13 Marketing Techniques You Might Not Have Considered
The great thing about marketing is that you can really get creative and let your mind conjure up fantastic ideas to help you succeed. There aren’t many limits to what you can do to get your brand in the public eye. In fact, it’s often a good idea to think outside the box and do things that your competitors aren’t doing.
Marketing effectively also requires a lot of planning. You’ll need to sit and down and discuss your methods with your business colleagues. Create a plan of action to target the right demographic. If you jump in too quickly, you’ll find that things will quickly become confusing. Without a good plan in place, you won’t be able to generate the most success with your marketing techniques.
So, we’re here to go through some of those marketing ideas that you might not have thought about. Sit back, relax, and let us take you through some great choices for your next marketing campaign.
Pay Per Click
You might have never heard of this before, but it’s a great way to build an internet presence. Sure, creating a website and social media accounts is essential, but this is an added extra. Basically, the pay per click method allows you to put a basic advert on Google’s pages. You’ll have to set a budget and put some carefully targeted keywords in there as well. When people search for those keywords on Google, your website will come up!
Pavement Signs
For retail businesses on the street, I can’t express the importance of pavement signs enough. A lot of potential customers simply walk past many shops without even taking a quick glance to see what they are. Having a pavement sign in front of them on the walkway will draw their attention. Companies like Jansen Outdoor Pavement Signs can make eye-catching designs to achieve this goal. Experience has shown that pavement signs can be a valuable marketing tool, so don’t neglect them!
Sponsor A Sports Team
If you’re a fan of the sporting world, what better way to get involved than to sponsor a team yourselves? Yeah, it’ll cost you a bit of money to get started, and you might not be able to afford to buy the whole team. That doesn’t matter, though; you could simply sponsor the kit or equipment. The key is to get your company in the spotlight. You’ll be featured in matchday programs and across their promotional material. It’s a great way to keep your name in the public eye, all season long.
Competitions
If you ever thought that running competitions were a waste of time, I’m here to tell you that’s not the case! With the emerging popularity of social media in recent years, they have become a popular tool to generate interest. For example, you can allow people to enter competitions by retweeting your Twitter post. Why is that a good thing? Well, it gets your name out there to potentially thousands of people. If you can offer something that everyone wants to win, you’ll get more retweets and improve your brand recognition in the process.
Offer Content For Free
If you’ve got something of value that you could give away for free, turn it into another marketing technique. Obviously, you’re going to have to weigh up the pros and cons of doing this. Don’t do anything that is going to put your finances in a dire state. By offering free incentives, you can encourage others to visit your website or social media pages. Draw them to the page of your choice, improving your brand awareness. Obviously, make sure that your free content is quality stuff, as well.
Write For Your Local Newspaper/Magazine
Wherever you’re located, you’ll probably find opportunities to write for local newspapers and magazines. For some, you’ll need more experience than others. Don’t expect to get paid to do this, but know that you’ll be reaching a vast number of people. Even if you’re simply contributing to a free magazine that gets distributed to the local area, it’s worth it. By presenting yourself as an expert in your field, you’ll gain even more respect from potential customers.
Press Releases
Everyone knows that the option of making press releases is available, but they often don’t take it. It’s a silly afterthought not to get involved with them. There are companies out there that can send your press release to thousands of people on your behalf. This is another cheap and great way to get your name out there. Every time you have something important to announce, you can send a different press release each time. Not only is that a great way of announcing news, but it also reminds people of your company’s existence.
Be Creative With Videos
Yeah, you could create a YouTube video just like the millions out there who do the same thing, but you need it to stand out. The difference between getting 10 views and 10,000 can often come down to a few simple things. Basically; is it something you’d want to watch? Why bother creating a video in the first place if no-one outside of your business would be interested? Get creative and consider what you could do. Whether it’s humor, quirkiness or anything else, get thinking and make something special!
Add A Blog To Your Website
One of the downsides of a website is that it’s rarely updated with radically different content. Sure, you’ll change things from time to time, but the main content rarely differs. By adding a blog to your website, you can have a reason to continuously encourage people to check out your page on the internet. Promote those blogs on your social media pages and even send them out in emails to your customers if you want to. Don’t overkill this strategy, but it can be very useful when implemented effectively.
Give Good Customer Service
This sounds cheesy, but good customer service brings good marketing! Sometimes, the best form of marketing you can get involved in is providing a good service for your customers. They’ll tell their friends about it, and give your company good reviews online. You’ll find that things come much easier to you if you’re able to generate positive responses from your customers. Yes, it’s important to get your name out there through traditional marketing techniques. The thing is; none of it will work if you haven’t got the goods to back it up.
Endorsements
If you’ve got friends in high places, you might want to think about getting your company endorsed. Of course, this is much easier when you already have notable clients who enjoy your product. You don’t have to go to the bigwigs in order to enjoy the benefits of endorsements, though. Simply ask your customers to rate your services and products. Give them a comment box and pick the best responses to serve as endorsements on your website. Potential customers are always looking for reasons to try and trust your company for their needs; this is a great way to put them at ease.
Talk To Your Employees
I know it sounds silly, but many companies overlook the simple nature of talking to their employees about ideas. It’s so tempting to lock all the important people away in a meeting room for hours on end instead. But guess what?! The rest of the team are the ones who are in constant contact with customers all day, every day. They will have their own ideas about what might work, and they’ll feel glad that you trusted them to assist.
Grow Those Contacts
In a lot of cases, it’s not what you know but who you know. Don’t underestimate the power of making new acquaintances. You never know who you might be talking to. A quick conversation over coffee about your new business venture could turn into something big. Suddenly, you might find yourself in a luxurious position that money couldn’t buy. Don’t make fake friends on purpose; simply put yourself out there and be willing to make new contacts.
We’ve gone through thirteen types of marketing techniques today, and we’ve only scratched the surface. At the end of the day, there are almost limitless possibilities at your fingertips. Marketing doesn’t have to be a soulless procedure to generate interest. The best companies use it as a way to get creative and have some fun. They find new ways to grab customers and often play around with various techniques.
It’s important to remember that not everything you try is going to work. You’ll fail in some areas and succeed in others, but don’t let that put you off. It’s better to regret something you did than something you didn’t do! Be bold and push forward with the ideas that you want to pursue. It doesn’t matter if things don’t go to plan; it’s just a case of going back to the drawing board and starting again. However you choose to approach it; good luck in your marketing ventures!
