Attracting consumers requires creativity, strategy and the courage to take calculated risks when it comes to marketing. While traditional channels like PPC ads, social media ads and email marketing remain effective tactics for reaching target customers, brands who take bold steps outside the norm often experience greater returns on their efforts. If you want to step up your game, we will look at 5 innovative approaches you can try that will stretch your budgets and imagination while wowing your target audiences.
By Team Savant
Image: Lians Jadan
Partner with Micro-Influencers in Niche Markets
Everyone's talking about influencer marketing. But harnessing the potential of micro-influencers in niche markets is where the real magic occurs. While these individuals may not have millions of followers, their engagement rates and community connections make up for it in spades. And at a fraction of the cost of major influencer partnerships, your brand can align itself with someone who already has solid credibility within your sector. It's like getting loud in a small, focused area.
Invest in Experiential Virtual Events
Virtual events experienced a huge surge during the pandemic, but their use has gone beyond being just a stopgap solution. Businesses are turning to immersive, experiential virtual events as a creative engagement mechanism with their audiences. Whether that means hosting a gamified product launch, 360 degree tour of your facility or interactive webinar featuring live Q&A and VR components. Virtual events have proven themselves cost-effective alternatives to physical events. But not all gamification platforms can give your product or service launch the pizzazz that you want. So due diligence is still required to make sure that the gamification platform can give you the creativity (and cost effectiveness) your business needs.
Create Engaging Social Media Content
Static posts and selfies are not the only things that are dominating social media. It's time to allocate some of your marketing budget toward developing interactive content such as quizzes, polls and AR filters tailored specifically for your brand. Make sure that it can hook your target audience and increase engagement. Perhaps through something as simple as an Instagram filter, your marketing efforts might go viral (and viral is priceless).
Explore Branded Entertainment
Have you considered turning your company into a storyteller? Podcasts, short films, or web series can become an effective way to connect with your audiences while subtly advertising products and services. Done right, branded entertainment doesn't feel like advertising, but rather becomes something audiences are actively looking for and love (an excellent example would be LEGO movies). Although Hollywood dreams might be far-fetched (for now), there is plenty of room that exists for smaller-scale creativity.
Allocate Budget Toward Untapped Platforms
You've likely already made an huge splash on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. How about investing your budget towards untapped platforms ranging from TikTok (well maybe not that untapped) and Discord to niche markets like Goodreads (for book-related markets). Early adoption often entails lower ad rates with minimal competition, but it could become your secret marketing playground.
Conclusion
In marketing, those who take risks can win big. Allocating your budget towards out-of-the-box strategies not only differentiate your brand but also open doors to previously untapped audiences who crave something fresh and unexpected. Keep in mind that marketing doesn't just involve spending, it involves spending wisely too. So don't hesitate to experiment, adapt, and measure results as time progresses, as creativity always pays off.