With more than 4.5 billion people being internet users, more and more brands flock to the web and put most of their efforts into digital marketing. It’s obviously not so easy to stand out in this competitive environment, and everyone strives to be really different. Perhaps you want to build a strong online community around your brand and appeal to more people from different corners of the world.
This article lists top unconventional digital marketing strategies to stand out as a business and engage your target audience in an original and creative way.
1. Invest into designers
Visuals play the most important role in digital marketing since they have more attention-grabbing power. The right choice of visual style will help you develop your image and appeal to more people. The best decision to improve in this regard is to rely on professional designers since they are versatile and each one has their personal style. Sometimes hiring just one employee for your design projects is all it takes to revolutionize your marketing efforts.
If you can’t afford to add a new person to your team, you can always opt for the works of illustrators and designers from . Those artists usually include their whole body of work as a portfolio on such websites, so you can always be sure that you have enough visuals for your digital marketing needs.
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2. Create a brand book and a communication strategy
It’s crucial to know your clients but before doing research on your target audience, you should answer all the questions about your brand. You should have a clear understanding of what you have to offer, what is your aim and values, and how you can be helpful for your potential customers. With that in mind, you’ll be able to find your tone of voice and get an understanding of your content strategy.
The easiest way to achieve this is to work on a brand book and a communication strategy since they will answer all the questions necessary for productive teamwork. Having some sort of style guide will help you with consistency and clarity with your tone of voice. You will also be able to rely on one central guide to create cohesive content to build a strong brand image.
3. Research your competitors
It’s always good to learn from others, and it’s even better to know your competitors to understand what makes you different from them. In order to really stand out as a brand, you should conduct thorough research on your field competitors to see what you can do better than them or simply differently. Take it on as a whole project before you start any strategic planning so that you have an understanding of your competitive edge in being different.
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4. Show your human side
In 2020 many people want to purchase from humans, not impersonal companies. That’s why it’s good to show your human side by using a more personal approach to your digital marketing efforts. Your human side can be shown in your tone of voice (friendly, but professional), caring customer service that is always ready to help clients and a consistent approach to your social media.
You can use a more personal approach with social media ads since platforms allow you to customize your promoted posts. You can choose different locations, gender, interests, and behavior patterns of people who will see your publication, so it’s good to create several ads for different groups within .
You can also try a more personalized approach to email marketing – make sure that your newsletters don’t look like their mass sent and impersonal, and aim to create more personalized emails using the information your customers leave on your website.
5. Interact with your followers on Twitter
Twitter is an interesting social media platform. Many people use it to express their thoughts, experiences, and frustrations. Somehow many brands overlook this platform, although it has a solid potential for showing your human side and improving your brand image.
If your company still doesn’t have a Twitter account, it’s about time to get it. Take some time to research it to come out with the approach to this platform.
For example, some brands lead their Twitter profiles in a less formal way than other social media due to the nature of this platform and its users. Twitter is the perfect place to talk to your audience, interact with your followers, tell them jokes, and be as friendly as possible.
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6. Develop a loyalty program
People do appreciate when brands notice that they get back to them and order more than once. If you want to have a more devoted audience, you should develop a loyalty program to reward your clients for choosing you over others again and again. You will significantly benefit from appreciating your customers’ loyalty since this works well with . When people know they are appreciated and will get some extra bonuses from purchasing items or services, they will tell their friends and family about your brand.
7. Don’t be stingy
Everyone knows that giveaways on social media platforms drastically increase engagement and brand awareness, right? However, it seems that many businesses are still afraid to give some stuff for free despite it being a powerful marketing tool.
So if you don’t do so already, think about conducting giveaways and other forms of giving stuff away for free to people – they will love and appreciate it. You can coordinate your freebies, offers, discounts, and giveaways to keep people excited.
8. Collaborate with niche influencers and YouTubers
Influencer marketing (a multi-billion dollar industry) has been in place for the last several years. Many brands try to invite the biggest influencers they can afford, however, in 2020 it’s time to rethink your approach towards collaborating with creators and bloggers. Instead of inviting one famous influencer for your ad campaigns (and spending your entire marketing budget on that), you can collaborate with several niche influencers and YouTube creators with smaller audiences.
Followers of niche bloggers are usually more devoted than those of ‘celebrity’ influencers because these content creators offer particular expertise. They tend to have a more loyal audience in their circle of followers, depending on what they focus on. Collaborating with several niche influencers instead of just one big blogger will help you appeal to more of your potential clients and build trust around your brand.
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9. Create a podcast with experts
Podcasts are very popular these days with millions of people listening to them on a daily basis. A podcast can be a good opportunity to strengthen your brand image, find new clients, and stand out as a company. But it can’t be something ordinary and useless just for the sake of having a podcast – aim to create something valuable for your audience. You can invite field experts, business professionals, and other interesting personalities who can share their experiences and tell insights. Sharing their expertise on your platform will significantly benefit your business image and show people that you are trustworthy.
10. Collaborate with an unexpected brand
Finding new ways to get people’s attention can be a tricky job. That’s why many companies try out some very unconventional ways to appeal to their potential customers. For instance, you can collaborate with a brand no one expected to see in a joint advertising campaign or a project.
A good example of such a collaboration is Colgate vs. local pizza brands. The toothpaste manufacturer reached out to several pizzerias and printed its logo on their pizza boxes for delivery. Each time a person ordered a pizza, they saw a Colgate ad printed on a box trying to remind them to brush their teeth regularly. A genius move!
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11. Host online events
In light of recent changes, most of the events switched to online and this is likely to be a long-term trend. So why doesn’t your company organize some useful online events for your social media followers? It can be a charity auction or an insightful live Q&A with professionals within your company (like a marketing director or a PR-manager, for example), who can answer questions from your subscribers and share their expertise.
Try to research all the industry events that are relevant to your brand and see if you can participate in the online ones with some of your stories. Build on the experience you already have and show off your expertise in your niche. Online is the only way forward for now.
Final Thoughts:
You can always find new ways to boost your business and be different from your competitors. Sometimes it’s really good to pay attention to some unconventional or even guerrilla marketing ideas and adapt them in your strategy because it will help you be memorable.
The information flow of social media and the internet, in general, is colossal, and an average user’s attention span is getting shorter and shorter each year. Make sure you put extra effort into trying to be better and do things differently from other companies to help you stand out.
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