Interactive marketing (also known as trigger-based or event-driven marketing) is a marketing strategy that focuses on one-to-one relationships where the process adapts to individual customer needs and prospects. Trigger-based marketing is highly more effective than the average marketing process.

Steps in setting up an interactive marketing system

  1. Determination of the customers’ triggers: by analyzing customers’ preferences, on can set up a database that could establish patterns in their purchases of products and/or services.
  2. Developing a marketing plan: once the triggers are identified, the business needs to come up with different scenarios that respond to customers’ actions.
  3. Setting up a personalized system, which could be either:

online: nowadays, it is the most used and it required technical know-how and regular updates, however it is more efficient long-term since it supports an automatic support system.

face-to-face: although old-fashioned, it is still the preferred system in some industries, leading to higher costs in support, but in more personalized approach and higher customer retention.

  1. Evaluation: once the system is set in place, the business should do regular assessments and adjustments in order to adapt it to the business environment and consumers’ needs and demands.

Benefits to interactive marketing

  1. Customized advice for the customers: since the products/services are adapted to the customer’s needs and demands, it is likely to increase consumer satisfaction, leading to loyalty programs.
  2. Increased sales: since the purchases fit the demand, it is more likely that customers will buy from the same place in the future and recommend it, thus increasing sales for customized products/services.
  3. Reducing marketing costs: from the point of view of the provider, it is more economical to retain a satisfied client who will return and refer the business instead of investing in gathering new customers.
  4. Potential automatization: services like Amazon are done remotely and automatically with the possibility to opt-in or offer a competitive offer for subscription.

Inconveniences to interactive marketing

  1. Detailed planning and implementation: in order to set up a productive trigger-based marketing system, one needs to invest resources, particularly in the beginning.
  2. Dependent on customers: even though the system may be functional in theory, it depends on how customers react to it since it is triggered by their needs and habits.
  3. Bundling strategy: when assessing which are the products/services that best go together, it depends on an algorithm which may not actually coincide with consumers’ preferences.