4 Risky Marketing Ideas That Paid Off
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In the marketing world, it often pays to take risks. But many marketers and entrepreneurs are intimidated at the idea of taking a bold action. It’s a reasonable reluctance, especially for new businesses with limited experience or limited resources with which to fund a campaign. However, risk taking is vitally important if you want your marketing strategies to pay off in the long term, and there are countless brand examples that prove this true.
Why Risk Taking Is Important
First, let’s take a look at some of the reasons why risk taking is important in marketing in the first place:
· Distinguish yourself. One of the most important considerations for any marketing campaign is how you’re going to stand out from the competition and become more visible to your customers. Without that distinction, your campaign won’t generate enough visibility or recognition to be effective. Taking a risk automatically distinguishes you — if for no other reason than the fact that so few others have taken this risk.
· Break plateaus. Taking risks also allows you to break through the plateaus of your marketing initiatives. When you rely on the same old marketing strategies, over and over, you’re going to see the same results, over and over. This is safe, and it might even give you a decent return, but it won’t allow you to live up to your full potential.
· Encourage loyalty. Many marketers fear taking risks because they might polarize their audiences, but this polarization can actually be a good thing. You might end up alienating some portion of your audience with your risks, but the portion that remains may be much more loyal to you as a result — and that can often be well worth the tradeoff.
Examples of Risk Taking Success
Now let’s take a look at some brands that took major risks and saw some huge payoffs:
1. Dominos changes everything. Dominos pizza pivoted hard a few years ago when they decided they were going to change everything about their pizza — and their image. They completely upgraded their product line, using new ingredients and new recipes to appeal to a new crowd. But more importantly, they chose to criticize and even make fun of their old products, referring to their crust as “cardboard.” It…
