10 Creative Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses
Marketing your small business helps people learn about the fantastic products you have to offer.
But, is your client's interest being diverted from pillar to post? Big brands with thousand-dollar marketing budgets drive the cost of advertising sky-high. Let's not even talk about how social media platforms are constantly tweaking their algorithms to make it even more difficult for small businesses to connect with their target customers.
However, you're not doomed. Even in crowded markets, you can stand out. You'll just need to use your imagination
This blog offers 10 creative marketing concepts that are absolutely free (or really affordable) to replicate.
Share user-generated content on social media
Produce high video content and tutorials
Jump on the back of trending topics
Collaborate and partner with other small businesses
Create an affiliate/referral program
Collect customer feedback
Enter local awards
Attend local events
Gift free product to influencers
Host a social media competition
1. SHARE USER-GENERATED CONTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA
User-generated content (UGC) is a clever and interactive approach to engage your audience and promote your small business. Because it is more approachable and humanised, consumers engage with the authentic material produced through UGC more and report that it has a significant influence on their purchasing behaviour.
Encourage current customers to provide images, videos, and reviews of how they've used your products. Do regular scans of your brand name or hashtag frequently to observe posts that people have posted on social media unprompted.
Building a collection of top-notch user-generated content is the objective in order to engage followers and influence them to buy your product. (Just keep in mind to get the original poster's consent before posting UGC to your own page.)
2. PRODUCE VIDEO TUTORIALS
In keeping with the social media theme, video marketing and content dominates several channels. Consider TikTok's success, which led Instagram, a platform primarily used for photo sharing, to introduce its own version of reels in response to short-form video success.
You can produce video material in the following ways:
Reviews from satisfied clients
Behind the scenes of running your business
Instructional videos that show how to use your product
Co-host live streams with relevant industry influencers
3. JUMP ON TRENDING TOPICS
The energy behind social media is trends. Consider this: TikTok is credited with causing songs to go viral; when a dancing craze starts, artists have high levels of engagement. Videos of everyone dancing to the same song are posted online.
How do you identify trending topics before your small company's social media posts are grouped with those of other businesses that have jumped on them? Be the first to notice them by:
Consulting your clients
Reading discussions happening in forums
Conducting a market analysis
Celebrate annual events
4. PARTNER WITH OTHER SMALL BUSINESSES
If you have a small, or even no, marketing budget, consider the following: Collaborate with other small businesses whose target markets overlap with yours (as long as your products do not compete with theirs).
Lean on each other’s audience and run a co-marketing campaign, such as:
Co-hosting a webinar
Giving discounts to each other’s email list
Shouting each other out on social media
Becoming a guest on each other’s podcasts
Going halves on fees to host a pop-up shop
Hosting a giveaway for Instagram followers
The appeal of co-marketing is that, unlike influencer marketing, where many influencers charge for the right to publish sponsored content, you can benefit from an audience that already exists while also helping other small businesses.
5. CREATE AN AFFILIATE/REFERRAL PROGRAM
It's true that marketing's objective is to increase sales. However, new clients aren't the only source of that income. One marketing tactic with a low entry barrier and high success rate that many e-commerce business owners overlook is word-of-mouth advertising.
A customer loyalty programme encourages your current clientele to tell their friends and family about your goods. Incentives can include:
Discount codes
Priority access to new products
Points to redeem on future orders
6. COLLECT WEBSITE REVIEWS
Reviews capture your customers personal experience and feedback of your product and business. They’re the ones who have purchased your product via your existing marketing strategy and resonated with your brands purpose. Use them as your starting point when developing new marketing ideas.
Use customer testimonials to drive your landing pages, social media posts, and product descriptions.
7. ENTER TO WIN AWARDS
A excellent method to increase the size of your audience and increase public recognition is to enter your company in the running for awards.
8. ATTEND LOCAL EVENTS
It's simple to get caught up in the idea that all of your marketing strategies must be online. Building an online presence and following is crucial, however, meeting and interacting with potential customers is invaluable for creating business—to—consumer connections. You can interact through activities like marketplaces, networking sessions, and gatherings.
9. GIFT FREE PRODUCTS TO INFLUENCERS
Today, influencer marketing is one of the most popular marketing techniques. When making decisions on purchases, consumers trust the advice of social media influencers.
Giving influencers free merchandise as opposed to paying them to promote your product is a low-cost marketing strategy. A lot of influencers keep a PO box just for PR mailings.
The only costs involved are those of product creation and shipping, which is a tiny price to pay if an influencer promotes your small business to their devoted following. However, it is not assured that the things you provide will be shared. You can boost the chances of having them open your gifts if the unboxing experience seems enjoyable.
10. HOST A SOCIAL MEDIA COMPETITION
To say social media platforms are oversaturated would be an understatement. To reach their target audience, businesses use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
You can understand why social media can be a difficult market for small businesses when you consider that this is coupled with the fact that Instagram and Facebook's algorithms are always changing.
By holding a competition, you can diversify your social media marketing strategy. Giving something away for free—like a product package or a visit to your headquarters—significantly boosts social media engagement. To increase reach, encourage your followers to like, comment, share, and tag a friend in the giveaway post.
