How do we want our customers to perceive us compared to the competition?”

Elements of Positioning

  1. Value Proposition: This is the unique benefit or advantage that a product or brand offers to its target market. It’s the promise that sets the product apart from competitors.
  2. Perceptual Map: A perceptual map is a visual representation of how consumers perceive different brands within a market. It helps businesses understand their current position and identify opportunities for differentiation.
  3. Competitive Analysis: Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of competitors can help companies position themselves effectively. This includes evaluating pricing, quality, customer service, and brand image.
  4. Communication Strategy: Positioning relies heavily on effective communication to convey the desired image. This includes advertising, branding, messaging, and customer interactions.

Positioning Strategies

  1. Product Attributes or Features: Positioning based on specific product attributes or features highlights what makes the product unique or superior. For example, a smartphone might be positioned as having the best camera quality in the market.
  2. Price and Quality: Some companies position themselves as offering high-quality products at premium prices, while others emphasize affordability. The choice depends on the target market’s preferences.
  3. Use or Application: Positioning can be based on how the product is used or its application. For instance, a laundry detergent might be positioned as the best choice for removing tough stains.
  4. Problem-Solving: Positioning a product as a solution to a specific problem or pain point can resonate with consumers facing that issue. This is common in the healthcare and technology sectors.
  5. Cultural or Emotional Appeal: Brands can position themselves to align with certain cultural values or emotional triggers. For example, a clothing brand may position itself as eco-friendly or socially responsible.

Real-World Applications of STP

STP principles are applied across various industries and sectors to develop effective marketing strategies. Here are some real-world examples:

1. Apple Inc.

Apple uses a differentiated targeting strategy, catering to different segments with a range of products. The iPhone targets the premium segment, the iPad serves both consumer and professional markets, and the Apple Watch is positioned as a health and fitness device. This approach has helped Apple maintain a strong brand and a loyal customer base.

2. Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola employs a global undifferentiated targeting strategy. It markets its signature product, Coca-Cola Classic, to a wide range of consumers regardless of demographics. This broad approach has contributed to the brand’s global success and recognition.

3. Tesla

Tesla, an electric vehicle manufacturer, uses a concentrated targeting strategy. It focuses on the premium electric vehicle market and aims to disrupt the automotive industry by offering high-end electric cars with advanced technology. This strategy has garnered attention and a dedicated customer base.

4. Amazon

Amazon utilizes micromarketing strategies through its personalized recommendations and targeted marketing emails. The company analyzes customer behavior and preferences to recommend products and tailor marketing messages, resulting in higher conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

Challenges and Considerations

While STP is a powerful framework, it’s essential to acknowledge potential challenges and considerations:

  1. Data Accuracy: Effective STP relies on accurate and up-to-date data. Inaccurate data can lead to incorrect segmentation and targeting decisions.
  2. Changing Consumer Behavior: Consumer behavior can change rapidly, making it necessary to continually reassess and adjust STP strategies.
  3. Competitive Landscape: The competitive landscape can evolve, impacting a brand’s positioning. Regular competitive analysis is crucial.
  4. Resource Allocation: Allocating resources to multiple segments or pursuing a concentrated targeting strategy can be resource-intensive. Companies must weigh the costs against potential returns.
  5. Ethical Considerations: Targeting specific segments or using personalized marketing raises ethical questions about privacy and data use. Companies must prioritize ethical marketing practices.

Conclusion

Segmentation, targeting, and positioning are integral components of a successful marketing strategy. By understanding their audience through segmentation, selecting the right segments for targeting, and crafting a compelling position in the market, businesses can effectively reach and resonate with their customers. In today’s dynamic marketplace, the ability to adapt and refine STP strategies is key to staying competitive and meeting evolving consumer needs and preferences.

Key Highlights

  • Segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) are interconnected processes in marketing that form the basis for successful marketing strategies.
  • Segmentation involves dividing a heterogeneous market into smaller, more manageable segments based on shared characteristics, needs, or behaviors.
  • Types of segmentation include demographic, psychographic, behavioral, geographic, and technographic segmentation.
  • Segmentation benefits include improved targeting, enhanced personalization, and a competitive advantage.
  • Targeting is the process of selecting one or more market segments as the primary focus of a marketing strategy, considering factors like segment size, growth potential, and competition.
  • Target market selection strategies include undifferentiated targeting, differentiated targeting, concentrated targeting, and micromarketing.
  • Targeting benefits include efficient resource allocation, higher conversion rates, and stronger brand loyalty.
  • Positioning involves creating a distinct image or perception of a product or brand in the minds of the target audience, including elements like value proposition, perceptual map, competitive analysis, and communication strategy.
  • Positioning strategies can be based on product attributes or features, price and quality, use or application, problem-solving, or cultural or emotional appeal.
  • Real-world examples of STP applications include Apple, Coca-Cola, Tesla, and Amazon.
  • Challenges and considerations in STP include data accuracy, changing consumer behavior, competitive landscape, resource allocation, and ethical considerations.
  • STP is essential for developing effective marketing strategies that resonate with customers and adapt to evolving consumer needs and preferences.

Related FrameworkDescriptionWhen to Apply
Segmentation, Targeting & PositioningSegmentation, Targeting & Positioning (STP) is a strategic approach in marketing that involves dividing the market into segments based on similar characteristics, selecting the most attractive segments to target, and positioning products or brands to meet the needs and preferences of those segments.– Apply STP when entering new markets, launching new products, or refining existing marketing strategies to ensure alignment between offerings and customer needs. Use segmentation to identify high-potential customer groups, targeting to focus resources effectively, and positioning to differentiate the brand in the minds of consumers.
Market Segmentation– Market Segmentation involves dividing a heterogeneous market into distinct groups with similar characteristics or needs. It allows businesses to tailor marketing strategies and offerings to specific customer segments, enhancing relevance and effectiveness.– Utilize Market Segmentation when developing marketing campaigns, product offerings, or pricing strategies to address the diverse needs and preferences of different customer groups, enabling more targeted and personalized approaches that resonate with specific segments.
Target Market Selection– Target Market Selection involves evaluating different market segments to determine which ones offer the greatest potential for business success. It entails assessing segment attractiveness, competitiveness, and fit with the organization’s capabilities and objectives.– Use Target Market Selection when deciding where to allocate marketing resources, prioritize customer segments, or expand into new markets, ensuring alignment between target segments and the organization’s strategic goals, resources, and capabilities for optimal market penetration and growth.
Positioning Strategy– Positioning Strategy focuses on creating a distinctive brand image and perception in the minds of target customers relative to competitors. It involves identifying unique selling propositions and communicating them effectively to differentiate the brand in the marketplace.– Employ Positioning Strategy to develop compelling brand messages, differentiate products or services, and establish a favorable brand image that resonates with target customers, enabling the organization to stand out in competitive markets and capture the attention and loyalty of key customer segments.
Value Proposition Development– Value Proposition Development centers on articulating the unique value that a product or service offers to target customers. It involves identifying customer needs, assessing competitive offerings, and crafting compelling value propositions that address customer pain points and deliver meaningful benefits.– Utilize Value Proposition Development to create persuasive messages and offerings that resonate with target segments, address specific customer needs, and communicate the distinctive benefits and advantages of the organization’s products or services, fostering customer engagement, loyalty, and advocacy.
Customer Persona Creation– Customer Persona Creation involves creating fictional representations of ideal customers based on demographic, psychographic, and behavioral data. It helps businesses understand their target audience’s motivations, preferences, and pain points to tailor marketing strategies effectively.– Employ Customer Persona Creation to humanize target segments, gain insights into their preferences and behaviors, and develop more personalized and relevant marketing campaigns, product features, or service offerings that resonate with specific customer personas, driving higher engagement and conversion rates.
Competitive Analysis– Competitive Analysis involves evaluating competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, strategies, and market positioning to identify opportunities and threats. It provides valuable insights for refining marketing strategies, differentiating offerings, and capitalizing on gaps in the competitive landscape.– Use Competitive Analysis to assess the competitive environment, benchmark against industry peers, identify areas for differentiation, and develop strategies to gain a competitive advantage in target markets, ensuring that the organization’s offerings stand out and meet the needs of its target segments effectively.
Brand Differentiation– Brand Differentiation focuses on creating unique and compelling brand attributes that set a product or service apart from competitors. It involves identifying and emphasizing distinctive features, benefits, or values that resonate with target customers and contribute to brand loyalty and preference.– Employ Brand Differentiation to develop a clear and compelling brand identity, communicate unique value propositions, and establish emotional connections with target customers, fostering brand loyalty and preference that drive customer acquisition, retention, and advocacy.
Product Development– Product Development involves designing and launching new products or improving existing ones to meet the needs and preferences of target customers. It requires understanding customer insights, market trends, and competitive dynamics to create offerings that deliver value and innovation.– Incorporate Product Development into STP strategies to align product features, designs, and functionalities with the preferences and requirements of target segments, ensuring that the organization delivers offerings that meet customer needs and expectations effectively, driving market adoption and revenue growth.
Channel Strategy– Channel Strategy focuses on selecting and managing distribution channels to reach target customers effectively. It involves evaluating various distribution options, such as direct sales, retail partnerships, or online platforms, to ensure optimal market coverage and accessibility for customers.– Utilize Channel Strategy to optimize the distribution of products or services across different channels, reach target segments where they prefer to engage and purchase, and maximize market penetration and sales opportunities, enhancing customer convenience, satisfaction, and loyalty across various touchpoints.

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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