Discover the 10 marketing methods to know in order to increase your sales and brand awareness.
The marketing and advertising industry is diverse and requires skills in various areas such as economics, behavioral sciences, writing, and design. As a result, numerous strategies have been developed to meet the different demands of this ever-changing sphere. While some concepts are recent, especially those that have emerged with the advent of digital communication or social media, others have been used for over a century to promote products and services. In this article, you will discover the 10 marketing methods to know in order to effectively reach your audience.
1. Comparative Analysis
Benchmarking is an essential tool for any company in developing its marketing strategy. It involves tracking the practices of a certain number of competitors over several months in order to understand their strategy, gain inspiration from it, or differentiate oneself from it. The success of a competitive analysis relies on a thorough assessment of one’s own company’s practices, selecting the competitors to analyze, and targeting the right indicators. For businesses, benchmarking provides an opportunity to step out of their comfort zone and embrace new perspectives. It also helps them stay attentive to changes in industry practices.
– “2. The AARRR Framework
The AARRR, also known as the “pirate matrix,” is a growth hacking method aimed at achieving rapid growth. The matrix consists of five stages:
Acquisition: The first step is to acquire new users by utilizing various online channels such as SEO, paid advertising, email marketing, as well as offline channels like traditional media and billboards.
Activation: In this stage, the company defines an activation indicator, which is an action taken by the prospect, such as signing up for a newsletter or creating an account, to determine the activation rate per channel.
Retention: This step involves retaining users by maintaining communication with them. Building a strong relationship and providing ongoing value are key to retaining users.
Referral: At this stage, the company encourages loyal users to spread the word about their brand. Various strategies can be employed, such as offering referral programs or recommendation incentives.
Revenue: The final stage focuses on converting users and generating revenue. The company can achieve this by adjusting pricing, improving the visibility of their offerings, or implementing promotional campaigns.
The AARRR method provides a framework for businesses to strategically plan and execute their marketing efforts, ensuring a systematic approach to achieving growth.
3. Effective Strategies for Account Based Marketing
Account Based Marketing (ABM) is a B2B targeting method that focuses on a very limited number of prospects or customer accounts. These accounts are strategically selected based on their high conversion potential. ABM relies on highly personalized campaigns, as opposed to mass marketing. The main advantage of ABM is its high return on investment, which is linked to a deep understanding of the target audience and precise campaign tracking.
4. Attracting Customers with Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is a method that involves attracting customers to products by offering useful online content. Brands using this method position themselves as expert and trustworthy entities to consumers. Inbound marketing can be implemented in various ways, such as whitepapers, social media content, advisory blogs, etc. The methodology is typically built on 4 stages:
1. Attracting visitors: To do this, it is essential to produce high-value content that meets the needs of the customer.
2. Converting visitors into leads: Once the visitor is on the interface, the company has the opportunity to collect relevant data. This can be done through producing e-books, optimizing forms, or offering a newsletter.
3. Converting leads into customers: When the company has qualified data on its prospects, it can offer personalized content to guide them towards purchasing its solutions.
4. Fostering customer loyalty: To retain customers, it is possible to interact with them, offer exclusive content, invite them to events, etc.
5. Competitive Mapping
Competitive mapping, also known as “positioning map,” is a marketing tool that allows a company to understand its brand’s position in relation to its competitors. It is characterized by a two-axis diagram that puts into perspective two criteria defined by the brand. For example, a company that produces smartphones can indicate on one axis the price criterion and on the other axis the high-tech criterion. The advantage of this tool is to provide a visual solution for understanding the quality of the brand’s positioning in a given market.
The choice of criteria is crucial for an effective competitive mapping. © BDM Montage.
6. AIDA Method
AIDA is a well-known marketing method that was developed by American advertiser Elias St. Elmo Lewis in the late 19th century. It is used for creating advertising messages across various platforms such as video ads, emails, brochures, etc. The AIDA method divides the message into four parts:
Attention: The first step is to capture the user’s attention. This can be achieved through visual elements like vibrant colors or impactful images, as well as through compelling copy or surprising information.
Interest: Once the user’s attention is captured, the communicator needs to maintain their interest. This can be done through personalization of the message or by using storytelling techniques, among other methods.
Desire: Creating desire is crucial in getting the prospect interested in the product or service. This is the stage where the communicator provides information about the product’s features and the benefits it offers.
Action: The final stage of this strategy is to encourage the user to take action. Online, this can be achieved through the inclusion of a call-to-action (CTA) that prompts the user to click, sign up, or make a purchase.
Overall, the AIDA method is a framework that helps marketers create effective advertising messages by capturing attention, maintaining interest, creating desire, and prompting action.
7. Marketing Personas
A marketing persona is a representation of a typical customer profile, embodying the target audience of a brand. To create a persona, it is best to combine quantitative resources (market analysis, qualitative studies, statistics, etc.) with more qualitative elements. For example, involving customers of the brand is relevant to understand their profile and aspirations. To be effective, a persona must have specific characteristics in various aspects: gender, age, socio-professional category, family situation, place of residence, goals, interests, networks, etc. Depending on the diversity of targets, a company can create multiple personas. Building a persona will then allow delivering the appropriate message, in a suitable tone, by mobilizing relevant generational or cultural references.
8. The Hook Model
The Hook model aims to create usage habits in customers in order to integrate a product into their daily lives. It is often used in the design of applications as it promotes their addictive potential. The model was described by Nir Eyal in his book “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products” and can be broken down into 4 key steps:
1. Trigger: In the Hook model, calls to action are the first step. They can be push or in-app notifications, emails, or other prompts designed to grab the user’s attention.
2. Action: Once the user enters the interface, they perform an action. In a gamification context, this action should be motivated by a potential reward.
3. Rewards: Rewards can take various forms. For example, a company may opt for social rewards (such as a like on Instagram), personal rewards (with ranking systems, for example), or tangible rewards.
4. Investment: According to Eyal, the user’s investment in the product is triggered by the rewards. It is through habit that the customer is retained in the long term.
9. User Generated Content (UGC)
User Generated Content (UGC) is a strategy that aims to encourage users to create content for a brand. Its main advantage is to strengthen credibility through communication based on real experience, which is more authentic than traditional advertising. To implement a UGC strategy, several levers can be activated, such as comments, reviews, and encouraging social media sharing. For example, many clothing brands repost photos taken by their customers on social media, turning consumers into ambassadors. In an Instagram Story, the brand Sezane encourages its customers to share feedback and reposts their comments.
10. PASTOR Method
The PASTOR method is a copywriting concept that aims to attract the consumer’s attention and encourage them to take action. The technique is divided into 6 phases:
Problem: the marketer identifies and describes the consumer’s problem.
Amplification: once the problem is stated, the message should highlight the cost of inaction, creating an amplification effect.
Story: the third part involves telling a story that the prospect can relate to. Typically, the story describes how the problem is resolved.
Transformation: at this stage, instead of focusing on the proposed tool, the sender should sell a transformation, which is how the solution improves the potential customer’s daily life. This phase is often accompanied by testimonials.
Offer: after generating interest from the prospect, the sender presents the tool and describes its benefits for solving the problem.
Response: the final step of the method is to guide the consumer through the purchasing process or encourage them to take action (e.g., through a CTA).
It is important to note that for a successful PASTOR method, it is crucial to understand the customer’s needs, provide an honest presentation of the tool, and be transparent about its features.