Top 10 Creative Marketing Ideas to Boost Your Business

In an interview with Playboy, Steve Jobs stated, “Many times people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” Here, the legend wants business leaders and marketers to think ahead of the curve, deliver products and services that customers haven’t even thought of yet.

This is marketing at its finest. However, in the digital era, where information can spread faster than wildfire, it is difficult to find new and innovative ways to market your product or service. Because, ultimately, it narrows down to the question: what hasn’t been done before?

The secret lies in not dwelling on the impossible but presenting what you have in innovative ways that capture your customer’s attention. Fortunately, digital marketing gives you a wide berth to do that. Digital marketing is about mixing art and science to create a unique marketing campaign that can help you connect with your customers at a fundamental level.

Here we will share some unique and fantastic marketing ideas that can help you take your business to the next level in the latter half of 2021.

1.Explore the potential of video content

The foundation of video content was laid in 2005 with the launch of YouTube as a video-sharing website. Over the past decade, video content has become so popular that over 85% of internet users in the United States watch online video content on their devices. And studies show that the time spent by users watching videos is going up each day. So, if you haven’t incorporated videos into your marketing strategy yet, now is the time to do so.

The credit for the popularity of video content goes to the fact that it provides audio-visual stimuli, is engaging, interactive, and pulls on human emotions viscerally. A perfect example of such video content is the famous ‘The last customer’ ad by coca-cola.

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You can use YouTube and social media to publish your video content. But with the increasing competition, you need to raise the bar to get the desired results. You should create videos that are short, relevant, informative and value-adding to the viewers. Use futuristic technologies like 360 video and virtual reality to make the experience more interesting.

2. Utilize social media to build authenticity

The power of social media isn’t hidden from anyone in the marketing world. With about 3.6 million social media users worldwide, social media has a massive reach. Yet, the ‘fake’ tag often accompanies everything on social media, making it hard for businesses to earn the trust of their followers.

One way to gain the trust of your followers in these uncertain times is to show them what happens behind the scenes. An excellent example of that is Dove’s real beauty campaign, where they exemplified natural beauty featuring ordinary people in their campaign. Share pictures and videos of the actual process your business follows. Eliminate marketing gimmicks and let customers see the real you and your business.

3. Graphics are in vogue

Visuals have always fascinated humans. A significant reason behind that is the human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text. About 80% of people can remember what they saw more quickly than what they read or heard. If you still doubt us, check out Starbucks’ Instagram page, which is an outstanding example of how visuals can tell a story.

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2021 is the year when you can use the full potential of visual graphics for your business. Whether it is your website design or social media ad copies, make it visually appealing to get better leads and organic traffic.

4. Expand the horizons of email marketing

Email marketing has been around for a long time, with some thinking it has exhausted its potential. On the contrary, email marketing has an ROI of 4400%. To date, 60% of consumers subscribe to a brand’s promotional emails compared to 20% on social media.

However, over 50% of American consumers are annoyed by too-frequent promotional emails from brands. Therefore, you need to jazz up your email game and focus more on personalization, relevance, eye-catching subject lines, and value-addition in your emails to derive the desired results from email marketing. It is all about changing the technique and not the medium.

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5. Don't just blog, guest blog

All businesses understand the value of blogs in generating organic traffic on their website. However, the potential of guest blogging is grossly undervalued. Guest blogging has two sides: accepting guest posts on your website and submitting guest posts on other sites, both of which can be beneficial for your business.

Accepting guest posts: By accepting guest posts, you get high-quality content relevant to your business for free. Sometimes they will even pay you. The only thing you need to ensure is that the content is original and educational.

Submitting guest posts: Submitting your posts on reputable websites can help you get better visibility and online presence. It increases your domain authority and generates more traffic to your website.

6. Heat map your website

In today’s competitive digital world, you need to do more than just create and optimize the website. Heat mapping is a technology that can help you get an edge. Heat mapping software can give you advanced analytics on how a browser is viewing your website. How much a person scrolls, where they stop the most, what device they use, and much more.

There are several examples of heat mapping software on the market that analyze data to provide better insights into your customer’s thought processes. It will help you understand what’s not working on your website and how you can improve it.

7. Personalization is the new norm

The thing about technology is that everyone has access to it, and your competition can deliver the same level of expertise using the same technology. Customers are tired of being offered the same thing everywhere. To win them over, you need to make them feel special with your product or service and overall experience.

Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify’s personalized playlists are prime examples of personalization.

With the help of AI and machine learning, you, too, can incorporate personalization into your business. Providing customized product recommendations, discounts, offers, and loyalty programs can go a long way in winning your customer’s loyalty and trust.

8. Emotions are the essence of marketing

Modern technological advancements may lead businesses into forgetting that marketing is all about emotions. No matter how good your ad copy is or how well you present a product, you won’t succeed if it does not connect with your audience.

Therefore, put emotions as your primary focus in every marketing campaign you create. It is about simply putting what you believe in front of your customers at a granular level. Multiple brands like P&G, Apple, Coca-cola have used emotions to reach their customers. Selling emotions is the most efficient tip in the marketing book.

9. Focus on digital word-of-mouth marketing

Word-of-mouth is an excellent way to earn a consumer’s trust: it has been effective since the beginning of civilization. It has evolved from spreading the word from person to person to letter of recommendation and references to the digital means of reviews and testimonials. But the core principle remains the same.

A happy customer will be more likely to recommend your product or service to family or friends. You need to improve your word-of-mouth marketing by seeking genuine reviews and authentic references. Listing yourself on Google my business page and other reputed directories is also an excellent way to do that.

10. Repurpose your content

It is challenging to create unique content for businesses on brief notice, not to mention, expensive. But what about the content you already have created for some other purpose. Use your old content in new and innovative ways this year to make the most out of it.

For example, convert one of your most read blogs into a video or use its core idea to make a podcast. Consolidate all your social media posts into a short video to commemorate the journey. There are a lot of things that you can do when it comes to repurposing content. All you need is out-of-the-box thinking.

Pro tip

Marketing is highly demanding, and coming up with the right ideas and strategies comes with its own challenges. However, the right execution is highly crucial for the success of your campaigns. With modern technological advancements, you don't have to do all the hard work yourself. You can rely on automation software to share your load. Automation software has emerged as a boon for marketers in the past few years. It helps you to enhance your productivity and reduce costs. Some primary automation tools that businesses can benefit from are:

• Customer.io: Automate your personalized messages to customers.
• HubSpot: An automated tool to promote inbound marketing for your business.
• Pardot: Automate your marketing analytics like a pro with Pardot.
• AdRoll: Automate your ad campaigns and scheduling with this innovative tool.
• DashClicks: A complete automation platform for all your digital marketing efforts.

Wrapping up

It's challenging to find out what works for you and your business, but the only way to know is by experimenting with new ideas and applying creativity in your marketing campaigns. One way to figure it out is to observe the trends and put your unique spin on them. Going with your gut is the best thing you can do. All that matters is your business’ long-term sustainable growth.