Before you choose what marketing methods fit your business best, you need to decide on your target audience. After that, it is important to create a psychological process that you expect a buyer would go through in response to your marketing campaign. Finally, you can decide what types of marketing methods would generate the most positive impact. You should evaluate and revise, if necessary, this marketing effort constantly.

The success of a company highly depends on the effectiveness of its marketing strategy. Professional marketers have several types of marketing in their toolbox and choose the best marketing mix based on your business objectives.

In this post, we introduce a wide range of marketing methods, from traditional to digital marketing, as a starting point for those who are interested in getting a basic knowledge of marketing strategy.

Types of marketing

Marketers in different industries have developed numerous types of marketing. Creating a complete list of marketing strategies would be a daunting task. However, we have provided a list of the top types of marketing here for your reference. You can find detailed articles about each of these marketing methods on Lyla’s blog page.

1. Traditional types of marketing

Traditional Marketing, also called offline marketing, is brand promotion using flyers, billboards, radio, and television spots. Prior to the digital era, marketers had to rely on print and television ads to inform customers and drive awareness. An advertisement published in a print magazine and personalized messages in direct mail is less frequent but alive.

According to Internet World Stat, nearly 70 million Americans can not be reached online. So, various forms of offline marketing are still favorably in use and form the main strategy in the marketing mix of companies. TV ads still have the highest reach in the U.S., compared to other media, and Super Bowl ads remain one of the most watched advertising events.

What is digital advertising and why do you need it?

2. Outbound marketing

Another way to raise awareness among potential customers, regardless of their interest, is to use a mix of traditional marketing methods and in-person contact. This method is Outbound Marketing because it pushes marketing messages through paid channels to initiate the conversation with prospective buyers.

Much of the outbound marketing is done through cold calling, blanket emails, TV advertising, or print ads. Paid advertisements in specific spaces can get extremely expensive. A good example of outbound marketing at its peak in New York Times Square in which pedestrians are bombarded with billboards.

3. Inbound marketing

While outbound marketing is about the interruption, Inbound Marketing is about attraction. Marketers accomplish this by providing valuable content and engaging experience for their target audience. The goal is to enable customers to research online as they progress through their buyer’s journey.

Inbound marketing mostly uses digital marketing techniques such as creating educational content, forming online communities, and email marketing. Also, using social media and online blog posts is prevalent in inbound marketing.

4. Digital marketing

Also, called online marketing or internet marketing, Digital Marketing leverages digital technology to reach the target audience. Digital marketers use social media, search engines, blogs, and emails to connect with potential buyers. In general, digital marketing is an overarching category for any type of online marketing.

Search engine optimization (SEO) plays a huge role in all types of digital marketing. Through SEO, digital marketers increase the visibility of a website online. They use SEO techniques to make sure that their website receives a higher rank in Google and other search engines.

5. Search engine marketing (one of the best types of marketing)

The goal of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is to make sure a business’s webpage ranks high in search engine results pages (SERPs) using strategic keywords. Search engines, like Google, have developed complex algorithms that crawl content on all websites and decide how to rank each website when a user searches a specific term.

There are two types of SEM that either produce organic or paid results. First is search engine optimization (SEO) which is related to the search engine ranking factors and content index in different search engines. The other type of SEM is pay-per-click (PPC) advertising which involves paid advertisements on digital platforms like Google Ads.

6. Content marketing

Content Marketing is a critical component of both inbound and digital marketing. The purpose of content marketing is to attract the target audience through creating, publishing, and distributing content on social media, blogs, or podcasts.

Prospect customers would more engage with content that answers their questions or provides a solution to their problems. A practical way of using content marketing is to gate premium content behind a form requesting customers’ contact information. Marketers use that information later in other marketing methods.

Forming a content marketing canvas helps make the best content marketing strategy by answering these questions:

• For whom are you creating the content?
• Why are you creating content?
• Where will you publish this content?
• What type of content will you create?
• How will you create content?

7. Social media marketing

To engage with the audience on a personal level, marketers use social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. When using Social Media Marketing, there needs to be a fine balance between entertainment and product promotion.

Carefully curated content and interesting captions encourage the audience to like, share, and leave comments on social media posts. That in turn increases brand recognition. Consistency in publishing content will keep website traffic which will lead to increased sales.

8. Video and voice marketing

Using videos in marketing campaigns is not a new strategy. However, with the expansion of digital media creating and posting videos on websites, YouTube channels, and social media has become an integral component of the marketing mix with a positive return on investment.

More recently, the development of smart home devices has enabled marketers to include voice marketing in their mix. Businesses can optimize their website for voice search commands and incorporate Alexa skills or Google home action to offer their services upon voice request.

9. Email marketing

Email is the most usual form of communication. It’s often used to generate traffic to certain pages, increase brand and/or product awareness, and promote sales. Using email campaigns to connect brands with prospects, leads, and customers can be amazingly effective if:

• businesses send emails to targeted audiences who have already opted in.
• the message is clear and transparent about the product and the business.
• opting out from the email list is easy.

The first step to starting a successful email campaign is to create an email list. One of the most common methods is to include forms on the website or blogs to gather visitors’ information.

Next is to use digital tools to monitor the effectiveness of the email campaign and curate the email list if necessary. Moreover, by analyzing the response to email receipts, a business can decide whether to send further marketing material and information, change its strategy, or exclude certain emails from the campaign.

10.  Conversational marketing

Communicating directly with customers through one-on-one meetings, live chats, text messages, or social media messengers and comments fall into Conversational Marketing. The main challenge is to stay productive and responsive and avoid miscommunication.

Sometimes businesses opt for SMS marketing when they access prospects’ phone numbers and their consent. This requires high skills in conversational and short content creation skills.

11.  Buzz marketing

Creating a buzz surrounding a brand in anticipation of a new product lunch is the pivotal principle of Buzz Marketing. The content in buzz marketing ought to be creative, refreshing, and surprising. Normally businesses involve influencers to promote their message.

Since buzz marketing is remarkably effective in spreading the word about a new brand or product, it is called Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WOMM) as well. WOMM could form organically through customers’ reactions to a business’ product or service. People trust what they hear from family and friends. They also trust others’ reviews and referrals. So, any positive discussion about products can promote the brand in general.

WOMM also starts intentionally through social media and PR campaigns. The focal point of designed WOMM is to create a trusted persona to communicate the marketing message to the customers. Carefully made viral videos, however short, can go a long way in creating a positive image of a product, brand, or business.

12.  Influencer marketing

Social media influencers have built a community of engaged followers. Businesses can tap into this pool of potential customers with a correct Influencer Marketing strategy. Factors like influencers’ niche industry, audience size, and metrics are vital before deciding which influencer to choose.

Influencer marketing is based on inspiration, imitation, belief, trust, and human relations. Thus, it can work both at the B2C and B2B levels.

13.  Acquisition marketing

Acquisition Marketing focuses on attracting rather than retaining customers, therefore, trying to turn strangers into buyers. An effective acquisition marketing plan requires the collaboration of marketing, customer service, and success teams.

There are many tactics used in acquisition marketing with the purpose of generating leads, including offering samples and free products or services, consumer education material, and special copywriting.

Unlike acquisition marketing which seeks to acquire new customers, Customer Marketing focuses on the retention of current customers. Having excellent customer service is the key to keeping your current customers satisfied.

Constantly improving customer experience and customer service processes through automated interactions are integral elements of the customer marketing approach.

14.  Contextual types of marketing

Of all other types of marketing, Contextual Marketing is the most customizable to the buyers’ needs. It considers users’ browsing behavior before suggesting online advertisements, websites, or social media networks to customers.

Using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analysis when deciding which ad to trigger on billboards is the future of contextual marketing. However, the main concern to consider is the privacy of customers.

A business can take further steps, tailoring their advertisement for every user of their brand. This type of personalized marketing can be as simple as adding a customer’s name to the marketing material or sending suggested products based on their prior consumption.

Marketers should use their deep knowledge of customers’ behavior to make shopping more convenient for buyers. For instance, retailers use first-party data and advanced algorithms to create a better shopping experience for their subscribers by suggesting items that fit their customer’s preferences. Nevertheless, there are always some customers that may feel businesses know too much about them. The negative perception of personalized marketing is less prevalent in the B2B sector. Agents and business decision-makers welcome tailored to-the-point marketing solutions that would address their specific problems.

15.  Brand marketing

Experts in Brand Marketing use creative methods to shape public perception of a specific brand. To create the public’s emotional connection with the brand, marketers use storytelling techniques, inspiration, and creative humor.

Brand marketing starts with researching buyers’ personalities and defining a brand positioning strategy. An effective positioning strategy shapes a differentiated identity for the organization or business that stands out from the competition.

The goal is to embed brand values in the marketing message such that it sparks discussion to forge a positive image of that brand. That positive image includes recognizing the product and associating it with a positive experience as well as rationalizing the cost of the product.

A brand with an appositive image not only generates more customers but also can boost the stock market value of the business and even help attract talent to the company. Branding also reflects the company’s reputation and trustworthiness as well as the quality of the product or service.

There is a less apparent method of promoting brands called Stealth Marketing in which a sponsor integrates its product into marketing material without being the focus of the message. The use of sponsored products in a TV show as part of daily household commodities or by influencers on social media are the most widespread examples.

On the opposite Guerrilla Marketing includes bold actions in high-traffic areas to increase brand awareness. Often, it involves unexpected and unconventional yet inexpensive, creative, and simple interactions that take place outdoors.

16.  Affiliate marketing

Some companies use alternative avenues of advertising, meaning affiliates to promote their brand. In Affiliate Marketing a trusted source advertises products and services for commission.

Affiliate marketing can be a cost-effective way of generating revenue. Websites, blogs, and podcast hosts would share a link with potential customers and get paid based on their sales performances.

There is another way of affiliate marketing called Partner Marketing in which the collaboration of two companies generates leads to their platform. Joint live events or publishing collaborative reports are good examples of activities in partnership with the goal of driving demand and adopting a product or service.

What is meant by performance marketing?

Partner marketing is most successful when both companies have common values, complementary products and services, and aligned goals.

17.  Product marketing

Product Marketing is a mix of different types of marketing. It requires close collaboration of marketing, sales, product, and customer success teams. It goes beyond advertising campaigns with product pictures.

B2B tech companies use product marketing the most. They often test new releases on a specialized audience before attempting a nationwide product lunch.

18.  Account-based marketing

Some businesses prefer to focus their marketing efforts on a single major customer. This strategy requires full dedication of efforts to identify key accounts and craft messages tailored to that ideal client group.

This approach is Account-based Marketing (ABM) and is often implemented by giant information technology companies. Account-based advertising campaigns are highly personalized and tailored toward large firms that have a significant future commitment to products and services.

19.  Relationship marketing

To ensure long-term brand loyalty, companies develop a deeper relationship with customers. Companies that prioritize retaining current customers over acquiring new customers benefit the most from a relationship marketing strategy.

The key element of Relationship Marketing is to delight those customers who are already satisfied with your brand. By taking that extra mile, businesses turn satisfied customers into raving fans who are willing to leave testimonials and positive reviews.

20.  User-generated types of marketing

One inexpensive way to connect effectively with the audience is through product consumers. In the User-generated Marketing method, companies ask their customers to participate in creating marketing materials.

There are many examples of user-generated advertising on social media. Frito-Lay initiated a consumer-crafted commercial for Doritos and Apple incorporates users’ photos and videos in their iPhone advertisement.

21.  Campus marketing

Businesses use brand ambassadors and campus marketers when they have a product specifically designed for college students or when students are the target audience of an advertising campaign. To make Campus Marketing more effective, companies create back-to-school special offers, and on-campus events, and hand out giveaways on special occasions throughout the academic year.

22.  Proximity marketing

With advanced technology, it is possible to develop a highly targeted strategy that offers products and services to local users. Proximity Marketing often uses Bluetooth or Wi-Fi technology to send marketing messages to people nearby.

23.  Event marketing

Event Marketing tactics require building positive anticipation for the launch of a new product and service. The launch often happens in branded events and includes product demonstrations, sampling, networking, seminars, and conferences.

The goal of event marketing is to leave a brand-focus impression and a memorable experience for attendees of a fun event.

To that extent, in-person and virtual events and interactions with lasting emotional effects can fall into Experiential Marketing as well. Immersive experiences provide event participants with something other than just information. For instance, including workshops, networking opportunities, as well as receptions and informal happy hours can turn a conference into a pleasant experience with lasting effects for all attendees.

24.  Interactive marketing

An Interactive Marketing strategy meets customers where they are at and adjusts the marketing message based on their needs. Its online version requires an intelligent and adaptive algorithm to recommend new products similar to customers’ past choices and to modify suggestions based on their feedback.

The current advancements in AI have helped facilitate the conversation between customers and marketers. With well-designed interactive marketing, customers feel less persuaded to purchase and more welcomed to contribute to their favorite brand.

25.  Global marketing

International markets are within reach for even small businesses in today’s globalized world. However, appealing to global audiences needs extensive market research. Global Marketing strategy encompasses planning, producing, placing, and promoting products worldwide through actual subsidiaries or online.

Global marketing ensures creating a cohesive brand across the world while crafting local strategies and messaging tailored to diverse cultures. Sometimes it is more effective to modify the overarching marketing campaign to target specific ethnicities and cultures. This method is Multicultural Marketing and requires in-depth research about targeted communities’ values to avoid any misunderstanding and wrong perceptions.

26.  Informative types of digital marketing

Some companies prefer to send a direct message with facts and information and fewer emotions to their customers. This is Informative Marketing and it is focused on problem-solving characteristics of the product and service.

Above all informative advertisements are common on the internet as well as on billboards. The focal point is to provide audiences with a piece of critical information that entices them to follow up with the business.

The opposite is Persuasive Marketing which highly relies on customers’ emotions. Its goal is to make an audience associate the brand with a positive feeling. It requires a good understanding of buyers’ persona and what resonates with them the best.

Altogether there are many techniques to implement in persuasive marketing, but they all tap into the subconscious level of customers. Adding .99 to the promotion pricing is one great example of a persuasion tactic in marketing.

27.  Neuromarketing

Neuromarketing emerged from interdisciplinary research that studied the brain’s response to advertising and marketing stimuli. Trial studies involve brain scan results from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) technologies to measure brain activities. The goal is to learn what brain activities occur and how consumers make purchasing decisions in response to different advertising messages.

28.  Cause marketing

Corporations can team up with non-profit organizations to address social injustice, focus on economic hardships, and promote sustainability. Consumers are more aware of inequalities and environmental issues and seek to make a difference.

Cause Marketing enables brands to align with a cause, whether global or local, through partnerships with public organizations. The goal is to raise awareness and to create profits and societal benefits at the same time.

Sometimes a cause can be controversial. Nike’s decision to support Kaepernick’s activism in their advertisements was one the most famous ones in recent years. In other words, the goal of Controversial Marketing is not to polarize the audience but to drive attention to the campaign.

So, what are the best types of marketing?

This list can be longer. There are other types of marketing that you can learn and read about on our blog or online. There are innovative types of marketing that only you may apply to your business.

The best type of marketing for your business is the approach that best addresses your needs and connects with your audience. Depending on your goals, you may experiment and then choose what works best for you or even use several types in your marketing mix.

You do not need to do everything by yourself. Consulting with marketing experts always helps identifying your needs or developing the best strategy for your business. Then you can decide whether to implement the strategy yourself or outsource it.

If you need any services regarding digital marketing, you can contact us at Lyla Marketing.

Regardless, we at Lyla are always ready to help.