In 2024, the marketing world is buzzing with terms like AI, PPC, and the quest to go viral. It can be overwhelming, especially if you’re trying to keep up without draining half of your marketing budget on paid ads or constantly chasing elusive algorithms.
The good news is that there are tons of creative marketing ideas you can explore for your brand that can help you build audiences and true relationships with leads that are sustainable, low-cost, and relatively accessible. Let’s look at some ideas below.
Social Media Marketing Ideas
1. Host live sessions on social
If writing in-depth content isn’t your strong suit, live video offers a fantastic opportunity for community building, especially if you’re great on camera.
A survey shows that 80% of people prefer watching a video to reading a blog post, and 82% favor watching a live video over reading social media posts.
The great thing about live videos is how versatile they are. You can record a live session and then upload it as on-demand content for people to watch later.
Take a page out of Barry’s playbook. This active brand shares live videos of their high-energy workouts on Instagram, giving potential customers a sneak peek into what one of their classes is like. Not only does this showcase the energy and excitement of their workouts, but it also helps build a community around shared fitness goals.
2. Host contests and giveaways
Contests and giveaways are a great cost-effective way to drive engagement among your followers.
To host a successful giveaway, keep the rules straightforward: ask participants to follow your account, like the post, and tag a friend to enter.
Get creative with your giveaway by using a unique hashtag to make tracking entries easier and build excitement around the campaign. For an extra boost, consider partnering with complementary brands that share your target audience.
Remember to promote your giveaway across all your social media channels, in your email newsletters, and on your website to maximize visibility and participation.
3. Create organic video content
Activewear brand Popflex is a shining example of the potential in organic video content. Founder Cassey Ho began her journey as a YouTube fitness instructor and expanded her reach to TikTok, where she shares behind-the-scenes glimpses of her products.
Popflex’s social media lead, Lexi King, attributes their success to this transparency: “People love seeing the ‘why’ and the process behind our products,” King explains. “It transforms the brand relationship from merely transactional to something more personal and engaging.”
So how do you do it like Popflex?
- Show and tell: Create short videos or posts that delve into why you chose certain materials, designs, or features.
- Jump into conversations with your community: If someone asks about a particular step in your production process, reply with a detailed answer or even a follow-up video.
- Feature real people: Share a video of your head designer talking about their creative process and what inspires them.
4. Highlight user-generated content
Today’s content landscape functions more like an ecosystem than a traditional brand-driven effort, with user-generated content (UGC) playing a pivotal role. Your users’ comments, photos, videos, and feedback are the lifeblood of this dynamic environment.
UGC campaigns are incredibly powerful, often outperforming traditional ads by 25% and achieving click-through rates four times higher. But the benefits of UGC extend beyond marketing—it can also drive your product development.
Take Lego, for instance. In 2015, they launched Lego Ideas, inviting fans to create and submit their own original builds using Lego sets.
This initiative has been a game-changer for Lego. They reported, “The company reached more children than ever before with its large and diverse portfolio. 48% of products were new, designed to appeal to builders of all ages, passions, and interests.” As a result, Lego saw a 17% increase in revenue.
5. Give free products to influencers
While influencer marketing remains a viable strategy for many small businesses, the budget constraints can sometimes make it challenging to afford paid partnerships.
On the upside, there is a cost-effective alternative you can explore: gifting free products to influencers.
Focus on micro-influencers who have an engaged community but don’t have a history of paid advertisements. These influencers are often eager to try new products and share their genuine experiences with their followers.
Remember, there’s no guarantee that an unpaid engagement will lead to a post, but building relationships with micro-influencers can still set you up for future opportunities.
6. Shoot unboxing videos
Unboxing videos are a massive hit—YouTube reports 25 billion views on videos with “unboxing” in the title. This isn’t really a surprise: buyers love getting a sneak peek at what they’re purchasing.
The beauty of unboxing videos, much like other organic content, is that they don’t need to be elaborate. Scroll through TikTok, and you’ll see even the simplest, most low-effort videos can garner millions of views and thousands of likes.
The goal is to really capture the most exciting parts of the unboxing experience—like that first reveal, the cool features of the product, and your initial impressions.
Check out Unbox Therapy for some inspiration; they’re experts at showcasing products and might give you some great ideas on how to do it right.
Content Marketing Ideas
7. Create digital flipbooks
Interactive online content is a total game-changer compared to static content. It grabs people’s attention more effectively, boosts engagement, and keeps your audience hooked for longer.
The best part for busy marketing and sales teams is that transforming static PDFs into dynamic, trackable touchpoints has never been easier.
Free online flipbook apps allow you to import your existing documents and automatically add transitions, stylized shadows, and tracking features in minutes.
This makes it easy to transform old brochures, newsletters, and case studies into engaging, interactive content. The ultimate reason to make the switch? Interactive online content tends to generate twice as many conversions compared to static PDFs.
8. Showcase customer testimonials
We know about the impact of user-generated content in your brand marketing, and that customer testimonials are a key part of that.
Here are two simple yet effective ways brands typically integrate customer testimonials into their marketing:
- A dedicated section on the website: : Set up a special area on your site just for customer stories. Include quotes, photos, and videos to really bring these testimonials to life. Take a look at Zendesk’s testimonial page for some great ideas—they show how their product boosts ROI across different industries.
- Share customer success stories on social: Aged care provider Fero’s Care’s “Ask Gran not Google” video testimonial campaign is a solid example of this. Interested buyers get to evaluate the service from the POV of actual customers, providing a genuine and relatable perspective for potential customers.
9. Share expertise via webinars and articles
While short-form content is definitely trending, longer form content like webinars and articles are still competitive content mediums.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 51% of marketers said webinars produced the best results compared to other content formats. Interviews with industry experts also scored high, with 36% of marketers ranking them as their second-best performing content.
Webinars are fantastic for generating leads. When done right, live webinars can bring in a whopping 89% of leads compared to just 11% from on-demand options like short-form social media posts.
So, while it’s great to keep up with the short-form content trend, make sure to integrate longer-form content into your strategy. It provides valuable, in-depth information that can significantly boost your lead generation and establish your brand as an industry authority.
10. Publish original research
What better way to climb the authority ladder than by publishing your own research? Take a cue from Venngage’s article on B2B data visualization trends—it’s a win-win: You provide free, actionable information to users and create high-quality content that earns tons of great backlinks.
So, how do you publish your own research?
Start with customer interviews and surveys. Choose a few trending or informative questions that other businesses will find valuable and gather insights on those topics. This approach not only positions you as an authority but also engages your audience with content they can trust and use.
Referral and Loyalty Marketing Ideas
11. Implement a referral or affiliate program
Referral and affiliate programs are easier than ever to implement, even for small teams.
With the right platforms, you can create individual referral links, track UTM codes, and view detailed analytics from your partners. This means you can see exactly who is driving traffic and sales, and reward them accordingly.
Some great tools on the market include:
- Referral Candy: Shopify’s native referral and affiliate platform
- Post Affiliate Pro: A SaaS-focused affiliate marketing platform for creating and tracking affiliate partners and networks
- Referral Rock: An SMB-friendly affiliate and referral platform that lets you create different tiers and automated workflows
12. Offer exclusive discount codes for email sign-ups
Want to boost your email sign-ups? Offer something valuable in exchange. In a survey, 58% of buyers said they signed up because they saw a discount or special offer. With data privacy becoming a bigger concern, people want to make sure they’re getting something worthwhile for sharing their information.
Providing a discount code is a great way to start. But don’t stop there—use this as the entry point to your loyalty program.
Once a customer uses their discount, let them know they can earn more rewards with each purchase, creating a positive feedback loop.
13. Create a loyalty program
There are several types of loyalty programs you can implement, depending on your business model and customer base:
- Points-based loyalty programs: Customers earn points for purchases and redeem them for discounts or freebies, like earning a free coffee after 10 purchases.
- Tiered loyalty programs: Customers move up tiers based on spending, unlocking better rewards like free shipping and exclusive discounts.
- Paid loyalty programs: Customers pay a subscription fee for perks like extended warranties and exclusive sales access, ensuring the benefits outweigh the cost.
- Value-based loyalty programs: Donate a portion of sales to charity, rewarding customers while supporting a good cause.
Loyalty programs don’t have to be overly complex. Take Starbucks Rewards, for example. Users collect stars with each purchase and redeem them for free food and drinks. This simple yet effective feedback loop is why Starbucks’ loyalty program is one of the most successful in the world, boasting over 28.7 million active reward members in 2022 alone.
Event Marketing Ideas
14. Collaborate with similar brands
Think of partnering with brands like guest posting, but for events. It’s a smart way to split marketing costs and get extra visibility by teaming up with businesses that share your target market. By collaborating, you can tap into each other’s audiences while sharing expenses, making it a win-win for everyone involved.
You can also explore:
- Joint giveaways with products/services from both brands
- Social media takeovers
- Shared email campaigns
15. Host free online workshops
Remember how we talked about giving your audience free value? Online workshops are a fantastic way to do just that while also “warming up” leads. They provide the perfect platform to showcase your expertise, answer questions, and demonstrate just how great your product or service is.
This approach is especially effective in B2B markets. According to a survey, 62% of webinar attendees typically end up requesting a demo from the sales team or moving further along the buyer’s journey.
To host great webinars, LinkedIn suggests marketers follow these tips:
- Tap into a trending topic: What’s most relevant in your industry right now? If there’s a new regulation affecting your sector, create a webinar discussing its implications and how businesses can adapt.
- Clearly structure the content: Break your content into sections with clear transitions to keep your audience engaged.
- Consider using multiple speakers: Invite industry experts, team members with different perspectives, or even customers to share their experiences. This not only keeps the content fresh but also brings diverse insights to the table.
- Save time for Q&A: Encourage participants to submit their questions throughout the webinar so you can address the most relevant ones.
Guerilla Marketing Ideas
16. Think about street marketing
Street marketing can take many forms, from handing out flyers and samples to setting up eye-catching installations or pop-up events.
Imagine your team setting up a branded booth at a local festival, where you can interact with potential customers, give away freebies, and create a buzz around your brand.
These face-to-face interactions build a personal connection with your audience and leave a lasting impression. Plus, the unexpected nature of street marketing often encourages people to share their experience on social media.
17. Design shareable ads and billboards
Not every team has the budget to pull off something as grand as IKEA’s 62-foot bag, but you don’t need millions to make a splash. Street marketing is all about getting creative and engaging with your audience in unexpected ways.
Take Gillette’s clever sticker campaign, for example. They used small stickers that looked like bloody tissue and stuck them on existing ads, making it seem like the person in the ad got nicked while shaving. It was simple, cost-effective, and got people talking.
The great thing about street marketing is that it doesn’t have to be big and flashy to work. Sometimes, small and clever wins the day.
Promotional Marketing Ideas
18. Hold countdown launches
There’s a reason why Apple’s product launches are always jam-packed—they build an incredible amount of hype months before the actual event. But how do you create that same level of excitement if you’re not Steve Jobs?
Start with your website and email newsletters. Add a countdown timer to your website to give visitors that sense of anticipation.
As the launch day approaches, send regular email newsletters with sneak peeks, teasers, and exclusive updates to build excitement.
19. Collaborate with influencers for giveaways
In the era of organic content, influencer marketing remains a powerful strategy. A survey of 3,000 marketing agencies found that 85% still view it as a viable marketing strategy.
There are two main approaches to influencer collaborations:
- Paid Posts: Paying influencers to create content ensures professional quality and allows you to guide them on key points to highlight. This approach guarantees your product gets the attention it deserves.
- Free Products for Reviews: Sending influencers free products in exchange for honest reviews is another effective method. It’s similar to user-generated content (UGC), though there’s no guarantee they’ll share it. The survey found that 41% of agencies pay influencers, while 31% prefer offering free products.
A combination of both strategies can be highly effective. Start by sending free products to smaller influencers to generate authentic reviews. Then, invest in paid collaborations with more established influencers to reach a broader audience.
20. Experiment with digital channels and strategies
Remember that viral Wendy’s “Nugs for Carter” story, where a teenager’s plea for free chicken nuggets turned into a massive social media campaign?
Or when Blendtec invited people to blend the most unusual objects to test their blenders’ strength, leading to their famous “Will It Blend?” series?
When deciding your own campaign, think about:
- Barrier to entry: Will your campaign make people want to join in? The best campaigns are those that invite and encourage audience participation. Think about creating a fun challenge or a simple call-to-action that people can easily take part in and share.
- The viral loop: Does your campaign provide opportunities for others to create content? The more your audience can interact and make their own posts, videos, or images based on your campaign, the more visibility you’ll gain. This not only boosts engagement but also attracts more content creators to join in.
Customer Engagement and Retention Ideas
21. Use messenger chatbots
More and more buyers are comfortable getting information on their own, without needing to interact with a human. In fact, a survey found that 88% of web users interacted with chatbots in 2022 alone, and this number is bound to grow with time. More importantly, 7 out of 10 people reported a positive experience, thanks to fast replies and 24/7 support.
With the rise of advanced language models like OpenAI, integrating round-the-clock support into your system is easier than ever. It’s not just about saving costs—think of it as an investment.
80% of customers say that receiving valuable customer service makes them more likely to buy again. So by providing on-demand support, you’re not only enhancing the customer experience but also boosting customer loyalty and repeat business.
22. Develop a self-help FAQ
If chatbots aren’t your thing, there are many effective “low-tech” options for self-service support. Consider things like:
- Develop a detailed FAQ: Compile the most frequently asked questions into a comprehensive FAQ. This allows users to find quick answers without needing to reach out.
- Create self-onboarding guides: Design step-by-step guides for new users to help them get started with your product seamlessly, minimizing the learning curve.
- Offer robust documentation: Provide thorough documentation that enables users to troubleshoot and resolve issues on their own.
- Standardize repetitive tasks: Identify repetitive tasks and create detailed, step-by-step instructions for them to streamline user experience.
Hulu excels at this by covering the entire customer journey, from initial setup to billing and account management. And if users still need help, they can always escalate to speaking with a real person.
23. Offer behind-the-scenes and brand insights
Nowadays, users want an authentic connection with the businesses they support. Research even shows that 65% of consumers feel more connected to brands with an actual human presence.
Even “non-social” professions are jumping on social media as a lead generation channel. Plastic surgeon Doctor Youn is one of the most popular content creators on TikTok, with 8.4 million followers.
He shares content like:
- Busting common nutrition and dermatology myths
- Reviewing skincare trends to see if they actually work
- Checking if surgery results from other doctors are real or fake
When you’re creating your own content, think about sharing tips that you’d usually give in private consultations. Offer valuable, free advice to show off your expertise. This not only builds trust but also makes it easier to turn followers into paying customers.
24. Write about customer pain points
“Adding value” goes beyond just sharing insider tips. One of the best ways to create truly valuable content is by addressing your customers’ pain points directly.
Think about the issues they face that often show up in support tickets, frequently asked questions, and common customer support problems.
- Use survey and direct communication feedback to identify content ideas. If users find a process confusing, create simplified step-by-step posts.
- Identify common issues from support tickets and create detailed guides or troubleshooting videos. For instance, if many customers struggle with product setup, make a clear tutorial.
- Ask social media followers or newsletter subscribers for their top pain points. For example, run a poll on the biggest issues they face with your product, then create content to address those top concerns.
Brand marketing ideas
25. Engage in guest posting
Guest posting played a crucial role in helping Buffer reach 100,000 customers within the app’s first nine months. Co-founder Leo Widrich shared that they initially used various sites to compile a shortlist of guest blogging opportunities.
As Buffer grew, they began directly reaching out to larger sites, building strong relationships with them.
Leo emphasizes that there’s no hidden trick to scaling this strategy. He focused on personalized outreach, sending tailored emails to potential sites.
To understand what worked best, Leo meticulously tracked each post’s performance, identifying which topics resonated most with readers: “For coming up with topics, I have one simple strategy when you start out: copy the hell out of others. If you are writing about cars, look at which sites have the best posts about cars that get the most traffic and copy them. Of course I don’t mean to steal their content, but to copy the structure, see how they are writing posts, how they promote them and so forth.”
26. Collaborate with other thought leaders
On platforms like LinkedIn, it’s common to see thought leaders collaborating to share their ideas with a broader audience. These collaborations are fantastic for expanding each person’s reach and work well because they offer fresh, nuanced takes on complex topics or industry insights.
So how do you start building this network if you’re not already part of it?
- Start small by regularly commenting on posts from industry leaders. The more you engage, the more visible you become, showing that you’re genuinely interested in building relationships.
- If you have a compelling proposal with clear benefits, don’t hesitate to send a cold email. Make sure your email outlines exactly how the partnership will be mutually beneficial.
- Write posts that cite valuable insights you’ve found from other people in your field. Tag them to show that you’re contributing to their reach and acknowledge their expertise.
27. Organize events and fundraising opportunities
Your brand reputation goes beyond just product quality or customer service—customers want to support brands that share their values. For B2C and DTC brands, the brand flywheel model is often a more effective way to grow a customer base than the traditional marketing funnel.
The brand flywheel focuses on community-building: it leverages user-generated content to build momentum. As users engage with your brand and each other, they create a vibrant community, which naturally creates brand advocates.
Instead of email newsletters, brands create “owned channels” in the form of Facebook groups, Slack channels, and Discord communities.
Creative marketing isn’t about reinventing the wheel–it just has to work
Think about those old brochures, newsletters, company primers, and catalogs gathering dust. With Flipbooks.me, you can turn them into vibrant flip books that captivate your audience. Our platform makes it easy to add interactive elements and track user engagement, so you can see exactly how your content is performing.
And it’s not just about repurposing old materials. With our interactive content editor, you can quickly create new sales-enablement tools, from pitch decks to onboarding guides, all in just a few minutes. Whether you’re a design pro or a complete beginner, our user-friendly interface helps you craft professional, interactive content effortlessly.