Defensive marketing strategy is a type of marketing strategy that is used to help a company keep valuable customers. It is used when the firm is competing with another firm in a similar market category. Defensive marketing strategies are effective in keeping valuable customers, or retaining those that are already loyal to the company.
One way to implement this strategy is by challenging your competitor’s product or service. By attacking your competitor’s product, you force it to become outdated. You can then come up with a new version that is more relevant and maintain your market share. Google uses this strategy to determine the scope of its product and services and to find new ways to make them more relevant. While some companies are content with their existing customer base, other companies may not have realized the potential size of their target audience.
Defensive marketing strategies are best for companies that have a large market share but face constant competition from other companies. New entrants are a constant threat to every player’s market share, so companies can’t afford to ignore them. This strategy also helps a company protect itself from emerging technologies.
Defensive marketing strategies are crucial for companies that wish to protect their market shares and maintain existing profits. They can also use defensive marketing to keep the target audience focused on their products and services. This is especially important for companies that sell to the same customers often. If your market shares get eroded by a new competitor, you may find your entire business crumbling.
Another way to use defensive marketing strategy is to develop better products than the competition. By creating better products, you can force your competitors to make their products outdated. You might see this strategy used by Google, the most popular search engine in the world. Google keeps adding new features, which confuses its competitors. Instead of creating innovative products, competitors try to compete with Google. This approach may be costly in the short term, but it will help a business achieve its long-term goal of market share.
One way to use defensive marketing is to take your products and services to the market and undercut their competitors. It also increases your business’s visibility and market share, and allows you to target new customers and old ones. Unlike an offensive marketing strategy, a defensive strategy reduces the risks associated with marketing. In addition, it helps a business become niche-specific by targeting a smaller market segment.
The company introduces better products than existing products and emphasizes the differences between their products. This strategy has been effective for companies that have carved out a niche in a crowded market. For example, Tylenol used to be a household name and had a large share of the market. However, Bristol-Myers launched Datril as a direct competitor. It was 35% cheaper than Tylenol.