Posted on Feb 22, 2015

The Most Creative Marketing Ideas that Actually Make Money

If you run a business you will know that marketing is a never-ending process of researching, testing, tweaking, changing direction, and trying again. To make it even more complicated, methods of marketing constantly change due to new technologies. But today, in 2015, what can you do that will give you the best chances of success? Here are four creative marketing ideas that actually make money.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is about creating content that is educational, informative or entertaining. It is not promotional – it is about engaging with customers, rather than selling to them.

The concept behind it is simple – it is about you and individuals in your business becoming experts in your field in the minds of your customers. You want your customers to think of you when they think of your product or business. They will not do that because they saw a five percent discount offer last week. But they will think of you if they have seen regular, helpful and enjoyable content.

The content can take many different forms – blogs, articles, videos, podcasts etc – but there are three golden rules:

  • Make it genuinely helpful and informative, and it must be original
  • You have to publish regularly
  • Keep promotional messages within the content to a minimum, if not completely removed

When you achieve the objective of becoming the trusted expert in your field, people will turn to you whenever they are ready to make a purchase.

Email Marketing

You’re probably thinking: why is something that has been around for decades making it onto a list of creative marketing ideas?

There are two reasons. First, and most importantly, it works. Second, email marketing, like most other technologies, is changing and evolving. You need to position your business to take advantage of those changes.

In particular, you should think about how your customers use the emails you send them. For example, they probably read the emails on mobile devices. That means you must optimize the layout and content of your emails for viewing on a smartphone.

Finally, continue to work hard on building your list – it is one of the most valuable marketing assets that your business has.

Social Media Marketing

For some business owners, the jury is out on social media marketing. This is because it’s a noisy arena where it’s hard to get your voice heard. It’s also constantly changing; both in terms of the platforms used, and in terms of how those platforms operate – just look at the recent changes in Facebook’s algorithm.

But with a clearly defined and implemented strategy, social media marketing can – and does – work. It is similar to content marketing, and the two strategies go hand-in-hand. It is about engaging with your customers on a personal level, and building up a relationship. This takes time but when you do it well you will be in the right place when customers make buying decisions – at the forefront of their minds.

Host Events

The final marketing idea that works is an offline idea. You have probably attended marketing events, workshops and speaking engagements before, but why not host one yourself? You will have a group of potential customers in a room all looking to you as the expert in your field, which will enhance your reputation considerably.

All of these approaches require effective strategies and a commitment over time. Some will work better in certain industries than others, but in general they all do work, and they make money. And when done well, they can become one of your main sources of income.

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