Some industries have a relatively obvious target consumer. While getting sales from these individuals is easy, the amount of money you’re making could be less than ideal. So, how do you go about widening your target market in a successful manner?
By implementing unique and creative ways to sell your products.
You need to make people believe they need your goods even if they have no interest in the industry at first. There could be a vast ocean of consumers who are likely to buy your products if you engage them in the right way.
Here are a few creative marketing ideas that can help you get started.
Discover New Ways to Use Products
Do you sell products that can be used in other ways? While some things such as phone cases only have one primary purpose, others can go further. For example, you could engage computer gamers to buy televisions that use the VGA adapter for play.
Perhaps a coffee pot can be shown as brewing tea for those who don’t drink coffee.
The purpose is to focus marketing on people who may not use a device for its primary function. For instance, an online health store could sell Xbox game systems by embracing the Kinect and how it could help people lose weight.
You could take this method a step further by creating a small blog centered around other uses for products people may not consider.
Showing Data Regarding the Positive of the Product
You can tell people why your products are superior to others. However, data-centered information is far more helpful to secure sales. This is especially true when you can cite actual research regarding the claim.
An example of this is through the research conducted by companies that sell health food goods and dietary supplements. Most sites will supply the actual research concerning the product.
Sure, an Eskimo is surrounded by snow and ice most of the year. However, it may be contaminated by various elements. Perhaps you sell ice that is processed through reverse osmosis or use some kind of distilling process to remove toxins.
It’s information like this that consumers need to know. The data is what will help consumers decide on purchasing your products.
Embrace the Infographic to Share Data
Creating an infographic can be extremely beneficial in a myriad of ways. Not only can they give a visual representation regarding the data you collect, but they can be easily accessed through search engines and social media.
As imagery is what sticks in the minds of most consumers, an infographic may boost the validity of your claim as to why a person needs to buy your goods.
An infographic can be easily shared on social media. As most shoppers are more responsive to posts centered around images, putting up an infographic may directly increase your customers and leads.
Think about how a simple post on Twitter is 150% more likely to get shares if an image is attached.
Of course this all depends on how well the image was developed and if you can provide real-world statistics to back up the claim.
Creating Online Contests
Everyone loves the idea of winning free goodies. Host a contest for your online visitors to get them engaged with your company.
For instance, you could hold monthly drawings for discounts or prizes of those who have registered with your website. Not only will this get more people interested in your business, it also helps you build an email subscriber list for future marketing campaigns.
Contests can be a bit tricky. You want to tempt people to join, but you don’t want to deliver prizes that may be financially problematic. If you don’t have a million dollars to give away, then you don’t want to base your content around a million dollars.
Make sure you can afford the contest, but deliver something you sell that everyone would like to have.
Something like discounts or coupons is a great place to start.
Create Your Own Affiliate Network
The affiliate network is where you offer people a certain percentage of sales if they help you get by advertising your company on their website. Essentially, you’re turning all of your fans and consumers into advertisers.
It’s a win-win situation as you can engage potential consumers that may not realize your online business exists.
This is an ideal method of marketing because you don’t spend anything until someone makes a purchase. Just make sure you’re offering a percentage that is ideal for your success while tempting others to advertise your site.
If the percentage you offer advertisers is too low, they may not want to join your affiliate network.
Video Production
An engaging and relatively entertaining video can be vastly worth your time. Organizations such as YouTube are often a staple of those looking to promote goods, especially if there is a comic undertone to the content.
Even a six-second clip of something funny surrounding your products or services has influences in future consumers. Think about how more than 500 million hours of video are watched on YouTube every day.
You can easily become part of it with good marketing.
You don’t need an expensive collection of high-tech cameras and microphones to create something engaging. You could simply use a webcam and create a personality for your goods.
What about setting up a “Vlog” on YouTube of someone showing practical uses for your products or services as if he or she was an average person? You see things like this all the time such as Geico’s gecko.
Implement Charity Connections
Charities not only help those in need, but they can also be greatly beneficial for virtually any business. It shows the organization cares and can inspire sales based on this aspect.
Not to mention the tax benefits you could get each year as well.
A good example of this is to donate a certain percentage of sales to a specific charity you support. This could be on all sales or just on select items. It’s the marketing of the charity itself that will get the most attention.
A good example of this is connecting the charity Extra Life with a gaming site or computer sales company. Extra Life is the organization that helps Children’s Miracle Network through gaming of any kind.
Many organizations such as this may even be interested in marketing your business on their own sites as a form of collaboration to support each other.
Go Beyond Pricing Your Goods
It’s easy to grow your customer base if you think outside of the box a little. Although there are a number of ways you can market your website, it’s often some of the most unusual and creative methods that get the most attention.
If you’re unable to come up with creative marketing ideas for your business, why not make it a competition with employees? After all, someone on your staff may have that next million-dollar idea just waiting to happen.
Pique the interest of consumers and do something that is uncommon in terms of marketing.