As an entrepreneur, you can probably rattle off some marketing truisms without batting an eye. You know, for example, that the average consumer is exposed to about 5,000 advertisements a day and that they emanate from dozens of companies across multiple platforms.
Yep, it’s competitive out there.
If you really want to drill down and see how these messages influence consumers, consider these intriguing insights: shoppers fill but then abandon more than 70 percent of their online shopping carts, and fewer than 10 percent of shoppers return later to finish these stalled transactions.
The marketing lessons behind these findings? Yes, customers are fickle, but every marketer knows this. The high rate of abandonment reveals a few other things about consumers:
- They were most likely drawn to the business for a reason, presumably an enticement of some type.
- Even this enticement wasn’t enough to compel them to close the deal (make the purchase).
Marketers must do more to outsmart, outthink, and outmaneuver their competition. It doesn’t matter if a business does all of its selling online or none of it. The findings make a strong case for any company to develop creative marketing ideas that engender customer loyalty.
The real key to attracting customers is convincing them to make a purchase and ensure that they come back. It’s a unique, creative approach to speak to your target audience.
The Best Creative Ideas Build Relationships
Some experts call it relationship marketing—a strategy that shuns the importance of individual sales in favor of developing and fostering long-term customer relationships. The tactics are limited only by a marketer’s imagination—and maybe a company’s budget.
But if you’re eager to attract and keep the attention of all those fickle consumers who are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages a day, you can have some fun and score some quick success stories with these five creative marketing ideas:
1) Convene a Customer VIP Panel
As a rule, customers enjoy giving feedback; all you have to do is ask. But plant the idea that they’re also VIPs—Very Important Purchasers—and they could be putty in your hands. You get valuable information about how they see your business, they get a special discount or a premium for their efforts, and you both reap the benefits of building more than a transactional relationship; you develop a bond that subjugates the competition.
2) Regularly Submit Guest Posts
Like many marketers, your focus is probably trained on your business’s website. That’s as it should be. But opportunities abound to submit guest posts not to competitors’ sites, but to those ancillary sites that could benefit your business. For example, if you sell high-quality activewear, submit a blog to sites that sell high-quality gym shoes.
If you sell wine, submit a blog post to a company that sells wine glasses. You will derive the greatest benefit by including a backlink to your website. Watch your SEO efforts improve, too.
3) Become an eBook Publisher
It may sound strange to “think small,” but ebooks don’t have to be thick, lengthy manifestos to be effective. In fact, your customers (current and potential) probably would appreciate “quick read” ebooks—or those that cover the basics of a topic in no more than 2,000 words over 20 pages (with lots of graphics). Ebooks make great offerings for landing pages, too.
4) Book Radio Guest Spots
Ever wonder how business owners become “thought leaders” who then become regulars on the talk radio circuit? Somebody (like a scrappy marketer) spent some time investigating station formats and then submitted a proposal for how a business could impart valuable information to a station’s listeners. It’s not rocket science, but it does take time, which is why the competition has probably left you an open field.
5) Open the Doors to a Survey Kiosk
Any marketer can walk up to a customer, hand him a survey, and ask him to fill it out. It’s true that all you have to do is ask. But you can ramp up the fun by setting up a survey kiosk, either at a business or in some other well-trafficked public place. Most kiosks are about the size of a vending machine, offering the novelty of privacy, background music, and the thrill of a gift once the survey is complete. You reap customer insights—and hopefully trigger word of mouth that spurs others to follow suit.
Creativity Demands Action
You may not be able to implement all of these marketing ideas at once. In fact, there’s something to be said for rolling out one tactic at a time so that you can zero in on its effectiveness. When you’re done, you may realize you’re just getting started.
That’s when it’s time to keep your edge by checking out this complete guide to implementing an inbound marketing strategy for your business. It’s the proven way to reach customers in the digital age. You’ll discover actionable strategies and tips for catching the attention of your audience!
