Outside-The-Box Marketing Strategies for You to Try
The sharp rise in start-up businesses has led to an increase in digital platforms offering a wider range of marketing options. Marketing strategies across the web have become more complex and audiences have a keener eye for the more obvious strategies companies use to target them. Here are some outside-the-box marketing strategies for you to try.
Personal
Create a bond between your business and your customers. Consider your target audience and how you will best approach them using your brand and your own skills as an entrepreneur. Allow your customers the space they need to investigate your business. Create advertisements that appeal to their sensibilities rather than overwhelming them with flashy adverts that focus solely on your products or services. Give them a reason to trust you and feel a part of your journey.
A great way of doing this is to tell your story. Blogging about your day-to-day running of the business can be the perfect method. Describe your feelings and hardships as well as commenting on your wins. Allow your target audience to step into your shoes and see behind the curtain of your business.
Post updates on your social media accounts when you have made a big sale and thank your customers often. Posts on Instagram when you reach a certain number of followers can be an ideal way of showing how much you appreciate support. Offer giveaways and prizes for loyal customers and message them thanking them for their continued custom.
Packaging
A modern way of ensuring that you gain repeat custom is to package your products in a fun and alternative way. You can get coloured paper, metallic envelopes and branded boxes to send items in. Add tokens of appreciation such as stickers or small items in your boxes or envelopes as a way of giving that little something extra. You can also add your business card to every sale so that customers can follow and contact you easily. A short, handwritten thank you note can be a great way of bringing about a bond with a person who has made a purchase.
Business Cards
A business card can be a proactive method of marketing that many people overlook nowadays. Some deem them as outdated and unfashionable. However, it is a perfect way to ensure your customers have and retain your contact details. You can also hand them out at business events to create leads and contacts who otherwise may quickly forget you when they leave the event. Handing a person your business card also often prompts them to do the same, which can be a great networking method.
You can create your business card for free following this link. Add your company name, your name and your logo. If you have a premises, give the address and your contact information. A business card can also contain your social media or website address in the form of a QR code, so that people can instantly access your business digitally.
Selective Discounts
Making a customer feel special is an old but lesser-used marketing trick. Capitalist attitudes have meant that many companies have lost the ability to communicate with individual customers. With a small business, this is far easier.
Offer selective discounts or limited-time sales for select people. You can do this following a live event or by asking people to send an email with a code word. On messenger, you can give people a specific limited time secret word. Let the customers know that they are part of a select few people to receive the discount and the reason you are offering it to them, for example, if they have been a loyal customer or are your 1000th follower on social media.
There are many methods of outside-the-box marketing. Once you try some, your mind should jump to others. Stay ahead of the game and offer something different from your business. Go the extra mile for customers to turn followers into sales.