In our modern, hyper-competitive world, standing out from your competition is far from easy. One of the best ways that brands can differentiate themselves and stand out from the pack is with creative marketing strategies.

Creative marketing that integrates innovative design, beautiful art, or unique approaches to engaging with customers can be highly effective. This could make the difference between growing a successful business and stagnating or even failing in your efforts.

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Here are some cool, creative marketing ideas to supercharge your marketing strategy, attract more customers, and drive business growth.

1. Create Personalized Videos

Although captivating photos, graphics and other visual elements can be highly effective, particularly for businesses and entrepreneurs in the creative industries, it is important not to ignore the power of video. Not only do modern consumers respond exceedingly well to video, this media is very effective in conveying feelings and emotions, storytelling, and in building a connection with your audience.

One of the most exciting trends of 2020 is the emergence of personalized, one to one videos. Personalized videos are much more likely to capture prospects’ attention and ensure that they actually watch the whole video. Additionally, the targeted approach means that the video is much more likely to be successful in resulting in a sale.

2. Make Your Own Infographics

Infographics are extremely popular with audiences, and it’s not hard to see why: great infographics can break down complex topics and provide real value, at the same time as being visually stunning. Especially if you work in a visual industry, creating your own infographics is not only very on-brand, it is also an effective way to engage with your audience and can help to build your customer base as users share your exciting content with their networks.

The key here is in the quality of the infographics: they should be visually impeccable, but most of all provide real value to the user. Great infographics are those that answer common questions, explain concepts that people want to know, or explore issues in a thought-provoking way. To make your infographics truly work for you, be sure to leverage the content by including your business name and logo on the graphic so that people know where it is coming from, and try to build as many links to your infographics as possible.

3. Get Creative with Stickers

Eye-catching logos and graphics are a great way for businesses to stand out, and communicate a unique brand image. One particularly engaging way you can get your business’ visuals out there is through stickers. People love stickers, especially if they are creative, different, or simply beautiful.

There are many ways businesses can try to get their logo seen – from billboard advertising to branded merchandising. But make cool die-cut stickers, and your customers will this work or you, attaching them to their laptops, water bottles and perhaps even in various public places. This not only advertises your brand to whoever sees the sticker, it also builds your relationship with your customers, who start to feel part of your brand as they display your stickers.

4. Ask for Referrals in a Fun Way

Referrals are a great way to build your customer base. This taps into basic consumer psychology: people are more likely to make a purchase based on a recommendation from a friend or family than anything else. One study found that 82% of US consumers ask for recommendations from people they know before making a purchase. Incentives - offering rewards to existing customers who refer new business - are one effective way to encourage referrals.

However, you can also get creative with your referral requests to encourage a greater rate of response. Send personalized emails to your existing customers, for example, asking them if they’d be happy to refer your products or services to one or two friends or family. Often taking a personal approach like this can be more effective than an impersonal offer of a reward in exchange for a referral. This is also a great way to check in with existing customers that could lead to new projects.

5. Keep Your Website Fresh

It is easy to build a website yourself these days, and many businesses are taking advantage of the range of website builders now available to create their own, professional site. This is particularly great for creative and designers who can build an individual site that showcases their unique style. However, it is important not to rest on your laurels once your site is done: you should see your site as something that is constantly evolving, rather than a static thing.

Ideally, you should add new creative and engaging elements every few weeks, to incorporate new events you have coming up, and reflect changes in the seasons. Above all else, it is important to have quality content that is designed for a great user experience on your site. Therefore, it is better to refresh the content less often, but to have great, high-quality content, then to post lower quality content purely for the sake of being able to put up something new.