Creative Marketing Ideas that Boost Engagement

A solid marketing campaign should do more than promote your brand, it should offer your customers valuable information, food for thought, or a way to connect with others. Maybe you’ll develop content that equips your customers with information about your industry. Maybe you’ll give them an opportunity to flex their creative skills by running a photo contest. Creating an engaging marketing campaign isn’t rocket science, it just takes a little research into your audience and an understanding of what they’d like to see.

With digital trends rapidly shifting, it’s important for brands to stay nimble and open to new ideas. Social media platforms offer a wide variety of outreach opportunities, and brands are quickly recognizing the potential of newer outlets like TikTok. Whether you’re a digital native or a relative newcomer to the digital space, read on to pick up a few tips and tricks from industry leaders.

Identify Your Audience

“One of the most important things you can do is research your audience. Dig into their interests and demographics so that you can create content they actually care about. A lot of brands passively collect data and feedback and then neglect to do anything with it. Use your data! Respond to customer feedback and purchasing patterns and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.” – Shaun Price, Head of Customer Acquisition at MitoQ

Go Behind the Scenes

“Using TikTok to show a brand’s ‘behind-the-scenes’ story is really great for boosting engagement. It gives followers a chance to see the people behind the brands they love and connect with their personalities and values. That helps people understand brands’ motivations on a deeper level. TikTok is all about human connection, and this approach really helps show the more human side of brands. People are always curious about who makes the magic happen.” – Alyssa Berman-Waugh, VP of Marketing at Level

Utilize Trivia or Polls

“A lot of successful social media campaigns directly engage audiences through trivia or polls. People often turn to social media during the day to take a short break and unwind. A fun and interactive poll on Instagram or interesting trivia will be both engaging and informative, both for the customers and for your brand. You can learn a lot about your customers and their preferences when you engage with them on social media.” – Anne-Marie Faiola, CEO and Founder of Bramble Berry

Involve Your Customers

“​​Create content that’s not only for your audience but about them, too. Now more than ever, online reviews effectively build trust with potential customers. While it’s essential to share these reviews on your website and social media channels, writing blog articles and social posts that profile your super fans can drive even more engagement, resulting in higher conversion rates. Customer case studies are an excellent way to showcase the benefits of your product by detailing customer challenges and how your product solves them. With images of customers using your product, quotes about how they use it, and some clever captions, you’ll paint a complete picture of how your business works. And shining a spotlight on brand advocates will encourage them to share your content with their followers. A customer-centric content strategy will expand your audience and grow your business.” – Tyler Rybacki, Growth Manager at Jot

Run a Photo Contest

“Photo or video contests can be a fun way for people to interact with your brand, and it also gives you the opportunity to see how people are really using your products. Encourage your fans and followers to share either photos or videos of themselves using your product for the chance to win a freebie or prize. You then have the opportunity to share their content and connect with your audience in an authentic and engaging way.” – Michael Jankie, Founder of The Natural Patch Co.

Collaborate with Experts

“By partnering with industry experts to create informative content, your marketing can add real value to your customers’ lives. You might join a panel event, host an Instagram Live with experts in your field, or collaborate on a blog post together. When you partner with recognized experts, your brand will gain both name recognition and respect. Customers often appreciate the opportunity to learn more about your industry from verified experts who carry an additional level of gravitas.” – Fred Gerantabee, Chief Experience Officer at Readers.com

Partner with Aligned Brands

marketing is a powerful tool to widen a brand’s audience and create compelling content. Two aligned brands can work together to find marketing strategies that help both companies grow their reach. For example, you can find brands that reflect your values and create unique ways of promoting their products, such as selling product bundles that include their products or offering discount codes with purchases from your brand. A unique product partnership can help both of you drive engagement.” – Ely Khakshouri, Founder and CEO of Retrospec

Capture the Zeitgeist

“Create content that is engaging and fun by incorporating cultural trends into your marketing strategy. Whether you utilize a major TV show or social media trend, there are a lot of opportunities to jump into the conversation in a way that promotes your brand while also having fun. Do a social media post that shows how different characters of a popular show would use your products, for example.” – Dr. Robert Applebaum, Owner of Applebaum MD

Develop Interactive Media Content

“Interactivity is one key to creative marketing that drives engagement. Without engagement, customers lose interest and fade away. Colorful, provocative, interactive media can help drive active engagement with your product and ultimately stickier customers.” – Laura Berg, Chief Commercial Officer at KONG Club

Explore Narrative Marketing

“Digital marketing has become overcrowded with limited engagement short form advertisements, which is why many businesses are now pivoting towards narrative or storytelling marketing. Studies have shown that the average attention span paid to typical ads is less than five seconds, however, narrative promotions have rates nearly ten times higher.

By telling the stories of your customers, employees, or even providing human interest pieces, you will connect with your customers on an emotional level and significantly boost your marketing engagement.” – Zach Letter, CEO of Wonder Works Studio

Post Relatable “Tag a Friend” Content

“If you’ve been on Facebook recently, chances are memes have been taking your News Feed by storm. You’ll also notice that most of the comments are people tagging friends they think would like the post – kind of the modern-day equivalent to forwarding a chain email to friends. Post a funny, relatable picture that’s relevant to your product or brand and encourage fans to tag their friends – this helps to spread brand awareness without feeling overly promotional.” – Carlo Pacis, Content Marketer at Wishpond

Create Content Optimized for SEO

“Sometimes, the most effective online marketing ideas are the simplest. They just take a longer time to come to fruition. But lay the groundwork early and you’ll set yourself up for success later down the line. That’s especially true with search engine optimization (SEO), the process of optimizing your online store. You’ll appear in search results when people are actively searching for information or entertainment, or to solve a pain point. Tie SEO in with a content marketing strategy to get your small business off the ground. Write a blog post that targets low-volume keywords with a direct tie-in with your products. Go after those with minimal competition to set yourself up for success.” – Elise Dopson, eCommerce Writer at Shopify

If you want your digital marketing campaign to be successful, you’ll have to incorporate creative and fresh ideas. Try a few different strategies and monitor the results. You may be surprised to see what you can achieve by making a few tweaks to your marketing campaign.

 

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