37 Creative Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses (2024)

So you’ve learned how to start a business—now it’s time to promote it. Marketing your small business spreads the word about the incredible products you have to sell. Not promoting your business means your chances of making money online any time soon will be slim. 

But your customer’s attention is being pulled from pillar to post. Big brands with big marketing budgets drive the cost of advertising sky high. Not to mention social media channels changing their algorithms, making it even harder for small businesses to reach the audiences they build.

It’s not all doom and gloom. You can stand out in the busiest of spaces—it just takes a little more creativity. 

To get you started, this guide shares 37 creative marketing ideas we’ve seen from independent brands that are either free or low cost. 

Proven small business marketing ideas

1. Partner with other small businesses

Here’s a great marketing idea if you’re working with zero budget: collaborate with other small businesses whose target market overlaps with yours (provided they’re not a direct competitor).

Let’s say you had an online store selling handmade crockery. Partner with another small business owner that sells handmade vases and lean on each other’s audience by running a co-marketing campaign, such as:

• Co-hosting a webinar
• Giving discounts to each other’s email list
• Shouting each other out on social media 
• Becoming a guest on each other’s podcasts
• Splitting the cost of fees to host a pop-up shop 

The beauty of co-marketing is not only that you support fellow small business owners, but you get to tap into an existing audience for free, unlike the influencer marketing route—many of whom charge to publish sponsored posts.

2. Collect customer feedback

Existing customers are your best friends. They’re the people who have seen your existing digital marketing strategy and purchased because of it. Use them as your starting point when developing new small business marketing ideas.

Use Shopify apps like Hulk NPS Post Purchase Survey to send a customer satisfaction survey to anyone who purchases through your online store. Ask what they liked about your product, how they discovered you, and what triggered them to buy. Use those insights to fill your social media profiles, landing pages, and product descriptions with customer testimonials.

Package Free, for example, has a highlight reel of customer reviews on its product pages. Anyone debating whether to trust the retailer is instantly reassured, undoubtedly improving the ecommerce site’s conversion rate: 

3. Give quirky product recommendations

Shoppers have various things running through their minds when visiting a new ecommerce store. At the forefront are questions like: Is this product right for me?

Take the pain out of comparing new products with quirky recommendations. These don’t require hours of product development. Just go beyond “You viewed this, so you might be interested in this” categories that grab people’s attention. 

Digital marketing consultant Kayleigh Töyrä suggests product recommendation lists for:

• People who already have everything
• Gifts you may keep for yourself instead
• Things you don’t need, but may want

Kayleigh adds that with clever copy to increase sales, new businesses can up- and cross-sell in a more fun way.

4. Enter to win business awards

Being voted the “best” product in your industry is a surefire way to build credibility and attract attention. 

“Awards offer businesses a solid shot of authority, which is one of the keys to successful marketing; you want your audience to know that you offer the best of the best,” says Stephen Light, CMO and co-owner of mattress company Nolah.

“Regardless of your niche, there are countless awards and accolades offered that you can find with just a little digging.”

Here’s a starting point for your award submission research:

Whichever awards you enter to win, Stephen says it’s a cost-effective boost of credibility and publicity that can make a big difference with very little investment. 

“Displaying them proudly on your website can encourage conversions,” he says.

5. Sell mystery boxes

Got a bunch of slow-moving products? Sell them as part of a mystery box—something Kaleigh Moore did for her jewelry business. 

“Fill it with slow-moving products and promote them as a surprise, offering at an affordable price point,” Kaleigh says.

Mystery boxes work for several reasons:

• The human brain loves surprises. 
• Mystery boxes induce the fear of missing out, a phenomenon that causes 60% of people to make reactive purchases. 
• You shift slow-moving inventory and create space for more popular (and profitable) inventory.

Zac’s Sweet Shop is another ecommerce retailer that offers mystery boxes. Shoppers not only get the chance to try a variety of products at a low price, but the brand can shift slow-moving or soon-to-expire food products.

6. Optimize your website for SEO

Sometimes, the most effective online marketing ideas are the simplest; they just take a longer time to come to fruition. But lay the groundwork early and you’ll set yourself up for success.

That’s especially true with search engine optimization (SEO), the process of optimizing your online store. You’ll appear in search results when people are actively searching for information or entertainment, or to solve a pain point.

Start by finding the keywords your target audience is searching for. Free tools like Keywords Everywhere, Semrush, and Moz can help here. 

Once you’ve got a list of keywords, group similar terms together with the same intent. Words generally can be broken down into three categories:

Transactional intent

People searching for these phrases want to do something (most often buy). They usually have terms like “buy” in the keyword, or are very specific and product-related, such as “Nike sneakers size 5.” Include these terms on your product and category pages. 

Navigational intent

People are looking to find something, be that a local store or a website. These are usually brand names or keywords with prefixes like “find” or “where is.” Target these terms on local landing pages and on your homepage. 

Educational intent

People want to learn something if they’re using this type of keyword. Common culprits are phrases that include “how to,” “best,” or “tutorial.” Create blog posts to target these terms on your site. 

7. Sell themed gift cards

Gift cards improve cash flow. You get the money upfront without immediately needing to fork out fees to produce or ship the product to a customer. 

Offer them through your online store and prioritize marketing them in peak gift-giving seasons, such as:

• Mother’s Day or Father’s Day
• Black Friday and Cyber Monday 
• Christmas

Starbucks, for example, sells gift cards year round. But the retailer keeps an ear to the ground and creates customized gift card designs based on trending topics, like this one for the Lunar New Year: 

Whichever season, post about your gift cards on social media, send email marketing campaigns to subscribers, and add a pop-up on your website to direct visitors to your gift card options. You could even offer $10 gift cards to thank existing customers for shopping with you—and encourage them to do so again. 

Low-cost marketing ideas

8. Offer free samples

If you can absorb the cost of giving away inventory for free (with the goal of turning those people into paying customers), offer free product samples to people who visit your pop-up store or market stall. “People love getting a free gift, and then if they share that kind of thing, it usually leads to good sales on our end,” David Gaylord, founder of Bushbalm, tells Shopify Masters.

You can even give samples to customers who’ve purchased a product from you as an incentive to buy again. 

“Because we are a product/food brand, we’ve had fun using Instacart to ship gifts—samples of our product—to people that we’ve recently chatted with,” says Sheena Russell, founder and CEO of Made with Local. “This could be business contacts, potential buyers, etc. You can get samples delivered to their door in less than two hours in most big cities, and folks love it.”

9. Include swag in customer orders

Speaking of free stuff, it’s not always your product that has to do the talking. Get customers to spread the word about your brand by including swag or branded merch in their order. That could be:

• Stickers
• Mugs
• T-shirts 
• Notepads 

This is especially useful if your target audience is well-connected. If you’re selling phone cases for digital nomads, for example, include free stickers in every order. People might stick it to their laptop, computer, or smartphone, making your brand visible in the places they (and the rest of your target market) are working. 

10. Gift free products to influencers

Influencer marketing is big business. Some 69% of consumers trust advice from social media influencers when making purchasing decisions. No wonder brands are expected to spend $7.14 billion on influencer marketing in 2024.

Instead of paying for influencers to talk about your product, a low-cost marketing idea is giving free products to them. Many bloggers have a PO box specifically for press packages. 

While it’s not guaranteed that the items you send will be shared, the only thing you’ll pay for is product manufacturing costs and shipping fees—a small price if an influencer shouts your small business out to their loyal audience.

The Tur-Shirt Company tried this marketing idea. Its founder, Terri-Anne Turton, sent the brand’s clothing products to Instagram influencers in the parenting space. Many of them shared photos of their own children wearing the clothes, tagging the company and directing followers toward its website.

“I gifted [one influencer] two Tur-Shirts and her kids loved them—they were amazed when they worked out how they work,” Terri-Anne says. “It was heartwarming, and the orders started to flood in. I had an influx of orders over the weekend totalling £1,300 of sales.”

11. Create a referral program

Granted, the goal of marketing is to drive more revenue. But that revenue doesn’t always come from new customers. Many ecommerce owners forget about one small business marketing strategy with a low barrier to entry and high success rate: word-of-mouth marketing.

“Getting customers to refer other customers is a great way to get more out of your marketing dollars,” says Jason Wong, founder of Doe Lashes. “You can make this easier by using an app like Smile to incentivize customers to refer their friends to buy from you.”

A customer loyalty program encourages your existing customer base to recommend your products to their family and friends. Incentives can be:

• Discount codes 
• Priority access to new products
• Points to redeem on future orders 

Use Shopify apps like Referral Candy or LoyaltyLion to power the program for you. From there, the only marketing investment you’ll make is a small incentive for people to join through your customer referral program. 

12. Incentivize email sign-ups with discount codes

There’s no beating around the bush: every small business needs to build an email list.

Building a brand on social media alone is risky. You’re at the mercy of ever-changing algorithms—many of which are pushing brands into paying to reach the audiences they’ve already built. 

Both SMS and email marketing are direct lines of communication for building relationships with your customers. Get their email address or phone number (and consent to reach them) by making the sign-up process irresistible. For many customers, that means offering discount codes.

Research shows that 58% of shoppers think discounts and coupons are the primary reasons for subscribing to a brand’s email list. Those who use a discount code spend 24% more than shoppers who don’t. 

Again, this free marketing idea doesn’t have to be ground-breaking. Simply create an email pop-up that offers a discount code in exchange for their subscription. Follow that up with an automated email campaign with the coupon and a list of bestsellers.

13. Make an incredible unboxing experience

User-generated content is a superb way to fill your social media calendars with content that turns followers into paying customers. 

The unboxing experience is a simple way to do that. More than 165,000 people search for “unboxing” on YouTube every month. Unbox Therapy, one channel dedicated to unboxing experiences, has amassed more than 22 million subscribers. 

This type of video content is clearly in demand. So, if you have the flexibility to subtract a few dollars from your profit margin, go above and beyond to make your unboxing experience share-worthy. 

Japanese snack subscription box brand Bokksu experimented with unboxing videos on various social media accounts.

“We experimented with Facebook. We experimented with Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and a whole bunch of the social media platforms Influencers there,” explains Bokksu Founder Danny Taing in an interview with Shopify Masters.

“What we found has been most effective has been YouTube, and specifically has to be YouTube influencers that have really engaged audiences, and that the influencers themselves really love eating.

“Our product is so hands-on and sensual in a lot of ways. You have to unbox it and show the snacks, and eat it and talk about it. Like a good five- to 10-minute YouTube video gets the job done a lot better than an Instagram post.”

Social media marketing ideas

Host a social media competition

To say social media platforms are oversaturated would be an understatement. Some 91% of companies already use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to reach their target audience.

Couple that with the fact Facebook shows social media posts to only a tiny percentage of a page’s followers and you’ll see why social media is a pain-staking way to market a small business. 

Diversify your social media marketing strategy by hosting a competition. Science proves people love free stuff. So give away something for free—such as a product bundle or trip to your HQ—in exchange for social media engagement. Have your followers like, comment, share, and tag a friend in the giveaway post to boost reach. 

Granted, attractive social media competitions give away expensive products. But the marketing dollars you spend on hosting a giveaway don’t have to be extreme. You can make the prize as cheap or as expensive as you want. 

15. Share user-generated content

Another smart way to use social media to market your small business is with user-generated content (UGC)—something 53% of shoppers say highly impacts their purchasing decisions. This is likely because it’s less biased than branded content and they get to see someone in their shoes loving the product.

Incentivize existing customers to share photos, videos, and testimonials of them using your products. Do regular scans of your brand name or hashtag to see social media posts people have shared without being prompted.

The goal is to build a library of high-quality UGC that convinces on-the-fence social media followers to buy, like this example from Letterfolk. It encourages people to share UGC with its “Fan of the Month” competition. Winners get to share their story with the brand’s huge audience—a win-win for everyone involved. Customers build a stronger connection with the brand; Letterfolk has new content it can repost without producing from scratch.

16. Produce video tutorials

Continuing with the social media theme, video marketing reigns supreme on many platforms. Take a look at TikTok’s success. Its minute-long videos became so popular that Instagram, traditionally a photo-sharing app, launched its own version—Reels—off the back of it.

Use a free video editing app to produce content to market your own business on social media. That could be:

• Reviews from happy customers 
• Behind-the-scenes of running your business
• Video tutorials that show how to use your product

17. Host a livestream

Live shopping has a 32% purchase incidence (compared to just 71% for a retailer’s website). The best part about using it in your marketing strategy? Livestreams are free to host. You just need to be engaging enough to capture someone’s attention and convince them to stick around.

Take this creative marketing idea one step further and co-host livestreams with influencers in your space. If you’re a cosmetics brand, for example, find a beauty influencer to livestream with. You could ask them their favorite beauty secrets, how they use your products, or to give a quick tutorial on how to use them.

18. Jump on trending topics

Social media is fueled by trends. Think about it: TikTok is credited for making songs go viral; artists see record-breaking streams when a dancing trend emerges. Everyone posts videos of themselves dancing to the same song.

How do you uncover trending topics before your small business’s social media content gets lumped in with the others jumping on trends? Spot them before the crowd does by:

• Asking your customers
• Reading discussions happening in forums
• Running a competitive analysis
• Celebrating annual events

19. Create a Snapchat lens

Snapchat is a fantastic social media platform to use if you’re targeting Gen Z. Some 20% of its users are between the ages of 13 and 17, though Statista reports that people under the age of 35 are most likely to use the app.

Lenses, a type of augmented reality that overlays graphics onto a user’s face, is one smart way to get noticed on the app. Snapchat even has its own Lens Studio to help small businesses create their own overlays. There’s a fee to publish your Lens and it only lasts for a set duration of time, but it’s a great Snapchat marketing idea to engage younger audiences. 

Content marketing ideas

20. Post videos on YouTube

YouTube is one of the biggest websites in the world. It’s expected that by 2029, some 1.2 billion people will use the platform, making it a great marketing idea to consider if your audience connects with brands in video form. 

Start a YouTube channel for your business and customize it with your branding. If you’re stuck for ideas on what to talk about, go back to your keyword research. You could even repurpose the content you’ve posted to your blog and use it as a script for your YouTube video. Embed the video in your blog post to cater to two different content preferences in one. 

Remember: YouTube is a search engine. To reach your target audience on the platform, you must optimize your videos for YouTube SEO. Include keywords in your video’s title, thumbnail, and description to increase the odds of someone finding your content on YouTube.

You can also connect your store to YouTube, allowing you to sell items through your videos.

21. Write a weekly newsletter

A newsletter is a piece of content that gets delivered to your subscriber’s inbox. Many ecommerce stores use their newsletter as a way to promote new products and retarget shoppers who haven’t purchased in a while. You should be doing both of these things, but a non-salesly newsletter can be the icing on the cake. 

Think about it: People want to buy from brands they know, like, and trust. Shouting about how great your products are is one thing. Try sharing the story behind how your product came to life. Divulge the difficulties you’ve faced as a small business owner. Explain why you started the company. Those are how you build trust—so that when sales emails do land in a subscriber’s inbox, they’ve already been primed to buy.

22. Write blog posts that answer customer questions

Tie SEO in with a content marketing strategy to get your small business off the ground. Write a blog post that targets low-volume keywords with a direct tie-in to your products. Go after those with minimal competition in search engines to set yourself up for success.

Your customers are the best place to find content ideas. Scan your support inbox to find:

• Pain points your audience is experiencing
• Questions they have prior to purchasing 
• Goals they’re achieving with your product

You could even tell the story of your existing customers to help new shoppers picture themselves in their shoes. 

“The secret is really putting out great content,” says Trevor Crotts, founder of BuddyRest. “And putting out great content means a lot of different things, but to me, what I think it means is putting out content that’s relevant to your audience that people really want to read, and understanding how to monetize that content.”

23. Submit guest posts

Guest posting has been a popular marketing idea for years. To this day, it still remains an effective way to market a small business. It works by submitting a free piece of content (usually a blog post) to a popular publication in your industry.

Most websites accept guest posts because they can monetize the content on their own website. To find these opportunities, search for these terms:

• [industry] + guest post
• [industry] + contribute
• [industry] + write for us

Get the most value out of your guest post by building backlinks to your website. If you’re writing a guest post about finding an engagement ring, for example, you might mention the different styles of ring. Link to category pages on your online store where possible. 

Not only will it divert readers to your online store, but it will also build backlinks with anchor text that tells Google what your page is about—and therefore, the keywords it should rank for. 

24. Publish original research

Original research is data that you’ve collected and own. It’s a great marketing idea that doesn’t require much cash. Granted, it’s time intensive, but it has the potential to build backlinks and credibility for your small business.

Start with a list of questions related to a topic in your industry. For example, if you’re a bedding brand, you could ask questions like:

• How often do you change your bedsheets?
• Do you prioritize comfort or aesthetics when buying new bedsheets?
• How many pillows do you have on your bed? 

Collate the data using surveys, slice it by different segments (e.g., age or gender), and pick out the most surprising data points. The fact that 45% of people sleep with two pillows isn’t as shocking as the fact that just 10% change their sheets weekly. 

Publish the data on your website and pitch the most interesting statistics to publications that your target audience read. Because you own the data, the publication has no choice but to mention your brand and link to your website when talking about the survey results. That gives you exposure and backlinks all in one go. 

25. Distribute press releases

If you’ve got an interesting story, product launch or company announcement, a press release is the ideal vehicle for sharing it. Journalists at newspapers and online publications use them to gather information that they can share with their readers.

The key is to share information that is newsworthy and interesting. The fact that you’ve opened a new store isn’t always enough to tempt journalists into covering the story. The fact that you’ve taken over a local favorite or provided jobs to people in the city is a more interesting angle that readers would want to hear about. 

26. Start a podcast

A podcast is a way to connect with your target market in audio form. Episodes can range from a few minutes to several hours long, and you can host it yourself or invite guests (or customers) to chat alongside you. 

Much like any good marketing idea, the secret to starting a great podcast is knowing who you’re speaking to and having topics that appeal to them. If you’re selling plants through your ecommerce store, for example, teach listeners how to start their own garden and take care of their plants. 

Local marketing ideas

27. Attend local events

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking all of your marketing tactics need to be online. Granted, building an online presence is crucial. But it is important to meet potential customers and other small business owners in the flesh by attending local offline events like: 

Check with your local Chamber of Commerce, many of which have a list of events to support small businesses in the area. Sites like Meetup and Eventbrite also round up local business events. 

Can’t find any? Host your own. Find a free space to host an event (like the public library), bring your inventory along, and hand out marketing materials like flyers to build brand awareness. Just remember to use Shopify’s free business card maker to design your business cards and take them with you. Anyone interested in your products but not ready to buy has the information to visit your website later.

28. Create a Google Business profile

Google is the world’s largest search engine that isn’t used only by online shoppers. According to one report, the vast majority (98%) of people use the internet to find information about local businesses. To help these brands get found online, Google allows you to create business profiles that appear in Google Maps and search results for these local searches. Once you’re in, the goal is to reach the “three pack,” appearing in one of the top three search results on Google Maps. 

While you’re at it, consider other local business directories. This can build consistency for your NAP (name, address, and phone number), which Google uses to determine how credible a business is when ranking it in search results. Yelp, Yell, and Better Business Bureau are great starting points. 

29. Build local landing pages

If you don’t reach the three pack in Google’s local business listings, local landing pages can still help you reach local shoppers on the search results page. These URLs on your website target keywords alongside a city, town, or state. 

In this local landing page for Magnolia Bakery’s Central Park store, for example, the retailer uses phrases like “picnic in Central Park” and “Columbus Circle.”

30. Geotag your location on social media

These days, people don’t always head to search engines to find things to do in a city. Social media platforms like Instagram are fast becoming the go-to place to search for inspiration in a specific area, largely because the app allows local businesses to geotag their location in any grid post or Instagram Story. 

The best part? You don’t need to have a physical store in that area to geotag a location. Take Claire Pettibone, for example, an online retailer that sells wedding dresses to brides. It reposts customer photos to its Instagram page and geotags the location the couple got married at. Any other couples browsing that venue’s geotag can see where the dress was from. 

31. Use local hashtags

Hashtags have long been used as a way for small businesses to market their products online. Both TikTok and Instagram make their hashtags searchable. Local businesses, in particular, can use local hashtags—phrases that are specific to their store’s city and reach the people who are searching them to find things to do. 

This is easier if your store is within a tourist destination. If you’re delivering in-store experiences to shoppers or have something that’s worth seeing, hashtags like #thingstodoin[location] can expose you to the social media users already relying on these hashtags to build their daily itineraries. 

32. Get featured on community accounts

Some places have local citizens who post content online about their cities. New York Bucket List is an Instagram account that rounds up the best things to do in New York. Local businesses in the state can get in touch with the goal of getting featured on its feed.

If you’d rather market your business in-person, most community bulletin boards also accept free advertising. Check your local postal office, community center, or grocery store to see whether you can add a flyer to their bulletin. 

Guerilla marketing ideas

33. Fly an airplane banner

Looking to make a splash in a specific area? Hire an airplane and attach a banner to its tail. Think of a fun or witty message that captures someone’s attention. There’s a strong chance that people will snap a photo and share it on social media, helping you expand your reach far beyond the city you’re flying over. 

34. Host a treasure hunt

Experiential marketing is popular amongst businesses that want to stand out. Instead of shouting about your products or your unique selling proposition, it gets people to do something. This sense of participation can build excitement for your products. 

Treasure hunts are the perfect example that can happen in-person or virtually. One car dealer, for example, buried the keys to a new vehicle somewhere in the UK. The lucky winner won the car while giving the brand coverage in the New York Post.

35. Experiment with street marketing

Street marketing uses the things we see in our environment to promote your small business’s products. It’s an unconventional marketing tactic that stands out from traditional billboards and integrates your product with someone’s daily life—like using a pedestrian crossing as an advert for your pianos. 

36. Organize a flash mob

Flash mobs don’t just belong in rom-coms. It’s a great marketing idea if your goal is to get people talking about your brand. 

Let’s put that into practice and say you’re selling luxury men’s suits. Choose a place that’s commonly frequented by your target market, such as Wall Street. Enlist the help of professional dancers who camouflage themselves into the environment by wearing your suits. All of a sudden, have them break out into a choreographed routine that concludes with them shouting out your website URL. People on the street will be talking about the flash mob—and you’ll be the talk of every office on Wall Street. 

37. Break a world record

There are world record holders in almost every activity you can think of. If you’re able to break one that’s relevant to your brand or its products, it’s a surefire way to attract attention and land press coverage. 

Direct-to-consumer brand Muddy Bites took this guerrilla marketing idea one step further by inviting an influencer to produce a video on its attempt to build the world’s largest ice cream cone. YouTuber Matthew Beem vlogged the day and shared it with his more than five million subscribers. The video itself has amassed over three million views to date. 

Use these small business marketing ideas to grow your store

These free and unique marketing ideas prove there’s more to promoting a small business than investing in Facebook ads. The trick is to test different ideas and get creative. Attend local events. Start a podcast. Partner with other local businesses in your area. Run video marketing campaigns on social media. 

Just don’t forget about the easiest source of new marketing ideas: the customers already buying from you.