Creativity is Key to Online Marketing

There are so many people in the online marketing world. This means that your customers and followers have almost an infinite amount of websites they can go to for goods, services, and information. To ensure that your online marketing plans drives traffic to you instead of your competitors you have to stand out from the crowd.

There are plenty of creative ways to reach your current customers and get them engaged in online your social media accounts. The way this benefits your business is two fold. First, it establishes a better relationship with your current customers and allows them to engage in two way conversations. They can voice opinions, ask questions, and give feedback. The small business owner can then respond and the customer feels as if they have a voice. The second way creative online marketing benefits your business is if the customer engages in your social media online, every time they "like" you on Facebook, re-tweet a Tweet, or +1 you on Google+ their friends will see it. Your current customers can be advocates for your brand and their friends and followers will see they are recommending your business. They are then more likely to become customers.

To engage your current customers in your online marketing you need to get creative at your establishment. One great tip is to have a business card raffle. Leave a jar on the table and everyone that drops their business card into the jar has the opportunity to win the prize of the week or month. Make it a stipulation that they need to follow you on at least one social media account (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc) to be eligible for the prize. Not only will you gain new followers on social media, but you now have an abundance of data about who your customers are and all of their contact information. Use this information to create a database. You can then offer them promotions based on their individual demographics. Another creative way to engage current customers is by offering them something for free or at a discount if they follow you on social media. For example, in a restaurant offer a free round of drinks if the customer likes you on Facebook. The final creative online marketing tip I will share is offering free advertisements to other businesses that follow you on social media accounts. There are a variety of ways to do this. One is to offer them a back link on your small business website. Another that would work for a restaurant is to offer them an ad on a place mat. Another way to offer an advertisement that will work for any business is to put up a television screen and run a power point slideshow. Your followers can submit one slide that includes their logo, website link, and contact information for their business. They only get a slide if they are a social media follower.

All of these ideas cost you very little and as we have shown in the Marketing Tips section of our website, where we talk about the Online Marketing EcoSystem, one follower on social media can exponentially reach new customers. The opportunities are endless so get creative and improve your small business online marketing presence. What has worked for other businesses that have tried creative ways to engage their customers in their online marketing plans? Share your success stories. Remember that there is no limit to the creativity and the more you set yourself apart from your competitors, the better chance you have at converting people into new customers.

If you need some ideas, send us an email to setup a FREE CONSULTATION. We can talk about your current online marketing plan. Even if you choose not to purchase our risk free Small Business Online Marketing Starter Package for only $567 we can still offer you some free advice and help you to brainstorm. We love talking about online marketing!