10 Creative New Marketing Ideas For Your Small Business

Struggling to find new customers for your small business?

Ready to get creative with your marketing?

Running any type of small business can be a challenge, and marketing can sometimes be even more tricky. However, if you’re willing to get creative there are more marketing possibilities out there than you may think.

Below we’ll look at the best new marketing ideas your small business needs to start using immediately.

1. Create a Rewards Program

One of the best promotional ideas you can use to get more business is to start giving back to your most loyal customers. You can do this by creating a rewards program.

A rewards program or a loyalty card in which constant customers get special discounts from time to time can help cultivate a happy customer base. It can also encourage your customers to come into your business more often.

It’s important that you’re taking the time to market to your existing customers and that you’re not only focused on getting new ones. Retaining your existing customers can be a great marketing strategy, so don’t overlook it.

2. Become More Charitable

Getting involved with your local community at large, and with local charities can also be a great way to get new business and to increase your business’ brand awareness.

Look for a local charity event that you can sponsor or get involved with. You may also want to pair a special promotion with a charity by offering a small percentage of sales of a particular item to go to the cause.

Working with a charity can be a great way to improve your reputation while also having the added benefit of helping a cause you care about.

3. Give Away Freebies

If done strategically, giving away freebies with purchases for a limited time can be a great option for marketing your business. This may include a special product or promotional item.

One of the best ways to do this is by sending an email or a promotion that will allow a customer to get a freebie with the purchase of a particular item. Another good option is to specify a certain amount that a customer will need to spend to get the free product or item.

These ideas can be a great way to encourage customers to spend more while in your store or to come by and spend money when they otherwise wouldn’t have.

4. Launch a Time-Sensitive Offer or Sale

A well-planned sales promotion can be a great tool for marketing your services or products, and any type of time-sensitive buzz you can create along with it can be very effective for your business.

Consider creating a marketing campaign that is only available for a small time such as on a particular weekend or a certain holiday. Then work hard to promote the event using social media, email Marketing, mailings, and other marketing methods.

A special promotion such as this can build excitement, leading to an influx of new customers and possibly some great word-of-mouth for your business.

5. Create a Partnership

A strategic partnership can also work wonders for your business and can be a great way to get new customers. By doing so, you’ll be expanding your business reach in a simple and effective way without needing to market to potential customers directly.

It’s good to look for a business that has a similar demographic or services that are complementary, but not the same, as yours.

Then, make a plan to promote each other’s business in various ways by creating a special promotion that includes services or products from both businesses. You may also want to place promotional materials in each business as well.

6. Cultivate Your Online Reputation

If you’re not aware of how your business is perceived online it’s important that you find out and start taking steps to influence it and manage it effectively.

Your online reputation can make or break your business so do everything you can to ensure that you’re keeping your reputation intact. Encourage happy customers to leave reviews for your business on Yelp, Google, and Facebook.

If you discover that you already have some bad reviews online you may want to do some work to repair the damage. Responding to bad reviews online and offering an apology or explanation can sometimes do a lot of good for your reputation.

7. Start Using a Content Marketing Strategy

If you haven’t heard about content marketing by now, you’re behind. Many businesses are adopting content marketing to promote their business online and increase awareness of their brand.

Content marketing consists of creating a great-looking website, maintaining a blog, and ensuring that it is filled with valuable content.

Having a content marketing strategy will help you prove your expertise and can help your business get new visitors to your website. It will also go a long way in increasing your rankings in Google.

8. Try PPC Advertising

While content marketing can be a good strategy in the long-term and makes use of search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be a great solution in the short term for marketing your business.

PPC is different from traditional advertising methods. It will allow you to market your business online without the drawbacks that print ads, billboards, and TV advertising often have.

The great thing about PPC advertising is that you’ll be able to target your customers very well. PPC is also very cost-effective because you’ll only be paying for clicks and the genuine interest that your business gets from the ads.

9. Create Great Video Content

Another creative strategy your small business should be using is video marketing. It’s important to look for ways to create and promote video content online.

Video has never been more popular, and because of this, it can be a great way to promote a small business.

Consider making videos that help your customers with problems they have or provide value to them in some way. It’s important to not be overly promotional with video content marketing but to use your videos to foster more engagement and excitement.

Experiment and find out what works best for you. Then share your videos on social media channels such as YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and other online platforms.

10. Launch an Email Campaign

While social media marketing often takes the limelight these days, the truth is that email marketing is just as effective as it ever was. Email can be a great way to get new existing customers back into your store or to promote a special offer.

It’s important to collect emails whenever you can when a customer makes a purchase or visits your website.

Then, create a strategy. Make use of autoresponders to automatically keep in touch with a customer after they sign up. You can also create an email campaign for each specialized promotion or sale that you have.

Making Use of New Marketing Ideas

By now, you should be realizing that there is no shortage of great marketing ideas to promote your business. But it’s important to use your time wisely and focus on the new marketing ideas that are most effective for you.

Each business will be different. However, by considering the above ideas and experimenting with the above strategies you’ll have the best chance at helping your small business succeed.

Looking for more small business tips? Check out our business advice blog now for more great articles and ideas.