How to market boring Industries Online?

Are you in a boring Industry? Do you face the constant challenge of creating content and marketing for an industry that your online audiences will not engage with? Read on for some strategies which can generate awareness online, regardless of how boring is your industry..

Firstly, If you’re in a “boring” industry, then see that for the opportunity it really is. Your competitors haven’t found an effective way to engage with their audience online. What an incredible opportunity for you to find a strategy that works.

By getting digital attention for your business, you’ll be cashing in on a huge competitive advantage.

Here are 5 examples of absolutely brilliant online marketing strategies from companies who have turned their industries from sleepy to sexy through innovative digital initiatives:

Blenders anyone?

Blenders may not be the most interesting kitchen appliance or a conversation starter, but chances are you’ve seen those "Will It Blend?" videos.

In a brilliant viral marketing campaign, Blendtec’s founder Tom Dickson showed off the power of his blenders by blending all sorts of unusual things in a series of short video infomercials – ranging from golf balls and credit cards to cell phones and camcorders, Dickson capitalizes on our childlike curiosity to see household items get completely destroyed. And he gets to prove the power of his blenders in the process. The videos have been a powerful (and fun) awareness engine for the brand.

In a stroke of genius, Dickson turned an everyday kitchen gadget into a compelling conversation starter online. Those videos get hundreds of thousands — even millions -- of views each. The iPad blending video from 2010 already has 18 million views and counting! That’s a lot of people to care about an uninteresting kitchen gadget.

Note-Worthy?

It wouldn’t be much of a list if Post-it wasn’t on it. I’m sure you are all familiar with the brand behind the sticky notes that help you organise your day.

Traditionally, sticky notes are used as reminders or list keepers or bookmarks. However, Post-it’s Instagram account showcases all kinds of unusual uses of the product but the conventional ones.

The Instagram account mostly features sticky notes with a nice romantic message or an inspirational quote. It also shows how Post-it notes can be used to make wall art or different DIY crafts.

3M also launched the “Post-it Plus App” to digitise the note taking experience and allow seamless collaboration and sharing of ideas using digital notes. That’s definitely a good use of technology for brand extension.

Unrolling the Roll..

User-generated content is almost always content-marketing gold. One great example is Charmin’s “Sit or Squat” App campaign.

Toilet paper is certainly one of the least exciting industries around. Charmin has been the top toilet paper brand in the US for over 25 years. The brand partnered with SitOrSquat, an NYC blog, to help launch a new set of mobile app that help users locate clean restrooms in 10 countries.

This website and app offer a list of the nearest bathrooms with reviews, an invaluable tool that every traveler needs. Not only are the website and app relevant to the product, but both build a relationship between the consumer and seller on a different level. It’s not all about the product. It’s about helping the consumer.

The app has more than 100,000 Android downloads and more than 1,000 positive reviews in the Google Play store. Charmin reported that the total number of searches across all versions of the app was more than 7.2 million.

Content for a Cause

It’s extremely hard to come up with a fundraising marketing campaign. You’re not actually selling anything, and the charity causes are usually something that people don’t like thinking about. Yet some succeed beautifully, as, for example Worldwide Breast Cancer with their social media based KnowYourLemons campaign.

The charity behind it created standalone Facebook and Twitter pages aimed at spreading awareness of the breast cancer symptoms and fundraising. They did everything right, from the catchy hashtag/name of the campaign to visuals, which are absolutely genius. You don’t have to be educated or speak the language to understand the point of the campaign. It’s extremely accessible, and that is what matters a lot in this case. Their Facebook page has a clear CTA as well.

As a result, Worldwide Breast Cancer exceeded their fundraising target by 317% on Just Giving alone, and, no doubt, saved many lives by spreading awareness and encouraging women to do regular checks.

Dumb ways to die

Public safety campaigns generally take a serious tone, using shock and awe tactics to drive home their message. Australia’s most awarded and talked about campaign in recent years is the Metro Trains ‘Dumb Ways to Die’. The campaign launch centered around a melodic music video featuring animated creatures who die in comically unintelligent ways, before finally highlighting that due to train predictability, accidental death due to contact with trains is quite possibly the dumbest way of all.

Melbourne Trains took a different approach by juxtaposing a morbid topic with cute, colorful cartoon characters and a catchy jingle. The risk paid off, with the original video receiving millions of views and sparking a series of videos that would go on to reach over 200 million views

CONCLUSION

I hope that no matter what industry you’re in, this post has inspired you to create awesome content and to not let the tag of “boring” stop you. Digital Marketing is all about engagement, understanding your audiences and creating campaigns that look less like advertising and hence are shareable, fun and interactive.

As a digital marketer, you’ll need to have drive, ambition, creativity and a real passion for the work you’re doing, in addition to the technical and professional skills required. To explore the options of beginning your digital learning journey, explore Inc Academy’s Digital Marketing Courses here.