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The first step to success is having a great idea for your product/service or business, followed by attracting potential customers and converting them. Getting the word out about your business will certainly help, but how can you make sure your brand engages all of its potential customers?
In an over-saturated eCommerce world where everyone is selling the latest and greatest on-trend thing, how can you ensure that your product or service is grabbing a consumer's attention?
By being unique and setting your brand apart from the competition with a creative marketing idea and a well-planned and well-executed creative marketing strategy. The massive rise of eCommerce has impacted the way potential customers look at brands as a whole and it is now more critical than ever to let the creativity flow and look to innovative marketing ideas.
The importance of marketing and the value of creativity within it will only continue growing in the future as consumer habits and demands change.
Engaged customers must be informed customers, which means that they are aware of your brand and know what you offer, this means if the shoe fits they know your brand can offer solutions for their needs. All types of businesses can benefit from creative ideas for marketing, from startups to multi-million dollar corporations it's all relative. By offering something unique that provides value to your target audience, you can differentiate your business from its competitors.
By keeping customers engaged with fun marketing, you can increase their willingness to make purchases and help aid in growing your business. In fact, fully engaged customers supply businesses with 23% more profitability, revenue, and referrals than average customers who may only make a purchase from your business one time.
Most effective marketing campaigns go beyond just the basic promotion of a brand, product, or service. It takes creativity on all levels and always remember a unique marketing idea equals lead generation and engagement. So, whether you are set to start a new digital marketing campaign or you simply desire to liven up your current one, we have the best list of creative marketing ideas to engage your customers.
1. Create Content That Speaks To Your Audience (#dontbebasic)
One of the hardest parts of creating content is determining what your potential customers will find interesting and valuable. But if you take the time to figure out what attracts them and what they are actually looking for is the real key to creating engaging content that's not basic.
No one wants to feel like they are reading a boring textbook and a bunch of keywords that have been stuck together. Because if you are still packing keywords (without real context) into your content, you need to stop now because a valuable, engaging, and creative message is what today's audiences crave.
But how do you make content stand out?
All blogs, infographics, eBooks, checklists, etc should represent your brand accurately and be fairly consistent across all content, regardless of who is writing them. It is more important to consider what you can offer a potential customer (in terms of solutions) when creating any digital content rather than how you can move them toward a purchase.
Your content is the tool that potential customers are using to answer their specific questions and provide a solution to their problems through their own research. If you're not providing them with easy-to-read, interesting, relevant, and valuable content they will look for it elsewhere.
Standing out and shining in the crowd is vital and yes blogging is an effective way to showcase your business and reach out to your target audience and potential customers. Try some creative interactive features like quizzes, Q&A sessions, polls, and live presentations if you want your brand to really stand out. You will engage your target audiences more while also improving your brand values and business ideologies.
2. ‘Tis The Season For Seasonal Marketing
Autumn is in the air, yellow and red leaves are falling, everyone is enjoying their pumpkin spice lattes, and holiday decorations are everywhere, and it is now the time to use this seasonality and reap the creative marketing opportunities it offers.
The holiday season is the pinnacle of consumerism, sales start to pick up as early as the end of September and continue straight up until the end of January. During this seasonal period, consumers are spending mad money.
For example, businesses ramp up promotional and advertising efforts around the holidays when consumers buy more gifts. Even if a specific holiday like Christmas does not apply to the person directly. For example, social pressures bring on the buying of gifts for office holiday parties. Similarly, businesses tend to offer special promotions and discounts weeks ahead of Father’s or Mother’s Day.
If you get ahead of the season you will have plenty of time to create a creative marketing idea that you can base around the season at the time (Xmas, Easter, mother’s day, St Paddy's day, etc) you will have plenty time to finesse your strategies that will engage your potential customers and boost your visits and sales.
The key to a successful seasonal campaign is preparation. Utilize seasonal themes in your creative marketing campaign including your website design (banners, pop-ups) and its content like blogs, vlogs, infographics, etc. Your marketing activities will be able to flow naturally with the seasons.
Always take advantage of these seasonal opportunities, offering special discounts, sales, giveaways, and contests, and showcasing them in a creative way will set you well ahead and separate you from your competition.
3. Leverage Trending Topics
Besides seasonal promotions and products that trend around a specific time of year. There are other market trends that emerge on their own that you can take advantage of. For example, many consumers admit they are more than willing to pay for a product or service if they believe it will have a positive social or environmental impact.
And with the intense focus on global issues such as the environment and how we leave our mark on the planet, if a business doesn't jump on this creative marketing trend you are missing out on a hefty percentage of a large target market.
If you are not sold on the trending topic marketing bandwagon take a look at the average lifespan of trending topics:
That is quite a bit of time for a trending topic to linger. Content that is relevant and engaging can help you attract more customers by understanding what people are talking about and what they're interested in.
For example, if you creatively position your marketing campaign around a trending topic such as social issues you will reach a larger audience and provide them with a consciously engaging experience.
To take advantage of trending topics that you can creatively use in your marketing campaign you can monitor social media platforms to keep yourself informed, identify relevant keywords, and create content based on all of these trending topic findings that your target audience will find engaging.
Once you figure out what is a trending topic you can work to your marketing advantage, you can create content like blogs, videos, polls, and infographics. Providing value to your audience is the key to making your content interesting and relevant.
Take advantage of social media and other channels to promote your content, analyze the results and make adjustments if necessary, because if you're not keeping up with trending topics, you'll fall behind.
4. Create Enticing Giveaways & Contests
We’ve mentioned giveaways and contests a few times already and there is a reason why it is because people love giveaways and Contests. They provide people with a sense of anticipation, excitement, and a thrill if they win which can be difficult to attain in other aspects of one's personal life. This makes both a stellar marketing strategy.
When used and executed correctly, giveaways and contests can help your business attract new potential customers and increase brand equity. They both can also help to improve sales, boost brand awareness and loyalty, as well as increase your customer base.
A contest attracts 34% of new customers. For example, an Instagram account that holds a contest grows 70% faster than an account without a contest.
Wait, it gets better, 94.6% of contestants who entered a giveaway or contest will share that promotion directly after they entered and a whopping 63% share the same promo with a friend and/or family member. This means that this type of creative marketing is also great for pushing word-of-mouth marketing which is a feat in itself.
But be aware, not all promotions are successful. This is why it is imperative to make sure that any giveaways and contests are thought through and well executed. Otherwise, you will end up dishing out a lot of funds for no ROI.
You can take these measures to ensure a solid campaign by making sure that the giveaway or contest is relevant to your business, to be sure to keep the rules simple, and highlighting the promotions on your website and social media channels. Lastly, announce winners publicly and promptly thank everyone who participated in the giveaway or contest.
The bottom line is free stuff sells and by leveraging creative promotional marketing ideas, you are attracting potential customers and building a sense of kindness, and creating an engaging and refreshing environment for both your new and current customers.
5. User-Generated Content Builds Brand Connection & Authenticity
By building brand connections you increase brand awareness, create emotional connections with potential and current customers, and improve your overall marketing results- well that's the goal for most businesses-.You may think that this takes major time to develop but it is easier than it seems
The term "user-generated content" (UGC) refers to content produced by customers or fans rather than professional marketers. UGC can take on many forms such as blogs, videos, comments, tweets, and photos that are uploaded to social media platforms and channels.
User-generated content is quite appealing as it takes on a natural and authentic approach to marketing because it gives a humanizing touch to a brand. Your business may become more effective online if you allow customers to interact with it.
Boosting social proof on your website can result in more sales and brand trust through powerful user-generated content strategies. You can launch a user-generated campaign by running a contest (hello again) with hashtags. This way your new or current customers can follow your brand on various social media platforms.
As we mentioned before, people really do love giveaways and contests. It is a fun and entertaining way to share their personal experience with your brand and potentially win something in the end.
You can also directly feature your customers. Use your social media platform(s) of choice to build a community around your brand and share your appreciation from the feedback of your customers. Do not hesitate to ask your customers for a photo or quick video review to post on your social media channels.
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It's great when brands acknowledge customers' reviews on social media and make them feel valued. You're likely to have many customers who take advantage of the opportunity to be featured on your brand's social media pages.
6. Use Creative Marketing To Boost Your Social Media Channels
According to a study, the top social media platforms globally used by customers are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. That being said, each platform has its own distinct audience and unique way of using it.
For instance, using Facebook ads is an excellent way to build relationships with potential customers and drive traffic to a website; in fact, 61% of consumers want to see more brands using the platform. Instagram is excellent for creating and consuming visual content (the photo platform King) that engages and enthralls us, with 49% of customers wanting brands to use Instagram more.
Not only can YouTube be used to reach potential customers looking for how-to videos on a massive range of different topics, but YouTube Shorts has also exploded as a short video platform rivaling TikTok in the trending short video department.
In order to get the most out of your social media, you have to choose the right platform and tailor your content accordingly. A sale, for example, might be discussed on Facebook and Instagram, and then directed to your website for more details.
Consider which platforms your target audience primarily uses and focus your marketing efforts there. For example, if your audience is mostly on LinkedIn, this is where you should focus your efforts. Now, if your target audience is using TikTok then you should focus on that platform instead.
Once you have determined which platforms your target audience uses most often, create content that speaks to them. For instance, if you are targeting millennials, you should publish fun short video content on TikTok and YouTube Shorts. And if your target audience is B2B businesses then you would post business-related content on LinkedIn.
The majority of customers buy products from brands they follow on social media and engage with on those channels. Focus on building a personal connection with your followers rather than pitching a sale. Get many more likes and engagement by telling relative stories about your brand and what solutions you have to offer your customers.
By having a creative social media marketing strategy you can connect with people on these channels every day. Stay front and center of your target audience to increase your reach with a creative social media marketing plan.
7. Go Live Now
Live streaming or live video has changed the way brands connect and interact with their target audiences. A live video strategy is a creative way to engage viewers in the present and in an authentic way. Marketers are now really paying close attention, with an almost 30% higher investment in live streaming than the previous year.
If you are not jumping on the live-streaming marketing trend your brand is losing a huge opportunity that your competitors will take advantage of. Look at these stats below to see the potential live streaming can have for your business and brand.
- By 2024, 91 million subscribers will use live streaming.
- 44% of viewers watch less TV as a result of live streaming.
- In 2020, global users spent approximately 482.5 billion hours on live-streaming apps
- 80% of consumers prefer live video to social posts.
- A landing page with video can increase conversion by up to 80%.
- After watching a video, 85% of consumers are more likely to make an online purchase.
- 73% of B2B businesses that use live video have positive results in their ROI.
It is possible to reach your target audiences on a massive wide-reaching scale through live streaming, from product and service launches to fashion shows, and new or updated news and releases attended by maybe a few hundred people can be potentially seen by millions through the medium of live streaming.
In Conclusion
With the help of creative marketing ideas, businesses and their brands can outshine their competition and reach an array of new customers. Businesses can promote their products and services in a cost-effective way by combining digital marketing strategies creatively. Customer engagement is critical to making your customers feel special and motivating them to tell their friends about your brand.
Investing in creative marketing strategies can help your business grow its customer base, gain store traffic, and sell more to your customers than ever before. Using creative marketing ideas that are attuned to your target audience's wants and needs is a great way to achieve success.
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