There are plenty of things that go into having a successful business. In many instances, the specifics vary from business to business. There is one thing that every business has in common though, if the goal is to be successful: marketing. Every business must have a way to attract customers in order to be successful. The thing about marketing is that sometimes you have to think outside of the box in order to find strategies that will be effective for your business.

Start a Referral Program

If you haven’t thought of starting a referral program, it’s definitely a plan worth considering. It’s a well-known fact that people talk. A referral program allows you to leverage that to expand your customer base. When you start a referral program, you encourage your existing customer base to send friends, family, and acquaintances your way by rewarding them when referrals turn into sales. The thing that makes this sort of strategy effective is that referrals are generally given to people who are already looking for what you have to offer.

Guerilla Marketing

You may have heard of guerrilla warfare, but have you heard of guerrilla marketing? Guerilla marketing is a unique marketing strategy that, when done right, can result in a huge amount of exposure for your business. It leverages the power of surprise, shock, and wonder to draw attention to your business and products. This can be a great way to increase the public’s awareness of your brand. Examples of guerrilla marketing include Deadpool’s Tinder profile that was used to advertise the Deadpool movie and the BBC’s Dracula billboard that advertised the show of the same name.

Vinyl Car Wraps

In order for marketing to be effective, it needs to be visible. Few things are as visible as vehicles, given that they are driven virtually every day. If you have the type of business that requires you to go to your customers, vinyl car wraps are a marketing strategy worth considering. This can be especially valuable for businesses who have a company fleet. When you wrap your vehicles, they provide you with what amounts to a mobile billboard that travels around the area you service. There’s a good chance you’ll drive around people who are in need of the services you offer or will be at some point in the future. If they’ve seen your wrapped vehicles frequently enough, there’s a better chance that you’ll be up there near the top of the list of businesses they think to call first.

Use Branded Items

Guerilla marketing strategies and vinyl car wraps aren’t the only way to visibly market your business. Branded items are another great way to get your business’s name and logo in front of customers. A lot of businesses will brand things like t-shirts, hats, and bags. You aren’t limited to those sorts of items though. Just about anything can be branded if you really want it to be. Branded toothpicks can keep your name fresh in the minds of people. These can be great for customer-facing events your company is involved with. When paired with tasty food, you’re more likely to create a positive impression with consumers.

Infuse Your Ads with Creativity

How many times have you personally stopped to pay attention to an ad that was running before your YouTube video played? Do you remember the last one you didn’t automatically skip as soon as you got the chance? Most of the time, these sorts of delays in getting to the content you actually want to view are only just tolerated. Still, every now and again you might come across an ad that is engaging and creative enough for you to voluntarily give it some of your time. The rest of the world is the same. If you want your ads to do more for your business than just annoy consumers, you need to have ads that are creative, entertaining, and engaging. This helps your product and brand stand out, making it more memorable to customers.

Run a Contest

Businesses who are lacking leads could benefit from using a contest to market themselves. People love getting a shot at winning things, especially when there is little risk to themselves. To run a successful contest, first figure out what your overall goal is so you can plan your contest in a way that allows you to achieve it. From there, figure out what sorts of people you want entering your contest. That will help you get the word out about it in the right spaces. Decide how long you want your contest to run for. Give some thought as to what the reward will be too. It must be enticing enough to encourage people to enter, but nothing so big that it will cause problems for your business.

There’s a reason why certain marketing strategies are considered tried and true methods. They’ve been proven to be effective in a majority of cases. Still, while they are usually pretty effective, it’s not always good to limit yourself to those sorts of strategies. Marketing requires you to have a certain measure of creativity in order to attract new customers. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different strategies!

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