How To Stand Out In A Crowd With Creative Marketing Ideas
Ever feel like your marketing needs a facelift? You know that feeling, right?
It's the feeling that all of your marketing ideas and efforts are stagnating in tidal pools. There's no fresh water being added.
I know the feeling. Sometimes you just need to refresh your plans and try out some new sparkly ideas. These creative marketing ideas will make your content stand out.
How To Stand Out In A Crowd With Creative #Marketing Ideas
Click To Tweet50+ Creative Marketing Ideas
Creative Marketing Ideas For Your Blog
1. Vlog your days throughout the week. Make sure you highlight interesting things about your work and business.
Things to keep in mind while vlogging:
2. Blog about your best-selling product of the month or from the past few months. Include a link to people so they know where they can buy it.
3. Make each visit to your blog a personalized experience for your audience.
Coca-Cola is a great company that does a really good job marketing to their customers. Totally love this example from their Share A Coke campaign:
- Before you start, create a script so you know what to say and when to move on to the next steps. It'll help you stay on track.
- Put googly sticky eyes on either side of your camera. This will remind you to have eye contact with your camera (audience).
- Speak slower than you think you are. Remember to breathe.
- Get more than one take.
What can you do to make the glitter fall from the sky while you're marketing?
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Things you'll need for hosting a caption contest:
6. Find your most clicked-on blog posts in your analytics and write another on the same topic.
7. Focus on your why not your what.
- An image or photograph that has to do with your brand.
- Write up the rules. What do they have to do to win? Could they win something in return?
- Ask your audience to "Caption this."
How to create a connection so that you could guest post for influencers:
9. Re-work your about page and really focus on the first few paragraphs so that your customers will know how you can help them.
- Read their blog and interact with them and their followers in the comments section. Leave heartfelt comments that add to the conversation.
- Check out their social networks and follow them.
- Write to them once in awhile on social media when you enjoy posts that they share. But make sure you don't fall into a stalker mode (example: liking every single photo on their Instagram account).
- Share their content.
- Respond to an email newsletter that they send out. Make sure you say something like, "Thank you for this post on _____. It really helped me accomplish ____." Everyone enjoys hearing how their words have made a difference in your life.
- Reach out to them and ask them if they have ever thought of publishing a post on _____, because you'd be deeply interested in writing a blog post for their blog.
Remember to put these things on your about page:
10. Give something extra to your followers just because. (Example: graphics, ebook, real book, free sample, or even a goodie bag.) You could even give them access to a free course or call with you.
11. Pitch an interview to a blogger who posts interviews on their blog often. Getting on interviews on authority blogs or podcasts are good for growing your audience.
12. Showcase or let a customer or reader guest post on your blog. Let them share how they use your business, product, or blog.
13. Get new blogging bio headshots taken.
- Your mission statement.
- Your bio.
- Share some photos of yourself and your company.
- Share a link to a "start here" page. (A "start here" page is good for sharing where new readers should visit on your blog first.)
Keep these ideas in mind:
A professional headshot might look like this:
- A professional headshot
- A picture of you doing what you do, and of your studio or workplace
While a photo of you working more candidly could look like this:
Make sure you have high-res versions of each of these images. That means that they should be 2500 pixels across and 300 dpi.
Pro Tip: Add those pictures to the “about me” and/or contact pages of your blog.
14. Build trust by getting testimonials on your website for your products and your blog.
15. Revamp your old content to continue bringing in more readers.
Some ways you could do this:
16. Improve the user experience on your website or blog.
17. Create a discount code (with Photoshop or Canva) or something extra to give to your customers or blog readers on holidays and on their birthdays.
- Go back to your most popular blog posts and revamp them by adding more to them.
- Make it an ultimate guide on ____ (the topic).
- You could also take your best blog posts and turn them into a course, tutorial, or book.
18. Get on Help A Reporter which is a popular sourcing service. It connects journalists with expert sources to help journalists meet their deadlines.
Look at 3-5 marketers you admire to see how they market.
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Here's how you do it: Pick 3–5 marketers that you look up to and see how they market by asking yourself these questions:
- What do they do well?
- What kind of content do they write?
- What kinds of images do they use? And how do they use the images to tell a story of their product or business?
- What holes do they not cover?
- How do they pair images and words? Do they put overlays over the images?
- How do they market in store or on the online store?
- How do they market in their emails?
- Does all of that enforce how you feel when you open their email newsletter or read their blog? Or walk into their store?
Steal like an artist —Austin Kleon
Creative Marketing Ideas For Your Social media
20. Tweet about your email newsletter. Make them wonder what they are missing out on.Have the fear of missing out? Never miss out on awesome content marketing tips.
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24. Host a video contest.
Things you'll want to keep in mind:
25. Share content on forums. Answer people's questions and leave helpful content and a link leading back to your answer on your blog.
Remember to be humble. People know when you are just sharing a link.
26. Join in on weekly hashtags to be seen by more eyes.
Make sure that you make it relevant to the hashtag you are sharing to. (Examples: #mancrushmonday, #caturday, #ThrowbackThursday, and #DarlingWeekend.)
- Remind your participants to upload their videos onto Youtube with the same title and description as your contest name.
- Choose a theme, topic, question, or a quote to inspire them on their video contest entry.
- Tell them to link back to your content URL.
That might be a silly example, but you get the idea. 27. Try doing live videos on Facebook Live. It's like Periscope but it's on Facebook. 28. Hosting a contest?I haz thiz Content Marketing thing down. #caturday pic.twitter.com/iFT1IOd4qs
— Devin Joubert (@devinljoubert) May 27, 2016
Things to keep in mind when creating a contest on social media:
29. Join groups on LinkedIn to make new connections. Be sure to join in on the conversations.
30. Host a scavenger hunt across your blog, email, and social networks.
- Create a hashtag for it and use it. Remind people to use it, too.
- Make the rules visible so that your followers can find them easily.
- Know the different social media rules for contests:
Questions to keep in mind when hosting your social media scavenger hunt:
31. Let a customer or user guest post on your social media platforms. Here's an example from Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFRTIngiyLk/?taken-by=bellagracemagazine
32. Think of your Pinterest board as your very own shop window.
33. Keep your audience entertained and within a story.
Recently Disney reworked the Peter Pan Flight ride queue so it would keep people engaged in the story.
The project would make them feel like the queue wasn't as long as it really is. They did this by making it interesting and setting the scene for the story.
Soon enough, the exhausting-ness of waiting in line didn't seem so bad anymore. Here is a video of what they added to help pass time in the queue:
- What are the prizes for completing the scavenger hunt?
- What do you want them to do throughout the scavenger hunt? (Examples: like your Twitter account, Facebook likes, or to share a blog post with their audience.)
How to do this with your own creative marketing:
- Create a story and immerse your audience in it on your social media platforms.
- Gamify your marketing in a way so that it feels interactive. A good way to do this would be through games, funny videos, and quizzes. But make sure they all fit with your brand and that they would appeal to your persona.
Creative Marketing Ideas For Your Email List
34. Send your email list a coupon. If you aren't a designer, use Canva to create a coupon to send to your audience. Here's an example from Artifact Uprising's Mother's Day Sale:
35. Set up a webinar and teach your target market about something that will help them.
36. Add an unobtrusive pop-up to your website. The kind that pops up in the lower corner of your blog post so that it doesn't intrude on your readers' experience.
37. Personalize your email newsletters by adding your readers' names to the top.
Creative Marketing Ideas For Your Physical Store (Or To Give Your Online Company A Human Feel)
38. Do a tour of your studio or office on Facebook Live. You can even share details about how you work. You can even introduce your employees. 39. Send out some handwritten thank you notes or even some goodies out to your most loyal customers or blog readers.
40. Showcase your product and what makes it different.
41. Send out product samples to potential customers.
42. Try doing pro-bono work for an organization in need.
43. Put your favorite social media handles on your business card so people can find you easily.
44. If you have a physical store front, try some urban marketing ideas to spread word in your area: chalk on sidewalks, posters, or even a window display.
Here's an example of some wall art from Joe's Bakery:
And another favorite from Toro who manufactures landscape machines like lawn mowers and trimmers:
45. Make sure it's easy to buy from you. Make sure the commerce links work smoothly.
46. Craft your elevator pitch so if someone asks you what you do or what kind of products you have, you'll be able to answer clearly and confidently.
47. Develop a word of mouth customer referral program.
48. Partner with a similar companies and blogs related to your industry. But make sure they aren't a direct competitor.
49. Host a community outreach and open it up to the community. Let people know they'll be able to learn how to do _______.
50. Set up an affiliate program of some sort.
51. Create a calendar with pictures and inspiring quotes that have to do with your niche that you could sell or give away for free.
Here is an example from photographers Carly Loves Amos:
2015 Kitta Calendar, Carly Loves Amos
52. Join your city's Chamber of Commerce. You'll be able to meet and network with your community, which will also help you create local relationships.
53. Put your product where your customers are.
54. Host a community event to raise awareness about a problem that your product or business helps solve. Make it fun and actionable so that your customers or readers are able to take what they learn and put it into practice almost instantly.
55. Place a window decal over the display window.
56. Work from your display window. Have employees work from the window so people can see what goes on there.
57. Window display? Think of a cool way to present your product or business to the world.
Anthropologie does a great job of using different objects to create the feeling they want their customers to feel when buying their products.
58. Create and tell a story in a display space in your office or on your premises to make your product seem appealing and noticeable.
59. Make a theme song for your company, blog, or business. Use Spotify. Think of creating one to match your customer persona. Listen to it when you are working or writing content that you'll use to market to your audience.
60. How can you package your products in a way that mirrors your brand? (Example: Vera Bradley wraps your purchases in colorful tissue paper and then puts them in a matching bag.)
Vera Bradley makes you feel special every time you go into their store. I mean look at that exciting packaging with the fun tissue paper!
Now you just have to think about how you are going to do this...
Here are some things to keep in mind:
- How do you want your customers to feel when they come to your store, blog, or social platforms? (Example: happy and content.)
- What do your customers find to make them feel _____ and _____(Insert your answer from above).
- Will wrapping them a certain way make them feel special? How so?
Here Are A Few Other Things You Can Do To Excell In Your Creative Marketing
Keeping your persona voice in check while writing and making sure that your images and graphics are always showing your brand off is something that marketers can easily forget about when they get too busy. But that's something you don't want to overlook.Knowing your audience persona will help you target them better with your writing.
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Need help finding your voice?
2. Your blog images. When it comes to creative marketing, do you think of bright colors and fresh new ideas?
Your images and graphics will definitely make or break your image and brand online. Try to keep them similar so they'll be recognizable across platforms.
- What are five ways you'd describe yourself to a friend? Think in adjectives. (My example: bubbly, fun, and truthful.) What are yours?
- After that, find a handful of close friends or followers and ask them to describe you or your brand in five words. This will help you see if your voice is coming across.
- Who are five other bloggers who you feel like you'd be really good friends with? (Think about the ones you feel like you could spend a bunch of time with.) Then describe their writing voice in five words. The likelihood that their voice is going to be similar to yours is pretty high.
If you want to improve your blog images and graphics, read this:
Why Do Creative Marketing Ideas Work?
They show you something ordinary, but with a personalized twist. They don't just stick manikins in the window displays, they bring you to a whimsical place where you feel like everything is perfect when wearing their clothes or buying their products. They don't show you buying a Coke for your friends, but instead they actually show you buying a Coke with your best friend's name on it. See what I'm saying? There is a special secret ingredient involved here. What is that special secret ingredient? It's personalized creative marketing at its best. The only way to do this with your creative marketing is to be a purple cow. Be unique and people will notice.Stand Out Like A Purple Cow In Your Creative Marketing
Creative marketing ideas make you stand out. I thought I'd leave you with this inspiring and innovative talk on being a purple cow from Seth Godin.What purple cows are going to make your creative marketing stand out?
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