Today "Below-The-Line" marketing is becoming increasingly attractive to both marketers and customers, as it has the power of understanding and responding to customers' needs. Besides this, it also facilitates two-way communication with the customer. Therefore, an integrated below-the-line campaign aggressively captures and uses an extensive amount of customer information to help set, track and implement the company's marketing strategy. This ensures that marketing delivers on its promise across all customer touch points.

One of the primary objectives of marketers is to retain the customer - the elusive king. They try to achieve this through the mantra of "big surprises come in small packs" with Below-The-Line (BTL) marketing strategies. Marketing strategies, whether Above-The-Line (ATL) or BTL, are concerned with directing the customer's choice towards one's product/brand, in preference to competing alternatives. But, talking about BTL specifically, the focus is more on "presence marketing", i.e., being present in the conscious as well as the sub-conscious mind of the customer. "Out of sight is out of mind" forms the guiding principle behind BTL strategies. The emphasis is mainly on being at the Top of the Mind (ToM) of one's customers. Customer involvement forms the essence of BTL marketing strategies.

In the past, BTL marketing has been viewed as the poor cousin of ATL programs. But now, because of the growing popularity of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC), and the consequent increase in the use of BTL activities, this distinction between the two is fading rapidly. Consumers today are savvier in terms of understanding and interpreting advertising messages and tend to respond more to offerings that are linked to their own interests. Therefore, BTL programs are designed to meet the needs of a specific target audience.

BTL marketing includes sales promotion methods, such as free gifts and discount schemes, which are used for smaller, more clearly defined audiences. It also encompasses trade fairs and exhibitions, direct marketing, event sponsorship, etc. It also includes less conventional alternatives to mass advertising such as communicating directly to a targeted list of prospects to maximize the response rate.

Marketing Mastermind Magazine, Above-The-Line, ATL, Below-The-Line, BTL, Marketing Strategies, Integrated Marketing Communication, IMC, Marketing Management, Consumer Behavior, Sales Promotion, Direct Marketing, Consumer Sales Promotions, CSP, Web Marketing, Database Marketing.