Ever heard the famous quote, “Change is the only constant?”
Well, it fits pretty well with marketing. The aim is to reach more people. Convert more sales. Mint more money and keep repeating and retaining. That’s all that drives the global marketing wheel. But it is advised, before taking any services like Leadconnect, you can go through the Leadconnect reviews to know about the safety.
And this zeal for more is the primary reason why the world will never fall short of marketing techniques. Indeed, there’s a whole bunch of them still being explored slowly.
In this post, we are talking about that bunch.
Here are nine unexplored and overlooked yet effective marketing techniques that we can try right now.
1. Referral Programs
You may be focusing your marketing efforts and budget on the most popular marketing techniques. And this may even be showing results. (Well, congratulations on that!)
But why promote alone when you can also have your customers do that for you?
With an intelligent referral program, you can encourage your customers to refer your product/service to their peers.
And by now, it has been working wonders for businesses.
For a better understanding, let us see how Uber won itself a flood of new users with its referral program.
Starting Off Big: Anyone who ever rode with Uber in its initial days would know how generous they were in the beginning.
- Initially, Uber used to offer hefty discounts of $30 for every referral registration.
- This meant that by referring the App to one person, you could cover multiple rides, without shouldering any costs.
- And if you think that it might have cost them losses, well, Uber started with the scheme over seven years ago and is still making profits.
- Also, we don’t particularly have to offer such hefty bonuses. Anything that’s convenient for us and attractive for our customers can do the job.
Keeping Employees In Mind: As Uber became generous with its discounts, the demand for Uber drivers spiked up.
- To satisfy this demand, they needed to get more drivers on board.
- So, they started another referral program.
- Now, every driver who’d get another driver to join Uber would get rewards. Plus, the driver joining through this program would also be rewarded.
- And the best part? To redeem these rewards, the drivers would have to go for another Uber trip.
- This means that Uber now has more drivers, and all of them need to drive more for Uber to redeem their rewards.
Apart from this, Uber has also been offering referral rewards to drivers who previously drove for Lyft but have since switched to Uber.
Lyft is one of its biggest competitors, and Uber understands that its competitors’ customers are still its potential customers.
No wonder this referral program has earned the ridesharing platform a great deal of business and reputation.
Apart from this, you can also encourage website owners and influencers in your niche to promote your products for affiliate/referral bonuses.
Giants like Amazon are already using affiliate marketing to boost their sales.
2. Snapchat
The quick story-sharing platform, Snapchat, received over 203 million users in the first quarter of 2019.
The number is enormous and opens doors for result-oriented marketing.
But that doesn’t happen without the right technique. So, here are a few tips to help you:
Start Steadily: Snapchat offers its users and advertisers the option to choose between a personal and business account.
- And you will be using Snapchat for business. So, head for the business account, right?
- Not really! It’s advisable to start exploring Snapchat with a personal account. Follow a few of your friends and favorite brands. And observe them before going for a business account.
- This will make you aware of how other businesses are using it so that you can learn from them.
Choose the Type of Content: Like any other social platform, Snapchat allows businesses to use several content forms for marketing.
- For example, you can use it to distribute product demos, tutorials, new product announcements, industry tips, quick takeaways, etc.
- The type of content that you choose should depend on the end goal of that particular campaign.
Don’t Go Big On Money: Snapchat is a simple social media platform that has all the space for low budget stories.
- So, you don’t have to spend a lot on video production, particularly.
- In fact, videos that are raw work better on Snapchat as the users are easily able to connect.
Apart from this, you can also host your own Snapchat lens. Just like Taco Bell once did.
They paid Snapchat $750,000 to host their lens for a day. This turned the user’s heads into a giant taco (delicious or not? We can choose). In return, Taco Bell received over 224 million views in just one day. Plus, over 12.5 years worth of video playing. [Source]
Good results? The amount at stake may be significant, but the spendings are worth the response.
More than 3.5 billion snaps are sent every day on Snapchat. This means that if promoted smartly, your brand can be a part of many of these snaps.
3. Voice Search
Over 31% of smartphone users worldwide use voice tech at least once a week. 20% of queries on Google’s mobile App and Android devices are voice searches.
Mobile users are 3X more likely to use voice search over the textual search for a local query. All these numbers say one thing. Voice search is a growing priority for ethical Google-focused SEO.
Users find it easy, quick, and convenient. Studies also report that while using voice search, many users feel like they are talking to a friend. But how to make your content ready for voice search? Here are some tips.
Use Conversational Language: When we say something vocally, our first instinct makes us say it in a conversational tone and language.
- The same holds true for many people using voice search.
- If the content on your website is following such a tone, its chances of ranking higher for voice queries in a search engine will rise up.
Include Question Phrases In Content: As voice searches generally have a conversational tone, many of these searches also include question phrases.
- For example, “which is the best hair salon near me?” or “where’s the nearest music store?”
- Including such keyphrases in your content can also help your website’s voice search rankings.
Know the User Intent: While creating voice search targeted content for your website, be sure that you know the user intent.
- This will enable you to create content that more of your prospects and users are looking for.
- Also, you will be able to choose better keywords and keyphrases.
Apart from that, they also prioritize long-tail keywords. While doing a voice search, it’s easy to search with long-tail keywords.
4. 360° Video
Whether your brand sells a product or a service, letting your audience have a sneak peek is always a good idea.
Indeed, explainer videos have always been excellent. But with 360° videos, you can give your customers a more detailed insight into how your products and services look, feel, and function.
Several brands have already been using this nascent marketing gimmick. For a better understanding, let us see how Magnifyre and StoryUp collaborated to bring up this fantastic 360° video marketing campaign.
The plan was to compare the effectiveness and reach of flat framed videos with that of a 360° video.
So, they wrote a copy, shot a video, and launched two Facebook Ad campaigns (one for each video type), targeting dancers between 18-65 years of age from worldwide.
And the results? They were great!
The average CPM difference between both video posts was around $3. Plus, the number of views that the 360° video received was nearly 57X more than the views on the flat-frame video.
Insane engagement, right?
Well, the idea of 360° videos can be a big marketing elephant in the coming years. Or maybe even a whale! Be sure you keep an eye on it.
5. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a hub for building qualified professional contacts.
And recently, it has started getting way better than earlier. In fact, its revenue increased by a quarter over the last year, and currently, it’s enjoying more than 675 million users every month.
Plus, here are more numbers.
An ad on LinkedIn holds the potential to reach 12% of the world’s population. And a sponsored InMail email has a 52% open rate.
Do you know what that means? This indicates excellent marketing opportunities that we must be leveraging. Here are some LinkedIn marketing tips to begin with.
Complete Your Profile: Your profile is the first most important thing on LinkedIn. And if it’s incomplete, other businesses and your prospects may take it as a negative sign.
- We don’t want to come off as lazy or careless, right?
- Make sure you complete your profile, filling up each and every detail that you can. It’s crucial.
Don’t Be Boring: We know where a boring piece of content goes; out of the browser.
- This holds true for LinkedIn profiles as well.
- It’s always better to add an interesting story along with an attractive and engaging video on your profile.
Support Others: LinkedIn is an excellent platform for building professional connections.
- And one way to do that is by supporting the people that you have connected with.
- Recommend them whenever you can. Even if they haven’t asked you to.
- When you keep people in your good books, a warm connection builds up. Such relationships can pay off in the long run.
Use LinkedIn Pulse: Got a content idea with good performance potential?
- LinkedIn Pulse can be the right place for it.
- Here you can publish useful articles with links to your webpages as well. The best part is that search engines index these articles, and so they may even appear in the SERPs.
Harness The Power of LinkedIn Ads: An optimized Ad on LinkedIn can reach nearly 12% of the world’s population.
- This means that marketers neglecting this ad platform may be losing a great deal of business opportunities.
- So, explore this space—tailor ads to target your audience. Go through a few A/B tests. Find the ad type that’s working best for you. And keep optimizing your LinkedIn Ads for better results.
Apart from this, you can also use InMail for your blogger outreach campaigns. Its high open rate can significantly boost the chances of success.
6. Forums
Forum marketing isn’t the newest of the techniques, but many times, it’s overlooked by marketers. Not a smart move!
Forums are places where you can find the closest niche secrets, facts, problems, and answers. And guess what happens when you solve a common problem in a forum?
The credibility of your brand increases. Its authority as a niche leader rises up. People in your niche start trusting your knowledge and expertise.
Apart from this, forums are places where you can get honest feedback.
So, whether a brand or its product is underperforming or doing good, in forums, you can find that out.
Speaking of how to use forums for marketing, here are a few things to keep in mind.
Be Genuine: You may be planning to get active around forums for marketing your business. But who else cares about this plan of yours?
- Forums are genuine because the members maintain authenticity and discipline.
- If you join a forum, make sure your purpose is to gain and spread useful information.
- Blunt marketing attempts don’t work in such places.
Educate Only When You Know: Members in forums can often be strict about quality. So, incomplete information can be harmful to reputation.
- If you don’t know enough about a topic, learn before educating others.
Always Check Guidelines: Most forums that you become a part of will have specific guidelines that every member must follow.
- Make sure you have thoroughly gone through them, or you may end up getting banned for something you thought wasn’t wrong.
- Already said it. Forums are strict.
Forums are great spaces when you don’t join with an intention to spam or just gain. Be patient, test the waters, learn enough, and then share what you have.
7. Famous Publications
Getting a quality feature in a popular publication is something that most brands wish for.
You too might have seen famous features on websites like Hubspot and ShoutMeLoud.
Well, the value of blog posts on these websites is high as they receive a world of relevant web traffic. However, being specific, these two websites are fit only for digital marketing niches.
For your particular industry, you’ll have to look for other famous publications that you can partner with. A qualified guest blogging and blogger outreach approach can work perfectly for this technique.
However, you will have to make sure that your brand has a reputation and is eligible for being featured in such popular publications. If you can pull this off, business opportunities for your brand may go high.
When chances arise, both offline and online publications should be considered and welcomed.
8. Comments Section
The comment section of your website is always a great resource for qualified business opportunities.
People leaving valuable comments in this section have gone through your content and have taken time out to write something.
This means that they already have an inclination towards the brand and share somewhat similar ideas. So, make use of this opportunity by encouraging these people to subscribe to your mailing list or to try out your products or invite them to your podcast or webinar.
Every comment that your content receives can be a potential business opportunity knocking on your door. So, treat it like that only.
Be attentive to the comments and feedback that your content and workpieces receive.
9. Offline Marketing
Before silicon took over the marketing world, print media and other offline marketing techniques used to drive success for businesses across industries. And these methods are still effective.
The total U.S. daily newspaper circulation (print and digital combined) in 2018 was 28.6 million for weekdays and 30.8 million for Sundays [Source]
This indicates the great marketing potential that offline marketing still holds. Similarly, print magazines, journals, and radio ads have also not lost their fashion.
In fact, companies like BMW and Jaguar have also been investing in offline ads. If your audience is active around offline media, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t be.
Here are the most popular offline marketing platforms that you can consider:
- Newspapers
- Magazines
- Radio Ads
- Billboards
- Television Ads
- Business cards
- Ads in trains and buses
- Ads on sponsored vehicles
- Flyers
- Hosting events
- Publishing brochures
- Getting a business stand
- Posters
- Word of mouth
- Cold-calling
Digital marketing is easier to start, as one doesn’t have to contact a publishing house or an advertising agency. But all your audience can’t always be present on the web, and if you lost touch with the old marketing platforms maybe you should remind yourself. Advertising materials like flyers, brochures, and posters are not easy to design, so you might want to use online templates that you can find at MyCreativeShop.
That’s why offline marketing means are also important.
Final words
Some marketing campaigns spread brand awareness; some help boost sales, while some are fundraisers. With all the popular marketing gimmickry available for all these campaigns, some effective techniques are often overlooked.
In this post, we highlighted nine of those. Hopefully, this was helpful.
See a subject we haven’t covered? Contact Us and let us know what you would like us to write about.
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