What is customer marketing? Introducing the benefits of customer marketing and specific measures and examples
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 7:04 am
In recent years, customer marketing has been attracting attention as a trend in the marketing field. In the " Top 8 Fastest Growing Jobs in the U.S. [2022 Edition] " published by LinkedIn in January 2022, "Customer Marketing Manager" emerged, and it appears that job openings are also increasing rapidly.
A few years ago, the US headquarters of HubSpot, where I previously worked, created a "Customer Marketing Team" to oversee customer marketing, which had previously been spread across multiple teams. In Japan, too, an increasing number of companies, such as Kao and Cybozu, are focusing on "customer marketing."
According to the 2020 State of Customer Marketing Report , a survey of 200 B2B companies in seven countries around the world conducted by US SaaS provider thailand b2b leads Influitive , approximately 62% of companies responded that they had seen a moderate or significant increase in revenue as a result of customer marketing in the past 12 months.
Additionally, 93% of companies classify customer marketing as important or very important. The high percentage of profitable companies shows that customer marketing is a very effective form of marketing.
In this article, we will explain what customer marketing is, its concept, history, and specific methods.
What is Customer Marketing?
Customer marketing refers to marketing activities aimed at existing customers.
Below is the definition from the US Product Marketing Alliance:
"Customer marketing is a term used to describe marketing activities and campaigns that are targeted at current customers. Companies invest heavily in customer marketing activities to increase customer retention, reduce churn, improve customer loyalty, brand advocacy, and community participation." ( Productmarketingalliance.com )
Customer marketing is a relatively new trending term, so definitions vary slightly depending on the user, but most definitions are close to this one.
Background to the development of the concept of customer marketing
When reading the definition of customer marketing, those who have been involved in marketing for a long time might think, "Isn't it the same as relationship marketing?"
To be honest, since it encompasses all of the current definitions of customer marketing, it can be said that for now, the meanings of customer marketing and relationship marketing are roughly the same (although the differences may become larger in the future).
Relationship marketing is a marketing concept and method that was proposed in the 1980s and focuses on relationships with existing customers.
If we briefly piece together the history of relationship marketing and customer marketing, we can see the following progression.
[1983]
Leonard L. Berry of the United States advocated "relationship marketing"
[1980s]
Academic research into relationship marketing has progressed and developed (American school, European IMP group, Nordic school, etc.), and it is now practiced in the business world by a variety of companies, particularly in the service industry.
[Mid 1990s]
The Internet begins to spread around the world
[Around 2000]
A new business model, SaaS, appears. Salesforce, the first SaaS vendor, was founded in 1999. As companies increasingly adopt CRM, the "customer marketing method " was advocated in the United States, which advocates implementing marketing measures for each customer segment.
[2010s]
The number of companies introducing "customer success" to assist existing customers in the SaaS industry is increasing.
"Customer Success Manager" ranked third in LinkedIn's " Most Promising Jobs 2017." Furthermore, the concept of "customer marketing" specializing in existing customers has become widespread, and an increasing number of companies are creating customer marketing teams.
[Around 2020]
In Japan, the number of companies introducing "inside sales" and "customer success" is increasing . Companies are gradually starting to tackle customer marketing.
In 2022, "Customer Marketing Manager" rose to third place in LinkedIn's " Top 8 Fastest Growing Jobs in America [2022 Edition]."
The concept of relationship marketing originated in the service industry in the 1980s, and with numerous research projects underway, it has continued to be used in the business world today.
A few years ago, the US headquarters of HubSpot, where I previously worked, created a "Customer Marketing Team" to oversee customer marketing, which had previously been spread across multiple teams. In Japan, too, an increasing number of companies, such as Kao and Cybozu, are focusing on "customer marketing."
According to the 2020 State of Customer Marketing Report , a survey of 200 B2B companies in seven countries around the world conducted by US SaaS provider thailand b2b leads Influitive , approximately 62% of companies responded that they had seen a moderate or significant increase in revenue as a result of customer marketing in the past 12 months.
Additionally, 93% of companies classify customer marketing as important or very important. The high percentage of profitable companies shows that customer marketing is a very effective form of marketing.
In this article, we will explain what customer marketing is, its concept, history, and specific methods.
What is Customer Marketing?
Customer marketing refers to marketing activities aimed at existing customers.
Below is the definition from the US Product Marketing Alliance:
"Customer marketing is a term used to describe marketing activities and campaigns that are targeted at current customers. Companies invest heavily in customer marketing activities to increase customer retention, reduce churn, improve customer loyalty, brand advocacy, and community participation." ( Productmarketingalliance.com )
Customer marketing is a relatively new trending term, so definitions vary slightly depending on the user, but most definitions are close to this one.
Background to the development of the concept of customer marketing
When reading the definition of customer marketing, those who have been involved in marketing for a long time might think, "Isn't it the same as relationship marketing?"
To be honest, since it encompasses all of the current definitions of customer marketing, it can be said that for now, the meanings of customer marketing and relationship marketing are roughly the same (although the differences may become larger in the future).
Relationship marketing is a marketing concept and method that was proposed in the 1980s and focuses on relationships with existing customers.
If we briefly piece together the history of relationship marketing and customer marketing, we can see the following progression.
[1983]
Leonard L. Berry of the United States advocated "relationship marketing"
[1980s]
Academic research into relationship marketing has progressed and developed (American school, European IMP group, Nordic school, etc.), and it is now practiced in the business world by a variety of companies, particularly in the service industry.
[Mid 1990s]
The Internet begins to spread around the world
[Around 2000]
A new business model, SaaS, appears. Salesforce, the first SaaS vendor, was founded in 1999. As companies increasingly adopt CRM, the "customer marketing method " was advocated in the United States, which advocates implementing marketing measures for each customer segment.
[2010s]
The number of companies introducing "customer success" to assist existing customers in the SaaS industry is increasing.
"Customer Success Manager" ranked third in LinkedIn's " Most Promising Jobs 2017." Furthermore, the concept of "customer marketing" specializing in existing customers has become widespread, and an increasing number of companies are creating customer marketing teams.
[Around 2020]
In Japan, the number of companies introducing "inside sales" and "customer success" is increasing . Companies are gradually starting to tackle customer marketing.
In 2022, "Customer Marketing Manager" rose to third place in LinkedIn's " Top 8 Fastest Growing Jobs in America [2022 Edition]."
The concept of relationship marketing originated in the service industry in the 1980s, and with numerous research projects underway, it has continued to be used in the business world today.