The Four Keys To Unconventional Marketing Success

As small business professionals, we are in a unique and advantageous position. We are limited only by our own mental barriers. Historical boundaries of customer acquisition have been effectively removed thanks in part to the immeasurable reach and depth of online life. Enter unconventional marketing, an effective and valuable approach to connecting your brand with potential customers.

Inside Out Marketing. Brand self awareness is an extremely powerful concept that has the potential to drive everything you do in monumentally impactful ways. Your message won’t clearly resonate with consumers until you determine your brand voice, your personality, your reason-for-being. From that point forward, let every single action spring forth from your purpose and beliefs. Don’t ever waiver in your adoration for what makes you different. Your customers will recognize and appreciate this.

 Flexibility & Adaptability. One of our greatest strengths as small business owners is the ability to make fast decisions without all the red tape that most big corporations have to wade through. While long-term campaign planning is always important, we advise our clients to allocate a percentage of their budget and time for “real-time” or “reactionary” marketing. Real-time marketing capitalizes on existing buzz, whether it’s an event (like the Super Bowl), a time of the year (like Cyber Monday) or a buzz-worthy occasion (see this example of a local eatery running a promotion based on an unexpected snowstorm).

 Disrupting Expectations. Put simply, disrupting everyday expectations causes awareness. Meaningful disruption plays an extremely vital role in word of mouth marketing. Consumers are hit with thousands of brand messages every single day, so why should yours hit its target? As Andy Sernovitz, the word of mouth godfather, says, be interesting or be invisible.

 Creativity & Imagination. I like to say that “creativity trumps big budgets”, a foundational belief of unconventional marketers.  Monetary prowess is no longer the driving force behind a campaign’s success. With the right amount of research, strategy, elbow grease and imagination, you can produce significantly effective promotions and messaging.

 There’s a new game in town, folks. The shortcomings of traditional media combined with the ever-evolving maturity and selectivity of the consumer have cleared a path for the courageous. Conventional messaging has failed both the end user and the marketing industry as a whole. By following the principles outlined above, you can be on your way to unconventional marketing success.

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