Guerrilla marketing is the strategy of using unconventional means to promote your business or product. Its aim is to generate street level buzz and excitement. Guerrilla marketing turns heads because it is unique, engaging and unexpected. It is popular with smaller businesses and startups because it’s a method of advertising that is based on creativity, time and effort rather than a big fiscal budget. But because it can be controversial and very effective, many larger companies have spent big on guerrilla marketing campaigns. But with the way social networking and advancements in technology are overtaking the way businesses interact with the public, are guerrilla marketing campaigns still current, relevant and worthwhile?
Gorilla Marketing
The more interesting and clever a guerrilla marketing campaign is, the more effective it will be. If it is a large abstract piece of art in a public place, for example, the more intriguing it is the more people will stop to look at it. If it’s something small and portable, like an object or pamphlet, the more exciting it is the more people will pass it on to their friends. A guerrilla campaign is very self-propagating in that respect, just like a video going viral online. Guerrilla marketing reached its peak of popularity in the 1980’s, but when it’s done well it is still highly effective, even today.
Is it Right for Your Business?
If you’re a small company with a fresh attitude and small advertising budget, you could explore a guerrilla marketing campaign. You just need a very creative and motivated team to pull it off. Almost any company can benefit from guerrilla marketing, but it especially suited for businesses that are against-the-grain and alternative to the mainstream in some way. It should fit the overall personality of your company.
What are the Benefits?
Besides being very inexpensive, there are other benefits to using guerrilla marketing tactics. You have the ability to directly engage with people on a face-to-face level, so it can be much more personal than online. You can more effectively target your audience by focusing on specific geographic locations. There are endless possibilities to how you can run your guerrilla marketing campaign, and you’re not limited to the medium of text, video or 2D images like you are on the web. You can go as big and as out-there are you want. When done right, guerrilla marketing has the potential to cause much more of a stir based on its uniqueness than any online campaign.
Online Integration
You don’t have to completely abandon online marketing for guerrilla. Guerrilla marketing is easy to integrate with your virtual strategy as well. Pull elements of style or message from your guerrilla campaign and integrate them into your social networking profiles and online ads. Things like QR codes enable people to instantly connect to more information on the web. An original and intriguing web address posted in the right places will encourage people to log on and find meaning. And with the way people are connected at all times, you may find you don’t have to do much work for your guerrilla campaign to go viral on the web. Any passerby can quickly snap a picture and post it online, and people will be likely to do that for your guerrilla campaign if it is very visually striking. With a well-designed guerrilla marketing campaign, your company’s name and idea can become famous or infamous for its originality and character.
From the pen of Terry Ford a professional writer and researcher. Terry loves technology and marketing and utilizes tools such as Grammarly grammar checker to verify the quality of her content.
