Marketing and promotional strategies are often first brainstormed and written as part of a marketing plan which almost always includes tried-and-true methods for getting the word out about products, services or both.

According to one recent survey, 88 percent of participants stated they were planning to increase their marketing budget for 2019, but the more important thing is to make the best use possible of that money, perhaps taking advantage of some marketing strategies you haven’t tried yet.

Make the Most of Trade Show Events by Utilizing the Experts

You probably at least know the basics of promoting your services and/or products at trade shows, but odds are, you don’t have as much knowledge as the experts. You might want to try utilizing the assistance of one of the experienced trade show companies that can help you make the most of the event. Tradeshows are typically a significant expense, but if done right can pay for itself and often, much more through increased sales and growth.

Make Your Social and Community Responsibility Efforts Known

When many of today’s consumers are considering where to purchase their items, they take a good look at the social and community responsibility efforts of the business. Most are putting a greater value in things a company does to help improve their impact on the environment and their community. If yours isn’t doing anything, it’s time to change that. If it is, be sure to make those efforts known as it can be a good marketing tool. You might create a manifesto on your company’s website that discusses its values and efforts as well as occasionally hosting community-building events and finding ways to give back to your local community.

Try Using New Social Media Platforms

Your business is probably already on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, which tend to dominate among social media platforms, but why not try some new platforms too? If you’re not on Instagram, it’s really a must. As a brand, you can have a business profile that provides rich analytics of both your posts and profile, as well as the ability to schedule posts with third-party tools. Pinterest allows users to collect images and create mood boards which you may be able to take advantage of, while Tumblr offers a microblogging platform with multimedia functionality. It’s great for sharing videos, photos, links, text and more.

Build Relationships and Engage with Local Businesses

If you work together with local businesses, you can create mutually beneficial relationships. It can be especially effective in more tight-knit communities. Contact them and talk about potential referrals, if it makes sense for both, and perhaps agree to share some of their posts on your walls and vice versa, partner together for deals or even contests.

Offer Awards for Referrals

One of the primary ways that consumers choose businesses to buy from is through referrals. Word-of-mouth recommendations significantly influence purchases and one of the best ways to encourage your customers to provide referrals is to offer added incentives. Oftentimes, even customers who are happy with products or services simply don’t think about due to their busy lives, but by providing added incentives such as special discounts to those who refer your business to friends, co-workers, family, etc., they’ll take the extra step.

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