Marketing Tools

There are many marketing tools. Let's start with the most common ones - they are mentioned most often when talking about marketing. These are contextual and targeted advertising, SEO, SMM, email newsletters, advertising in the media and outdoor advertising.

Researchers and marketers classify marketing tools into groups according to different criteria. For example, here are two classifications.

There is a concept of 4P, or marketing mix: it was proposed by the American marketer Jerome McCarthy. It assumes that there are four "whales" of marketing: product, price, place of sale and promotion. Each "whale" has its own tools:

• To create a demanded product, marketers work on the product matrix, packaging, trademark, warranties;

• To offer a competitive price, they develop a pricing strategy, discounts and promotions;

• To sell the product in the right places, they use logistics, merchandising, inventory management;

• To promote the product, they use advertising, PR, sales promotion.

There are other versions of the concept - 5P, 6P and so on. They also divide marketing into several "components" and assume that each element has its own tools.

In the middle of the last century, Procter & Gamble, due to an incident, divided tools into ATL and BTL. ATL literally means "above the line", BTL - "below the line".

ATL includes all mass media advertising, that is, tools that allow you to get maximum coverage without personalizing messages. This is outdoor advertising, advertising on television and radio, outreach advertising on the Internet.

BTL includes tools that allow you to communicate with a narrow target audience. These are contextual and targeted advertising, SMS mailings, loyalty programs, participation in industry events, and others.