Here is a compilation of the 25 creative marketing strategies that any small business should use to reach its audience. Choose the ones that suit you, combine them, shake them and make a good Marketing Mix!

If you have a business or entrepreneurship project and you are considering how to make it known, it is possible that this list will help you.

The paths that a company currently has to make itself known and reach the public are multiple.

Also, there are many tools to attract and retain customers in exchange for satisfying their needs. I have made a compilation of the most important marketing ways and I want to share it with you without advertising breaks or interruptions

The 5 great ways to do marketing

To begin with, we are going to differentiate five large areas of marketing that encompass all the others and that define the different ways of “addressing” the consumer that has the advertising.

1. Interruption Marketing

It is the type of marketing that has always been practiced in traditional media. Consequently, it consists of interrupting the user in his activity and offering him something striking that captures his attention.

Consumers are quite weary of this form of advertising and usually run away from it because it is annoying. In fact, a very common practice when viewers watch television is to zap when the ads arrive. 

In addition, for brands and companies it is an expensive option that does not allow them to address exactly the profile of the client they want to capture. But Interruption Marketing also has its advantages. 

As a result, it is proven that the results are obtained quickly and are easy to measure.

Also, we estimate that in the United States consumers receive an average of one million ads of this type per year. One million! It’s a very high figure, don’t you think?

Therefore, in order not to saturate the public too much, Interruption Marketing must be practiced in small doses.

 2. Indirect or Permit Marketing

Unlike interruption marketing, this way of marketing is not so direct and invasive. Therefore, it is not pure and hard advertising. It is a more subtle way of attracting potential consumers by offering content and material of interest to them.

However, with this Indirect Marketing or Permission it is possible that the user is often not even aware of the strategy of the brand behind it. To this group belongs, for example, the Content Marketing that we will see later.

 3. Marketing Recommendation

Before defining it, I pose a question. Imagine that there are two very good looking restaurants that you would like to try. You only know one from seeing it on the Internet and the other one has been recommended to you by several friends.

On which reservations table? If we did a survey among our readers, I’m sure most would choose the second option, right?

Well that’s Recommendation Marketing! Take advantage of “word of mouth” (or “tweet to tweet”) for the benefit of a brand. Because in the end …

This type of marketing is widely in practice in social networks, especially on Facebook, where the capacity for dissemination and vitalization of recommendations is brutal. 

For this, companies must have reviews from consumers who are satisfied with their services. As a result, these customers can become the best ambassadors of the brand.

 4. Loyalty Marketing

Advertisers know that keeping a client costs 10 times less than getting a new one.

Following this maxim, many brands opt for Loyalty Marketing. In other words, use techniques and resources so that customers remain happy and do not leave for the competition.

The objective is that the relationship between the company and the consumer is as durable and satisfactory as possible. A good way to achieve this is by knowing the buyers well (knowing their tastes, opinions, hobbies …) to then offer them what interests them most.

Another loyalty strategy is to have reserved conditions for the customer such as gifts, offers, discounts or exclusive products.

5. Sponsorships

It is one of the most used marketing strategies and to which brands dedicate a good part of their budget. 

It consists of sponsoring events (sports, music, cultural …), content (articles of a blog, for example), videos, workshops, conferences or even spaces. 

The purpose of the sponsorship is usually twofold: on the one hand, there is a commercial objective and, on the other, it serves to enhance the brand image. 

The fact that a company appears linked to certain events and is behind them helps to create and strengthen their branding. Social networks in this case become the vehicle, above all, to disseminate and publicize these Sponsorships. 

Each type of marketing that we offer below is part of one of the large groups that we have just defined. All strategies are complementary and compatible with each other. Therefore, none discards the others. 

Also, depending on the business, its objectives and its target audience, it will be advisable to implement one or several. Choose the ones that interest you most.

6. Email Marketing 

It consists of using email (individually or collectively) to present products, services or special discounts to consumers.

If this communication channel is misused and the mails are sent to massive databases that do not belong to the brand, it can be invasive for the user and would enter into the Interruption Marketing. 

But well used, Email Marketing remains one of the most useful and effective tools for connecting with the public. For this, it is essential that companies get the data of their customers and implement a good strategy. 

To make an Email Marketing campaign consists mainly of setting specific goals (what I want to achieve with my mails), using newsletter design tools that optimize and facilitate the process, write well the messages I want to convey and measure the results of what I do. 

Some of the most used applications for creating and sending emails are Mailchimp  or AWeber, but the most reliable and cheapest to use as we grow our mailing list is TrafficWave.

7. Pop-ups, banners and ads on web pages

It is increasingly common when we surf the Internet to find ads. Some appear more discreetly on the side of the page, for example.

But there are also more invasive modes that prevent reading the content of the page or see the images of a video.

To prevent users from perceiving our advertising as SPAM, we must think, define and configure our campaigns well. 

8. Affiliation Marketing

This type of online marketing is similar to the one we have just seen but with an important nuance. 

To start with, it has two main protagonists:

• the advertiser …
• and the affiliate. 

The relationship between the two consists of the following:

A company (advertiser) is advertised on the website of another (affiliate) in exchange for a commission for each of the sales obtained through that site. So Affiliation Marketing only brings benefits if users click on the ad and make a purchase.

9. Content Marketing

It is the basis of Online Marketing and consists in offering non-advertising information of interest to the user. 

The company provides useful and relevant content related to its sector to attract the attention of potential consumers who, later, can become customers. 

The idea is to get strangers to become friends, friends in clients and clients in ambassadors of the brand. 

It is proven that this formula is currently one of the best ones. The users no longer want companies to bombard them with direct mail.

10. Positioning in Search Engines

Using the necessary tricks to make a brand appear among the first in the results offered by Internet search engines is another way of doing marketing. 

Search engine optimization is technically a.k.a. SEO and is part of any Digital Marketing strategy. 

11. Participation Marketing 

It consists of intervening in social networks, forums and Internet debates without a direct commercial spirit, simply so that they know you. 

It is important not to waste these channels of connection with potential customers and carry out a good strategy with which, in the end, what we intend is to attract followers. 

In social networks, one of the actions that works best is to be active. What does this mean? Leave the wall of your brand and participate in other profiles. That is, to “like”, comment and share what others publish. In short, be sociable. 

12. Advertising in Social Networks

Most social networks allow companies to create ads. The data shows that, at the moment, the most beneficial and profitable promotions are those of Facebook and Twitter. 

Maybe it’s because they have an advantage that other channels do not have: they allow advertising to be very segmented and aimed at a specific audience. 

For example, single men, between 25 and 40 years old, who live in Madrid and who like sports. 

The possibility of hitting and reaching exactly interesting users is very high. Other networks such as LinkedIn, YouTube or Pinterest also offer brands the option to advertise, although for now the return on investment is not so obvious.

13. Video marketing

It is nothing more than using video to offer valuable content that is interesting, attractive and captures the attention of users. 

Unlike the conventional ads we see on television, the Video marketing usually used in the online environment, it is not so direct or interrupts the activity of the viewer. 

Many times a video that becomes viral on social networks may be the best advertising for a brand or company. 

There are many different audiovisual formats that a brand can do:

• Demonstration of how a product works
• Promotional video where the company counts its services
• Testimonies of several clients
• Interviews with experts
• Tutorial or screencast
• Photos with music
• Interactive video …

14. Marketing through Influencers

A formula used by brands to gain visibility is to make themselves known to the influential people in their sector. 

To put it in a simple way: if you get into the boat to the referents of your field you will multiply your diffusion. This type of marketing is in use and works very well in Social Media.

When brands “conquer” influencers and make them their ambassadors, the ability to reach many more people increases exponentially.

Now it is fashionable what is called unboxing. It is a video in which we see someone unpacking, testing and counting the functions or characteristics of a technological product.

Some brands send their news to influencers to make an unboxing and spread it on their social networks. 

A good way to promote yourself? It looks like it is!

15. Growth Hacking 

This type of marketing has been implemented in the United States for years but in Spain, for example, it is still something new. It consists of launching a set of specific tricks to grow a startup or small business. 

To create these tactics, Growth Hacker must study your product or service very well, know (and use) all the possibilities offered by online marketing and, finally, use analytics to reach conclusions. 

Some Growth Hacking actions could be:

• Offer a free online course in exchange for subscriptions
• Have special details with the most active followers of your social networks or …
• Use remarketing to show your brand advertising to all who visit your website at any time.

16. Online-offline connection

It is a way of doing marketing that fosters the link between the “real” world and the online universe. 

It basically consists of taking the regular customers of a brand to their website or social networks offering something juicy in return. 

And also the other way round: to promote that the followers of a company on the internet make a concrete action in the offline (or real world). 

For the online-offline connection to be really effective, the brand has to offer the user something really good that motivates them to activate.

17. Telemarketing

These are the telephone calls that a brand makes directly to users to publicize their products or services. In some countries telephone companies abuse this form of marketing a lot to offer discounts or new rates.

18. Print Advertising

They are the ads we see in newspapers and magazines. In general, the publications that dedicate more pages to advertising are feminine or “lifestyle” calls.

19. TV, radio and cinema ads

They are the advertising breaks that appear in the middle of the programming. If the user is really interested in the content they are looking for, they have no choice but to “swallow” the advertisements that they show. 

But if the consumer is not completely convinced or is not willing to see the publicity imposed on him, he renounces both: the advertisement and the content. 

So it is a risky formula for both parties and does not always achieve the desired results.

20. Product location or product placement 

It is placing a product or brand in a movie, series, TV show or video game. This advertising technique, which was born in the United States, became very popular in the 80s and is still used in audiovisual content. 

The movie “The Truman Show” makes a parody of this type of marketing with the protagonist’s wife showing in an exaggerated way the products she uses in her kitchen.

21. Outdoor advertising

The Outdoor Advertising has always existed. They are the publicity messages that exist in public places: fences, canopies, facades of buildings, buses, metro stops …

Some are really striking and manage to capture our attention. But, in general, we are so used to this bombing of posters everywhere that in many cases we do not even notice.

I will also include in this group the flyers that are distributed on the street. One way, in my opinion, not very effective to advertise because it is offered indiscriminately to all pedestrians, regardless of whether they fit with the target audience of the brand or company. 

In fact, what is the first thing you are looking for when they give you a brochure down the street? A trash can to get rid of it without even having read it!

22. Street Marketing

They are advertising proposals on the street that are characterized by their creativity, originality and innovation. 

They go beyond the classic posters. Usually they are striking ideas that surprise the passer-by and quickly capture their attention. 

On occasion, Street Marketing’s actions are so great that they could be considered art.

23. Merchandising

Pens, lighters, calendars, key rings or shirts with the logo of a brand. That’s Merchandising. 

This marketing technique has been used (and continues to be used) a lot to promote the activity of any company, character or event. Many businesses create this type of objects in order to give their regular customers and have a connection with them.

Something that, by the way, works. Who does not like to receive a gift once in a while! It is one more way to keep them happy. Also, if you put the image of your brand in coffee mugs, you make sure that, every time the users have breakfast with it, they remember you.

Merchandising is also used to give greater diffusion to festivals, concerts, movies or television series. In general, it sells more when a cap with the face of a Disney character is worn than another that does not wear it. That’s how it is.

24. Endomarketing

Some advertising experts say that any marketing strategy begins within the brand or company. That is, if you want the public to speak well of your products or services, you must, first of all, convince and conquer your own employees. 

This is Endomarketing. In order to achieve this, it is important to have your staff happy, motivated, involved, and encouraged and thus increase productivity and improve the business. 

Everything is related. It’s like the whiting that bites its tail. Happy employees, better products and more satisfied customers.

25. Neuromarketing 

Neuromarketing is called advertising that sells sensations to the consumer. It is demonstrated that people react to stimuli and that response will lead us to make decisions. 

Brands can take advantage of that information to achieve their goals. 

The colors, sounds, smells or images that we see can be decisive when purchasing a product or service. According to the data, 90% of purchasing decisions are made unconsciously and quickly based on sensations. 

To give a concrete example, it is studied that the smell that comes off when unwrapping Apple products causes comfort and safety. Is it something intentional? Of course, without any doubt.

Neuromarketing is applied to all phases of the process of creation and promotion of products. From the way objects have, to their location in the places of sale or the music that is placed in the background in the advertisements. 

Even the colors chosen for an e-commerce website can be key to business success.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this article and if you want to learn more creative marketing strategies for your business, just click on the banner below to …

And if you have any questions about launching an activity, leave me a comment below. It is made for that.

Thanks for reading

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Hopefully, with this article you will practice a few creative marketing strategies in your business.Should you have some recommendations to make concerning this particular article, we would be happy to hear about them. And, if you have any questions and wish to have an answer, please make use of the comments box below. I typically respond within 24 to 48 hours.

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