Ice Cream Shop Business

54 Marketing Ideas For An Ice Cream Shop Business (2024)

Pat Walls

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Updated: March 6th, 2023

Ice Cream Shop Business Marketing Ideas

Wondering how to market your ice cream shop business?

Marketing your ice cream shop business is certainly not easy, but there are many ways to promote and advertise your ice cream shop business.

We put together a list of the best marketing ideas for your ice cream shop business, so you can get your small business out there.

Content

Content marketing is a marketing approach where businesses create and distribute valuable and consistent content to attract and retain their target audience.

Marketing Idea	Level Of Difficulty	Cost	Result
YouTube Video Content ➜	Medium	Low	Brand Exposure
Customer Reviews ➜	Easy	Free	Trust & Credibility
Event Videos ➜	Easy	Medium	Brand Exposure
Product Launch Video ➜	Easy	Low	Trust & Credibility
Employee Testimonial Video ➜	Easy	Free	Brand Exposure

Relationships

Relationship marketing is a long-term strategy based on building and growing strong relationships with customers.

Marketing Idea	Level Of Difficulty	Cost	Result
Customer Service ➜	Medium	Free	Brand Loyalty
Customer Of The Month ➜	Easy	Low	Brand Loyalty

Sales

Sales refer to all activities and strategies that lead to the selling of products and services.

Marketing Idea	Level Of Difficulty	Cost	Result
Direct Sales ➜	Medium	High	Lead Generation
Competitor analysis ➜	Medium	Low	Product Quality
Corporate gifts ➜	Easy	Low	Brand Loyalty
Mobile Marketing ➜	Easy	Low	Lead Generation
Promoted Listings ➜	Easy	Medium	Lead Generation
Shared Store ➜	Medium	Low	Brand Exposure
Free Sample Marketing ➜	Easy	Low	Lead Generation

Email

Email marketing is a strategy used to promote a product or service through email while developing relationships with customers. Email marketing can include newsletters, updates on the company, or promotions of sales and discounts for subscribers.

Marketing Idea	Level Of Difficulty	Cost	Result
Email marketing ➜	Easy	Free	Brand Awareness
Emailing List ➜	Medium	Free	Engagement
Dedicated (Stand Alone) Emails ➜	Easy	Free	Lead Generation
Brand Story Email ➜	Easy	Free	Lead Generation
Co-marketing Emails ➜	Medium	Free	Trust & Credibility
Product Feedback Emails ➜	Easy	Free	Product Quality
Holiday Email Campaign ➜	Easy	Free	Lead Generation
Milestone Email ➜	Easy	Free	Lead Generation

Organic social media marketing is any social media activity with no paid promotion. This type of marketing is very effective and can be done using free social media tools.

Marketing Idea	Level Of Difficulty	Cost	Result
Social Media Advertising ➜	Easy	Medium	Lead Generation
Yelp reviews ➜	Easy	Free	Trust & Credibility
Create TikTok Marketing Videos ➜	Easy	Free	Engagement
Repurpose TikTok Content ➜	Easy	Low	Brand Exposure
Social Media Engagement ➜	Easy	Low	Engagement
Instagram Reels ➜	Easy	Free	Engagement
Caption Contest ➜	Easy	Low	Engagement
Social Media In Email Footers ➜	Easy	Free	Engagement

Word Of Mouth

Word of mouth marketing is a strategy used to generate organic discussions about a brand, company, or event. These discussions are typically a result of an extraordinary customer experience.

Marketing Idea	Level Of Difficulty	Cost	Result
Word of mouth ➜	Medium	Free	Brand Awareness
Referral Program ➜	Easy	Low	Brand Exposure
User Generated Content (UGC) ➜	Easy	Free	Brand Exposure
Loyalty Partnership Program ➜	Easy	Low	Trust & Credibility

Affiliate

Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing where a company compensates a third party for each visitor or customer brought as a result of the affiliate's marketing efforts. Businesses typically pay per sale or per click/impression.

Marketing Idea	Level Of Difficulty	Cost	Result
Pay Per Click Advertising	Medium	Low	Brand Exposure

SEO

SEO, otherwise known as "search engine optimization" refers to the practice of increasing website traffic through organic search results.

Marketing Idea	Level Of Difficulty	Cost	Result
SEO Strategy ➜	Medium	Medium	SEO

Paid social media marketing refers to any social media effort that is influenced by advertising dollars.

Marketing Idea	Level Of Difficulty	Cost	Result
Search engine marketing (SEM) ➜	Medium	High	Lead Generation
Pinterest ads ➜	Easy	Low	Brand Exposure
Yelp ads ➜	Easy	Low	Brand Exposure
Tik Tok Creator Partnership ➜	Easy	Free	Brand Exposure
Instagram Story Ad ➜	Easy	Free	Lead Generation
Explore Ads ➜	Easy	Low	Brand Awareness

Buzz

Buzz Marketing focuses on creating excitement among consumers about a particular product, service, or brand. The goal is to leverage word-of-mouth marketing across a wide audience.

Marketing Idea	Level Of Difficulty	Cost	Result
Press Release ➜	Medium	Medium	Brand Exposure
Geographic Expansion ➜	Hard	High	Brand Exposure
Product expansion ➜	Medium	Medium	Brand Exposure
Buzz Campaigning ➜	Easy	Low	Brand Awareness

Events

Event marketing (both online or offline) promotes a brand, product, or service through hosting or attending a real-time event.

Marketing Idea	Level Of Difficulty	Cost	Result
Trade Show ➜	Medium	Medium	Lead Generation
Networking Event ➜	Easy	Low	Brand Awareness
Webinar ➜	Medium	Medium	Trust & Credibility

Print + Traditional

Print marketing includes advertising through magazines, newspapers, and other media publications.

Marketing Idea	Level Of Difficulty	Cost	Result
Offline advertising (flyers, etc) ➜	Medium	High	Brand Exposure
Print Media Marketing ➜	Medium	Medium	Brand Awareness
Direct Mail Campaign ➜	Medium	Low	Brand Awareness
Direct Mail QR Codes ➜	Easy	Free	Lead Generation
Branded Merchandise ➜	Medium	Medium	Brand Awareness