Most small businesses engage in both passive and active marketing, but may not always distinguish between them. By better understanding the unique aspects of each, you can make sure to plan and use each strategy appropriately and get the results you need. Marketing efforts are divided into two broad categories: active marketing and passive marketing. Businesses use both these marketing types to get the word out about their products and services. Which format appeals to your potential clients? Choosing the appropriate marketing format comes down to your branding goals, product/service niche, and marketing objectives.
A passive marketing campaign reaches customers by promoting and positioning your brand. The goal is to make your business visible and be top of mind when your product or service is needed. Passive marketing targets people that are looking for specific information when making a purchasing decision. By anticipating customer needs and planning on how best to reach them, passive marketing lays the groundwork to be considered the best choice. Having good, informative articles on a website, and being listed in industry directories are some of the best forms of passive marketing.
On the other hand, active advertising is a more hands-on and dynamic approach to marketing that asks for customer involvement. Active marketing strategies do not wait to be found, but rather proactively target specific consumers. Engagement is essential to any ad strategy, especially on mobile screens. Interactive content like quizzes and personality tests are great because they establish a question-and-answer structure with audiences. Instead of trying to dictate a message to users, it offers people the chance to engage, network, and learn something new. The internet and web analytics give us the ability to be very specific and deliberate about who we want to target.
Which One Should You Choose?
The choice entirely depends on your marketing goals and objectives. However, from what we have observed, a good combination of both active and passive marketing will give you a positive outcome in the long run. It is important to remember the differences within both methods and tailor the combination to your specific audience. Both formats serve the purpose of establishing your presence.
With active & passive marketing, you take advantage of available technologies and display the business information before the users in an inexpensive way. If you aim to expand your customer base, an active marketing strategy (such as live chat forums or running ads in local media) will help you reach out to fresh buyers. But if you want customers to find out about your offerings and brilliant products/services, you should definitely go with a passive advertising strategy.
Passive advertising keeps the promotion user-friendly. Since you’re not pushing users to watch your content, you can expect a friendly response. Instead, your ad will display in front of users purposely looking for specific information and will likely embrace related products/services.
Active ads are more intrusive and can seem pushier. For example – pop-ups or ads before YouTube videos. We call it intrusive because customers do not expect it. Your marketing message will be displayed to the consumer without their consent. But that doesn’t mean active promotion is useless. On the contrary, it increases sales by informing potential customers about your recently launched products or services. Furthermore, you can inform users of a special offer or a limited discount.
If you would like to learn more about passive and active marketing, and how they can help you and your business, please feel free to contact us. Whether your goal is to expand your customer base or firmly establish your brand, we are always happy to get to know you and help develop a marketing plan that works.