What is Field Marketing
Field Marketing: What Is It And How Can It Help Your Business Marketing?
Are you having trouble getting the desired results for your marketing campaigns despite using online and offline marketing channels?
If yes, you might want to try out a different approach to marketing by employing field advertising. It is a marketing strategy that lets you interact with your target audience to an extreme extent and get the desired marketing results.
However, it is not easy to implement field marketing campaigns without prior knowledge. Hence, we have created a comprehensive guide to field campaigns and everything you need to know to succeed in it.
What is Field Marketing?
Field marketing involves any marketing activities carried out by a business organization carried out “in the field.” In other words, field marketing goes beyond online marketing approaches and interacts with the prospects personally. However, that is a broad definition of field marketing. From a practical perspective, field marketing is much more complex.
The marketing activities carried out in the field can include face-to-face interactions with prospective buyers. Street promotions, billboard ads, and even flyers are examples of field marketing strategies. As you can see, field marketing is not just limited to handing out product samples or demos.
Field Marketing In B2C And B2B Context
First of all, you can view marketing in the field from a B2C and B2B contexts. In the B2C context, field marketing involves marketers using product demos, giving samples to promote their products, making sales, and getting customer feedback.
In the B2B context, field marketing simultaneously deals with marketing and sales-oriented activities. In the B2B context, marketing in the field includes engaging with customers and prospects either directly or across multiple touchpoints. Some B2B field marketing examples include conferences, trade shows, webinars, and similar events.
What is The Role of Field Marketing in a Business Organization?
The field marketers have to work in alignment with the other marketing and sales teams. These teams must work in tandem with each other. Why? Because otherwise, your marketing strategy that employs both digital and in-person marketing strategies will not align with each other.
Suppose you can create a holistic experience for the customers by bringing the teams together. In that case, you successfully engage with leads and convert them. Some of the most common tasks the field marketers undertake within the organization are listed below.
- They work with sales, marketing, and product teams to align the field campaigns with the brand’s messaging and events of an organization
- Field marketers play a vital role in developing marketing plans by optimizing the sales pipeline, attracting leads, and contributing to marketing revenue goals
- Field marketing establishes your brand’s position when speaking with prospective customers and current clients in person
- Field marketers ensure that transparency is maintained for all marketing activities by inserting the marketing results in the CRM and other tools.
- They track the total ROI or Return On Investment for field marketing activities, including other marketing initiatives
- Field marketers attend all the relevant events and tradeshows to promote your business
- They maintain a warm relationship with your vendors and venues for future marketing
- Field marketers have extensive and in-depth knowledge about all your products and services
- They have a deep understanding of customer profiles and their journey across different platforms
- Field marketers provide your business with periodical (weekly/monthly) reports on field marketing activities
The points mentioned above cover some of the significant roles and responsibilities of a field marketer. However, it is by no means an all-encompassing list of things you can accomplish with field marketing tactics.
Top 5 Benefits Of Employing Field Marketing For Your Business
There are numerous benefits of employing field marketing for your business. It is practically impossible to list all the benefits of field marketing here. However, here is a list of the 5 most compelling reasons why companies should employ field marketing for their business.
1. Build Brand Awareness
One of the most significant benefits of employing marketing in the field is that it makes reaching your target audience significantly easier. It can cut through all the noise surrounding the usual marketing efforts across online and offline channels.
There is no better way to grab the attention of the prospects than iterating with them directly at events. Interacting with prospective customers in person is significantly easier than doing it online. In such cases, you are usually up against hundreds of competitors.
2. Build A Positive Perception Around Your Brand
Having a brand with only an online presence is all good when it comes to brand perception. Most customers are reluctant when it comes to trusting online brands. When prospects see your field marketers in the field demonstrating your products and services, it creates a positive impression.
Using an offline marketing channel like flyers or advertising in the local paper can do wonders for brand perception. So, you can imagine how efficient it is to implement field marketing and showcase how your product is the best for prospects.
3. Increase Your Sales
When you want to convince your prospects into buying a product or service, there is no better way than to show them. After all, when it comes to selling something, seeing is believing. With field marketing on your side, it all comes down to blowing your prospect’s mind with a product/service demo.
If you can make such an impression on the prospects, then the chances are that you will successfully convert them to customers. Hence, it wouldn’t be surprising to have prospective customers purchase your product or service on the spot through field marketing.
Also Read: Print Marketing Materials to Grow Your Sales4. Gather Insights From Potential Customers
The thing about data insights you get from different communication channels is that they are not always reliable. However, there is one way to tell what the customer or prospect thinks about your product or service.
You have to look for the facial expressions they make on seeing your product/service demo. No data shows how much a customer/prospect loves or hates your product/service other than their reaction to the demo. You can use this feedback you get from field marketing to optimize your messaging, price point, and even the product itself.
5. Grow Customer Relationships
As you know, marketing is often grouped under experiential marketing. However, there is sound logic for classifying field marketing as experiential. The fundamental role of a field marketer is to create excellent customer experiences using your brand and its products/services.
In many cases, the field marketer is the first point of interaction a prospect has with your brand. Furthermore, the field marketer remains a point of contact to the prospective customers until and after they convert to customers. As a result, field marketers often play a crucial role in establishing a customer relationship and turning customers into loyal brand advocates.
Best Field Marketing Strategies For Your Business
As mentioned above, field marketing tactics consist of a broad range of activities. The only common thing about these activities or strategies is that they all involve relationship building and lead generation as an integral part of it. Even though most field marketing interactions take place in person, that is not always the case.
Product/Service Demonstrations
The number one strategy businesses trust when marketing their products/services in the field is a product/service demonstration. Usually, the product demo or sampling happens in the store or some event such as a tradeshow.
In this case, the customer engagement or interaction happens on-site and in person. However, the goal for such field marketing campaigns varies depending on the product/service, target audience, and so on.
B2C Example
The most widely seen example of a product demo in the B2C context is the one used by the food and beverage industry. You can often see food and beverage companies handing out samples of their products at supermarkets or community events. However, from a B2C perspective, the product demos fall into a low consideration category.
B2B Example
Taking the same example of the food and beverage industry in the B2B context, the focus shifts to using samples as an entry point. The B2B industry depends on long-term business relationships with the buyers. Hence, the goal of field marketing here is to generate large orders and new leads.
In-Person Events
As you know, most campaigns used for marketing in the field are carried out in person. Therefore, it is not surprising that such marketing campaigns are explicitly implemented for in-person events. Furthermore, despite their similarities, you should not confuse in-person events with online or virtual events.
It is also worth noting that all event marketers solely focus on marketing the event. They conduct event-related marketing campaigns before, during, and after the event. In contrast, field marketers concentrate on identifying and building business relationships.
This relationship-building process in field marketing is based on a company’s marketing goals and specific sales. Hence, field marketers may sometimes have to participate in significant events organized by others or host one themselves.
It is generally easier to participate in an event than conduct one. On the other hand, organizing your event means you get to decide the points of attraction. Furthermore, even minor programs such as seminars or workshops are considered an event. The only thing that matters is that it yields the desired results.
Street Promos
Street promotions are an integral part of field marketing. Usually, it involves sending a team of marketers to specific areas with high traffic. The marketers would hand out marketing materials to the passers-by. Some of the popular marketing materials handed out in such campaigns include
- Free samples
- Flyers
- Coupons
The goal is to provide some form of incentive to the customers for attending the event or at least connect with the event experience. You can use QR codes in the flyers that lead the reader to your website or landing page or act as a discount coupon.
Furthermore, it is easy to execute such a strategy as long as you use an automated print and mail solution like PostGrid. You can even send the personalized event invites directly to the prospects via USPS using PostGrid’s advanced direct mail system.
In-Store Promos
Another popular field marketing tactic that you can use for your business is in-house promotions. In-store promotions are different from in-person promotions that we discussed earlier. Here, the field marketers focus their efforts on engaging with the customers and driving more sales.
You may often encounter such strategies in home depots where the sales rep may offer services like door installation. Furthermore, they only pitch such offers when the item the customer is buying is related to the offer they are providing.
With product demos, the goal is usually to push the customer into trying out a product, like the food and beverage example we discussed. But, with in-store promos, the primary goal is to generate quality leads for high-consideration services.
Merchandising
Merchandising is a term that most businesses are familiar with. It is one of the most widely used field marketing tactics in use today. Merchandising aims to attract customers through enticing retail displays and pushing them to enter the store.
However, merely entering the store is not good enough. The prospect would also need to purchase from the store. It is a strategy requiring field marketers to work closely with specific retailers that buy their products.
The strategy also requires negotiating with the retailers on prime shelf space for your products, along with unique displays. Working closely with the retailers is unavoidable for merchandising strategy. Hence, it might pay off to establish good relationships with the retailers.
Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla marketing might be a new concept to many marketers and business owners. It is an easy and affordable field marketing strategy that lets even small-scale businesses make considerable profits. Jay Conrad Levinson’s book – Guerrilla Marketing For Financial Advisors, deals with the topic extensively.
According to Jay, businesses should invest in “time, energy, and imagination” instead of investing money in the marketing process. He also suggests that companies show “fervent devotion” to the customers during follow-ups.
The book also explains how guerrilla marketing focuses on developing long-term relationships with the customer. Guerrilla marketing involves using a combination of marketing tools and channels to get the best result for your business.
Also Read: Multi-Channel Marketing StrategyQuick Tips For Developing A Successful Field Marketing Strategy
Field advertising or marketing may not always be easy to implement for your business. However, there are some guidelines you can follow to ensure that you are on the right track. Here are a few quick tips to help you create a successful field marketing strategy.
- Set highly-specific goals for your campaign
- Get a comprehensive understanding of your audience
- Create personalized content for your audience
- Use automation tools like PostGrid to streamline your processes
Conclusion
If implemented correctly, field marketing can do wonders for your business. It can build brand awareness, positive perception around your brand, increase your sales, and much more. However, marketing your business in the field is not as easy as you might think.
It would be best to have the right plan and the tools to ensure the best result for successfully implementing field marketing. Using automation tools can help you optimize your marketing efforts even in the field. Take PostGrid, for example. It allows you to print personalized flyers for your field marketing ideas.
You can also use PostGrid to send flyers directly to your customer’s address. Hence, it acts as a multi-purpose marketing tool that you can use to optimize your field marketing and independent direct mail marketing.
Similarly, you can use other marketing tools and automation capabilities to streamline your marketing efforts. By the end of the day, it is not just about how advanced your marketing tools are but how innovatively you use them for your marketing campaigns.
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