Unconventional Ways to Market Your Small Business

Trying to stand out from the crowd should be the aim of every business. Sadly, if you don’t have the luxury of a unique and in-demand product or service, the best way to differentiate from the competition is arguably via marketing.

There are of course various ways to market your company effectively. From traditional methods like posting leaflets to making regular updates on social media, these all have proven track records for success. Yet, if you’ve exhausted these avenues already, it can be tricky to know what else is available to promote your wares.

Well, with that in mind, help is at hand with the following article. Read on for a number of unconventional ways to market your business.

Start a YouTube channel

As video content will reportedly represent 74% of Internet traffic by the end of 2017, there’s no real reason to avoid starting a YouTube channel if you haven’t already. This point is further exemplified by how inexpensive it is to have a professional set-up regarding video, audio and lighting equipment.

One challenge of entering the world of YouTube is the fierce competition you will face in your niche. Gaining noticeable traction with your channel is vital during the early stages, so crafting videos that are informative and engaging is a must. There’s no point going the lazy route and producing a fluff piece, as this won’t be shared or score highly with the YouTube algorithm.

Marketing your videos is also an important step to make. This means making your headlines attention-grabbing, your descriptions full of relevant info, and use keywords that sum up the video content. Sharing the videos on social media and websites is also highly recommended, and you could also give your viewing figures a boost by enlisting the help of a specialist firm that provides an impactful set amount of visitors.

Go on an alternative visual campaign

Visual content sells, there’s no doubt about that. However, there are only so many photos and infographics you can post before users begin to become disengaged with your businesses content output.

This doesn’t mean they won’t respond positively to visual campaigns with a twist. This can also come under the category of guerilla marketing, which is popular with those on a tight budget.

So what do we mean by alternative visual campaigns? Well, as an example, you could spray paint your company’s logo on a blank wall, or have multiple people take part in a seemingly spontaneous dance performance. Think of ideas that will draw eyes, get people taking pictures, and posting said pictures to their social media accounts.

A different route for this is the possibility of sending your products to be featured on a YouTube channel. It can be subtle like a background decoration, or it could be a full-blown video about the product that is acknowledged as an ad. Also be creative in selecting what channels to target. They don’t have to relate to the subject matter of your business directly. For instance, you could have a lightweight backpack aimed at travelers, and have this showcased on a channel about free climbing or urban exploring.

Create an app

As the world increasingly becomes dominated by mobile usage, a natural path to take is by creating direct content for such devices. As apps are by far the most popular aspect of mobile devices, this understandably means it is advised you look into creating an app that represents your business.

Before even giving it serious thought, you will have questions such as how much to make an app successfully? How long will it take to create? Do I need any app development skills?

Well firstly, the cost of producing an app is generally going to be more expensive than, say, setting up a YouTube channel. However, the expense might not be as high as you are expecting – in fact, the typical price of producing an app has constantly gone down over the years thanks to improvements in technology.

In terms of time needed and development skills, this is down to how you tackle making the app. If you have limited development skills but decide to create it by yourself, it is going take considerable time to craft something with polish and value. Yet, if you enlist the help of a specialist app development firm, they will have the experience and skills needed to get the work done in timely fashion.

Get your voice heard with a podcast

This is like starting a YouTube channel, only you don’t need video to go along with it. That said, we’re sure you know what a podcast entails.

It is also another useful tool for getting your brand out there to a potentially different audience that you haven’t tapped in to yet. Again, you will have to produce engaging content that will get people downloading and coming back for more. This can be helped by choosing interesting topics of discussion and bringing in guests on a regular basis. It’s also rather important that you are capable of talking at length with some form of charisma!

Develop a game

Okay, so this is probably the most ‘out there’ suggestion of the lot. However, developing a game that is themed around your business is certainly a creative way of advertising.

Again, the game doesn’t have to be directly based around your business. Take an accounting company for example. Unless you’re looking to produce an educational math tool, it is hardly the best general topic for a fast-paced game. Instead, you could go with a runner mechanic (think Temple Run), where you have to stay away from the taxman as you collect money.

As an incentive for playing the game, you could possibly provide an exclusive discount or free gift when someone surpasses a certain score/level. Remember that the more downloads or hits your game receives, the more it will boost its performance regarding ranking on the charts – something that will catch the attention of even more people.