Everyone who has ever started their own company wishes they picked the right marketing strategy to elevate them above the competition. There are so many approaches to try out and ideas to brainstorm, and it is very easy to settle for the most common, albeit still effective, marketing strategies. The thing is, however, that picking a different tactic and something far more seldomly seen might be exactly what you need.
In this article, we will explore a number of underrated marketing strategies you ought to try out. You’ll learn about a few new tricks that can make your online marketing efforts stand out and deliver.
Get creative with SEO
If you’ve already written blog posts about your business or got down to optimizing your website, chances are you’ve read and heard quite a lot about the importance of SEO. It is everything that stands between your website and the almighty Google search engines.
It is time, however, to get creative with SEO and take advantage of top-notch optimization to get to the top. Apart from doing extensive keyword research for the sake of blog posts or the website’s visibility, use it to find the perfect names for your products and services. Surely, you want your products to be, first and foremost, unique, but hitting those few keywords can be a real game-changer. It is certainly a smart way to improve your website’s internet footprint, and potential customers will be more likely to stumble upon your website and whatever you offer.
Try micro-influencers first
Of all the marketing strategies you’ve already considered, it is very likely that you have stumbled upon influencer marketing. It’s a popular method and a nice extension of social media marketing, and there’s a clever way of utilizing it well.
Instead of going for massive influencers that are used to juggling several partnership offers and jumping from one to another, focus on smaller names first. The obvious question is, “Why would you want to settle for smaller, less famous influencers”? The answer, however, is very simple.
Micro-influencers have smaller communities around them, but unlike their bigger counterparts, their followers are often much more dedicated and loyal. There are several benefits you ought to consider:
- less risky option;
- deeper, more meaningful connection with the followers;
- lesser partnership cost.
As you can see, you don’t have to strain your budget to develop a killer marketing strategy.
Don’t give up on cold leads
Bigger companies tend to focus on acquiring customers, and when a lead goes cold, they opt against revisiting it in favor of acquiring new ones. The truth is, however, that it may be just as valuable to rekindle your relationship and approach them again. Especially because, at the heart of it, revisiting old leads will no doubt turn out to be a much easier task than acquiring new ones. After all, they already know your value and have had previous experience with your business. Familiarity breeds more confidence than approaching a new, unknown prospect that may or may not be a better alternative.
All you need is a very good memory or appropriate software to help you manage cold leads and engage with them when the time is right. This truly underrated marketing strategy may prove to be very effective when done right.
Infographics are the way to go
If you want to get your content marketing strategy to the next level, the simplest way is to give your readers something extra. You can do extensive keyword research, produce enlightening and interesting content, and be clear and concise, but there’s still one more often unused thing in your arsenal – an infographic.
It is no news that readers don’t enjoy walls of text and that they pay attention to the visual aspect of the content you post as well. That’s why you should also introduce visual content to the mix and throw in infographics to improve the overall quality of your blog posts or studies.
Infographics allow you to present information in a much more engaging way, which, in turn, also improves the overall readability of the texts you publish. The right color palette will draw the eye, it will be easier for the readers to get the main point, and the new text structure will ensure they read the whole article, not just one or two fragments they’re interested in.
What’s more, don’t forget that the same rules apply to all manner of charts and graphs.
Spread awareness on forums
The great thing about the largest forums out there, such as Reddit, for instance, is that they’re amazing places to kickstart your marketing efforts. All you need to do is find the right topics and engage with others who visit that particular subreddit. In other instances, you need to capitalize on the right hashtags.
You need to be aware that too obvious of a marketing campaign will likely be met with disapproval from other users, but forums still are, metaphorically speaking, fertile ground for subtle marketing.
Be on the lookout for forums or communities that revolve around your niche, and find ways to mention your business in a natural, non-intrusive way.
Go on and show off
At first glance, you might think that showing off is not something people appreciate, generally. While you are, of course, right about that, different rules apply to businesses.
In fact, showing off on social media and talking about your successes may bring you many new potential customers. It creates new opportunities to showcase your products or services while there’s an increased interest in your business.
That’s because bragging about meeting or exceeding your goals is likely going to pique people’s interest. It is especially true if yours is a small business, as more and more people will be curious about the secret to your success.
Use the right words, talk about hardships you overcame or goals you achieved in a positive way, and people on social media platforms will notice. That’s because they like good news and will always be drawn to a wholesome update they didn’t expect.
To sum up
There’s no shortage of popular and effective marketing techniques that every business in every niche can try out, but you should also be on the lookout for less common, somewhat underrated marketing strategies. They allow you to stand out from the crowd and give potential clients something extra that other companies don’t. It’s especially useful as it’s always a good idea to be just a bit more creative in your marketing efforts.
