If you have ever worked in marketing you’ll know that it usually comes down to best value for the money spent, or “best bang for the buck”. A grand and expensive marketing campaign may sound like something that is needed, but usually such things are severely restricted by budget. One way of getting around this is with something called “Guerrilla Marketing”. An example of this is to deliver flyers or promotional products on the street to passersby. Low cost but high gain as you engage potential clients directly and in person.
Guerrilla Marketing is an advertisement strategy designed for businesses to promote their products or services in an unconventional way with, usually, very little budget. It involves utilising public spaces as an arena for marketing and can involve events, handing out flyers or promotional items, or any other way of engaging the clients emotionally, using more unconventional means than billboards or TV spots. One of the challenging aspects of this kind of marketing can be that it require quite a lot of imagination to design the campaign in a way that catches the eye of the clients.
There are several forms of guerrilla marketing, and they are usually categorised as follows:
Ambient Marketing – The use of the environment for your marketing. Virtually any surface, located in public spaces, can be used for this. For example, park benches, bus stops, telephone poles.
Ambush Marketing – Setting up shop at events to benefit from the publicity of said event without being officially connected to it. For example, handing out flyers outside a stadiumon match day. You reap the benefits of the publicity of the match, while not paying for the privilege of being an official sponsor.
Stealth Marketing–Getting people involved with the products without them obviously being part of a marketing campaign. Examples are product placement in movies, or celebrities being paid to wear different brands of clothes.
Viral Marketing – Campaign with the goal of using people to spread a certain message on social media. This could be in the form of contests, referrals or any other way of encouraging people to share the company’s message with their contacts.
Street Marketing – There are several ways of utilising street marketing. The most commonly used form is the distribution of flyers or promotional items but it can also be events such as flash-mobs or having your ad/logo on vehicles like taxis and buses.
While billboards and TV ads may be the go-to, traditional, choice of marketing, if you are on a budget, and want new ways of reaching your customers, guerrilla marketing may be your best option. It gives your clients an exciting experience and may help you stand out from the crowd, which may be very beneficial if you are a young company, or just want to be remembered in a unique way.