UPDATED: Five companies that have used micromarketing for success

Appealing to a specific class than to the mass is the unique feature of micromarketing. Personalization in marketing is not a new notion, but micromarketing breaks down personalization to a single target audience, persona or industry. In 2018, about 14 percent of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) suggested that their spend on personalization in marketing would increase, and in 2020, consumers are 80 percent more likely to purchase products from a brand if it feels personalized. 

Micromarketing is a one to one strategy that goes beyond just selling the brand. The very essence of micromarketing is its ability to interact at a very personal level with the target audience.

 Here are some companies that have successfully used micromarketing.

1. Procter & Gamble: The company launched its hair care product particularly for African-American women in the United States with Pantene Relaxed and Natural. A separate marketing budget was allocated for micromarketing. From there, Procter & Gamble has entered into a number of industries with spending tens of millions on innovation research which puts them as one of the largest corporations to spend this much money on their innovation and research. 

2. Uber: Worth $68 plus billion, Uber is recognized as an innovative company that has achieved spectacular results. Uber is present in over 500 cities across the world and is said to have completed more than two billion rides in 2016. 

The company used a hyper-local micromarketing strategy in each city that they were expanding into. Delving into location-specific problems related to transportation in each city, forming partnerships with the local influencers and strategic associations were some of the micromarketing strategies. 

Clever use of social media, like Facebook, in particular, was another micromarketing success for Uber. The city-specific promotions and events such as ice cream day were posted on Facebook to the target audience. Users were encouraged to share their discounts on Facebook as well, which helped augment their user base.

3. Red Bull: Red Bull’s marketing strategy does not focus on the energy drink, but is one of the highest sold energy drinks out there, it is known around a lifestyle.

Red Bull’s micromarketing strategies have targeted young males who enjoy sports and extreme sports with older males as their second-largest audience.  By sponsoring extreme sports events, Red Bull focuses on the target audience effectively to enhance brand visibility. The sponsorship enables consumers to strongly connect the brand with the extreme sporting events which create a lifestyle of fun, excitement and a bunch of dudes all watching other dudes do crazy sports. 

4. First Tennessee Bank: Using cloud-based platforms and high-end analytics has helped First Tennessee strategize micromarketing. Giving priority to understanding what the customers need on an individual basis, the bank sends out direct mails for regular surveys. 

Offering the right product or service to specialized segments of customers is easier. Using a campaign management tool called Unica, small business owners were further classified based on the revenue they generated annually. 

Each of these segments had further divisions based on the business owner’s medical, insurance or other focused needs. Making a specialized offer to each of the targeted segments became easy for the bank.

5. PNC: Small is the new big for PNC, which reworked its marketing strategy with the ultra-targeted approach. Apart from going virtual, the bank reduced its branches with a highly selective approach.

 Portable tiny banks, street teams and segment specific branches are some of the micromarketing approaches that PNC has used successfully.

The tiny branch in Atlanta became the busiest place in 2016 with both customers and non-customers flocking to use its ATM facility. Engaging with customers on a one to one basis and advising about products were some features of the mobile bank.

Micromarketing gives companies in any industry the ability to hone in on a specific audience to promote their products and services that are specific to that audience only. While others may enjoy the products with larger, more general campaigns, micromarketing could be what a company has been searching for to hone in their marketing efforts.