waterfalling

What Is Waterfalling And Why It Matters For Publishers

Waterfalling is an ad inventory mechanism that publishers use to unload the remaining inventory they could not sell at a premium price. Thus, with waterfalling, publishers sell the remaining inventory at subsequent lower price tiers to maximize profitability. 

In short, this is a technique that publishers use to maximize their profits on an otherwise unsold inventory of impressions they have on a web property.

 

 

Why do publishers use waterfalling?

Publishing business models primarily make money by selling impressions or clicks to advertisers. However, medium to large publishers handle millions of impressions each month. Optimizing the processes of those “inventories” is critical to maximizing profitability.

Waterfalling, therefore, is a process where publishers manage to sell the remaining inventory, which could not be sold at a premium slot. Indeed, only a fraction of the overall inventory can be sold at a premium slot, and if the publisher didn’t manage to sell the remaining inventory, this would account for lost money.

How do publishers use waterfalling?

Waterfalling consists of a process where ad inventories are divided in tiers based on the bidding of advertisers:

waterfalling-publishing

Source: In your Waterfall – How Publishers Monetise Their Ad Inventory

When Publisher A could not sell the whole inventory through the primary ad network, the unsold impressions will go through a second partner ad network to sell that inventory at a lower price to consume the remaining part of the unsold impressions. If not all impressions are consumed at that tier, the waterfall moves to the next partner ad network until the consumption of the inventory.

Simple, isn’t it?

Waterfalling is a complex optimization process

While this process might sound simple in theory, that is complex in practice. At this stage, publishers are trying to maximize their income by looking to sell at the highest rate possible per CPM and to make sure most of the potential ad inventory gets sold.

Therefore, publishers use this method to squeeze as much money as possible from several ad networks. Usually, as a small percentage of an ad impression is sold at a premium price, publishers look for alternative ad networks where they can sell the remaining chunk of the inventory at a lower floor price.

Case Studies

1. Online News Publisher:

  • An online news publisher has a substantial amount of ad inventory on its website. To maximize revenue, it employs waterfalling. If premium ad slots are filled, the unsold impressions cascade down to secondary ad networks, ensuring that even the remaining inventory generates revenue.

2. E-commerce Website:

  • A popular e-commerce platform experiences fluctuating demand for ad space. Waterfalling allows it to efficiently manage its ad inventory. If certain ad spaces remain unsold, the platform progressively offers them to different ad networks, optimizing revenue generation.

3. Gaming App with Ads:

  • A mobile gaming app incorporates ads to monetize its user base. When premium ad placements are occupied, the app employs waterfalling to make use of unsold impressions. These impressions flow down to alternative ad networks, preventing potential revenue loss.

4. Niche Blog:

  • A niche blog focuses on specific topics and attracts a dedicated audience. Waterfalling helps the blog maximize earnings from its ad inventory. If premium ad slots are saturated, the remaining ad space is offered to various ad networks, ensuring monetization of all available impressions.

5. Video Streaming Platform:

  • A video streaming service relies on ad revenue to support its free tier. To optimize income, the platform employs waterfalling. When premium ad slots are occupied, the unsold impressions are directed to different ad partners, helping the platform generate revenue from its entire ad inventory.

6. Social Networking Site:

  • A social networking site has various ad slots throughout its platform. Waterfalling assists the site in efficiently managing its ad inventory. If certain ad spaces go unsold at premium rates, the platform redirects them to secondary ad networks, ensuring continuous revenue generation.

7. Mobile App Developer:

  • A mobile app developer integrates ads into its free apps. Waterfalling is used to make the most of ad inventory. If premium placements are unavailable, the app developer routes unsold impressions to alternative ad networks, preventing potential revenue loss.

8. Travel Booking Website:

  • A travel booking website relies on ad revenue to supplement its income. Waterfalling is employed to manage ad inventory effectively. When premium ad slots are occupied, the remaining impressions are directed to different ad networks, maximizing revenue potential.

Key Highlights

  • Waterfalling in Ad Inventory Management: Waterfalling is an ad inventory management mechanism used by publishers to optimize the sale of their remaining unsold ad impressions. It involves selling these impressions in subsequent lower price tiers to maximize profitability.
  • Maximizing Profitability: Publishers implement waterfalling to ensure that even the unsold inventory can contribute to their revenue. By selling impressions at progressively lower prices through different ad networks, publishers aim to extract as much value as possible from their ad inventory.
  • Publisher’s Business Model: Publishers generate revenue by selling ad impressions or clicks to advertisers. However, due to the large volume of impressions they handle, efficient inventory management becomes crucial for maximizing profits.
  • Unsold Inventory Challenge: Only a fraction of the ad inventory can be sold at premium prices. Waterfalling addresses the challenge of what to do with the remaining impressions that couldn’t be sold at a premium slot, preventing potential revenue loss.
  • Tiers of Ad Networks: Waterfalling involves dividing the ad inventory into tiers based on advertiser bids. If the primary ad network doesn’t sell all the inventory, the unsold impressions move to a secondary partner ad network, where they are sold at a lower price. The process continues through different tiers until the entire inventory is consumed.
  • Complex Optimization: While the concept might seem straightforward, implementing waterfalling is complex. Publishers aim to maximize income by finding the highest possible rate per cost per mille (CPM) and selling most of their potential ad inventory. This involves strategically selecting different ad networks and floor prices.
  • Alternative Revenue Streams: As only a small percentage of ad impressions are sold at premium prices, publishers seek additional ad networks to sell the remaining inventory at lower floor prices. This diversification allows them to capture value that would otherwise go unsold.
Related Frameworks, Models, or ConceptsDescriptionWhen to Apply
Waterfall Model– The Waterfall Model is a linear and sequential approach to software development, consisting of distinct phases such as requirements analysis, design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance. – Each phase must be completed before moving on to the next, with little to no overlap between stages. – The Waterfall Model is characterized by its rigid structure and emphasis on extensive upfront planning and documentation.– When publishers adopt a structured and sequential process for publishing content, such as books, magazines, or academic journals. – The Waterfall Model provides a systematic framework for managing the various stages of content creation, editing, production, and distribution, ensuring that each step is thoroughly executed before proceeding to the next. – It is applicable in publishing projects with well-defined requirements and timelines, where a linear and predictable workflow is preferred for managing resources and minimizing risks.
Traditional Publishing Workflow– Traditional publishing workflow follows a sequential process, starting from manuscript submission and peer review to editing, typesetting, printing, and distribution. – Each stage in the workflow has specific roles and responsibilities, involving authors, editors, designers, proofreaders, printers, and distributors. – Traditional publishing workflow emphasizes quality control, editorial standards, and adherence to publishing conventions and industry practices.– When publishers follow a conventional approach to producing and disseminating printed or digital content, such as books, journals, newspapers, or magazines. – The traditional publishing workflow ensures consistency, accuracy, and professionalism in content production and publication, meeting the expectations of authors, readers, and stakeholders. – It is applicable in publishing projects with established editorial policies, production guidelines, and distribution channels, where reliability and reputation are paramount for success.
Editorial Calendar– An editorial calendar is a strategic planning tool used by publishers to organize and schedule content creation, publication, and promotion activities over a specified period, such as a month, quarter, or year. – It outlines the publishing schedule, content themes, deadlines, milestones, and responsible parties for each editorial task or project. – Editorial calendars help publishers maintain consistency, relevance, and alignment with editorial goals, audience interests, and market trends.– When publishers need to plan and coordinate content production and publication across multiple platforms, channels, or publications. – Editorial calendars provide a visual roadmap for managing editorial workflows, ensuring timely delivery of content and coordinated efforts among editorial teams, authors, contributors, and stakeholders. – They are applicable in publishing environments with diverse content formats, distribution channels, and audience segments, where strategic planning and content coordination are essential for maximizing audience engagement and editorial effectiveness.
Content Management Systems (CMS)– Content Management Systems (CMS) are software platforms that enable publishers to create, manage, and publish digital content across websites, blogs, mobile apps, and other digital channels. – CMS features include content authoring, editing, version control, workflow management, content reuse, and publishing automation. – CMS streamline content production workflows, facilitate collaboration among content creators, and provide centralized control over content assets and publishing processes.– When publishers need a scalable and flexible platform for managing digital content creation, publication, and distribution. – Content Management Systems (CMS) offer a centralized and user-friendly interface for organizing, editing, and publishing content, reducing manual effort and streamlining editorial workflows. – They are applicable in publishing environments with dynamic content requirements, frequent updates, and multiple contributors, where efficiency, consistency, and scalability are critical for maintaining editorial standards and audience engagement.
Project Management Tools– Project management tools are software applications that help publishers plan, organize, track, and collaborate on publishing projects and tasks. – They provide features such as task lists, timelines, milestones, calendars, file sharing, communication tools, and project analytics. – Project management tools streamline project planning, execution, and monitoring, enabling publishers to allocate resources efficiently, meet deadlines, and deliver high-quality content.– When publishers undertake complex publishing projects with multiple stakeholders, dependencies, and deliverables. – Project management tools offer a structured approach to managing publishing projects, ensuring transparency, accountability, and communication among team members and stakeholders. – They are applicable in publishing environments with tight deadlines, diverse content types, and distributed teams, where effective project coordination and collaboration are essential for project success.
Quality Assurance Processes– Quality assurance processes involve systematic activities and procedures for evaluating and ensuring the quality, accuracy, and consistency of published content. – They include proofreading, copyediting, fact-checking, peer review, compliance checks, and editorial standards enforcement. – Quality assurance processes aim to identify and rectify errors, inconsistencies, or deficiencies in content before publication, maintaining editorial integrity and reader trust.– When publishers prioritize content quality, accuracy, and adherence to editorial standards and publishing guidelines. – Quality assurance processes provide checks and balances throughout the publishing workflow, reducing the risk of errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in published content. – They are applicable in publishing environments where editorial quality, credibility, and professionalism are critical for maintaining reader satisfaction and loyalty.
Distribution Channels Management– Distribution channels management involves planning, coordinating, and optimizing the distribution of published content through various channels and formats, such as print, digital, online, offline, direct, and indirect channels. – It includes activities such as inventory management, warehousing, logistics, fulfillment, retail partnerships, and digital distribution agreements. – Distribution channels management aims to ensure efficient and cost-effective delivery of content to target audiences, maximizing reach, accessibility, and sales opportunities.– When publishers need to reach diverse audiences through multiple distribution channels and formats, catering to different preferences and consumption habits. – Distribution channels management enables publishers to expand their market reach, increase sales, and capitalize on emerging distribution opportunities in both traditional and digital publishing ecosystems. – It is applicable in publishing environments where content distribution strategies play a crucial role in driving revenue growth, market penetration, and audience engagement.
Market Research and Audience Analysis– Market research and audience analysis involve gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data and insights about target markets, audience demographics, preferences, behaviors, trends, and competitive landscapes. – They provide valuable intelligence for publishers to understand market dynamics, identify audience needs and interests, and tailor content strategies and offerings accordingly. – Market research and audience analysis inform content development, marketing strategies, product positioning, pricing decisions, and distribution channel selection.– When publishers seek to create and deliver content that resonates with target audiences, drives engagement, and meets market demand. – Market research and audience analysis help publishers identify market opportunities, competitive threats, and audience segments with the highest growth potential or profitability. – They are applicable in publishing environments where data-driven decision-making and audience-centric approaches are essential for sustaining competitive advantage and achieving business objectives.
Content Monetization Strategies– Content monetization strategies involve converting published content into revenue streams through various monetization models, such as subscriptions, advertising, sponsorship, licensing, affiliate marketing, events, merchandise, and premium content offerings. – They aim to generate revenue directly from content consumption or indirectly by leveraging audience engagement and brand equity. – Content monetization strategies align with publisher business models, revenue goals, audience preferences, and market trends.– When publishers aim to generate revenue from published content and maximize the return on investment (ROI) from content creation and distribution efforts. – Content monetization strategies help publishers diversify revenue sources, optimize pricing strategies, and create value-added offerings that resonate with target audiences and advertisers. – They are applicable in publishing environments where sustainable revenue growth, profitability, and business sustainability depend on effective monetization strategies and revenue diversification.
Digital Rights Management (DRM)– Digital Rights Management (DRM) refers to technologies, protocols, and policies used by publishers to protect and manage the intellectual property rights associated with digital content, such as copyrights, licenses, distribution rights, and usage permissions. – DRM systems control access to digital content, prevent unauthorized copying, sharing, or modification, and enforce usage restrictions based on user permissions, licenses, or subscription terms. – DRM solutions help publishers safeguard content assets, prevent piracy, ensure compliance with copyright laws, and monetize digital content effectively.– When publishers need to protect and monetize digital content assets while respecting copyright laws and intellectual property rights. – Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions provide publishers with tools and mechanisms to control access, usage, and distribution of digital content, safeguarding content integrity and maximizing revenue potential. – They are applicable in publishing environments where digital piracy, copyright infringement, and content piracy pose significant risks to content creators, distributors, and rights holders.

Read next: Distribution Channels: Types, Functions, And Examples

Business resources:

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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