Common Forms of Marketing
Marketing refers to various activities that a business undertakes to advertise or sell a product, service, or just to promote the sale of something. In recent years, The New York Times has defined it as “the science of persuading people so convincingly that they forget all about their wallets.” There are many forms and methods of marketing but the most popular one is direct mail marketing. Many studies have been conducted and several have shown that the most successful companies rely solely on this type of marketing. So what are some of the ways in which your company can use this powerful medium to improve your sales?
One way in which marketing can be used is to send a piece of news about your product to your customers through the mail. Newsletters sent out inform consumers about something that they may not have known before. For example, in one study that was carried out, the researchers sent letters about new shoes that a particular brand had released, to consumers living in the same area who they knew had bought the shoes in the past. The study found that the number of such consumers who remembered the brand name and purchased the product following the news was much higher than those who had not actually seen or bought the product.
Another way in which marketing can be effectively used by marketers is through market research. Marketers need to carry out market research in order to determine what their target audience likes and dislikes. This enables them to develop a plan of action to reach their audience with the information that they need. By doing market research, marketers can also determine which demographic would be more likely to purchase a particular product.
A marketing strategy also involves using advertising media to reach out to your target audience. This may include having radio and television advertisements broadcasted, as well as creating and publishing content for the internet. An effective marketing strategy also involves developing strategic alliances with other businesses in order to obtain free advertising. Examples of this would be signing onto a joint venture deal, or forming a strategic alliance with a certain company.
One of the most common forms of marketing is through the use of social media. Social media involves the use of various social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to generate sales and publicity for a business. One of the biggest difficulties involved in implementing a successful marketing strategy through social media involves identifying which social media sites consumers to target. Although some companies believe that consumers only make use of social media when purchasing products, research has shown that the opposite is true. In fact, research has shown that consumers use social media for self-promotion as well.
Marketers have also discovered that marketing can be carried out effectively through customer service. Effective customer service has the ability to increase the customer base of any business. This is because it allows consumers to establish contact with the company before making a purchase. Customer service is heavily dependent on the interaction that takes place between the customer and the company representative. Customer service involves dealing with complaints and helping to resolve issues before they have time to escalate.