Marketing is an essential aspect of running any business. Providing a quality product or service is of little use if nobody knows about it, and even after customers have been acquired, marketing plays a role in customer retention.
The first step in marketing is market research, which informs market segmentation. This is the process by which potential customers are grouped into categories based on demographics, geographic location, behavior, and other characteristics. Market segmentation is a valuable tool that further helps tailor marketing strategies for each segment.
Once you have completed market research, you need to choose the marketing methods you will use. Different methods work best for different businesses and audiences, and some experimentation might be needed.
1. Bonuses
A bonus is something of value that a customer receives upon fulfilling a certain condition. It is usually money that can be spent within the app or on the website. Bonuses can achieve multiple goals, and are offered by a variety of businesses such as financial services, online shopping platforms, and casinos.
Casinos are an interesting example as they offer a wide range of bonus types with different purposes, including welcome bonuses, rescue bonuses, reload bonuses, and daily bonuses (source: https://www.valuewalk.com/igaming/malaysia-online-casinos/). Welcome bonuses are reserved for new players and are awarded after making the first deposit. These serve the basic purpose of attracting new players. Meanwhile, daily, weekly, and monthly bonuses are used to retain players, as are reload bonuses, which are awarded for depositing money after the first deposit, and rescue bonuses, which present a percentage of a player's loss returned to them.
Another type of bonus that can be quite effective is the limited-time bonus. Its effectiveness is based on a phenomenon known as fear of missing out (FOMO). The limited-time bonus creates a sense of urgency and compels customers to purchase to avoid potential regret.
2. Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing involves receiving endorsement and product placement from influencers. These are people with a high following on social media platforms, and are viewed by their followers as highly knowledgeable about a particular topic.
A study from 2024, conducted in the U.S., found that 74% of shoppers had bought a service or product because it was recommended by an influencer, indicating that this is a worthwhile marketing technique.
Choosing the correct influencers to collaborate with is incredibly important for the success of this marketing approach. For one, your target audience needs to correspond to the influencers' followers. This is where market research, which has been previously mentioned, comes into play.
You should also consider the influencer's personality and style. Having your app or website promoted by a person will lead to potential customers associating their personality with your brand, which can be highly beneficial if done right.
Lastly, you need to take into account the size of an influencer's following. While it might seem like a larger following is better, this is not necessarily the case. Influencers with a particularly high number of followers tend to also have more diverse followers, many of whom might not be a part of your target audience. Additionally, working with such high-profile people will be more expensive. A micro-influencer, on the other hand, might have an audience that more precisely matches your own, and collaborating with them will be more affordable.
3. Social media marketing
As of February 2025, 5.24 billion people used social media, which should give an idea about the value of social media marketing.
Among the first steps in social media marketing is choosing the platforms you will be posting on. Below is a list of popular social media platforms:
- Facebook: the most versatile social media platform
- Instagram: focused on visual content, great for businesses that can present their product or service through images or short videos
- X (formerly Twitter): posts have a short lifespan, good for posting industry news and product updates
- YouTube: the longer video format allows you to more thoroughly demonstrate the operation of your app or website
- TikTok: the content is predominantly in the form of short videos, incredibly popular among Gen Z
For social media marketing to be successful, it is important to post content regularly, as this increases the likelihood of it being seen. Additionally, social media algorithms prioritize showing users newer content, meaning posts will eventually become outdated.
Asking questions to encourage commenting is another valuable strategy, as the algorithms favor posts with many comments. For this reason, it is also important to answer the questions of users, which not only makes them feel valued by your company but also motivates them to continue commenting in the future.
Besides marketing, running a social media profile lets you receive customer feedback, which you can use to improve your product or service.
4. Email marketing
While email marketing does not spread awareness of your brand, it can turn subscribers into paying customers, and it is a cost-effective way of retaining customers.
There are multiple types of emails you can send, some of which are listed below:
- Welcome emails: sent to new subscribers, introduce people to your product or service
- Newsletter emails: sent regularly, can include articles, news, tips, and blog summaries
- Cart abandonment emails: reminder for customers who have added a product to the cart but have not completed the purchase
- Promotional emails: sent to inform customers of new products or special offers
- Survey emails: ask customers to send feedback on your service or product, good for both making improvements and making customers feel that you appreciate their opinion
One advantage email marketing has over other types is that you can tailor emails for specific demographics, and only send customers content you believe they will be interested in.