Marketing strategies are like family recipes for chocolate chip cookies — you’ll see some common ingredients, but each version is just a little bit different. There are so many types of strategies in the marketing word. Finding the “right” one depends on what you’re selling, who you’re selling it to and what your ultimate goal is.
Here are a few examples of marketing strategies that could help you or your client hit it big.
Undercover Marketing
Who doesn’t love a good tease? Undercovering marketing plays on the power of consumer curiosity by hinting at what a soon-to-launch product or service holds in store rather than spilling the beans outright. There are lots of high-profile companies who have mastered tease marketing. Think car companies that give a sneak peek of next year’s model by running a commercial that’s little more then a backlit sedan or the curve of a fender illuminated by moonlight.
This tactic is a stellar way to build buzz. People aren’t even sure what you’re selling and yet they’re already thinking about buying it.
Search Marketing
Companies interested in building their online presence can use search marketing to boost visibility. The focus here is on paid and organic (aka unpaid) approaches that piggyback off search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.
Pay-per-click advertising is a popular form of search marketing. With PPC, you only have to pay when someone clicks on your ad. You get to stretch your budget while generating new leads and (hopefully) making sales. Search marketing also includes search engine optimization (SEO). With SEO, you skip the pay-for-play ads and use strategically placed keywords to help attract consumers to your website.
Content Marketing
If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: Content is king! Content marketing is an umbrella term that includes all the written and visual marketing materials a business uses to educate and influence customers. While “content” is most often associated with the written word, in the marketing industry, content can be blogs, emails, newsletters and web copy as well as infographics, videos and more.
Content marketing is all about providing value up front. You’re educating, entertaining or both and then including a soft sell or relevant CTA (call to action) at the end.
Promotional Marketing
Who doesn’t love a great deal? Promotional marketing is fueled by incentives used to get customers interested about whatever you have to offer. Coupons, contests, samples, buy-one-get-one deals — they all have the power not only to incentivize and motivate consumers but to get them talking as well. The most effective promotional campaigns drive interaction that works immediately (you make a sale) as well as in the long-term (increasing brand awareness and driving customer loyalty).
These four examples of marketing strategies are just the beginning. Add to your arsenal with info from our strategic marketing planning process guide and take another step toward building your best campaign yet.
