Types of Marketing

Whether you are starting a company or you are already established in your field of expertise or about to launch a new product, you would always need to market whatever you produce. There is an old saying which says that the worst marketing is no marketing at all. Irrespective of your budget, there are several types of marketing which you can use to make your services known to people. There are some types of marketing like telemarketing and multilevel marketing which you may opt to use, but the success rates have not been encouraging.

Internet Marketing
With the exponential growth of the internet over the last decade, internet marketing has become one of the most popular strategies used by every businessman. Today, most of the people, especially youngsters, search for information over the internet thereby, making it an excellent place to reach a wider audience. Internet marketing is also called online marketing, search engine marketing, web marketing and e-marketing. Thanks to search engines, today you are able to place ads of your company and products alongside with your competitors at a competitive price.

Internet affiliate marketing, is one of the most popular online marketing mediums used today. Here, revenue is shared between an online merchant and the owner of a particular website. When a end user signs up for a particular product of an online merchant through a website, the website owner receives a commission from the online merchant.

In the recent past a number of different types of internet marketing strategies have been developed. Video ads which are published online are increasingly being used by corporates. These ads are cheap and easy to shoot and they provide you with such a wide variety of audience that was unimaginable in the past. The price of production are reasonable and it is possible to run a video marketing campaign online at much less cost than the traditional advertising.

Other than that new forms of internet marketing also called online marketing are coming up. They include pay per click advertising, banner advertising and email marketing. In pay per click advertising, you need to place your bids on search terms. Once you have done that when the relevant keywords are searched by internet user, your ads would be visible to him.

In banner advertising a graphic advertisement is created and then is placed on applicable websites. This advertisement, when clicked on by the interested internet surfer, directs the customers to the website of the advertiser.

Email Marketing uses email addresses to promote new products and offers so that potential customers comes to know the new trends in the market.

Article marketing is another type of online marketing wherein you write an article or get someone to write it on a particular product or services and publish them in web directories. With the kind of reach the internet has the chances of customers knowing about your product is high and as a result you would be more likely to gain more customers.

Marketing Your Products Offline
Even in this digital age the advantages of traditional marketing also called direct marketing can't be overlooked. By using a combination of offline and online marketing strategies, you can reach a wider audience. There are several people who say that direct mail marketing has passed its use by date. However, it still can be used as a potent force to make people aware that you exist. When we say direct mail it means flyers, brochures and postcards which are sent directly through mail. They usually contain a call-to-action response so that the customers feel compelled to notice your product. When you use direct mail you also have to know the addresses of the people, the geographic location which you want to target and expenses on postage and printing material.

Radio and television are other means which can be used to market your products offline. These are some of the most high profile campaigns and they have the capacity to reach a high number of audience in a very short period of time. The main disadvantages of using these as a medium of marketing is their high cost. However, these mediums are an excellent tool which can be used to create a brand name in the market.

Word-of-mouth Marketing
This is the oldest form of marketing and is still being used today. It is one of the most powerful tools of advertising. If you are able to provide an excellent product or service, a satisfied customer would refer your product to his or her acquaintances and friends. You need to travel the extra mile so as to build a relationship with your customers. As a result customers, if satisfied, would keep coming back and if they refer someone you will be able to get more leads. You can try to give some form of discount coupons or run promotion campaigns for regular customers so that you make them feel special which results in building a loyal customer base.

Advertising in a Print Media
Print marketing means advertising your products in a magazine or newspaper. Advertising in these mediums carry numerous messages; it may either for brand promotion or may be in direct response. The focus may be on a particular set of audience who goes through a particular publication. If you want to target people in Chicago, you need to publish your advertisement in the most popular daily newspapers of Chicago. Due to the strict deadlines of publications, be it newspapers or magazines, make sure to prepare your advertisement well in advance.

Communal Marketing
Communal marketing takes the views of the public and involves them while developing an advertising campaign. The consumers are invited to share and express their ideas on the use of the brand and what it would mean to them by giving their personal stories. This results in what is called 'consumer generated content' which is then included into the advertising campaign. At the end, the final result of this collective effort is showcased and other people are invited to share the results. This provides the brand with ways to connect with their core market besides opening new avenues to gain new customers.

Having said this, there may be a feeling that it is similar to word-of-mouth or viral marketing. However, it is not the same as communal marketing aims at achieving a higher level of publicity within highly relevant groups of people.

So, use the above-mentioned types of marketing and marketing tips, and see your product being accepted by a larger audience. However, you need to be patient as you can't expect overnight results.