By Dr. Amanda Crowe | 06/04/2024
In education, marketing is often lumped into one large category, as if there is one correct way to get the job done. Entrepreneurship requires less traditional tactics that incorporate innovation and risk-taking to challenge the competition in new, creative ways.
On my journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur, I built five small firms in five different markets. Each new business venture presented an opportunity to learn valuable lessons.
I initially believed that using traditional marketing concepts would be enough to launch a new successful small business. I quickly learned that entrepreneurial ventures required marketing methods tailored to new start-ups.
With each new start-up, I tried new marketing strategies, becoming more creative and innovative. I gained a lot of knowledge on my way to success as an entrepreneur, learning how to use creativity to produce growth.
Entrepreneurial Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing: The Major Differences
Entrepreneurial and traditional marketing differ in one major way: resources. Large organizations and corporations with resources to spare such as money, time, and people typically use traditional marketing. Entrepreneurial marketing focuses more on lean and low-budget methods of applying marketing theory throughout the customer journey, value creation, and customer orientation.
Traditional marketing uses a strategy to sell while entrepreneurial marketing is about innovation. Entrepreneurs work on developing ideas to connect with customers on a personal level and create new opportunities by including innovative strategies throughout the customer journey. Traditional marketing has a structured approach, while entrepreneurial marketing can be more fluid and pivot quickly to address rapidly changing business needs.
What Is Traditional Marketing?
Traditional marketing has evolved from a take-it-or-leave-it strategy during the Industrial Revolution to hard sells and the relationship era of marketing. However, some elements of traditional marketing have remained the same, such as risk management and the use of tactics.
This type of marketing is geared to large businesses with seemingly unlimited resources and money to spend on advertising, and it requires a significant investment of money and time. This method uses traditional media marketing tools with a heavy focus on mass media for reaching large groups and retaining profitable customers.
The Marketing Mix
The marketing mix is a set of controllable elements used to promote a product to generate revenue. Marketing campaigns are based around these four factors:
- Product
- Price
- Promotion
- Distribution
The product is the most important aspect of the marketing plan. If the product isn’t good, then it will be difficult to attract or retain market consumers.
Marketing a product includes discussing all of its benefits and features. Successful entrepreneurs understand the benefits of their products and the best way to convey them to their target market.
Price defines the value of your product in both a literal and theoretical sense. To some customers, a high price may indicate prestige. To others with a limited budget, a high price may convey a different message.
Price also involves understanding the market and how your competitors are pricing their products. Price has a direct and immediate impact on sales and revenue, so getting it right is important.
Promotion is the concept most heavily associated with marketing. To convey their message to potential customers, traditional marketers may choose a combination of:
- Advertising
- Sales promotions
- Personal selling
- Public relations
- Direct marketing
- Digital marketing
Digital marketing and social media have become an important promotion tool and should be part of the marketing strategy of almost every business.
Distribution, the fourth key element of the marketing mix, should be included in every traditional marketing plan. Determining when, where, and how potential customers obtain a product is one of the most important decisions a marketer can make.
Distribution defines where a business is going to sell its product. The product itself will often dictate distribution.
For example, it is easy to get a candy bar just about any place you go at any time. However, electric car purchases are less convenient and necessitate going to a dealership.
What Is Unique About Traditional Marketing?
Traditional marketing determines the marketing mix in order to build brands, persuade potential clients, and positively influence revenue. Its methods leverage conventional tactics and channels, so they are often less personalized. Marketers focus more on customer relations than the product.
What Is Entrepreneurial Marketing?
Entrepreneurial marketing is a more agile, creative, and resourceful approach to marketing. With limited funds, entrepreneurs are more conscious about the return on investment of their strategies and must work harder to achieve success. Entrepreneurial marketing is geared towards small businesses and medium-sized businesses, and it heavily relies on understanding consumer behavior to develop relationships.
Entrepreneurial marketing aims to establish or increase brand awareness, build relationships, and create value. Marketers must work efficiently and effectively with a limited budget to find and retain profitable customers. It is not uncommon for this method to start with the product and work backwards to determine the target audience for it.
The Characteristics of Effective Entrepreneurial Marketing
The heart of entrepreneurial marketing lies in innovation – creating, delivering, and communicating value with skill and imagination. Entrepreneurial marketing incorporates innovation into the strategy and all communications, including where and how the marketing message is shared.
Entrepreneurs create value in ways unlike other businesses because of their heavy focus on customers. The people behind entrepreneurial companies engage with potential clients and often work together with them to make products better; they may also use a certain marketing style.
Entrepreneurs understand the importance of engaging with and personally observing or collecting information about the environment to establish the highest level of value for clients. For an entrepreneur, marketing a business properly is vital to longevity.
Relationship Marketing
Relationship marketing emphasizes customer retention, satisfaction, and lifetime value. By building loyalty, entrepreneurs earn positive word-of-mouth discussion, repeat customers, and valuable feedback from customers about their products and services.
When customers are satisfied with their interactions with a business, they are more likely to become repeat customers. Also, they are more likely to share information about company products and services with their friends.
Entrepreneurial marketers use marketing to cultivate relationships in a variety of ways, such as:
- Providing exceptional and personalized services
- Interacting and engaging with customers on social media
- Asking for customer feedback
- Sponsoring events
- Creating loyalty or rewards programs
This cost-effective, low-risk approach allows a small business to build trust and loyalty with customers.
Relationship marketing creates a competitive advantage and growth opportunities that are difficult for the competition to replicate. This marketing style relies on the relationship between the entrepreneur and buyer. Entrepreneurs must use proactive identification methods to understand the communication and relationship wants and needs of their market.
Thought Leadership
Thought leadership drives brand awareness as entrepreneurial marketers aim to create the perfect mix of content for their market. With this value creation technique, a small business uses content to build credibility for their company. An entrepreneurial marketer increases visibility of their specialized expertise by becoming local experts and often rising stars in their industry.
By focusing on thought leadership, a company can use the proactive identification of trends to share their perspectives, wisdom, and insight on tomorrow’s best practices. Thought leadership is sometimes confused with content marketing, which is a broader discipline used to attract, educate, and close new business through the use of content.
Social Media Marketing
More than half of the world’s population uses social media, with an average of more than two hours per day spent on platforms. Through social media marketing, also known as digital marketing, successful entrepreneurs interact with consumers to build their brand, increase sales, and build community.
Social media platforms such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok use connection, interaction, and customer data to disperse information across social networks. Digital marketing has transformed the way a business can influence consumer behavior. Interactive content and challenges can be seamlessly shared with millions of people in seconds.
Which Type of Marketing Is More Effective – Entrepreneurial or Traditional?
There is no right or wrong answer to this question. Effective marketing for companies relies on a variety of variables to align in a meaningful way.
To determine the best approach for a business, it’s necessary to gain a deep knowledge of all types of marketing. Today’s marketers should:
- Learn how to craft and implement an innovative, effective strategy, especially for new products.
- Ensure that the entrepreneurial approach to business aligns with market needs.
- Evaluate the marketing process often and change key elements that are not working well.
The Entrepreneurship Degree at AMU
Small business owners and new entrepreneurs may benefit from academic programs aimed at developing an entrepreneurial mindset and enhancing their capabilities. American Military University (AMU) offers an online bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship, and the courses taught in this program helps students to build practical skills in forming a business idea and bringing it to market.
Also, students with an existing concept or a company can learn to refine their product or service for business success. For more information, visit our program page.