Sometimes you get lucky with a business and
the customers keep rolling in off the old advertising techniques which appear
to be working a treat. But, more often than not, your marketing strategies will
need a revamp once in a while to keep drawing in new clients and developing
your business.
You may feel that you’re running out of
steam and have used up all the marketing techniques in the book, but nowadays
there are more options than just the occasional appearance
in a newspaper. In fact, you can now start to be really creative with your
advertising strategies, and get even better results.
If you feel that your business is grinding
to halt and you’re not sure about your next move, you may not have thought of
the following creative marketing ideas which could give your business the boost
it needs.
1)
Join the social media craze
The social media craze is not only for the
Kardashians to update their fans on their daily haircuts, or for people to
share photos of that morning’s breakfast; businesses can also benefit from
these popular sites, and not only by simply creating a page, posting daily and
hoping for the best.
Don’t be afraid to push your pages in
shameless ways, for example putting your Twitter handle on slideshows and on
business cards. You can also offer people benefits if they follow your page,
for example, a free sample when they are
in store when they like your page.
Joining in with trending hashtag themes
such as #ThrowbackThursday can also mean gaining attention and more followers,
do example when people look up the hashtag and see your posts.
Vines
are another highly overlooked advertising method. A simple 6-second video can be a great opportunity to
catch attention and with a little hard work, it is easy to be noticed on such
an underused but highly regarded platform.
Social media can also be a great way to
keep tabs on your companies. Have a look at their pages and mimic any
successful tactics without being too copycat. Look at their offers, promotions
and compare your own strategies.
SEO for accountants,
pharmaceuticals companies, and other businesses which have a more serious,
professional undertone, can be another great way to use the internet to your
advantage. You could at first try some simple tips and tricks yourself, but you
may have to hire a professional to really make an impact on the Google rankings
of your company.
2)
Get out and about
For small businesses especially such as
gift shops, hairdressers and butchers which are targeted locally, reaching out
to your local community can be a great way to draw people in and market your
business, and there are a few very profitable ways of doing so.
Posting flyers and putting up posters on
public notice boards are both old-school ways of going about marketing your
business successfully, and people will notice you more and more when they see
your brand name in various places both physically and online.
If you want to go really original and make
an impression, you could even write on paving stones in chalk. Not only will
this be eye-catching for your local target audience, but you will also be
adding a personal touch to the campaign, which will be intriguing and appealing
to your clients.
Living in
an urban area also makes for some unusual sponsorship opportunities that you
wouldn’t find elsewhere, for example sponsoring on bikes, public transport and
even petrol pumps. Look to see where you can get your name shown; it could be
well worth it to simply get people used to seeing your brand.
3) Create images and infographics
A great
way to get noticed is to create something interesting, humorous or which people
can relate to, and share it on your website and pages. This will encourage
interest in your company. Remember, it only takes one image or infographic to
go viral and your brand name will be bandied around all over some massive
platforms.
When creating
infographics, make sure it is easy to
take in all the information at once, by including pictures and a layout which
is easy to understand. It is also important to make sure that you present
information which will be interesting for people, such as statistics, steps in
a procedure, and tips. Attractive, colourful graphs are also a great way to add
interest to an infographic.
Memes are
another great way to attract attention and gain popularity from your potential
clients. Add some light humour related to your industry, but be careful not to
create offensive jokes which may get you a bad reputation.
4)
Contest marketing
Hosting
competitionsonline can be a great way to get your business noticed, build
up your brand reputation and make a statement, and there are many options in
terms of what you can do.
One of the easiest and most effective
contests you can create is a photo contest. They are relatively easy to enter;
all your competitors will need is a phone and a spare few minutes on Instagram
to create a post and enter, and they are also leaky to provide you with content
you can re-use elsewhere.
Video contests are another option for
marketing your company. You may get fewer
people entering these as they will need to put more effort into your contest,
because creating a decent video often requires more time and skill, however, the content you receive is likely to
come in more handy for your business in others ways further down the line.
Other options for competition hosting
include ‘create a caption’ competitions and sweepstakes, which are also popular
amongst followers.
