Marketing a new business can feel overwhelming – especially when you’re just starting out.
You have so many other challenges that finding fresh, effective ways to promote your business feels like an impossible mountain to climb.
But here’s the good news.
With just a handful of genius ideas, creating a marketing strategy that drives leads and boosts online sales is possible… and even fun!
In this blog, we’ll explore innovative marketing strategies tailored for new business owners like you who are looking to build something sustainable, impactful, and ultimately profitable.
At least one of these tips will be just the thing you’re looking for.
Let’s get into it.
Is Marketing a New Business Harder Than Marketing an Existing One?
Marketing an established business has some obvious advantages.
One of the biggest is referrals.
Existing businesses often rely on referrals from satisfied customers, which provide trust and credibility.
In fact, studies show that leads generated via referrals have 3-5x higher conversion rates than leads generated via ads or content.
For online businesses, dedicated referral programs (i.e. leveraging past customers to create new customers) can account for 35% of total online purchases when implemented effectively.
As a new business, you can’t tap into referrals.
Marketing a new business is like starting a race from a standstill, whereas established businesses begin with a running start.
4 Advantages in Marketing New Businesses
But established companies face their own hurdles too.
At least 65% of businesses cite generating leads and traffic as their biggest challenge, proving that consistent marketing remains essential for growth.
So if you can master getting leads and sales right at the beginning you’re conquering one of the most challenging aspects of scaling any business.
And you have some advantages in your favor:
- Flexible Branding: You can experiment with bold, fresh branding and pivot based on early feedback.
- Focus on New Clients: With no need to appease an existing customer base, you can design offers and messaging that appeal directly to your target market.
- Time to Build Loyalty: With more flexibility to invest in client relationships, you can create a strong base for future referrals.
- Creative Freedom: No established brand guidelines mean you can be as innovative as needed to capture attention.
For ongoing success both new and established businesses leverage traditional channels like social media, SEO, email marketing, and even outdoor advertising or direct mail.
But in this post, we’ll focus on agile, guerrilla tactics that deliver immediate results.
We’re looking for rapid visibility, leads, and sales.
A new business may start from zero, but with the right approach, you’re setting the stage for long-term success.
23 Genius Ways to Market Any New Business
Genius Urban Marketing Ideas
1. Stickers
Stickers are a simple but highly versatile marketing tool that can quickly capture attention and create buzz for a new business. By designing bold, memorable stickers with your logo or an eye-catching slogan, you can make your brand visible in unexpected places: from laptops and water bottles to lampposts and community boards. Stickers work well for businesses targeting younger audiences, creatives, or anyone who values unique, shareable items.
NOTE: Be aware of the legal repercussions for where you place stickers in public places.
Bonus Tip: Distribute them in popular public spaces or add them to packaging to expand your reach naturally and encourage loyal customers to share your brand.
2. Chalk Writing
Chalk writing is a playful, cost-effective way to get your brand noticed, especially in high-foot-traffic areas. By creating colorful, eye-catching chalk messages on sidewalks or walls, you can turn everyday spaces into your advertising canvas. This strategy is ideal for businesses that want to reach local audiences, such as cafes, small retail shops, or service providers.
Bonus Tip: Use clever, memorable phrases or your website URL to leave a lasting impression and drive curious passersby to your online presence.
3. Paint a Mural
Creating a mural is a powerful way to build brand awareness and add value to your community. A vibrant mural featuring your brand’s name, logo, or unique messaging can turn any blank wall into a memorable visual experience, attracting social media shares and local attention. This approach is particularly effective for brands wanting to connect with their local community, as well as businesses in creative industries or visually-driven niches.
Bonus Tip: Work with a local artist to give the mural a unique, community-focused touch – boosting goodwill while also showcasing your brand’s creative side.
4. Leaflets and Flyers
Creative leaflets and flyers can be an effective way to capture interest, especially when they break from the traditional flyer format. With unique designs – like unusual shapes, bold colors, or interactive elements – flyers can become engaging pieces that people actually want to hold onto and share. This tactic works especially well for new businesses trying to build a local customer base or attract attention at events like markets and festivals.
Bonus Tip: Consider adding a QR code that links to a special offer or exclusive content, making your flyer a multi-dimensional tool that encourages immediate engagement.
Real-life example
The Crust Pizza restaurant in Pristina in Kosovo became famous for its innovative leaflet campaign. The business designed a leaflet that, when folded, looks like a wallet with euro bills sticking out of it. Passersby picked up the wallets and the campaign quickly entered news articles across the world for its ingenuity.
5. Poster Campaign
A poster campaign can be a high-impact, low-cost way to build brand awareness and intrigue, especially in targeted areas like busy streets, cafes, and community boards. By designing visually striking posters with bold messaging and a clear call to action, you can create a lasting impression that encourages people to engage with your brand. This tactic is especially effective for new businesses wanting to quickly capture local attention or for brands looking to drive event attendance.
Bonus Tip: Use QR codes or social media handles on the poster to drive traffic to your online channels and create a seamless offline-to-online journey for potential customers.
6. Billboards
Billboards offer bold, unmissable visibility that can create massive brand awareness in a short amount of time. Strategically placed along busy highways, popular streets, or in high-traffic urban areas, billboards can capture the attention of countless passersby and make a strong statement about your brand. This method works especially well for brands with eye-catching logos, memorable taglines, or creative visuals that stick in viewers’ minds long after they’ve driven by.
Bonus Tip: Use a short, punchy message and a simple design to ensure the message lands fast. Incorporating a QR code on digital billboards can make it easy for viewers to interact with your brand immediately.
7. Door Hangers
Door hanger adverts are an effective and direct way to reach customers right at their doorstep. By placing door hangers with engaging designs and clear messaging, you can make your brand memorable while bypassing crowded digital channels. This tactic works particularly well for local businesses or service providers looking to target specific neighborhoods, such as home service companies, real estate agents, or restaurants offering delivery.
NOTE: Be sensitive to homeowners and where you choose to place your door hangers, to avoid any angry repercussions.
Bonus Tip: Include a limited-time discount or special offer on the door hanger to motivate immediate action and make the most of this direct touchpoint.
Real-life example
Scotch Pools in Austin, Texas, used a door-hanger campaign that targeted only homes with swimming pools. The hanger offered the company’s weekly pool maintenance services. It was a success and helped the business pull in new clients who hadn’t heard of them before.
8. Business Cards
Business cards remain a timeless and highly personal marketing tool that can leave a lasting impression. Unlike digital messages, a well-designed card is a tangible reminder of your brand, especially effective for creating connections at events, networking meetups, or local businesses. Business cards are ideal for professionals and businesses looking to make a direct, personal connection with potential clients or collaborators, such as consultants, freelancers, and small business owners.
Bonus Tip: Consider adding a QR code linking to your website or portfolio to make it easy for recipients to connect with you online. A unique material or design, like a matte finish or embossed logo, can also make your card stand out.
9. Van Wrapping
Van wrapping is a powerful form of mobile advertising that turns your company vehicle into a traveling billboard. With eye-catching designs, branded logos, and memorable contact information, wrapped vehicles can build brand recognition and attract attention wherever they go. This approach is particularly effective for service-oriented businesses with local routes, like plumbers, landscapers, or food delivery companies, allowing them to maximize exposure while traveling to jobs or delivering goods.
Bonus Tip: Include a QR code or website URL on the van to encourage viewers to learn more about your services, even when they’re on the go. A bold, memorable color scheme can also help your vehicle stand out on the road.
10. Scavenger Hunts
Hosting a scavenger hunt is a creative way to engage your audience, build brand awareness, and encourage foot traffic to specific locations. By hiding clues, products, or branded items in various spots and sharing the hunt details on social media, you can spark excitement and generate buzz around your business. Scavenger hunts are ideal for brands with a local presence or those aiming to drive interaction and engagement, especially in the retail, entertainment, or hospitality industries.
Bonus Tip: Partner with other local businesses to expand the scavenger hunt footprint, adding value for participants and fostering community connections while boosting visibility.
Real-life example
The Old State Saloon bar in Eagle, Idaho, created a month-long scavenger hunt that brought in over 100 participants. The hunt asked people to find unique posters of legendary outlaws scattered around town. As a reward for finding all the posters first, one winner won a giant teddy bear – but you can customize your reward to promote your business.
Genius Lead Generation Ideas
11. Picture Contests
Picture upload contests are a fun and highly engaging way to encourage customer interaction while building brand visibility. By inviting users to send themed photos and offering a prize for the best entry, you can generate leads. This tactic is great for brands looking to grow leads fast – and you can choose your medium of distribution based on where your target audience is.
Bonus Tip: Offering a creative or valuable prize can encourage more participation and motivate people to share widely.
Real-life example
The marketer John Dwyer ran a picture contest in Australia that netted in three years’ worth of business for a new fencing company. The competition was called ‘The Ugliest Fence in Australia’. It was promoted via radio ads, and asked listeners to send in photos of their ugly fences with the worst example winning a free fence makeover. The business then followed up to make personalized offers for each participant who hadn’t won.
12. Tiny Challenges
Tiny Challenges are mini 5-day coaching sprints designed to deliver a valuable outcome in a short timeframe, making them highly effective for attracting clients to a service-based business. Pioneered by Richmond Dinh and used with great success by ClickFunnels co-founder Russell Brunson, Tiny Challenges offers prospective clients a taste of your coaching or services without the commitment of a long-term program. These mini-sprints work well because they focus on solving a specific pain point or achieving a quick win, giving participants immediate value and confidence in your expertise.
Bonus Tip: Offer a Tiny Challenge that directly addresses a pressing issue for your target audience, like increasing productivity or gaining clarity on a goal, and provides a meaningful result that leaves them wanting more.
13. MIFGE
The MIFGE, or “Most Incredible Free Gift Ever,” is an unforgettable lead magnet designed to grab attention by offering an irresistibly valuable, free gift to potential leads. This type of offer generates excitement and buzz, drawing in a large audience eager to claim the exclusive item and engage with your brand. The MIFGE is ideal for businesses looking to quickly grow their email list, promote a product, or make an upsell opportunity with future follow-ups to keep the audience engaged. The MIFGE concept was invented by veteran marketer Dan Kennedy, whose business Magnetic Marketing was acquired by ClickFunnels.
Bonus Tip: Make your MIFGE something truly valuable and relevant to your audience’s interests – whether it’s a tool, resource, or exclusive access – to boost conversion rates and maximize long-term engagement.
Real-life example
Click Funnels co-founder Russell Brunson is an expert in using squeeze pages and free offers to turn leads into sales via upsells and cross sells. One perfect example is how he bought Dan Kennedy’s company Magnetic Marketing and created $1 million in sales in the first 30 days with a MIFGE. You can watch the video of Russell’s MIFGE offer here.
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14. Gated Video
A gated video is a highly engaging way to capture leads by building curiosity and requesting an email address at a key moment in the content. Developed initially by Voomly (later acquired by ClickFunnels), this tool allows viewers to access the first part of a video for free and prompts them to enter their email to continue. This strategy works well because it creates suspense and leverages the viewer’s interest, making them more likely to subscribe. Gated videos are particularly effective for educational content, webinars, and demos, where your audience is eager to gain valuable insights.
Bonus Tip: Incentivize lead generation further by offering a free e-book, cheatsheet, or other valuable resource alongside the gated video. This doubles the perceived value and gives subscribers an extra reason to engage with your brand.
15. Lead Magnets
Lead magnets are valuable, free resources you offer in exchange for a user’s contact information, such as an email address. By giving away something of real value – like an e-book, template, or exclusive guide – you can attract qualified leads who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer. This strategy is particularly effective for online businesses, educational platforms, and service providers, as it encourages engagement and builds your email list for further marketing opportunities.
Bonus Tip: Ensure your lead magnet addresses a specific pain point for your target audience and delivers a quick win, making them more likely to see your brand as a go-to resource and continue engaging with your content.
Genius Social Media Marketing Ideas
16. Viral Content Upgrades
Viral content upgrades take the classic lead magnet to a new level by encouraging users not just to subscribe but to share your content to receive a valuable resource. Instead of simply asking for an email address, you request that the reader shares the post on social media in exchange for the lead magnet, turning every download into a potential new source of visibility for your brand. This strategy is especially effective for blog posts, guides, and how-to content, where readers are likely to find the lead magnet highly relevant and worth sharing.
Bonus Tip: Offer a lead magnet closely tied to the content’s main topic – such as a detailed checklist, cheat sheet, or template – so readers feel it’s a natural extension and worth sharing with their networks. This way, you increase both lead generation and reach simultaneously.
17. TikTok Trends
Leveraging TikTok trends is a powerful way to build brand visibility by tapping into popular content that’s already generating high engagement. By participating in trending challenges, audio clips, or hashtags and creatively weaving in your products or services, you can catch the attention of a massive audience in a way that feels natural and entertaining. This approach is particularly effective for brands targeting younger audiences or anyone looking to increase their social media following quickly, as TikTok’s algorithm favors fresh, engaging content that aligns with trending topics.
Bonus Tip: Choose trends that naturally connect with your brand’s message or personality, and use engaging captions or calls to action to encourage viewers to follow your account or visit your site for more.
Real-life example
South Florida repair shop Clancy’s Auto Body got 6.3 million likes, 156k followers, and interviews on NBC and Business Insider within a week of posting their first-ever video on TikTok. The video was a trending type of TikTok video with a cartoon cat and a caption reading: “Guys I lied on my resume and got a job doing the social media of this body shop, please blow this up so I don’t get fired.”
18. Contests to Grow Followers
Running a contest is a proven strategy to grow your social media following while creating excitement around your brand. By offering a prize in exchange for following your account, tagging friends, or sharing the post, you can quickly boost engagement and expand your audience. This approach is especially effective on platforms like Instagram and Facebook, where followers can easily spread the word through tagging and sharing, bringing in more potential followers with each entry.
Bonus Tip: Offer a prize that resonates with your target audience, such as a product sample or a service discount, to attract followers who are genuinely interested in your brand and more likely to engage long-term.
19. Leverage Influencers
Partnering with influencers is a powerful way to tap into a new, highly engaged audience that already trusts the voice behind the recommendation. By working with influencers who align with your brand’s values and appeal to your target market, you can quickly build credibility and awareness while reaching potential customers who may not be familiar with your business. This strategy works particularly well for lifestyle, fashion, beauty, and tech brands, where influencer recommendations can drive traffic and encourage purchases.
Bonus Tip: Look for micro-influencers (influencers with a smaller, highly engaged following) in your niche to gain authentic engagement at a lower cost and focus on building long-term relationships for consistent exposure.
Genius Content Marketing Ideas
20. Write a ‘How to’ Guide
Creating a “how-to” guide blog post is an effective way to showcase expertise while providing real value to your audience. By addressing a specific problem and breaking down a clear, step-by-step solution, you can attract readers who are actively searching for answers and build trust with them as an authority in your field. This strategy works particularly well for service-based businesses, educational sites, or any business targeting people interested in skill-building, as it engages a motivated audience looking for practical advice.
Bonus Tip: Use images, examples, and clear subheadings to make each step easy to follow, and consider adding a downloadable checklist or template for added value.
21. Repurpose an Interview as Content
Conducting an interview with an expert in your field allows you to gather unique insights and first-hand knowledge that can be repurposed into highly engaging content. By transforming the interview into an actionable article, podcast, or social media series, you can provide your audience with valuable tips or strategies while boosting your brand’s authority. This approach works especially well for businesses in consulting, coaching, or education, where expert perspectives resonate deeply with audiences.
Bonus Tip: Break the interview into multiple pieces of content, such as key takeaways, quotes, or “top tips,” and distribute them across platforms to maximize reach and engagement.
Real-life example
In the video below, ClickFunnels co-founder Russell Brunson tells the story of his first $1 million sales funnel. Russell interviewed Vince James, author of The 12 Month Millionaire, who packaged the recording up as a product, and sold it for $37. He also sold a physical copy of Vince James’ book as an upsell.
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22. Write a Case Study
Case studies are detailed accounts of your past successes, showing how you solved specific problems for clients and achieved measurable results. By demonstrating your expertise through real-world examples, case studies help potential clients understand the value of your services and envision similar success for themselves. This approach works particularly well for consultants, agencies, and service providers, as it builds credibility and offers concrete evidence of your impact.
Bonus Tip: Include visuals like charts or before-and-after comparisons to highlight key results, and focus on outcomes that address common challenges faced by your target audience.
23. Leverage the Public Domain
Utilizing public domain works is a creative way to offer valuable content without creating it from scratch. Since the copyright has expired on books, stories, and even some historical guides, you can repurpose these texts into lead magnets, like downloadable e-books or free guides, for your squeeze page. This approach is especially effective for education, literature, and self-help brands looking to attract a readership interested in classic insights, wisdom, or foundational knowledge.
Bonus Tip: Customize or update the content with modern commentary or additional resources, making it more relevant and attractive to your target audience while preserving the original value.
Real-life example
In 2023, ClickFunnels co-founder Russell Brunson launched a membership site focused on republishing works from the New Thought movement. These are authors like Napoleon Hill, Charles F. Haanel, Orison Swett Marden, and more. Most of these works are no longer under copyright so there is no cost to re-use them. The Secrets of Success membership starts at $97/ month. You can check out the sales page here.
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Final Thoughts: Experiment With High-Impact Tactics to Grow Your Business
Each of these marketing ideas offers a creative way to generate leads or boost sales quickly.
They’re especially useful for a quick impact.
By experimenting with these tactics, you can discover what resonates most with your audience and keeps them coming back for more.
But what if you get clicks, shares, and visibility but no real results?
For turning eyeballs into engaged leads and sales, ClickFunnels is the ultimate platform.
With powerful tools to capture leads, create upsells, cross sells, and nurture customers all in one place, ClickFunnels is built to help you grow your business efficiently.
Take your best ideas from visibility to conversion in our free 14-day trial.