The Basics of Guerrilla Marketing

Marketing is crucial to any type of business. It is one of the most important aspects that sustain the growth of the business.

Today, there are many marketing strategies that are being used by companies. Gone are the days when marketing was limited to traditional methods such as paid ads on television, radio, and newspapers. While traditional marketing is still used today, there is a new approach that is being adopted by many businesses and companies, big and small – guerrilla marketing.

Guerrilla marketing was first used by Jay Conrad Levinson in his book in 1984. He described guerrilla marketing as a non-traditional and unconventional ways of advertising, promoting and marketing a business. With guerrilla marketing, you will not have to spend so much because what will be required of you is energy, information, knowledge, creativity, and imagination. Here you will be making use of your connections and contacts so that you can establish a larger network, and be able to spread your brand by getting noticed and being talked about.

This type of marketing is basically conceptualized to help small businesses, although there are not bigger companies that adapt to this type of marketing strategy. Guerrilla marketing does not have to be complicated. It does not have to be extravagant or flashy. The only important thing here is that it should be done right, and it has to make an impact so that people will easily remember the brand. If you are starting out on your own business, there would be nothing to lose if you will give guerrilla marketing a try.

Here are the guerrilla marketing basics that you need to know and understand.

1. Your ads must be seen in public places

This one is pretty basic. Of course, in order for you to increase the visibility of your brand, your ads must be placed in public places and as much as possible, they have to be seen in places where there is high foot traffic. Aside from making it public, it has to be catchy so that it can easily get the attention of your target audience. If for example, you are posting a video on Facebook, the caption must be catchy enough so that it can easily go viral.

2. You need to go to the right places

Whether you are using traditional or non-traditional marketing methods, you need to make sure that these are done in the right places. It is important that you choose the right location to attract as much audience as you can. This is what’s needed by small businesses. You need to advertise your brand where you are present locally because your consumers will prefer going to nearby places. You cannot expect people from faraway places to visit unless you have already established your brand and have become popular.

3. Strike the right balance

While most guerrilla marketing strategies are surprising, it is important that you know how to strike a balance between being familiar and surprising. You cannot settle with just being too familiar, otherwise, people will find you boring and they will not be interested to try your brand. On the other hand, if you become too surprising, it might push people away instead of attracting them. You still have to be careful that while you are trying to be entertaining, you are not too bold to the point where you seem offensive.

4. Consider your audience’s reception

When doing marketing or any form of advertisement, you always have to consider whether your audience will be receptive when they see the ads. For example, when you put your ads on a very busy street, people may not have the time to ponder on what they see. Yes, they may see your ad but it might not sink in, and that means your strategy may not be 100 percent successful and effective. You need not to just catch the attention of your target audience; it is also important for you to know and consider whether they are digesting the message that you are trying to get across. And of course, you have to make sure that it just does not stop with marketing and that you still produce quality product and service.