Sarah Malcolm is the founder of Quiet Valor, an ad agency servicing companies within the tech, biotech and healthcare innovation space.
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It can be tough to stand out in a world oversaturated with marketing and content. Especially when you’re starting a business, it can feel like everyone is shouting for attention. But don’t worry; there are ways to make yourself heard. You can set yourself apart from the competition and get people interested in what you have to offer by focusing on your unique selling proposition and using creative marketing strategies.
Here are some creative marketing strategy ideas:
Use Gamification
People love to play games, so this is a great way to get them interested in what you offer. Think about how games work: Players are rewarded for attempting a task or mission. The action-instant reward system keeps the players engaged.
Loyalty programs also operate like games, where users’ purchases and visits earn points and prizes. Companies also use gamification for running contests.
Gamification isn’t limited to loyalty programs and special contests though. You can use the technique in marketing. For example, build a game in your company app where customers can win reward points or prizes. Gwynnie Bee, a women’s retail subscription service, ran a scratch-off-style marketing campaign in an email. In Kentucky, a doughnut shop created “Donut Madness,” a spin on bracketing for basketball’s March Madness. Other features that bring in gamification include countdowns, leaderboards, badges and progress charts.
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Gamification features help engage your community and build loyalty for your brand.
Blend Real-Life And Digital
With so much of our lives moving online, it can be easy to forget that there’s a world beyond screens. But by blending digital and real-life experiences in experiential marketing, you can create marketing campaigns that are both unique and memorable.
Experiential marketing is all about connecting with people on a personal level. The best part is there are lots of ways to do experiential marketing. You could host an event, take over a public space or partner with another brand. Take an example from Sephora, which built an outdoor beauty maze to mark its partnership with Kohl’s and used QR codes to activate digital experiences.
Consider how you can use technology to enhance the brand experience. Maybe you can create an augmented reality experience or use virtual reality to transport people to another place. For example, the Louvre Museum and the Great Wall of China have virtual tours where you can experience these attractions without leaving your home.
By bringing together the best of both worlds, you can create marketing campaigns that capture people’s attention.
Market In The Metaverse
The metaverse is a virtual world where people can interact with each other and digital objects as if they were in the same room. It’s kind of like a cross between the internet and reality.
Marketing in the metaverse is gaining more attention, but it’s still in its early stages. Jumping in as an early adopter could be a great way to reach people and do something memorable that attracts attention to your brand.
Take the example of the partnership between the game Animal Crossing and Deliveroo, a real-world food delivery company. The company created virtual branded riders to make multiple islandwide surprise deliveries to Animal Crossing players. They also received a promo code that they could activate in real life. Within the first hour of gameplay, 1 million in-game interactions were recorded.
The partnership shows marketing in the metaverse isn’t limited to buying virtual ad space, and it can be a lot of fun! You can create avatars (virtual representations of yourself) and explore different worlds. You can also hold virtual special events, like concerts or parties.
If you want to reach people in a new way, marketing in the metaverse is worth considering.
Lean Into The Season
The various holidays and seasons throughout the year are opportunities to tie your marketing campaigns into a special theme. Being seasonal keeps you relevant to the current conversation and trends. It’s especially helpful if sales and attention increase for you due to the time of year.
But this isn’t about just jumping on the end-of-the-year holiday season. Every time of year has something special going on: spring break, graduation, summer vacation, Super Bowl Sunday, etc. For example, Samsung ran a “Texts from Mom” campaign in 2015 around Mother’s Day. Ikea partnered with Snapchat influencers to target millennials in a Back-to-School campaign.
Don’t be afraid to show your business’s personality by jumping on some of the wackier “holidays,” especially if it’s related to your industry like “Be Kind to a Lawyer” day or “Leave the Office Early” day.
Tap Into Interactive Content
Interactive content is any content that allows users to manipulate it and gain some feedback. It could be a quiz, survey, poll or a simple game. Common online uses of interactive content include mortgage calculators, sales questionnaires and solution finders.
The delivery is key to interactive content. For a quiz, the taker should be able to see their results. A solution finder, like this example from Purchasing Power, asks questions and then delivers a specific solution or content the user is looking for.
Given how important user experience is in capturing attention, you want them to be engaged and driven to return. Higher engagement makes them more likely to remember your brand. By making your content interactive, users can play a role in the experience.
These same interactive materials can be gateways to collecting lead information useful for other marketing strategies.
Make Marketing Work For You
Creative marketing strategies can make a difference in how successful your marketing campaigns are. By using these ideas, you can set yourself apart from the competition and get people interested in what you offer. With a bit of creativity and perseverance, you’ll be sure to turn some heads!
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Author: Sarah Malcolm, Forbes Councils Member
