When it comes to content marketing your primary goal is to provide quality information for people. Create value. Give people what they need.

The mission seems clear, but finding ways to do that can often be challenging. Especially, when it feels like it’s all been done before.

How do you stand out in a crowded space? How do you get your voice heard among all the noise?

John Rampton says that you have to “be everywhere”.

“This doesn’t mean just blogging or being active on social media  – which you should be doing anyways. It literally means to be everywhere. You want to be that brand that people notice when they’re walking down the streets…Some examples would be commissioning a mural on building and covering the streets with chalk, paint or displays. You could also make-up bumper stickers and t-shirts and give them to employees or as freebies at events. They may not be the most unusual, but a creative shirt not only lets people have the chance to be different, it will make others want to jump on board…Get your name out there as much as possible” he continues.

Sometimes stepping outside of the norm maybe just what you need to jump start your traffic. In this article I will take a look at 5 different tactics that you may not have thought about.

1. Be Weird and Unusual

One of the easiest ways to stand out from the pack is to do something not so commonly done. Sure shock factor is a strategy often used and it does work, but what about going in a slightly different direction – be weird and unusual.

Anything that is unusual has the potential to go viral and instantly flood your site with traffic. The key however is that it needs to be done right especially if the integrity of your brand is at stake.

The objective of unusual marketing is to create something that is not seen on a day-to-day basis. I mean let’s face it after awhile advertisements, tweets, Facebook posts, etc. all seem to look the same. So when you create something that captures attention and catches your eye, namely something uncommon, you are more likely to click just out of pure curiosity.

Have you seen the Poo-Pourri video?

It came out a few years ago and in no time hit a million views on YouTube. Today it has over 35 million views.

Ritika Puri a content strategist recently described it as follows:

Yes, this is a real product. And yes, it’s exactly how it sounds. This product is a blend of essential oils that virtually eliminates bathroom odors. It goes without saying that the product is pretty awkward — how do you market something so vulgar?

You own it. You hire a beautiful and hilarious actress, crack poop jokes, and blast your message on YouTube. You end up with a hilarious viral video that  — yes, may leave people cringing — while taking the world by storm.

Lesson learned: Who cares if your product is mundane, boring, or awkward? Make it funny. Take a hilarious joke, amplify it, and push it over the ledge.

Some audiences will be repulsed, but the ones who love what you do? They’ll be your supporters for life.

And if weird and unusual are not your thing maybe try stirring up a little controversy.

Megan Marrs, at WordStream, says “Controversial content always earns attention, but it’s not for the faint of heart – playing with fire can get you burned! Rather than stirring up controversy yourself, the safer road may be to answer or respond to larger industry controversy with your own interpretation.”

Image Source: WordStream

2. Create Custom Tweets

Along the same lines as the previous technique when creating tweets the aim is to stand out from the crowd. You want to find ways to get noticed especially as the life of a tweet is so short.

Vinay Koshy recently wrote, “Most tweets get lost in the live feed; however, with some custom formatting, a tweet is likely to catch a reader’s attention. For example, add line breaks or a unique font and/or a visual to add a change to the usual form of tweets. Consider adding emoji or a fun symbol as well.”

Image Source: Jeff Bullas

Here are the instructions for how you do this.

How to Do It

• Sign in to your account.
• Go to your Settings and click on the Design tab.
• Go to the “Customize Your Own” section.

Image Source: Jeff Bullas

• Click on “Choose File” to upload a background image. Note – images justify to the top left of the screen. Image size needs to be 2560px by 600px and a maximum file size of 3MB.
• Check the box to “Tile Background” if you want your picture to repeat across the background.
• Choose whether your Background position will be left, center or right.
• If your image isn’t very large, choose the background color that will show behind the image.
• Choose a color for links.
• Choose a black or white transparent overlay.
• Click “Save Changes”

3. Communicate With Graphs, Charts & Infographics

One of the easiest ways to convey information quickly is through visual content. So whether you are trying to communicate a complex concept or just needing to break up too much text in a blog post a well crafted graphic will do the trick.

If you are looking for something super simple the image below was created in PowerPoint in just 30 seconds.

Image Source: Bruce Clay, INC

Here are some more great examples from WordStream:

Infographics – We know readers love visual content, and infographics are a prime example of beloved, linkable visual assets.

While the idea of creating a top-notch infographic may sound daunting, it doesn’t have to be hard. You don’t need fancy software – in fact, you can make a decent infographic just using Powerpoint. There are plenty of infographic guides templates out there to get you started. Speaking of…

Useful templates – Templates are another powerful form of visual assets that visitors find extremely helpful. Templates serve as a visual framework that can help users create custom piece without completely starting from scratch. Take this landing page template as an example – it explains the basic layout and fundamentals, letting users get a grasp on great landing page essentials before making their own.

4. The 80 – 20 Rule of Podcast Marketing

Podcasts are a great way to position yourself as an authority in any niche. They can quickly build you a strong following that translates into traffic and sales. The problem is that most people do not use this technique strategically. Therefore, they don’t get the results that they want.

Scott Britton, who has a very popular podcast on iTunes called ‘The Competitive Edge’, says that you should “Publish new episodes at least 3 times a week in the first 8 weeks. iTunes gives you 8 weeks to be featured in the New and Noteworthy section following the day you launch.”

Image Source: Life-Long Learner

He continues to explain that that when starting out your best bed for organic discovery is through New & Noteworthy. The reason it gets so much recognition is due to the fact that it is literally the very first thing people see when they log onto iTunes. High visibility gets clicks.

“It’s unclear exactly how the New & Noteworthy is ranked, but patterns I’ve seen lead me to believe that it’s a velocity-based, popularity algorithm. To be more specific, every time I published a new episode and got a spike in downloads as indicated by the graph below, I’d usually jump to a top 4 spot in the New & Noteworthy section the next time iTunes shuffled the rankings” he continues.

Image Source: Life-Long Learner

Scott explained that as his downloads decreased with time passing with each spike his ranking would too go down. Therefore, he surmised that there must be a correlation between recency of a newly published episode and the increase in ranking. The goal then would be to increase the number of downloads to maintain popularity and rankings.

Below Scott explains exactly how to do this:

The easiest way to increase the number of downloads to your show is to churn out additional episodes. You’ll get downloads from existing subscribers while accruing new ones via iTunes and off-site promotion. This is why I advocate for publishing more than one episode a week like most other podcasters.

Think about it…

The infamous “1 million downloads” podcast number can be achieved by trying to build up your podcast to 20,000 downloads per weekly episode.

20,000 x 52 weeks = 1,040,000 downloads a year

This is really tough unless you already have a huge name like Tim Ferriss.

Or you can reach 1 million downloads by getting to 5,000 subscribers with a 5X a week podcast.

Not only is this a much easier way to achieve “big” podcast numbers that do things like help attract sponsors, but also this will help you spend the most amount of time at the top of New & Noteworthy in the beginning due to the consistent download spikes within short time intervals.

I released an episode 5 times a week for the first 4 weeks by backlogging 20 episodes before I even launched. I couldn’t sustain this rate due to my hectic travel schedule and started putting out 2-3 a week during weeks 5-8. My results were still strong, but I definitely was not optimized for organic iTunes discovery to the degree I was when I was publishing 5X a week.

5. Make Heroes Out of Your Clients

Why do we love heroes so much?

A hero is someone that is brave, courageous, solves problems, stands up to adversity, and is able to lead others.

Today when we think about heroes we often see it synonymous with superheroes. Masked men or women who sweep in to save the day. While they are great and certainly rank in the big bucks at the theaters the real heroes are your customers.

Your customers are coming to you because they have a problem and they are trying to find a resolution. They are taking action in their lives to make change happen and if that is not brave then I don’t know what is.

You have a responsibility to take care of your customers with kitten gloves. They have entrusted in you. They have come to you because they believe that you can help. But most often in the world of marketing we forget about their courage and their bravery. They are the heroes and we need to give them a voice.

Josh Kaufman says that, “As business owners and marketers, we don’t often think of ourselves as storytellers. But telling stories is a universal currency, and whether we realize it or not, narratives play a key role in how we market products to customers.”

Joseph Campbell’s theory of “The Hero’s Journey” provides an outline of the narratives your customers want to experience. Even if this desire is subconscious, customers want to be heroes. They want to admired, respected, powerful, and strong in the face of adversity. They want to draw inspiration from those who have come before them and vanquished a foe.

“Telling your customers a story about how others have used your product to solve a problem or enhance their lives encourages them to learn more about what you have to offer. These stories grab prospective customers’ attention and show them a path toward achieving what they want. The more vivid, clear, and emotionally compelling the story, the more prospects you’ll attract, and you’ll likely have an easier time translating these prospects into sales” continues Josh.

Final Thoughts

Don’t be afraid to try something different. Split test, measure, repeat. Keep trying different things until you find what is giving you the greatest return.

Maybe being weird and unusual is not your thing. It may not fit your brand, but what about finding a way to simply be unique. Sometimes unique can be as simple as design and colour. Branding yourself with a colour or set of colours maybe just the thing to make you stand out. The key here is not to make this rocket science, but to stretch your imagination and creativity – to stand apart.

When it comes to social media be active, but as well try to find those little things that again make you stand out. Maybe it’s an emoticon that you use all the time or a font that is different.

Don’t forget to try exploring with visual media and podcasting. Both tactics can quickly grab someone’s attention.

Most of all remember to make your customers front and center. They are the superheroes so let them be the ones that shine. Simply doing this one thing right, might just be the thing that makes you stand apart from others.