3 Ways To Innovate When it Comes to Marketing

By Emma Burdett, Huddle Up Creative 

Technology is advancing quickly, consumers are becoming more demanding, and economic uncertainty is looming. 

So, if you ever needed a nudge to stop and consider if you could innovate and improve the way you market your business, this is it! 

Based on what I’ve been seeing across many industries over the last couple of years, I’ve pulled together three key areas of opportunity I often see for businesses to innovate when it comes to marketing: 

Relate to your target audience 

Humans are always looking for their tribe, their sense of belonging and community. Take a moment to think about how many decisions you make based on the people and the environment involved. The challenge here is that everyone has different preferences and what they look for. For example, you might have a friend who loves to be seen at the ‘trendy’ cafes, whereas you might prefer the peace and quiet of others. 

The more you can relate to your ideal customer, the more they will be drawn to you, the more likely they will be to buy from you, and the more likely they will refer you to others. 

How do you relate to your target audience when it comes to marketing?

This is where branding comes in. The look and feel of your brand will inadvertently tell the story of who you are and what you’re like to deal with. When it comes to branding, I’m not just talking about a logo. Think about things like: 

• Images you use to promote your products or services. 
  
• The colours of your branding and level of consistency they are used. 
  
• Tone of language every touchpoint you communicate with customers. (PRO TIP - anything they read from your brand should have the same tone as when they phone through with an enquiry). 
  
• Sales and delivery processes you have in place. 
  
• How you and your team dress and present yourselves. 
  

Add a personal touch where ever possible

As buyers, our expectations are rising when it comes to personalisation. We want to know that our purchase is valued, and want to see a human touch within the transaction. We also live in a ‘busy’ world with a lot of ‘noise’, we have all learnt to ignore most of the generic information but are more likely to stop and engage if we think it’s for us. 

A few ways to add a personal touch to your marketing: 

• Use first names wherever possible (particularly relevant for email marketing). 
  
• Tailor communication for different segments of your audience. Can you create different versions of landing pages on your website, sales flyers, advertisements, or email campaigns that talk to what that group is looking to fix, accomplish or avoid? 
  
• Handwrite something like a thank-you note on the receipt inside the bag when you ship an online order. 
  
• Use AI to use names or photos of your prospect customer on to different communications - who doesn’t love seeing themselves in a GIF?!
  
• Record personalised videos as an introduction when you haven’t met a prospective customer in person. 
  

Be quick and also be consistent 

We live in the ‘now’ era! The faster you can get information back to people, the more likely you are to capture their attention. This is where technology and innovation can be a game changer! You also need to be consistent to help reinforce your value and stay front of mind, so you’re the first person they think to buy from when the time comes. 

How can you improve your response time and consistency for marketing?  

• Automate as much of your sales enquiry process as possible! If someone is vaguely interested, give them the answers and information immediately to keep them keen! You don’t have to disrupt your Sunday evening to do so, this can all be automated (with personalisation) and done without lifting a finger! 
  
• Plan ahead for your marketing activities and get things scheduled in for publishing ahead of time. 
  
• Speed up content creation with defined processes, templates, AI tools, and outsourced support. 
  
• Repurpose content! Take a video blog for example - that could very easy be turned in to a blog post, YouTube short video, email campaign and multiple social media posts. 
  

The final thing I’ll say about innovating when it comes to your marketing - don’t be like everyone else in the market. Think outside the box, look to other industries for inspiration, and challenge the status quo. The more ‘traditional’ your industry is, the more potential you have to stand out - so leverage it.  

If you’re stuck in a cycle of meaningless marketing and ready to start levelling up, book a time to have a chat with me via the Huddle Up Creative website here. 

About the author:

Emma Burdett is a Business Strategist by trade with a strong passion for marketing positioning strategies that help brands compete and thrive in markets. A creative soul by nature, Emma shifted her focus to Marketing in 2018 as it was one of the weakest functions of business she saw for brands on mission to grow. 

Today, Emma combines her business background and creative design studies to build marketing strategies, marketing action plans, and marketing budgets for businesses all over Australia.