Principles of marketing

Niche marketing: Niche marketing is an advertising strategy that focuses on a unique

target market. Instead of marketing to everyone who could benefit from a product or
service, this strategy focuses exclusively on one group—a niche market—or
demographic of potential customers who would most benefit from the offerings. Niche
market is often created by identifying what a customer wants and this can be done if
the company knows what the customer needs and then tries to deliver a b etter solution
to a problem which was not presented by other firms. There is one important thing to
understand that ‘niche’ does not exist, but is created by smart marketing techniques
and identifying what the customer wants.

How to Find a Niche Market?

1. Identify your strengths and interests.

Start by considering what you offer and what you’re good at.

 What specific problems do you solve?

 What problems can you solve better than your competitors?
 Where do you especially excel?
 What do you know a lot about?
 Who do you and your team like to serve?

2. Do industry research.
Once you have an idea about the type of niche marketing you want to do, validate that
it is a reasonable idea. Do a competitive analysis to see if there are competitors in this
space and if there are, what those brands are already doing.

3. Get to know your ideal customer: Look closely at your target

audience and identify what they really want and need. Getting to know your ideal
customer can help you offer them a better product, service, or message.

4. Choose, test, adjust, and repeat.

Like most marketing strategies, you can’t just set up a niche marketing campaign and
assume it will achieve the results you want. You must test your initial idea, review the
results, and continue to adjust accordingly.
5. Go for it! It's time to implement your idea.
Analyzing competitors

A competitor analysis is an important part of your business plan. Once you have defined
the vision for your product and the customer problem you are solving, it is essential to
understand the other companies in your market. It is an essential tactic for finding out
what your competitors are doing and what kind of threat they present to your financial
well-being. This helps you identify opportunities and threats. It also allows you to set
strategies that address the needs of your prospective customers better than your
competitors can. Your competitive analysis should answer these core questions:

Who are the other companies vying for customers in your market?

What products and services do they offer?

What is each competitor’s market share?

What are their strengths and weaknesses?

How do your own products and services compare?

How can you differentiate your products and services?

Steps in Analyzing Competitors

1. Map out all the head-to-head competitors: The first step in a competitor analysis is to
identify the current and potential competition. You can see it from two points of
view. The first it to look from a customer’s point of view, and second is to look
from their business point of view.

2. Find out their goals & objectives: Find out what they are trying to achieve, and map out
what can threaten your business in the long run. Do they attempt to steal your
clients? Do they attempt to copy your product and slightly alter it? See your
industry through their eyes.

3. List all their strategies & tactics: Look at their advertising, campaign promotion, and
PR strategies. Advertising should help you quickly determine how a company
positions itself, who it markets to, and what strategies it employs to reach potential
customers.
4. Assess their strengths & weaknesses: Your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses are
usually based on the presence of assets they used to be able to compete in the
market. You can identify the areas where they are most vulnerable.

5. Estimate their reactivity: If you’re new in the game, find out how will your
competitor’s respond when you enter the market? Will it change the game for them
in the future?

6. Plot out which one to “attack” & “avoid”: Research carefully and determine which
competitor you should try to beat, and which one you should just avoid. This research
method will provide you with a distinct advantage in the long run, so you can develop
the barriers to prevent competition from entering your market.

Strategies for market leaders

market leader: A market leader is a company with the largest market share in an
industry that can often use its dominance to affect the competitors. The market leader is
frequently able to lead other firms in the introduction of new products, in price changes, in
the level or intensity of promotions, and so on. Market leaders usually want to increase their
market share even further, or at least to protect their current market share.

A market leader could be a product, brand, company, organisation, group name which has
the highest percentage of total sales revenue of a particular market. Market leader
dominates the market by influencing the customer loyalty towards it, distribution, pricing,
etc.

 Expansion strategies:
• New Users: Market penetration strategy, new- market segment strategy,
geographical expansion strategy.
• New Uses: Discovering and prom-oting new uses for the product
 More usage: Strategy aimed at convincing people to use more product per use
occasion. Or incr-easing the no. of use occasions.

 Expand the total market strategy: Market leader firms can normally gain the
maximum when the total market expands. The focus of expanding the total market
depends on where the product is in its life cycle. This strategy can be used when a
 product is in the maturity stage. For example, the Japanese increased their car
production to enter new countries.

 Covering the market globally and locally: companies like Coca

Cola, Microsoft, LG and others which are market leaders in their respective
categories. You will find that each one of these companies have products which are
widespread and are known across the world.

 Expanding the market share strategy: Market leaders can improve their
profitability by increasing their market shares, like HUL, Procter and Gamble,
McDonald’s and Titan. In conclusion, market leaders who stay on top have learned
the art of expanding the total market, defending their current territory, and increasing
their market share and profitability.

 Control costs: if you cut down your costs, your expenses automatically come down
thereby increasing the overall profit. The important thing here is to know what the
major components in your costing are. For example in a product based company,
Transportation, Rentals, Labor, distribution margins, etc are some expenses which are
costlier even than the raw materials which will be used in making a product. Hence
knowing each and every component of costing is crucial.

 Defensive strategy

 Get the right people and retain them: In the services industry, you are as good
as the talent you have on board. Many software companies keep a part of their margin
aside so that they don’t have to lose software engineers when one project is complete.
These engineers are transferred to another project when the work is complete.

 Be informed
 Targeting and positioning

A market is segmented using age, gender, income, education, lifecycle, social status,
social class and many more. After identifying segmentation few segments are selected to
reach target customers. This process of evaluating and selecting market segments is
known as market targeting. A target market is a group of consumers or organizations most
likely to buy a company’s products or services. Because those buyers are likely to want or
need a company’s offerings, it makes the most sense for the company to focus its
marketing efforts on reaching them.

Procedure of Market Targeting

1. Evaluating Market Segments: Evaluation of market segments calls for measuring

suitability of segments. The segments are evaluated with certain relevant criteria to
determine their feasibility.
2. Selecting Market Segments: When the evaluation of segments is over, the
company has to decide in which market segments to enter. That is, the company decides
on which and how many segments to enter. This task is related with selecting the target
market. Target market consists of various groups of buyers to whom company wants to
sell the product; each tends to be similar in needs or characteristics.

Philip Kotler describes five alternative patterns to select the target market.
Alternative Strategies (Methods) for Market Targeting:

1. Single Segment Concentration: It is the simplest case. The company selects only
a single segment as target market and offers a single product. Here, product is one;
segment is one. For example, a company may select only higher income segment to serve
from various segments based on income, such as poor, middleclass, elite class, etc. All the
product items produced by the company are meant for only a single segment.
2. Selective Specialization: In this option, the company selects a number of segments.
A company selects several segments and sells different products to each of the segments.
Here, company selects many segments to serve them with many products. All such
segments are attractive and appropriate with firm’s objectives and resources.

3. Product Specialization: In this alternative, a company makes a specific product,

which can be sold to several segments. Here, product is one, but segments are many.
Company offers different models and varieties to meet needs of different segments. The
major benefit is that the company can build a strong reputation in the specific product
area. But, the risk is that product may be replaced by an entirely new technology.

4. Market Specialization: This strategy consists of serving many needs of a particular

segment. Here, products are many but the segment is one. The firm can gain a strong
reputation by specializing in serving the specific segment. Company provides all new
products that the group can feasibly use. But, reduced size of market, reduced purchase
capacity of the segment, or the entry of competitors with superior products range may
affect the company’s position.

5. Full Market Coverage: In this strategy, a company attempts to serve all the
customer groups with all the products they need. Here, all the needs of all the segments
are served. Only very large firm with overall capacity can undertake a full market
coverage strategy.

Positioning

Positioning refers to the place that a brand occupies in the minds of the customers and
how it is distinguished from the products of the competitors. In order to position products
or brands, companies may emphasize the distinguishing features of their brand or they
may try to create a suitable image through advertising. Positioning defines where your
product (item or service) stands in relation to others offering similar products and services
in the marketplace as well as the mind of the consumer.

Types of Positioning Strategies

Brand positioning: Brand positioning is an act of designing the company’s offering and
image to occupy a distinct place in the mind of the target market. – Philip Kotler. brand
positioning describes how a brand is different from its competitors and where, or how, it sits in
customers’ minds. the marketer can position their product in the mind of the consumer by
different ways.

 Attribute: It means the features of the product. The marketers can emphasis on the
attributes of the product and this way he can position the product in the minds of the
consumer of the product. For eg. Pears face wash – to clean the face. A car brand may
focus on attributes such as large engines, fancy colors and sportive design.

 Benefit: It refers to the benefits which the consumer gets from the product. For eg.
Pears face wash – for soft skin. The car brand could go beyond the technical product
attributes and promote the resulting benefits for the customer: quick transportation,
lifestyle and so further.

 Beliefs and values: The marketer can position their product in the mind of the
consumer by giving them strong beliefs. For eg. Pears face wash- make you
feel attractive.

 Product price: Associating your brand/product with competitive pricing

 Product quality: Associating your brand/product with high quality
 Product use and application: Associating your brand/product with a specific use
 Competitors: Making consumers think that your brand/product is better than your
competitors
 Convenience: Customers gravitate towards products and services that make life
easier. This can include location, usability and terms. For example, the convenience
of an ecommerce site with extensive product variety, low prices, easy ordering and
free returns.

Section C
Product decisions
 Product decisions thus involve policies and strategies regarding product line/item, product
mix, features, branding, and packaging, labeling, after sales services and new product
development.

Product characteristics

Product: According to Philip Kotler “Product is anything that can be offered to

someone to satisfy a need or a want.”
Product Characteristics are attributes that can be added to the product definition to extend
the description of each product. Examples of Characteristics are:
 Price  Durability
 Size  Quality
 Color  Fabricability
 Designation  Instalability
 Weight  Usability
 Item number  Maintainability
 Functionality  Safety

Classification of products: refer to product and brand management, page No 8

and 9.

Product differentiation: In economics and marketing, product differentiation (or

simply differentiation) is the process of distinguishing a product or service from others, to
make it more attractive to a particular target market. This involves differentiating it
from competitors' products as well as a firm's own products.

Factors of differentiation

 Price: Is your product priced lower or higher than your competitors’ products and other
products you offer? Your price should reflect the overall value that you offer. For
example, you can justify a higher price if customers recognize that your product offers
best quality. This is how a luxury brand like Ferrari can command a top asking price for
their cars.
  Form: many products can be differentiated in the form of size, shape or structure of the
product.

 Features
 Quality
 Durability
 Reliability: ensuring that the product will not fail within a given period.
 Reparability: How easily the product will be fixed.
 Style: describe how the product looks and feels to the buyer.
 After sale services: Good after sale services make the customers have faith in the brand
and make them differentiate it from others.

Types of product differentiation

 Vertical differentiation: Vertical differentiation exists when consumers compare a

product based on its quality. Consumers can say “Product A is better than Product B.”

 Horizontal differentiation: Distinctions in products that cannot be evaluated in terms

of quality. For example, when considering drinks, consumers may choose one because
of its taste. However, they cannot determine which one is superior in quality such as
coke and pepsi

 Mixed differentiation: Mixed differentiation is a combination of both vertical and

horizontal differentiation. It is common when consumers consider more complex
products. In simple words it is Differentiation based on numerous characteristics such
as shapes, colours, materials etc.

packaging and labeling

Packaging is the science, art, and technology of enclosing or protecting products for
distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of design, evaluation,
and production of packages. the main use for packaging is protection of the goods inside, but
packaging also provides a recognizable logo or image. Consumers instantly know what the
goods are inside.
Labeling is any written, electronic, or graphic communications on the packaging or on a
separate but associated label. Marketers use labeling to their products to bring identification.
A label is a slip of paper pasted on the package and/or on the product giving the following
details:

1. The nature of the product,

2. The manufacturer,

3. The date of manufacture,

4. The date of expiry (in some cases),

5. The ingredients used (in some cases),

6. The price (the MRP — Maximum Retail Price) and

7. The taxes as applicable.

A label is essentially a medium through which the manufacturer gives necessary

information to the consumer.

The objectives of packaging and package labeling

 Physical Protection—The objects enclosed in the package may require protection
from, among other things, shock, vibration, compression, temperature, etc.

 Barrier Protection—A barrier from oxygen, water vapor, dust, etc.

 Information transmission—Packages and labels communicate how to use, transport,

recycle, or dispose of the package or product.

 Marketing—The packaging and labels can be used by marketers to encourage potential

buyers to purchase the product.

 Convenience—Packages can have features that add convenience in distribution,

handling, display, sale, opening, re-closing, use, and reuse.

 Facilitate transportation

 To facilitate storage of goods in warehouses.

 Packaging types
 Primary packaging: Is the material that first envelops the product and holds it. This
usually is the smallest unit of distribution or use and is the package that is in direct
contact with the contents. Ex Beverage can, Bottle, Envelope, Plastic bag, Plastic bottle,
Wrapper etc

 Secondary packaging: Is outside the primary packaging—perhaps used to group

primary packages together. Ex. Box, Carton, Shrink wrap etc.

Tertiary packaging: Is used for bulk handling and shipping. Ex. Barrel, Crate,
Container

Pricing Strategies

Pricing isthe process whereby a business sets the price at which it will sell its products and
services, and may be part of the business's marketing plan. In setting prices, the business will
take into account the price at which it could acquire the goods, the manufacturing cost, the
market place, competition, market condition, brand, and quality of product.

 Premium pricing: Premium pricing, also called image pricing or prestige pricing, is a pricing
strategy of marking the price of the product higher than the industry standards/competitors’
products. The idea is to encourage a perception among the buyers that the product has a
more utility or a higher value when compared to competitors’ products just because it is sold
at a premium price. Ex. Branded unleaded petrol is sold at a higher price than regular
unleaded petrol.

 Penetration Pricing: Penetration pricing is a pricing strategy where the price of the product
is initially kept lower than the competitors’ products to gain most of the market share. Here
the company target a large part of the market and charge them a relatively lower price. Once
these customers become loyal and the brand achieves a strong market penetration, marketers
increase the prices to a point where they get optimum profits without 0much loss of
customers. Penetration Pricing Example: Oneplus launched its flagship product
Oneplus 1, which had all the features of an iPhone, at a highly affordable price of $299.
Once the company acquired a good market share, it started launching its products at a
premium. The recent phones from Oneplus are priced in the range of $500-$700.
 Price Skimming: Price Skimming is a strategy of setting a relatively high introductory price
of the product when the product is new and unique and the market has fewer competitors.
The idea is to maximise the profits on early adopters before competitors enter the market
and make the product more price sensitive.

Price Skimming Example: Smartphones (both iPhones and Android) are introduced in the
market at a higher price, but the price is reduced as the time passes.

 Economy Pricing: keep the prices of the product minimal by reducing the expenditure on
marketing and promotion. This strategy is used essentially to attract most price-conscious
consumers. For example the first few seats of the airlines are sold very cheap in budget
airlines in order to fill in the airlines the seats sold in the middle are the economy seats
where as the seats sold at the end are priced very high.
 Captive pricing
 Loss leader

 Psychological Pricing: psychological pricing strategies marketers use to make

customers buy the products, triggered by emotions rather than logic. For example a
company will price its product at Rs 99 instead of Rs 100.

 Bundle Pricing: Bundle pricing involves selling packages or set of goods or services
at lower prices than they would have actually cost if sold separately. Mcdonald’s happy
meal is a perfect example of bundle pricing.

 Freemium: Freemium is an Internet-based pricing strategy where basic services are

provided free of charge but charges are levied on additional premium features.
Candy Crush Saga is a great example of freemium pricing strategy where the game is
provided for free but a price is levied if you want more lives to play.
  Pay What You Want: Pay what you want is a pricing strategy where the power of
deciding the price of a product is given to the buyers, who pay their desired amounts
for a product, which could even be zero. Panera Bread Co. restaurant in the St. Louis
is a famous example of a business operating successfully using the pay-what-you-want
pricing strategy.

 Predatory Pricing: Predatory pricing, or below the cost pricing, is an

aggressive pricing strategy of setting the prices low to a point where the offering is not
even profitable, just in an attempt to eliminate the competition and get the most market
share. A perfect example of a company adopting a predatory pricing strategy is
Amazon which, in 2013, offered books at a price less than the cost price and even
shipped it for free just to win over the traditional brick-and-mortar competitors.

 Discriminatory Pricing: also called demand pricing, is a comparatively new pricing

strategy which charges different prices of the same item from different users depending
upon their perceived ability to pay.

Initiating and Responding to Price Changes

Initiating price changes: refers to increasing or decreasing the price of the products caused by
various internal or external forces. Initiating price changes occurs in two directions:

a. Initiating price increase:If an organization feels that the sales volume will not be affected
by a small price increase, it may always be tempted to increase the price. Increase in price
occurs because of:

 Inflation
 Rise in taxes
 Increase in wage level
 Increase in cost of raw material
 Rise in interest rates
 Increase in demand

b. Initiating price cut: Several

situations lead an organization to reduce the price of its products.
It may occur because of:

 Decrease in demand for the products

 Competitors lower price
 To achieve higher sales volume to increase market share
 excess capacity
 Section – D

Marketing Channels

Marketing channels: A marketing channel is the people, organizations, and activities

necessary to transfer the ownership of goods from the point of production to the point
of consumption. It is also called distribution channels.

Types of Marketing Channels

 Producer → Customer (Zero-level Channel): For example, a bakery may sell cakes
and pies directly to customers.
 Producer → Retailer → Consumer (One-level Channel): Retailers,
like Walmart and Target, buy the product from the manufacturer and sell them directly to
the consumer. This channel works best for manufacturers that produce shopping goods
like, clothes, shoes, furniture etc.
 Producer → Wholesaler → Retailer → Customer (Two-level Channel):

 Producer → Agent/Broker → Wholesaler or Retailer → Customer (Three-level

Channel): Agents come into play when the producers need to get their product into the
market as quickly as possible. This happens mostly when the item is perishable and has to
get to the market fresh before it starts to rot. At times, the agent will directly go to the
retailer with the goods, or take an alternate route through the wholesaler who will go to a
retailer and then finally to the consumer.
 Manufacturer to Wholesaler to Consumer

Role of Marketing Channels

 Smooth Flow of Goods and Services
 Enhance Efficiency
 Merchandising
 Reduce the distance between producer and consumer
 information gathering and distribution
 arranging contacts and matching products to meet buyers needs
 Bridge the gap
 Creation of awareness
 Promotion of product
 Identifying Major Channel Alternatives

A channel alternative is described by three elements:

1. Types of intermediaries: There are three major types of intermediaries:

(i) Company sales-force –The company can use its sales force to target the final consumer by
enlarging the sales-force and involving them in direct marketing.

(ii)Manufacturer’s agency –A manufacturer can hire agents or independent firms to sale its
products.

(iii)Industrial distributors –Find distributors in different market segment/regions.

2. Number of intermediaries:

(i)Intensive distribution –Stocking the product in as many outlets as possible. This particularly
useful in products like soft drinks where distribution is a key success factor. Here, the soft drink
firms distribute their brands through multiple outlets to ensure their availability at an arm’s length
to the customer.

(ii)Exclusive distribution –Giving a limited number of dealers the exclusive right to distribute the
company’s products in a given territory. The firm distributes its brand through just one or two
major outlets in the market who exclusively deal in it and not competing brands.

(iii)Selective distribution –The use of more than one but few intermediaries to stock company
products.

3. Terms and responsibilities of channel members:– The producer must determine

the conditions and responsibilities of the participating channel members. The main elements
in the trade relation mix are price policies, conditions of sale, territorial rights and specific
service to be performed by each party.

Types of Intermediaries
Intermediaries are external groups, individuals, or businesses that make it possible for the
company to deliver their products to the end user. For example, merchants are intermediaries that
buy and resell products.

 Agents and Brokers: Agents and brokers sell products or product services for a
commission, or a percentage of the sales price or product revenue. These intermediaries have
legal authority to act on behalf of the manufacturer or producer. Agents and brokers never take
title to the products they handle and perform fewer services than wholesalers and distributors.
 Their primary function is to bring buyers and sellers together. For example, real estate agents
and insurance agents don’t own the items that are sold, but they receive a commission for
putting buyers and sellers together.

 Wholesalers: buy products from manufacturers in bulk and then resell them, usually to
retailers or other businesses. Wholesalers take title to the goods and services that they are
intermediaries for. They are independently owned, and they own the products that they sell.
Wholesalers do not work with small numbers of product: they buy in bulk, and store the
products in their own warehouses and storage places until it is time to resell them.
Wholesalers rarely sell to the final user; rather, they sell the products to other intermediaries
such as retailers, for a higher price than they paid. Thus, they do not operate on a commission
system, as agents do. India mart, wholesalebazar and trade India are the examples of
wholesalers.

 Distributers: Distributors function similarly to wholesalers in that they take ownership of

the product, store it, and sell it off at a profit to retailers or other intermediaries. Distributors
are generally privately owned and operated companies, selected by manufacturers, that buy
product for resale to retailers. They cover a specific geographic area or market sector,
performing several functions, including selling, delivery, and maintaining inventory. Ex. Roop
technologies, arro electronics Deepak cold drinks for coca cola etc.

 Retailer: They break the bulk and sell goods and services to ultimate consumer in small
quantities. Ex. Amazon, flipkart etc

 Franchises: Franchises are independent businesses that operate a branded product (usually
a service) in exchange for a licence fee and a share of sales. Franchises are commonly used by
businesses (franchisors) that wish to expand a service-based product into a much wider
geographical area. Ex. Pizza hut, KFC etc

Channel-Management Decisions
Key decisions in channel management

 Price policy: List prices, wholesale/retail margins and a schedule of discounts have to be
developed. These have to reflect the interests of the intermediary, as well as those of the
producer/supplier
 Terms and conditions of sale: In addition to price schedules the producer/supplier must
explicitly state payment terms, guarantees and any restrictions on where and how products
are to be sold.
  Territorial rights: In the case of certain products, distributors will be given exclusive rights
to market a product within a specified territory.
 Definition of responsibilities: The respective duties and responsibilities of supplier and
distributor have to be clearly defined. For instance, if a customer experiences a problem
with a product and requires technical advice or a repair needs to be effected, then it should
be immediately clear to both the supplier and the distributor as to which party is
responsible for responding to the customer. In the same way, the agreement between the
producer/supplier and the distributor should clearly specify which party is responsible for
the cost of product training when new employees join the distributor or new products are
introduced.
 intensive distribution
 Selective distribution
 Exclusive distribution

Steps Channel Management Decisions

 Selecting Channel Members
 Training Channel Partners
 Motivating Channel Members: (giving them incentives, high margin etc
 Evaluating Channel Members
 Modifying Channel Arrangements: With the changing times, the company needs to modify its
channel arrangements. The product line can expand, the consumers buying pattern can
change, the new competition can come up, a new distribution channel can emerge or the
demand of the product can change by getting into the later stages of product life cycle. All
these factors can lead the company to change its channel arrangement.

Marketing Communication
Marketing communications are those techniques that the company or a business individual uses to
convey promotional messages about their products and services to the consumers such as personal
selling, advertising, sales promotion etc

Role of Marketing Communications

 Awareness to the customers about organizations offerings.
 Create brand awareness
  Increase sales volume
 Growth and expansion
 Competition
 Leads to increase market share
 Boost profit
 Attracting new customers

Communication mix

The communication mix refers to specific methods used to promote the company or its
products to targeted customers.

1. Advertising: It is an indirect, paid method used by the firms to inform the customers
about their goods and services via television, radio, print media, online websites
etcAdvertising is one of the most widely used methods of communication mix wherein
the complete information about the firm’s product and services can be communicated
easily with the huge target audience coverage.
2. Sales promotion: Short-term incentives to encourage customers to buy more than
they might normally buy. It involves providing the consumer with an incentive for the
purchase of the product. At the same time, it may involve giving incentives to dealersor
distributors to get the product selling & moving in the market. It include free samples,
discount coupons, or multi-buy offers such as "buy one, get one for free."

3. Events and Experiences: Several companies sponsor the events such as sports,
entertainment, nonprofit or community events with the intention to reinforce their
brand in the minds of the customers and create a long term association with them.
The name of the firm sponsoring the event can be seen on the playground boundaries,
player’s jerseys, trophies, awards in the entertainment shows, hoardings on stage, etc.

4. Public Relations and Publicity: The companies perform several social activities
with a view to creating their positive brand image in the market. The activities that
companies are undertaking such as, constructing the public conveniences, donating
some portion of their purchase to the child education, organizing the blood donation
camps, planting trees, etc. are some of the common moves of enhancing the Public
Relations.

5. Direct Marketing: With the intent of technology, the companies make use of emails,
fax, mobile phones, to communicate directly with the prospective customers without
involving any third party in between.

6. Interactive Marketing: Interactive Marketing has recently gained popularity as a

marketing communication tool, wherein the customers can interact with the firms
online and can get their queries resolved online. Amazon is one of the best examples of
interactive marketing wherein the customers make their choice and can see what they
have chosen or ordered in the recent past. Also, Several websites offer the platform to
the customers wherein they ask questions and get the answers online such
as answer.com.

7. Word-of- Mouth Marketing: It is one of the most widely practiced method of

communication tool wherein customer share their experiences with their peers and
friends about the goods and services they bought recently.This method is very crucial
for the firms because the image of the brand depends on what customer feels about the
brand and what message he convey to others.
8. Personal Selling: This is the traditional method of marketing communication wherein
the salesmen approach the prospective customers directly and inform them about the
goods and services they are dealing in. It is considered as one of the most reliable
modes of communication because it is done directly either orally, i.e., face to face or in
writing via emails or text messages.