If you’re in the marketing game, then no doubt you know that there are many different types of strategies and tactics available to reach your target audience. Whether it’s display advertising, content marketing, email campaigns, or influencer marketing – the sheer variety can seem overwhelming. To help make sense of this complexity, we’ve put together an extensive list of 41 types of digital and conventional marketing methods for your perusal. This ultimate guide is a must-read for any marketer or business leader aiming to establish successful outreach efforts with maximum ROI. Read on to get started!
Above the line (ATL) marketing
Above the line (ATL) marketing refers to traditional mass media advertising, such as television, radio, and print. ATL campaigns are expensive, but they often reach large audiences quickly and effectively. ATL can be used to target specific demographics or geographic regions. Companies might use this form of marketing for establishing brand awareness or for promoting a current campaign or product launch.
Account-based marketing
Account-based marketing (ABM) is an approach to marketing that focuses on targeting individual accounts with tailored messaging and content. This type of marketing focuses on understanding each customer’s needs, preferences, and buying behavior in order to create campaigns that speak directly to their interests. This can include using personalized emails and customized website experiences, as well as more traditional methods such as direct mail. Account-based marketing helps companies build relationships with customers, add value for existing customers, and drive conversion rates.
Acquisition marketing
Acquisition marketing is the practice of attracting new customers to a business. It focuses on identifying potential customers and driving engagement through targeted campaigns and messaging. This type of marketing can include activities such as content creation, social media outreach, pay-per-click advertising, and email marketing. Acquisition marketing helps businesses acquire new customers while also building brand recognition and loyalty.
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience with the goal of driving a behavior, such as making a purchase. It is used to promote goods, services, and brands by utilizing various media, including television, radio, print, digital, and outdoor. Advertising can be tailored to a target audience based on factors such as demographics and interests. The effectiveness of advertising depends on its ability to reach the right people in the right way.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing where businesses attract new customers through affiliates. Those affiliates then promote products or services for a commission. This can involve creating affiliate partnerships, setting up referral links and campaigns, and driving traffic to the merchant’s website. It is an effective way to engage new customers while also building brand loyalty with existing customers.
Affinity marketing
Affinity marketing is a type of relationship-based marketing that involves forming partnerships with groups that have shared interests and objectives. These partners might be brands, societies, organizations, or influencers who can help reach and engage an audience. The aim of such marketing is to share resources, relationships, and networks to achieve common goals. Affinity marketing typically focuses on building relationships rather than just selling products or services.
Agile marketing
Agile marketing is a customer-focused approach to marketing that values speed, flexibility, and collaboration. It emphasizes short, iterative cycles of planning, development, testing, and launching promotional activities. Agile teams treating marketing campaigns as experiments and gathering data quickly. That allows them to adjust their strategy in response to changing customer needs. The idea behind agile marketing is to focus on outcomes rather than tasks or deliverables.
Alliance marketing
Alliance marketing is a type of cooperative marketing strategy that focuses on forming strategic partnerships. These are done with other companies to increase visibility, create brand awareness, and reach new audiences. It relies heavily on relationship building and fostering trust between the two organizations. Typically, the ultimate goal of such alliances is to increase sales or generate more leads. To make alliance marketing work, both organizations must share similar values, visions and practices.
Ambush marketing
Ambush marketing is an aggressive form of advertising that attempts to hijack the attention and recognition associated with an event or brand. It involves an advertiser, (often a competitor) to the official sponsor of an event, that attempts to gain publicity through subversive tactics. Examples of ambush marketing tactics include co-opting a hashtag or slogan associated with an event, or using unofficial influencers to spread messages associated with the event. With its brazen approach, ambush marketing typically relies on shock value and controversy to draw attention away from official sponsors and onto itself.
Article marketing
Article marketing is a form of online marketing in which an advertiser writes and distributes articles on other websites in order to attract more readers. This is to increase web traffic, and create brand awareness. The article should be informational, helpful, or entertaining in order to be effective. These articles may include links back to the advertiser’s website or product page, as well as other information such as keywords and topics related to the article. By engaging with readers through article marketing, businesses can build relationships while driving more traffic to their website.
Augmented marketing
Augmented marketing is a form of digital marketing that combines traditional and interactive elements in order to produce a unique, engaging experience for customers. This type of marketing often uses technology such as augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) to create immersive and interactive environments. Augmented marketing immerses consumers in the brand’s message and product – bringing them into the advertising world with the help of digital technologies. This type of marketing helps businesses reach potential customers more effectively and efficiently, creating experiences that are tailored to their customers’ interests.
Behavior marketing
Behavior marketing is a form of online marketing that focuses on targeting potential customers based on their online behavior. This type of marketing uses data from customer interactions, such as purchase history and website navigation patterns, to customize experiences for individual users. By understanding the needs and wants of consumers, businesses can deliver relevant content and personalized messages that are tailored to each user’s individual preferences. This type of marketing helps to improve the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and drives more conversions.
Below the line (BTL) marketing
Below the line marketing is a form of advertising that focuses on direct communication with potential customers. This type of marketing involves activities such as direct mail campaigns, email campaigns, and other forms of targeted advertising that are aimed at specific audiences. The goal of below the line marketing is to reach more targeted customers than traditional above-the-line strategies, and to drive sales and engagement with a particular product or service. By emphasizing personal touches in its communications, this type of marketing can help create strong connections between businesses and their audiences.
Black hat marketing
Black hat marketing is a form of online marketing that is focused on using unethical or illegal tactics to achieve business objectives. This type of marketing typically involves activities such as spamming, hacking, and buying backlinks and followers in order to manipulate search engine rankings or gain an unfair advantage over competitors. While it can be effective in the short-term, black hat marketing carries a high long-term risk as these tactics often lead to website penalties or bans from search engines. As such, it is strongly advised against due to its potential harm to a company’s reputation.
Brand marketing
Brand marketing is a marketing strategy focused on creating an identity, image, and message that accurately represents and promotes a business or product. This type of marketing involves activities such as developing logos, slogans, and taglines; creating appealing visuals; using influencer outreach strategies; and engaging in public relations efforts such as press releases and interviews. The goal of brand marketing is to create a strong sense of brand awareness amongst potential customers so that they are more likely to choose the company’s product or service over its competitors’.
Brick and mortar marketing
Brick and mortar marketing is a promotional strategy that focuses on engaging with customers in physical stores. This type of marketing involves activities such as in-store displays, product demonstrations, special offers and discounts, and one-on-one customer service. Brick and mortar marketing can be used to increase brand awareness and loyalty, as well as drive sales for the business. Overall, it is an effective approach for connecting with consumers who prefer shopping in person or who may not be able to access online options.
Business to business (B2B) marketing
Business to business (B2B) marketing is a type of marketing focused on connecting two or more businesses. This can include services or products that one business provides to another or collaborations between two or more business entities. B2B marketing involves activities such as market research, promotional campaigns, and advertising in industry-specific publications. The goal of B2B marketing is to build relationships with other businesses, such as wholesalers, distributors, and partners, to help grow the business or increase exposure of its products and services.
Business to consumer (B2C) marketing
Business to consumer (B2C) marketing is a type of marketing focused on connecting businesses with consumers. This involves activities such as creating ad campaigns, developing promotional materials, and managing social media accounts, all designed to reach potential customers in an effective and engaging way. B2C marketing seeks to build relationships with consumers by understanding their needs and preferences. Effective B2C marketing can lead to increased sales and greater customer loyalty over time.
Business to people (B2P) marketing
Business to people (B2P) marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on engaging individuals with businesses in meaningful and relevant ways. This includes activities such as personalizing experiences for customers, developing relationships with influencers, and creating content tailored to specific target audiences. B2P marketing seeks to humanize the customer experience while engaging customers through authentic and valuable interactions. It strives to foster loyalty between businesses and people, leading to long-term customer satisfaction.
Buzz marketing
Buzz marketing, also known as viral or word-of-mouth marketing. It seeks to create a “buzz” about a product or service by using the power of social media. This involves reaching out to influencers who have large followings and encouraging them to share experiences with the product or service with their followers. Companies often use creative tactics such as giveaways and special offers in order to generate interest among potential customers. Buzz marketing is an effective way of engaging audiences quickly and can lead to increased brand visibility and sales.
Content marketing
Content marketing is the process of creating and sharing high-quality content to attract, engage and convert customers. In many different forms, content can range from blog posts, videos, podcasts, and infographics to social media and email newsletters. The key to successful content marketing is creating content that adds value to the customer experience by providing useful information that resonates with the target audience. When done right, content marketing can help build customer loyalty, trust and engagement – helping businesses achieve their goals. Also note a post I did on developing a content marketing strategy (if this is something you’re into).
Customer marketing
Customer marketing is a type of marketing strategy that focuses on engaging customers after they have made a purchase. It involves understanding customer needs, creating tailored experiences and leveraging customer data to create personalized messages and offers. Customer marketing can take many forms, ranging from targeted emails or ads to loyalty programs and customer referral campaigns. By leveraging their existing customer base, businesses can build long-term relationships with their customers, drive further conversions, and increase brand awareness and loyalty.
Digital marketing
Digital marketing is the process of utilizing digital technologies to create and promote products, services, or brands. It includes a variety of techniques such as SEO, SEM, content marketing, influencer marketing, programmatic advertising, social media marketing and more. With an effective digital marketing strategy in place, businesses can reach customers more effectively than traditional methods. This allows them to build strong relationships with their target audiences and generate leads more efficiently.
Direct marketing
Digital marketing is the practice of leveraging digital channels and tools. Tactics such as search engines, social media platforms, email campaigns, and websites can all reach potential customers. Digital marketing is a powerful tool for businesses to engage customers in an interactive manner while also building brand awareness and driving conversions. It can include tactics such as SEO, content marketing, PPC advertising, influencer marketing, and more. With the right strategy in place, digital marketing can help businesses reach their goals and drive growth quickly and effectively.
Email marketing
Email marketing is an effective way for businesses to reach customers and generate leads. It involves sending out tailored emails with relevant content that engages, educates, and motivates readers. Email campaigns can include newsletters, promotions, product updates, surveys and more. By leveraging email marketing tactics such as segmentation and personalization, businesses can reach a larger audience, build relationships with their customers, increase repeat purchases and drives sales.
Event marketing
Event marketing is the strategic use of live or virtual events to drive brand awareness, engage customers and generate leads. Events can include anything from trade shows and conferences, to webinars and virtual networking sessions. It’s an important tactic for building relationships with customers, as well as expanding reach by speaking directly with potential clients. With careful planning and execution, event marketing can be a highly effective tool for engaging new audiences and generating leads.
Fundraising
Fundraising is the process of raising money for a cause or organization. It can include activities such as holding events, creating campaigns, and sourcing donations from individuals, businesses, and other organizations. Fundraising is an important part of many non-profit organizations, allowing them to continue their work and expand their reach. Using effective fundraising strategies like social media and engaging potential donors, organizations can reach their goals and make a difference.
Inbound marketing
Inbound marketing is an effective strategy for businesses to attract, engage, and delight customers. It involves creating and sharing content that is valuable and relevant to the target audience. This could include blog posts, whitepapers, videos, podcasts, ebooks, case studies, webinars and more. By using inbound marketing tactics such as SEO optimization and targeted ads, businesses can reach their desired customers and build relationships with them. Companies can also use analytics to measure their success and adjust their strategy as needed.
Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is an effective way for businesses to reach target audiences and increase exposure. This type of marketing involves partnering with influential people who are willing to promote a company’s products or services. These influencers can be celebrities, industry experts, bloggers, vloggers and more. Through this form of marketing, businesses can reach larger audiences and generate word-of-mouth buzz for their brand. Influencer partnerships can also help businesses gain credibility and build trust with potential customers.
Integrated marketing
Integrated marketing is a strategic approach that focuses on weaving together multiple marketing channels, with consistent messaging. It allows businesses to create a cohesive experience for customers that serves to strengthen their connection with the brand. Companies can create integrated campaigns that not only reach their target audience in various ways but also provide clear messaging. Ultimately, integrated marketing increases message consistency and strengthens the overall effectiveness of each campaign.
Integrative marketing fusion (THE John R Kowalski model)
Integrative marketing fusion is integrated marketing incorporating elements of change, network-building, brand ambassador creation, and most importantly human value. A holistic and people-centered approach, this model was developed and in practice by yours truly. Part of this is empathy.
Neuromarketing
Neuromarketing is a form of marketing that employs neuroscience to better understand consumer behavior and decision-making process. This type of research studies the way people think, perceive, remember and make purchase decisions. By researching different areas of the brain such as emotion and reward systems, neuromarketing can help businesses create better experiences for consumers. With techniques such as EEG scans and eye tracking, companies can gain valuable insights. This includes their customers’ thought processes and preferences.
Outbound marketing
Outbound marketing is a traditional form of marketing that involves actively reaching out to potential customers. This type of marketing uses advertising, cold calls and other direct methods to find new customers and increase sales. Outbound marketing generally focuses on distributing content through radio, television, print and digital channels. The goal of outbound marketing is to reach as many people as possible and generate leads that can be nurtured into customers.
Product marketing
Product marketing is an important facet of any successful business. It involves the creation, promotion, and distribution of a product or service to target markets. Product marketers focus on understanding consumer needs and wants as well as tailoring the messaging and packaging around those desires. It requires strategic thinking to understand how to create a demand for a product or service in order for it to be successful in the market place.
Public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing a company’s reputation and relationships with stakeholders. It’s an important part as it helps to shape public opinion and perception of a company, its products, and services. PR involves strategies to influence public opinion through earned media channels such as press releases, interviews, public events or campaigns. The goal is to convey a consistent message that reinforces the goals of the organization to strengthen relationships with existing stakeholders, reach new audiences and improve brand visibility.
Relationship marketing
Relationship marketing is all about building, maintaining and influencing relationships with customers for the long-term. It focuses on creating strong, positive relationships with current customers in order to maximize loyalty and increase revenues from existing sources. Relationship marketing also involves finding new customers through referrals or by targeting similar user groups. By encouraging two-way communication between a company and its customers, relationship marketing can help to foster trust and loyalty as well as allowing a company to better understand customer needs and wants.
Search engine marketing
Search engine marketing, or SEM, is the practice of using paid search listings to increase website visibility in search engine results. Paid search ads are typically listed at the top and bottom of a page’s search results, alongside organic (unpaid) search results. By leveraging keywords and other targeting criteria, companies can create campaigns that are optimized for certain users and demographics. Search engine marketing can be an effective way to increase website traffic and sales by reaching an audience that may not already be familiar with a brand or product offering.
Traditional marketing
Traditional marketing comprises techniques used since the invention of the marketing system in the 1890s. This strategy is often less targeted, but much more explicit.
Traditional marketing is the use of traditional media channels, such as print, television, radio, outdoor advertising and direct mail, to promote products or services. While digital marketing has become increasingly popular due to its cost effectiveness and wide reach, traditional marketing still offers a number of advantages. Traditional marketing can be used to target specific audiences more precisely than digital channels. It allows companies to create an ongoing presence in the minds of their target audiences by delivering consistent messaging over time. Additionally, traditional channels like television and radio are familiar to consumers and often evoke an emotional response that can’t always be achieved through digital channels.
Word-of-mouth marketing
Word of mouth marketing (WOMM) is a type of marketing that focuses on encouraging customers to spread the word about a product or service through their own personal networks. WOMM relies on people’s natural tendency to share advice and experiences with friends, family, and colleagues. Word of mouth can be both positive—when customers recommend products or services to others—and negative, when customers discuss their poor experiences or dissatisfaction with a product.
Word of mouth marketing typically entails creating incentives for people to talk about products online and within their social circles. Companies can also use WOMM tactics like referral programs, user-generated content campaigns and influencer collaborations to boost awareness and sales.
Video marketing
Video marketing is an effective way to promote products and services through visuals. With the rise of smartphones and digital devices, people are increasingly consuming video content and it has become a popular way for businesses to create engaging and informative campaigns that reach a wide audience. There are many different types of video marketing, such as explainer videos, webinars, tutorials, company stories, and product demonstrations. Video marketing can be used to boost brand awareness, increase engagement, drive traffic to your website or store, generate leads, and ultimately help convert more customers.
Voice marketing
Voice marketing is the use of voice-based technology to reach consumers. It allows companies to interact with their customers in a more natural and conversational way. This type of marketing involves using voice-enabled devices like Amazon Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google Home as a media channel for delivering tailored content. Voice marketing can be used to create customized on-demand experiences by responding to customer searches, personalizing ads, offering incentives, and providing product information. Voice marketing has become an increasingly popular way to engage customers and build brand loyalty.
Summary
Just reviewing this is exhausting! Congrats, you made it through – you rock! As you can see, there are a lot of different marketing strategies and tactics available – both digital and conventional. It’s important to remember that not all of these will be appropriate or effective for every business. The key is to find the right mix for your particular product or service, target audience, and goals. Another great resource is the American Marketing Association (AMA), so be sure to check them out.
Did I miss anything? Is there a particular mix of methods that has worked well for you in the past? Let me know in the comments below!
