Author: Margherita Baraldi
Date of Publication: 17/03/2023
Are you interested in Reverse Marketing? If so, let's take a look at the three main advantages of Reverse Marketing, a strategy that many brands are increasingly using.
Reverse Marketing in a Nutshell
Reverse Marketing refers to that set of communication strategies that overturn the traditional approach toward the consumer. This way it challenges the logic and dynamics of classic advertising strategies. In fact, Reverse Marketing is based on the different concept of bringing the consumer towards your business in a spontaneous way.
Simply put, its goal is not to convince someone to buy something, but to create interest and arouse curiosity in an unconventional way. How? Often by creating a paradoxical communication, with a critical and polemical tone of voice toward your products. Of course this aims to catch and stimulate the consumers' attention. However, Reverse Marketing owes its effectiveness to the concept of Reverse Psychology.
Reverse Psychology
Reverse psychology is a psychological mechanism by which we induce someone to do something in a non-explicit way. So, one pretends not to want that particular thing to be done by forbidding and banning it.
This strategy relies on the principle of psychological 'reactance', explored by Sanders and Pennebaker in 1976. In particular, this concept is based on the human tendency to react in a way opposite to what is required by the context.
Driven by a self-defense mechanism, people are in fact more attracted to what is forbidden, and they struggle to comply with prohibitions. Thus, faced with one of them, the spontaneous desire to do the exact opposite is triggered.
Now that you know how reverse marketing works, it is time for you to know the benefits it can offer to your business.
Three Advantages of Reverse Marketing
1) It strengthens your brand
When you develop strategies that properly attract audiences, one of the effects you generate is increased brand reach. In addition, this activity significantly increases the chances that your brand will be credited as an authoritative source. This means that you will be considered a reference in your niche market.
2) It improves customer relationship
When you apply a reverse marketing strategy, your company is no longer seen as a business whose sole purpose is to sell. If you commit to offering valuable content that really helps people, your business appears as useful and important. Thus, in the long run, it allows you to lay the foundation for a strong brand loyalty growth.
3) It is "less aggressive"
Since the purpose of reverse marketing is not to force a sale at any cost but to help the potential customer, this strategy allows you to be less invasive. In fact, the consumer does not feel the pressure typical of traditional ads. On the contrary, investing in the right actions can allow your brand to become part of a person's routine spontaneously and naturally.
An Example of Reverse Marketing
A few years ago, at the height of Black Friday, Patagonia launched an interesting campaign entitled "Don't buy this." This advertisement urged the public to think carefully before any purchase, encouraging them to keep reckless consumerism at bay.
Although Patagonia was in no way telling shoppers to refrain from buying its products, this clever campaign returned the image of an environmentally friendly and sustainability-conscious company. A a result, the campaign was successful and ended up positively affecting sales growth.
In conclusion, today Reverse Marketing is increasingly proving to be a successful Unconventional Marketing strategy to intrigue and drive purchase, without a direct invitation to do so. Indeed, often through a direct invitation NOT to do so.
Did you find the explanation of this strategy helpful? Have you come across other examples of Reverse Marketing?
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