What Is Field Marketing? Explanation, Tips and Guidance

The term “field marketing” might seem unusual at first, but it’s actually something many companies are already familiar with. While in today’s digital world we tend to think of marketing as a largely online practice, it can also involve placing people “on the field” to interact with leads in-person.

Using strategies common in digital marketing, like personalization, targeting, and relationship building, field marketing can help companies expand their reach and achieve more sales.

What is Field Marketing?

Field marketing is a term used to define any strategy that involves sending experts out into the “field” to boost your promotional results. These campaigns can include everything from face-to-face conversations with potential buyers, to experiential marketing events and pop-ups.

The idea is to expand the reach of your company by balancing your online marketing campaigns with efforts that bring you into close proximity with your audience in the real world.

Field Marketing Manager Responsibilities

If you build a dedicated field marketing team for your company, you’ll have a number of professionals working to facilitate your campaigns. Your field marketing representatives are the generalists conducting product demos and handing out samples. Your field marketing manager, on the other hand, is responsible for leading the entire team.

Field marketing managers are responsible for hiring, training, and directing field teams, as well as ensuring marketing campaigns can reach the right goals. Field marketing managers can:

• Design specific field marketing campaigns and make sure they’re executed well.
• Work together with sales teams, demand generation teams and product teams to manage events, field campaigns, and messaging.
• Maintain brand representation and identity in-person, conveying the values of the business to potential customers and prospects.
• Maintain transparency into marketing activities with reports and insights to ensure that ROI can be measured effectively.

The Common Field Marketing Activities

There are various kinds of marketing activities companies can implement into their field strategy. The primary focus is simply on connecting with customers in-person, and building relationships and leads for the rest of the sales team. Common field marketing activities include:

• Product samples and demonstrations: This strategy involves handing out samples and giving demonstrations of how a product might work. The idea is to provide customers with the insights they need to determine whether an offering is capable of solving their problems. One common example would be handing out small amounts of a specific food at a supermarket to let customers see if they like the taste. B2B brands can also use sampling and demonstrations to capture the attention of buyers.
• Events: Events are a common form of field marketing. Companies can either get involved with existing events, signing up as an exhibitor or speaker, or they can design events of their own. To be classed as a form of field marketing, these events need to be managed in-person, and often focus on a specific niche or target audience.
• Street promotion: This form of field marketing involves sending teams of marketers and sales people into high-traffic areas where they can hand out samples, coupons, flyers, and even incentives to gather audience attention. Usually, this type of marketing involves encouraging people to learn more about the company or product.
• In-Store promotions: With in-store promotions, marketers and sales people draw attention to specific products or services in-store. The event can be held either within the company’s actual store, or within a larger supermarket, selling a range of products. In-store promotions can include giving away freebies or discount codes. It can also include creating attractive retail displays designed to encourage a purchase.
• Guerrilla Marketing: A concept first introduced by Jay Conrad Levinson, Guerrilla marketing involves investing time, energy and imagination into presentations and events which shock or surprise customers. The idea is to shake people out of their comfort zone with an experience that’s memorable, and different to standard marketing.

Building Your Own Field Strategy

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to a successful field marketing campaign. For most companies, the best strategy is to ensure you understand your target audience. The more you know about the customers you’re trying to reach, the easier it is to make a connection with them.

It helps to set goals for your program, so you know exactly what you need to accomplish to determine whether your advertising campaign has been successful. Field marketing tactics should fully align with the steps salespeople are taking to convert prospects.

To boost your chances of success with field marketing:

• Set goals in advance: Decide what you want to accomplish with your campaign and choose metrics and statistics you’re going to measure.
• Create tailored content: Make sure you design unique content which aligns with the specific segment of the audience you’re trying to reach. User personas are helpful here.
• Be creative: Don’t be afraid to get creative and experiment with different kinds of field marketing to see which has the biggest impact.
• Track important details: Make sure you pay attention to the reports and analytics from your field marketing campaigns so you know which efforts are working best.

Mastering Field Marketing

Remember, field marketing works best when product marketing teams, sales, and marketing professionals all work together. Field marketing campaigns have the power to extend your brand reach into the real world, and strengthen your relationships with customers.