4 Weird (and Awesome!) Ways to Attract Customers

There were 215 million online shoppers in the US alone in 2017. By 2021, that number is expected to hit 230 million. Regardless, whether you are on or offline, one of the biggest struggles facing business owners is how to attract customers to your business.

One option for getting more customers to purchase your product or service is to undercut your competitors’ prices. The only problem with that, as most business owners know, is that this creates a race to the bottom.

Instead, you need to get creative in how you advertise your business. Read on and learn about how you can get more customers and increase your revenues.

Attract Customers With These 4 Creative Marketing Strategies

At the end of the day, the way to increase your customer base is by standing out from the crowd. We’re not saying that you need to reinvent the wheel, but simply building a website and posting to social media just isn’t going to cut it.

The key to getting more customers to notice you is in your creativity. That means the weirder your promotions are, the better!

1. Run a Contest on Social Media

We realize running contests on social media is a common enough practice. There are two parts to making your social media contest stand above the noise.

The first is having a great prize. We’ve seen everything from travel companies that offer round-the-world flights to cosmetic companies offering up a gift basket of goodies. We’ve even seen companies offer a year’s worth of their product or service which will definitely make prospective customers pay attention.

The second part is the process of entering the contest. For the majority of social media contests, entering requires following the company’s account and either sharing a post or commenting and tagging some friends. We get it. The company hopes that they’ll see a drastic increase in their following and brand awareness. But if you really want to stand out, you need to add an element of creativity or fun to enter the contest.

Remember the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that swept through Facebook in 2014? People participated and tagged friends, and there wasn’t even an incentive on the table. With a crazy and creative contest and a worthwhile prize, you’ll see your brand awareness shoot through the roof.

2. Try SMS Marketing

Although SMS marketing is still an emerging digital marketing strategy, the fact is that’s it’s a potential goldmine. Did you know that the open rate for SMS messages is 98%? Email, by comparison, is only 20%. And it makes sense. Look at your phone right now, how many unread emails do you have versus unread messages on chat platforms. We’re guessing it’s not even a competition.

Make sure you have your customers’ permission to send them SMS messages before you try this strategy (especially in places where people are charged for receiving messages). Once you have that permission, SMS marketing is a great way to reach out to your customers about special events or promotions. The most important thing about this medium is that it never feels like spam to your recipients, but rather something they’re happy to receive.

Curious about SMS marketing strategies? You can read more here.

2. Partner With Other Businesses

As the expression goes, two heads are better than one. The same thing can be said for businesses. We’re definitely not suggesting that you partner with your competitors, but partnering with businesses who compliment your product or strategy is helpful for not just your businesses but customers as well.

For example, if you’re a snow removal company, you can partner with a landscaping or lawn care company. This way you can offer your customers one package for the entire year. It brings customers to both businesses and customers don’t have to orchestrate with two different companies.

3. Organize an Event

On the one hand, organizing an event is time-consuming and comes with its own set of costs and challenges. However, it can also be a huge boost to your business when done correctly. The trick here is to think big and get the community involved as much as possible. It’s more important that your event gets noticed than that it directly promotes your business.

A great way to get involved with your local community is to plan an event that focuses on an artistic or athletic pursuit. This can range from running a popup gallery or battle of the bands to a friendly football or ultimate frisbee tournament. As part of organizing this event, you’ll want to contact local sponsors for prizes and promote the event on social media.

With your logo and brand name on the sponsorship banners and promotional material, you’ll be able to raise brand awareness in a way that also gives back to your local community.

4. Embrace a Good Cause

Alright, this one may not necessarily be weird, but it certainly is awesome. Embracing a good cause not only attracts customers, but it also boosts employee morale as well because they feel like they’re doing some good in the world.

The level that you follow this strategy depends on your business. It can be anything from donating the proceeds from a certain product or a month’s worth of business to organizing a charity drive like a bake sale, car wash or something more relevant to your actual business.

Get Creative

Ultimately, the key to attracting customers is to think like your target customer. Once you understand what drives them to choose one store versus another when they’re shopping for a particular product or service, you’ll be in a better position to advertise in a way that engages with them.

Looking for more creative marketing ideas to attract customers? Another great tactic for raising awareness about your brand and getting customers in the door is giving out unique promotional items.

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