7 Creative Marketing Ideas to Jumpstart Your Small Business

The most important thing for every business is marketing the same. Although there are many different ways to promote your business, sometimes businesses get stuck and fail by using outdated and boring marketing strategies. That’s why you, as a business owner, need to come up with new and interesting marketing ideas, and we’ve got just the formula to kick-start your marketing campaign.

Brand your business

Branding is the first thing every business owner needs to do because brands sell! They are recognizable and known for offering quality products and/services. Look at this photo below. You don’t need to read their name – you already know which company it is just by the logo design, right?

That’s why the first thing you need to do is create a logo using logo design apps, like DesignMantic. You can do this by using logo design apps. It’s easy, affordable and fast. The second thing is to create appealing website and blog which are easy to navigate. Once you are done with that, you need to prepare some marketing graphic designs, such as ads, infographics, posters, banners, flyers, email marketing templates, and similar. Now you can start marketing your business.

Use social media

Social media marketing is the most successful type of marketing today that is available for every business. The secret to a successful SMM is to use creative and interesting strategies, like the ones below.

Create non-traditional ads- Create interesting, not over-selling ads by using GIFs with an interesting caption, or photos including your logo design along with a catchy content. For example, Peel “use Facebook video ads to help tell the story of what separates their products from everyone else.” – as stated on SproutSocial.

Join hashtag themes – Using hashtags help your business to be discovered online. You can join the popular weekly hashtags, such as #MondayMotivation, #TipTuesday, #WisdomWednesday, #ThrowbackThursday, #TGIF, #SaturdayShoutOut, #SundayFunday You can also use the most popular business hashtags according to the stats found on besthashtags.com

Create Vines – This short 6-second video clips you can create interesting and captivating videos that can attract customers.

Email marketing made fun

Email marketing although considered as boring and old-fashioned, it’s popular, especially when the emails are interesting, easy to read, and offer something to the readers. Here’s what you can do.

Include photos, videos and GIFs – People like seeing these things. They don’t need to bother reading since the information you send is visual and easy to read.

Offer great deals and e-coupons – Everyone loves great deals and discounts. Having an irresistible deal or e-coupon sent directly into people’s email makes them want to buy the product/service promoted even if they haven’t planned it. Here’s a great example I found on the Blue Fountain Media’s website.

Personalize – By personalizing your emails, you show that you care about your customers. You can do this by simply addressing them with their first name and write content which offers them something valuable.

Organize giveaways and contest

Organizing low-cost giveaways and contests is a great marketing idea. You ask them to engage with your business, e.g. like and share your website or social media page, and you give them something for free in return.

Organizing contests is pretty similar to giveaways. You can organize photo contests, caption contests, and voting contests, where you offer the winner a free item.

I really think that every business should use this incredibly successful marketing strategy because people go crazy over free stuff.

Content marketing and the power of SEO

Creating an easy to read, SEO content grants you a high ranking on the internet browsers. If you want to have a successful content marketing strategy, there are two main things you need to incorporate in the same.

1. Always write in a professional, yet friendly way that directly addresses your readers. Show that you understand them, how they feel, and what they need.
2. Include visual content such as images, infographics, graphs, charts, videos, statistics, lists (Top 10s – the best type), product comparisons, eBooks, and guides.

Whatever content you use, make it interesting, and always include your logo design. It’s the best way to be remembered by the readers.

Use Traditional Tools in a Creative Way

Traditional tools, such as flyers, brochures, billboards, as well as printed materials, are often considered as an old-fashioned marketing strategy. However, if you create really interesting materials, they will definitely grab people’s attention.  Here’s a great example of a creative printed ad, I found on the Liveadmins’ blog:

Another idea is to include free promotional products/services, with your logo design on, when handing out printed materials. Since we know that people love free stuff, they will remember you, as a business. Moreover, they can refer or recommend it to their friends and share it on their social media profiles.

Be a co-sponsor of an event

Events are a great way to attract potential customers. Let me explain why. When watching a sports event, I always look at the sponsors since they are placed around the play area in big and bold letters. Yes, they are noticeable – and that’s what you need!

Since a lot of people attend or follow them online, or on TV, a big number of people will notice your business. So, being a small business sponsor of an event that is (but it doesn’t have to be) within your niche is an amazing idea. You spend some money, but you get a chance to been seen and discovered as a business. You never know who watches or attends events, so never forget to include your business name along with your logo design.

Final thoughts

Regardless of which marketing strategy you use, you should never stop working on building your name and brand. Brands are the most successful, even without using a lot of marketing strategies. Here’s a tip: The visual input is the easiest to remember and that’s why 90% of the information presented is visual, as HubSpot state on their blog. So, if you want to get noticed, you need to create a brand that is easily recognized.

Author Bio

Alicia Rother is a freelance content strategist who works with small businesses and startups to boost their brand reach through creative content design and write-ups. You can connect with her here.