Creative Marketing Ideas to Gain Momentum in the New Year

Creative Marketing Ideas to Gain Momentum in the New Year

Marketing is the number one way to help build and establish your brand.  Traditional marketing channels like print and direct mail still hold value for brand recognition, but if you’re seeking more customer engagement, innovative approaches might be the key to unlocking next-level growth.  Whether your marketing program is deeply rooted or just starting out, try some new ideas to engage with your customer base in 2024.

Where To Begin:

1. Review your current marketing strategy.  Determine what’s working and what’s not. Where are you spending the most money and where are the majority of your leads coming from?
2. Determine your audience.  Are you trying to retain current customers or reach new customers?
3. Choose your channels. Utilize various marketing channels like social media, email marketing, pay-per-click advertising (PPC), search engine optimization (SEO), and offline channels.
4. Create a plan and a budget. Outline your marketing activities and timelines and allocate resources based on your chosen channels and goals.

Communicate With Your Audience:

• Reach out to people you know to help advertise for your business.
  • Utilizing friends, family, and current customers is a great start.  Remember, “word of mouth” advertising is free!
  • Create t-shirts, mugs, stickers, pens, etc. to hand out to your friends, family, and customers.  Let them be a walking advertisement for your business!
  • Create a hashtag they can use on social media and ask them to tag your business.
• Educational content is always great to post to keep your customers informed.
  • Include weather-related system performance tips.
  • Share news about local utility or federal rebates.
  • Update your customers on changing energy efficiency standards.
• Try including content from internal employees who are working on the jobsite everyday.
  • Humanize your employees by posting employee spotlights.
  • Take “a day in the life of” video of one of your technicians.
  • Have an employee explain how an HVAC system works.

Be Responsive:

• Respond to comments or questions on social media quickly and publicly.
• Add a live chat feature or chatbot to your website for quicker customer service.  According to research by Forbes, 47% of consumers prefer a website with a chatbot.
• Send out a survey requesting feedback.  This will allow you to both address customer concerns and thank your customers for their business.  Lots of people will be happy to answer a few questions in exchange for a promotional item or the chance to win a giveaway.

Introduce Loyalty Programs:

In this age of endless options, maintaining customer loyalty is increasingly important. According to a Global Customer Loyalty Report, customers find loyalty programs to be more beneficial than ever, and businesses with loyalty programs report that up to 45% of their sales are made through loyalty program members.

If you’re not quite sure where to begin on loyalty programs for your business try these:

• Create a referral program for existing customers.  Offer a gift card or another reward when they refer a new customer to your business.
• Offer special customer-only promotions or discounts through email and direct mail.
• For long standing loyal customers, consider sending out a custom birthday card.

Your marketing strategy is ever evolving, not a static process.  Remember to continuously monitor your results, adapt to market changes, and test new tactics.  By including these strategies in your 2024 marketing plan, you can expect measurable growth in brand awareness, customer engagement, and ultimately, revenue.

Need help implementing these ideas?  Reach out to our Marketing Department for assistance.