Upstream vs. downstream marketing: Key differences

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Balancing upstream marketing and downstream marketing means less wasted time, money, and opportunities. But why is each of them so important to consider? Upstream marketing helps you discover what customers want before you build it with research, surveys, and market analysis. Downstream marketing is how you sell what you’ve built through campaigns and promotions.

For example, your upstream research reveals customers hate plastic packaging. So, you switch to biodegradable materials (upstream), then create email campaigns and social posts showcasing your eco-friendly approach to increase sales (downstream).

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What is upstream marketing?

Upstream marketing is the research and strategy phase that shapes product development and positioning. You study markets, analyze customer needs, and define your approach before creating any marketing materials. All your future campaigns build on these insights.

Benefits of upstream marketing for ecommerce

Your ecommerce store’s success depends on matching products to customer needs. Upstream marketing reveals what to build, who wants it, and how to reach them. 

Make upstream marketing a core part of your strategy for these benefits:

• Identifying customer needs: Research uncovers what keeps customers awake at night. Companies often guess wrong about pain points, building solutions nobody requested.
• Reducing product failure risk: Early concept testing saves you from expensive mistakes. Fix problems during planning, not after manufacturing.
• Creating stronger positioning: Knowing where competitors fall short lets you fill the gaps. Your product stands out when it solves problems others ignore.
• Improving targeting accuracy: Data separates buyers from browsers. Your budget reaches people ready to purchase, not just anyone with a pulse.
• Building long-term strategy: Good research remains relevant for years. Your team follows proven insights rather than pivoting every quarter.
• Increasing campaign ROI: Messages rooted in customer research generate higher conversion rates. You connect with audiences because you understand their needs.

Examples of upstream marketing

All your upstream marketing activities are about collecting insight and being capable of building, launching, and growing a successful ecommerce store.

Here are the best upstream marketing examples you can use in your strategy:

Segmentation analysis

Split your market into buyer groups. Some spend more, some buy frequently, and others need unique features. You can focus exclusively on segments with money and motivation to buy.

Omnisend lets you segment subscribers by purchase behavior, engagement data, demographics, and custom properties — all updating in real-time as customers meet or leave criteria. Here are some of the pre-built segments:

Customer research

Talk to your customers. Send out survey emails about satisfaction, and when you get the opportunity, go further with deep conversations about their day, their problems, and what makes them angry about current solutions.

Competitive landscape mapping

Look for competitor blind spots on their website and social media. They may ignore small orders, lack mobile options, or focus on VIPs. Customer complaints also reveal gaps you can fill, so check out forums, Reddit, and X for any commentary.

Product concept testing

Show rough ideas to potential buyers before building anything. Their reactions tell you which features matter and which ones you think matter but don’t. Your customer’s objections about features, pricing, and positioning are crucial to a successful launch.

Customer journey mapping

Track every step from “I have a problem” to “I bought something.” Find where people quit, get confused, or wish they had another option. 

Install a heat map on your site (such as Microsoft Clarity) to track customer sessions, and use Omnisend’s lifecycle stage map to understand how customers break down based on shopping recently and order value. Here’s an example:

Brand positioning development

Decide what mental real estate you want to own. You can’t be everything — pick the one thing customers should remember about you. That could be your bundles, customer service options, extended returns window, or free shipping.

Pricing strategy research

Test what people will pay versus what they say they’ll pay. Big difference. Factor in competitor prices and the perceived value of your solution. Consider ways to increase average order value, such as bundle builders and free shipping thresholds.

Channel and payment preference analysis

Figure out where customers want to buy. Amazon? Your website? Retail stores? Their current shopping habits predict future behavior better than any survey. Additionally, research how your customers prefer to pay, such as Apple Pay and Klarna.

What is downstream marketing?

Downstream marketing executes the strategies you created from your upstream marketing activities. You take validated product concepts, proven messaging, and identified audiences, then, lastly, you build successful campaigns.

It’s the stage where creative meets customer — ads run, emails trigger, content is published, and revenue flows.

Benefits of downstream marketing

You need downstream marketing to convert research into revenue — without execution, even the best strategies stay theoretical. Here are some benefits:

• Drives immediate revenue: Campaigns generate sales today, not someday. Every email sent, ad placed, and promotion launched pushes customers toward purchase decisions.
• Tests strategy in markets: Live campaigns reveal if your upstream assumptions hold. Customer responses show which messages work versus which need reworking.
• Builds brand awareness quickly: Running campaigns puts your brand in front of thousands. The more touchpoints you create, the harder you become to ignore.
• Creates measurable results: Every click, conversion, and sale provides data. You know exactly which campaigns pay off and which drain budgets.
• Enables rapid optimization: Campaign performance data lets you adjust fast. Change headlines, swap images, redirect budgets — all based on what customers do.
• Generates customer feedback: Reviews, comments, and support tickets from campaigns reveal product improvements and new opportunities missed upstream.

Examples of downstream marketing

Your downstream marketing activities could include any combination of these:

Email marketing campaigns

Send targeted automations and campaigns to segmented lists. Welcome series for new subscribers, abandoned cart reminders, product launches, seasonal promotions — each email drives actions based on customer behavior and data.

For instance, Callaway’s “Welcome To Callaway” welcome series recommends products by skill level, and pushes its custom fitting service to encourage purchases:

Omnisend lets you target all your customers at optimal moments with pre-built email automations that trigger based on their behavior, activity, and preferences. You can also add an SMS and push notification to your flow for an omnichannel approach:

Pay-per-click advertising

Customers searching for “best running shoes for flat feet” have their credit cards ready. PPC captures that intent moment, putting your solution at the top when purchase decisions happen. Google and Bing are your best PPC opportunities.

Here’s an example of a paid ad by Nike on Google:

Nike’s PPC ad targets the keyword “white trainers” and shows up between the sponsored product listings and above organic search.

Content marketing

One of the most useful things you can do is answer the questions your customers search for and publish that content on the platforms that are most likely to attract traffic.

Blog posts, YouTube tutorials, Reddit posts — each format can solve a problem while positioning you as the expert. Here’s an example of a YouTube search for “best water filters”:

You could create videos like that (listicles) and link to your shop in your video or bio. Make it easy to purchase within all your content.

Shoppable social media

Turn social scrolling into new shopping sessions. Instagram’s shoppable posts, TikTok Shop videos, Pinterest’s buyable pins — each platform removes friction between seeing something and buying it in seconds.

The image below provides an example of a shoppable TikTok video:

Influencer partnerships

Partner with voices your audience already follows. A fitness coach recommending your protein powder to their community carries more weight than any billboard ever could.

For example, wallet brand Ridge has an influencer partnership with YouTuber Jerryrigeverything, appearing in the video below, despite it being about the unrelated Samsung Z Flip 7:

Search TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube to find them, and take things further with an influencer search platform like Modash for additional insight.

Trade shows and events

Industry events generate new leads and sales that can be impossible to get online. Live product demos, immediate feedback, competitor intelligence, and deals closed between booth visits make these events worth the investment.

The bigger the event, the better for sales and coverage. A top example is the New York Comic Con, which thousands attend annually:

Online platforms like Eventbrite, Meetup, 10Times, and Facebook are fantastic places to find events you can attend and exhibit at.

Direct mail campaigns

Physical mail has high open rates, provided your envelope appears significant enough to open (brown and official works well), or your postcard has recognizable branding.

Your customers might keep your product catalog on their coffee table or stick your postcard with a QR code on their fridge. Here’s an example of a direct mail card available via Smartpress:

Upstream vs. downstream marketing: Main differences 

The difference between upstream and downstream marketing is that upstream decides what to build and who will buy it, and downstream takes those decisions and turns them into sales.

However, the question of downstream vs. upstream marketing isn’t answered by trying to determine which is best. They both work together — upstream to discover, and downstream to sell. Here’s an upstream vs. downstream marketing example:

Check out this upstream and downstream marketing comparison table:

The bottom line: upstream marketing ensures your downstream efforts target the right people with the right message. Downstream execution proves whether your upstream research was accurate. Skip either one, and you’re gambling with your budget.

Using upstream and downstream marketing together

You run upstream research to understand customers, then execute downstream campaigns to reach them. The two phases must work as a continuous cycle — insights drive campaigns, results refine your understanding.

Why integration matters

You need both to succeed. Upstream findings guide your campaigns — who to target, what to say, where to reach them. Downstream performance tells you if your research was right. Each phase informs the other.

How this works in practice:

• Research shows customers abandon carts at shipping costs > launch free shipping threshold campaigns
• Email analytics reveal 70% open on mobile > redesign all templates for small screens
• Purchase data identifies repeat buyers > create a VIP tier with exclusive offers
• Support tickets complain about sizing > add detailed size guides to product pages

How Omnisend improves downstream execution

Omnisend bridges your research and execution with features for both upstream analysis and downstream campaigns:

For upstream insights

• Segment customers by behavior, lifecycle stage, and purchase patterns
• Track how different groups interact with your brand over time
• Identify trends that inform product and strategy decisions

For downstream execution

• Automate campaigns based on real-time customer actions
• Trigger personalized messages when behaviors match your research findings
• Scale successful tactics across segments without manual work

It creates a feedback loop between strategy and execution. Your segmentation data reveals customer patterns (upstream value), then powers campaigns targeting those behaviors (downstream action). Each campaign generates new data, making both phases stronger.

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