Guerrilla marketing for small businesses is a methodology that those companies with limited budgets should explore. With the national economy still in a somewhat weak state, it is important to adopt a novel approach to reaching out to target audiences that will help your business to get noticed.
Many new concepts come and go in relation to business promotion, but guerrilla marketing has stood the test of time.
Creative, High-Impact, Cheap
It is perhaps because it involves a number of different activities and methods that it is still an approach used extensively. The focus is on creating campaigns that are creative, high impact, and which only require limited funds. It offers small businesses an effective means of competing with larger organizations.
Jay Conrad Levinson
If you are not so familiar with this marketing concept, it can be of use to take a moment to broaden your knowledge and understanding. It is an approach that was first proposed in the mid 1980’s by marketer Jay Conrad Levinson. He suggested a number of highly effective ideas which could be utilized by individuals and businesses with access to limited budgets.
A Break From Traditional Marketing
There is an emphasis on ingenuity and creativity of the marketer as opposed to spending a huge amount of money to try and get a message heard. It can involve using those methods that are often overlooked and unknown to businesses that adhere to conventional approaches. The activities can often exist outside of the channels that are used in most regular campaigns. It is an approach that eschews traditional techniques such as the use of newspaper ads or radio commercials.
Whatever You Do, Don’t Be Boring
Though not all guerrilla marketing campaigns have the results that are desired, those that do are successful usually because they are fresh and unique. Such strategies are usually eye catching, or capture the minds of a target audience with a greater impact than boring traditional ideas.
Think about your own buying habits, would you be impressed by a business that uses the same approach to marketing as countless other firms, or would you give your custom to those companies that adopt a novel methodology. When Levinson first proposed this approach, he specifically suggested the value to small businesses.
As such enterprises do not have access to the capital that larger companies have, it is more important to know how to reach out to the market by utilizing only those resources that are available. For businesses with a small turnover, it is important that they are able to promote their services and products without having to take out expensive loans.
All You Need Is A Great Idea
There are literally dozens of useful ideas which can form a part of a comprehensive guerrilla marketing campaign. Which are best used would depend upon factors such as what actual industry a business is involved in, the age group you are planning to reach out to, and whether you operate online or offline. The aim should be to develop a plan that utilizes methods and channels that are relevant to your company and industry, but which may be a surprise to prospective customers.
Viral Marketing
Viral marketing is certainly a method that should be considered. With people now spending more time online on a growing basis, there are many ways in which you can use the internet to reach out to your target audience. For example, you could create a spoof website which creates waves online. After a certain amount of time and publicity, you could take the site down and redirect traffic to your actual portal.
Publicity Stunts
Publicity stunts are also an idea that can be worth exploring. If you are in the clothing business, how about paying some people to run semi-nude through your local town with the name of your business spray painted on their bodies. This would certainly receive attention and may even get your business’ name in local papers.
If you would like to reach out to a market in a specific town or region, you could project your business’ logo on to a prominent building at night. This would be a lot more effective than using a billboard to spread awareness of your presence. Though the cost may not necessarily cheap, it would still be a more affordable approach than many traditional methods.
Be Unique
There are no real boundaries when it comes to guerrilla marketing for small businesses. The goal is to be as creative as you can and put together campaigns that are fresh and exciting. Instead of following or copying other businesses methods, consider how you can reach out to your market using your own unique strategy.
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Photo credit: Glenn Pebley