5 Marketing ideas you may never have considered before

I bet you see a marketing idea sometimes and say, “wow, why didn’t I think about that?”

It’s amazing, but the number of ideas is endless, and very often these ideas are not really new – they often spring forth from an old idea that has been adapted, one way or another.  And most often, they are really simple.

So how do you generate these ideas?  One way is to have regular brainstorming ideas with you team while another way is to review “out-of-the-box” ideas that you may never have heard of before.  To get you creative juices flowing, here are just a few ideas that may give rise to a thought or an idea that is lying dormant in the deep, dark recesses of your mind:

1. Many people are driven to action by colour – try have your staff, sales reps, production people, all dress in a common branded colour.  By having your company associated with a specific, common colour, you may just become more memorable to your customers.

2. Get involved with your local community – that association is valuable if your customer base is within that community.  And make sure you are doing it for the right reason – to support the community efforts, and not for personal gain.  People will see right through the personal gain motive very quickly.

3. Blog your way to become an expert – credibility is often gained if you share your expertise.  Use a blog to publish content regularly but make sure it is relevant and valuable.  If you are unable to guarantee an ongoing flow of content – don’t do it.  Ask yourself the content question first before diving in.

4. Designate a “guerrilla” – is there someone in your organization that has a knack of getting people’s attention in a positive way?  Why not give them the task of finding opportunities for free publicity on behalf of your company and let them work their wonders on your behalf?  Make sure however that this person is well managed and does not get you into trouble by misrepresenting your products, services or brand.

5. Get behind a cause – is their something you (or your people) are passionate about that you can honestly support?  Public support for something that is worthy will go a long way to shining a positive light on you or your organization.  It will raise your profile and support your brand.

Try to think outside the box for ideas.  And create an internal forum for generating creative ideas.  They may not be used now however they may germinate a creative seed for the future.  You just never know.  If you are not looking for new ideas, you’ll probably not see one even if it smacked you in the face.

Neville Pokroy consults in the areas of strategic marketing planning, as well as in the development and execution of marketing strategies and plans. He assists companies who require marketing expertise to plan and fully execute marketing programs.