What Is Innovative Marketing? (With 10 Methods You Can Use)

Updated June 24, 2022

Innovation is a process of developing an idea into another process, product or service. To increase the likelihood of developing successful processes or products, businesses use innovative marketing to inform consumers about new developments. Learning the benefits and methods of how to use innovative marketing can improve your strategies. In this article, we discuss what innovative marketing is, reasons to use it and methods of innovative marketing with examples of innovative marketing for businesses.

What is innovative marketing?

Innovative marketing is a method of promoting new products and services in the process of innovation. It includes researching customer behavior, needs and trends to help you develop changes in a product's design to be more successful. Innovative marketing can include rebranding or repackaging an item or finding a new way to launch a product, such as in a new market or by using untraditional advertising to promote it. Innovation marketing covers initial market research for product planning, testing prototypes with focus groups and developing advertising content to interest potential customers.

Reasons to use innovative marketing

Companies use innovative marketing for several reasons, including to improve the success of new products and services when the company releases them on the market and to identify new or future markets the company can enter. When a company creates a new product, marketing is important to introduce and teach consumers about what the product is and how it works. This can increase interest and give consumers more confidence in their purchases. Innovative marketing helps companies identify new markets in their research stage of the marketing process, which can increase profits and provide opportunities for more innovations.

Innovative marketing methods

Here are ten marketing methods you can use in an innovative marketing strategy:

1. Rebranding

Rebranding is a method innovative marketing uses to match their marketing content to a new product or process the company is selling or using. It can help a company analyze its strengths and weaknesses, which could lead to improved sales. Rebranding uses market research so you can reposition your brand in a way that is appealing to your target market. Ideas for rebranding include changing the packaging or logo on your products, changing your mission statement or selling to a new market.

2. Retaining existing customers

Retaining exiting customers is a method innovative marketing uses to maintain customer relationships, which can help when selling innovative products. Marketers may introduce customer loyalty programs with or ahead of a new product launch to reach more consumers. Other ways to keep existing customers include offering coupons, exclusive offers and memberships. You may also use email or social media campaigns to keep in contact with customers and maintain the relationship.

3. Being an expert in the industry

To encourage consumers to view your company as a leader in the industry, marketers release high-value informative content and build customer relationships so consumers trust their brand. Other ways to show your expertise include writing blogs, using social media accounts or hosting training sessions to make your brand more visible and credible to consumers. You can also become an expert in the industry by remaining competitive and releasing innovative products.

4. Expanding to new regions

When businesses introduce their product to the marketplace, a form of innovative marketing is to expand that product into new markets. This can also mean opening a store location in a new state or partnering with a retailer to sell your product in a different country. Expanding into new regions can increase the customer base and sales. Expanding to new regions can help businesses create products or services to target markets they haven't worked with before, which can help influence innovation.

5. Interacting on social media

Social media can be effective for innovative marketing because it grants access to many consumers and can help distribute information quickly. Businesses can collect consumers' opinions about a product or service quickly with stools that help analyze what consumers post online. Interacting with consumers on social media can attract them to your new product and help form customer relationships that lead to brand loyalty. This can be valuable for innovative marketing because consumers may be less confident in purchasing new items in the market, but their trust and loyalty may encourage them to buy from your brand.

6. Creating educational content

Educational content can help market new products because it teaches consumers how to use them and generates interest in new services. Providing educational content may also increase customer satisfaction because the content may answer questions they have and teach them how to get the best results from your product. Educational marketing content may include videos, infographics, blogs, webinars, workshops and books. For local markets, hosting a workshop could be beneficial because you could interact with consumers and learn more about how they feel about the new product.

7. Hosting events

Hosting virtual or in-person events can excite customers about new products or services you're developing. Some companies may use an event to fundraise for a new product, which can help raise money and gauge interest in your idea. Hosting events also can present an opportunity to build relationships with your customers which, is an effective marketing technique for increasing sales and retaining customers.

8. Start customer loyalty programs

Customer loyalty programs offer customers rewards for continuing business with your company. When introducing a new product or service, it can be helpful to invite customers to a program that encourages them to buy more products. For example, you can offer a trial period for your new service to all customers who sign up for your loyalty program. Encouraging customer loyalty can be an important aspect of innovative marketing because innovation often requires their support.

9. Change your pricing

To gain attention for your new product or service, consider changing the pricing of your products, whether permanently or through sales. Lower prices can encourage an increase in sales and help gain more customers. Advertising your lowered prices may help create a bigger launch for your new product or boost sales for an existing one. This strategy also can give you access to new target markets that couldn't afford your product at its original price.

Related: Seven Common Pricing Models

10. Make partnerships with nonprofits

Partnering with a nonprofit can create good publicity and attract more consumers to your brand. Consider researching causes that may be important to your customers and contact those organizations to form a partnership. This can also show social responsibility and can be an effective method for establishing your brand. If there is a nonprofit organization doing work that relates to the service or product you're marketing, this could lead to a mutually beneficial partnership. You may also consider allowing the organization to use your product as a marketing technique to introduce it to new customers.

Example of innovative marketing

Here is an example of innovative marketing using partnerships to market the product to consumers:

Sebastian's Art Cafe sells original art works and do-it-yourself crafts for customers to create unique pieces for their homes. To introduce a painting book that teaches painting techniques, Sebastian's Art Cafe partners with a local food bank to create a series of paintings of nonperishable items. This campaign informs consumers Sebastian's Art Cafe is releasing a painting tutorial book and shares items the food bank needs. This technique could lead to consumers in the local area purchasing the book because they admire the partnership with the food bank, and this partnership can help the art cafe reach a larger audience.

What Is Innovative Marketing? (With 10 Methods You Can Use)