“If you’re a good marketing person, you have to be a little crazy!” ~ Jim Metcalf
Guerrilla marketing is an advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a product or service. It is a type of publicity stunt.The term was popularized by Jay Conrad Levinson's 1984 book Guerrilla Marketing.
When it comes to guerrilla marketing, this saying is spot on. This sector of marketing necessitates an equal mix of originality, creativity, and crazy outside-the-box thinking. As a guerrilla marketer, it's unquestionably your job to make your audience go ‘Wow!’
However, if your business is currently using traditional marketing, then you are missing out on an incredibly valuable opportunity. This amazing guerrilla marketing opportunity will allow your campaign to grab more attention and generate more leads, customers, and sales.
To fulfill those aspects, let’s learn from this comprehensive guide. Here we will break down each and every aspect associated with guerrilla marketing. It will help you to discover innovative and creative tactics to finally get the attention that your business deserves. Let’s take a look at what we will cover further:
- What’s Guerrilla Marketing
- History of Guerrilla Marketing
- Statistical Data of Guerrilla Marketing
- How Guerrilla Marketing Works
- Purpose of Guerrilla Marketing
- Guerrilla Marketing Aspects
- Key Elements of Guerrilla Marketing
- Different Types of Guerrilla Marketing
- Steps for Guerrilla Marketing Campaign
- Advantages of Guerrilla Marketing
- Guerrilla Marketing Examples
- Frequently Asked Questions on Guerrilla Marketing (FAQs)
Let’s dive in!
What’s Guerrilla Marketing?
Guerrilla Marketing is a strategic term used among businesses or brands to endorse their products or services that would astonish the audience. Further, it refers to low-cost, unique marketing tactics that generate huge profits. Nevertheless, it is more efficient than traditional marketing.
Its purpose is to generate buzz around a product or brand. It would help to increase the possibility that a customer would buy the product or service or share information with others.
For small businesses, guerrilla marketing can be incredibly cost-effective with low investment. Also, it would create a huge impression on the public. Guerrilla marketing is a marketing tactic in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a product or service.
Guerrilla marketing aims to achieve the same objectives as large-scale paid advertising campaigns. However, the only difference here is that the former works without incurring such enormous costs. This is the foundation of a guerrilla marketing campaign.
Guerrilla marketing is an edgy marketing approach focuses on two goals: 1) get media attention, and 2) make a positive and memorable connection with your target audience. Many noteworthy guerrilla campaigns, like Nike Livestrong, focus on creating an experience that embodies the spirit of the brand.
Among those that spring to mind as big-budget exponents of guerrilla advertising are Coca-Cola, Burger King, and Red Bull.
Moreover, it has the potential to be a far more fascinating tool, with a high value in terms of improving communication between the businesses and the target audience.
History of Guerrilla Marketing
The term— Guerrilla Marketing was first introduced by Jay Conrad Levinson in the book with the same name. It was published in 1983. Interestingly, the concept was inspired by guerilla warfare, a word that has been used to describe unconventional military tactics for ages.
As we already know, guerrilla warfare used unconventional tactics such as ambushes, raids, and hit-and-run operations to shock, awe, and ultimately defeat the opponent.
Jay Conrad Levinson studied guerrilla warfare's success and applied it to marketing. Moreover, he explained that "shock and awe" strategies were extremely efficient at generating awareness, increasing popularity, and gaining support for a company's product or service.
Later, brands and businesses began to implement this approach to endorse their products or services. To adapt to social media and the digital world, specific strategies have evolved throughout time. However, the underlying concepts have not changed.
Statistical Data of Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla marketing isn't as widespread as, say, email or social media marketing. As a result, it's difficult to assess its overall effectiveness. We compiled data on the effectiveness of employing unique techniques to brand promotion to see if they work.
- In Germany, 27% of decision-makers utilize non-traditional marketing to promote their business.
- 54 percent of purchasing decisions are influenced by word-of-mouth.
- Guerrilla marketers spend 90 percent less on advertising. It is because they use unconventional approaches.
Moreover, guerrilla marketing may drive your potential customers into a purchase while also helping you save money on marketing. Even so, this strategy benefits just a small fraction of marketers.
How Guerrilla Marketing Works
We all know how successful guerilla marketing can be. It can attract the audience's attention and be an effective tool for brand exposure even without a large cost. What exactly is the reason for this?
Create Buzz
A great marketing effort requires creating a buzz around your brand. You get free publicity when you get other people to talk about your brand.
Even better, new potential clients will be more responsive to hearing about you through their friends and family as compared to an ad campaign. All of this can also help you go viral, which is a fantastic way to get the word out about your company.
Stand Ahead from Competitors
The saturation of the market is one of the major issues facing firms attempting to advertise themselves nowadays. People have become so accustomed to commercials that they are practically immune to them.
However, you need to stay ahead of the curve if you want to be successful. It's difficult to do that if you're following the same game as everyone else. Moreover, to stand out from the crowd— you come up with unique ideas, inventive campaigns, and other guerilla techniques.
Builds Network
One of the most important advantages of any street marketing strategy is the chance to contact potential customers one-on-one. It is the best strategy instead of forms on a website or behind a profile image and username on social media.
This is an opportunity for you to form a genuine bond with a consumer. Allow them to see your enthusiasm and passion; they will respond and engage.
Advertising
Today's advertising is more difficult than ever before. Modern audiences are immune to marketing ploys and will go to great lengths to avoid them.
Some people's aversion to advertising extends to the business or product being advertised. Moreover, they won't purchase it since the marketing for it was so unpleasant. However, you can avoid this by using more subtle and stealthy techniques of marketing.
People won't notice they're looking at marketing if you do your job well. In addition, they'll assume they're viewing street art or a performance. This is how you market to people who don't appreciate being sold to in the first place.
Purpose of Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla marketing has the same goal as any other style of marketing. The primary purpose is to raise awareness of a product, service, or brand in order to attract potential customers and convert them into loyal customers.
Apart from that, it achieves something just as valuable and much stronger than traditional ways. It offers higher long-term visibility and lasts longer.
The main goal is to surprise everyone, including the competition, by turning 180 degrees and leaving them with a lasting impression. Guerrilla marketing accomplishes this by cutting costs and focusing almost entirely on uniqueness.
Guerrilla Marketing Aspects
Consider the following guerilla marketing concepts and methods to get the best out of guerrilla marketing. Let’s check this list below that you can apply for your next guerrilla marketing campaign:
- Flash mobs
- Graffiti or stencil graffiti
- Inventive coasters
- Giveaways
- Funny/ Humorous/ Witty signboards
- Product demonstrations
- Stickers
- Reverse graffiti
- Flyers and posters
- Publicity stunts
- Product placement
- Video projections on the side of buildings
Key Elements of Guerrilla Marketing
We have listed some crucial key elements associated with guerrilla marketing. Let’s learn:
1. Clarity
It is important to deliver a clear message in your endorsement that could instantly grab your audience’s attention. Furthermore, your promotional message could be witty, humorous, inspiring, and more. However, make sure that your audience understands the message in one go. Otherwise, it will backfire your marketing campaign.
2. Unique
Plagiarism must be avoided at all costs. Make your own one-of-a-kind content that stands out from the crowd. Ensure that you come up with something unique, timely, and creative. It should also be written in a style that your intended audience would understand.
3. Engaging and Interactive
Getting your audience to participate actively in your campaign is crucial to its success. Further, make sure to develop material that encourages people to engage with it and interact with it.
Some of the popular examples include virtual reality activities, product testing and demonstrations, contests, treasure hunts, and more.
4. Timing
It is the most crucial part as you need to surprise your audience at the perfect timing. And, it especially needs to be done when they least expect it. Make sure to research and analyze how you can launch your campaign so that they can be shocked yet compelled to engage with the endorsement.
5. Budget Constraints
The major chunk of guerrilla marketing is cost analysis. This method is designed to help businesses that don't have the financial resources to compete with larger corporations.
Different Types of Guerrilla Marketing
Here we have discussed various kinds of guerrilla marketing. Let’s learn:
1. Viral Marketing
The goal of viral marketing is to simply disseminate a message just like a virus. Moreover, the marketing strategy should capture the interest of those who see it, prompting them to forward it to their friends. They subsequently pass it on to others, and the message spreads further.
Although there is no assurance that your promotion will go viral, the more attention you can attract, the better. While viral marketing has its own category, it is an important part of many guerrilla marketing tactics.
2. Street Marketing
Street marketing is an out-of-the-box strategy for establishing a brand or product in the minds of the general people. The strategies are used in high-profile locations.
Some of the street marketing examples include— Flash mobs, strolling billboard displays, product samples or demonstrations, roadshows, and many other forms.
3. Ambient Marketing
Ambient marketing is a type of marketing that promotes products or services in unusual settings, usually the environment. It's a tiny deviation from the ordinary, and it tends to help customers remember the brand.
IBM's use of rain covers and benches on the exterior of buildings, as seen here, is an excellent example of ambient guerrilla marketing.
4. Ambush Marketing
Ambush marketing is a strategy in which businesses try to take advantage of an event that already has sponsors. Furthermore, this strategy generates a memorable event that allows a brand to reach out to its opponent’s target demographic.
Although, this is a high-risk tactic in which a firm disrupts an event hosted or sponsored by a competitor.
If your opponent, for example, supports a local sporting event, you might present important rewards to the winners or attendees. This technique allows you to reap the full benefit of a competitor's activities.
5. Grassroots
The purpose of grassroots marketing is to form an interpersonal connection with the target audience. Moreover, it's targeted at smaller groups on a more intimate level, with the expectation that the audience would spread the word. In this regard, it's akin to viral marketing, but with a much smaller starting audience.
6. Undercover Marketing
This strategy entails presenting a covert sales pitch to a potential consumer who is unaware of it. The strategy tries to generate interest and build a community around the product.
The best and well-known example of this tactic is product placement in tv shows and movies. Moreover, you definitely might have seen your favorite characters sipping a specific type of beverage, vehicles, or wearing shoes from a well-known design business.
7. Experiential Marketing
Experiential marketing is all about putting your target audience in a memorable environment where they can connect with something that represents your business. Ultimately, experiential marketing strategies are designed to foster a deep relationship between your organization and potential clients.
Steps for Guerrilla Marketing Campaign
Following we have listed steps that will guide you on how you can step up and manage your guerrilla marketing campaign. Let’s learn:
Step 1: Know your Audience
Knowing your target audience is crucial to guerrilla marketing success. You must understand your audience's desires, concerns, and pain points in order to elicit emotions with your marketing initiatives.
Further, examine your present customers to understand more about your target audience. Most of the time, your marketing and customer service departments can notify you who your consumers are, what motivates them, and why they appreciate your product or service.
In addition, you may also locate forums and Facebook groups where your prospective consumers can talk about their issues.
Step 2: Set Objectives
Although guerilla marketing is a lot of fun, keep in mind that its primary goal is to help you achieve your objectives. As a result, you must define specific, quantifiable, accurate, dependable, and timely campaign objectives.
Guerrilla marketing is frequently used to generate buzz and raise brand exposure. You may, however, want to leverage your efforts to boost sales. Ensure that your campaign's goal is in accordance with your company's broader objectives.
Leaning on previous outcomes is the greatest method to create KPIs for your guerrilla marketing campaign. If you're beginning from scratch, compare your objectives to those of your competitors.
Step 3: Observe and Analyze
Guerrilla marketing requires you to catch potential clients off guard in a familiar setting. Also, you also have to astonish them. As a result, an examination of thriving trends is required.
You need to start by observing and analyzing all components of guerrilla marketing. Furthermore, social listening technologies will be useful in this situation. Interestingly, Google Trends— a program that analyses the popularity of top search searches, is another magic wand for you.
In addition, research and learn more about your competitors in addition to current events and trends. Moreover, look for and examine their instances of guerrilla marketing campaigns.
Both the finest and worst practices can teach you how to build your own unique style. Having all sorts of information will help you build a framework that will guide you to develop a successful guerrilla marketing campaign.
Step 4: Strategize Techniques
If you're having trouble coming up with a strategy for your guerrilla marketing campaign. Then, brainstorming might help you get started. In addition, bring your coworkers together and encourage them to come up with some suggestions.
Furthermore, set a session's time limit and make sure everyone says their ideas clearly. The essential rule here is to avoid judging ideas while they are still being developed – this will stifle the creative process.
The next stage is to assess all of the ideas you've generated. Consider your customers' preferences and pain points, as well as your company's goals and current trends. Implement relevant tools available to you in order to bring the concept to life.
Step 5: Execution
No doubt, a guerrilla marketing campaign is a difficult undertaking— but it's not impossible to implement. Moreover, it necessitates a lot of coordination between you and your companions.
To just paste a poster in a public spot, for example, you must first write a pitch, then design, print, and glue the poster. Ascertain that each stage of the project is completed correctly and on time.
Take one last careful look at your campaign before launching it to prevent it from falling. Consider how customers could interpret your message and how they might respond. Also, look for potential flaws and predict how they will affect the campaign as a whole.
Finally, there's always the possibility that everything will go wrong. Remember that you should always consider such scenarios. Also, list down some of the possible worst-case situations, and devise a backup plan in case it happens.
Step 6: Final Results
Guerrilla marketing is difficult to evaluate because its goal is to attract people's attention. Here are a handful of pointers if you're having trouble finding them.
- Keep an eye out for media mentions of your company. A successful provocative campaign will always result in a deluge of media coverage
- Carry out research. You can ask your consumers and random people if they've heard about the campaign and how they feel about your brand thereafter by conducting a poll
- Make use of social listening software
- Compare and contrast 'before' and 'after.' Measure your sales before and after initiating a guerrilla marketing campaign to see how it affected your bottom line
Advantages of Guerrilla Marketing
There are certain benefits associated with guerrilla marketing. Let’s take a look:
- One of the most significant benefits of guerilla marketing is that it is significantly less expensive than regular advertising. In fact, guerrilla marketers claim to spend up to 90% less on advertising than traditional marketers
- Despite the fact that huge firms use guerrilla marketing strategies, small businesses can benefit greatly from them because of the cost savings
- Traditional marketing strategies can make it difficult to stand out from the crowd. But guerilla marketing can help your company stand out. Moreover, it gives you the opportunity to make a lasting impression that will stay longer than you believe
- Guerrilla marketing allows firms to present their brand in a unique and innovative way
- It enables you to attain short and medium-term objectives without spending a lot of money
- Guerrilla marketing is mainly reliant on word-of-mouth advertising, which is one of the most potent influences since it allows users to interact with your campaign voluntarily
- It's a terrific approach to make your business known to the public through guerrilla marketing instead of relying on regular advertising channels
- Campaigns that are exceptional or unusually unique are occasionally chosen by national or international news channels, resulting in further exposure for the brand
- You can manage to position your brand with low investment
- Guerrilla marketing helps to enhance your brand's reputation among the target audience
- It has a significant impact on those who may become customers
Guerrilla Marketing Examples
Small and major businesses have been employing this advertising approach for years to reach out to their various audiences in a unique, innovative, and entertaining way.
After detailed research, we have listed the best guerrilla marketing examples for your reference. Let’s check them out:
1. McDonald’s
Zebra crossings are a typical location for guerilla marketing efforts.
The lines painted on the ground give you a lot to work with if you have the appropriate vision. Interestingly, McDonald's employed it to make the lines look like French fries coming from a hamburger pack.
The image represents one of the items, in addition to being a component of the actual zebra crossing, which still serves the same purpose.
Moreover, the use of a distinctive element improves the message's suitability for the potential client. The better the campaign, the more people who view the ad.
2. Coca Cola
The American giant is recognized for producing eye-catching ads. It published "Happiness Machine" in 2010, a guerrilla marketing film depicting a Coca-Cola vending machine that offered more than just soft drinks.
Hidden cameras are placed in various sections of the room to watch people's reactions, as shown in the video. Thanks to this guerilla marketing strategy, the video became viral and gained over 4 million views.
3. Red Bull
In 2012, Felix Baumgartner and the Austrian brand achieved a world record for the highest skydiving leap.
The Red Bull Stratos was a brilliant marketing campaign that featured a death-defying plunge into the void at speeds above the speed of sound, followed by a 4-minute freefall back to Earth.
Surprisingly, they also set a social media record that day when they hit 8 million views on YouTube.
4. Kit Kat
KitKat employed benches shaped like chocolate bars to attract visitors’ attention to the odd setting.
The candy brand's goods are designed in the form of bars, complete with the iconic red paper.
5. Shark Week
Surfboards that seemed to have been attacked by sharks were left on numerous renowned Australian beaches to promote the Discovery Channel's show "Shark Week." Marketers were on the lookout for surfboards that might "leave the beaches" and end up as mementos.
6. Nike
For more effect and relevance, a successful guerrilla marketing concept idea must represent brand values. Over the years, NIKE has become known for their — "Just do it" approach and mantra. This abstract bench is a subtle reminder of the company's mission and tagline.
7. King Kong 3D
The marketing team for King Kong 3D did a brilliant job with this guerrilla marketing campaign, leaving massive footprints in the sand at a local beach. Simple, yet quite effective.
8. Frontline
Frontline is promoting its flea and tick treatments for dogs by displaying a large image of an itching dog on the lobby floor and inviting passers-by to play the part of the bugs. This advertising is fantastic since it is interactive without people realizing it or exerting any effort.
Frequently Asked Questions on Guerrilla Marketing (FAQs)
Following we have cleared some common doubts associated with guerrilla marketing. Let’s check this FAQs section:
Q1: Is Guerrilla Marketing illegal?
Generally, guerrilla marketing is legal if you stick to the guerrilla marketing goal that must be evident to your target audience.
Remember to keep the following points in mind:
- In case, your campaigns have not been thoroughly tested, then they can be criticized. Also, you must be extremely cautious about the meanings of your campaign and the emotions it will elicit in various groups of individuals
- Permits are necessary on a frequent basis. You'll need permission from the entity in charge of that venue because these campaigns are frequently held in public places. You will be breaching the law and may face legal action if you proceed without first receiving permission
- You need to take ownership of your actions
On the other hand, if your company tries to profit from intellectual property that they haven't paid for. Then, guerrilla marketing comes under the illegal segment. Therefore, you need to know what you're doing, where you're doing it, and what you're hoping to get out of it.
Q2: Which companies can make use of guerrilla marketing?
Guerrilla marketing can be used by small and medium-sized businesses. Moreover, with the help of these marketing strategies, brands and businesses can endorse their products or services to customers without spending a lot of money.
Furthermore, the foundation for establishing corporate success is successful and well-designed marketing. It is vital for a firm to introduce itself to the general public in order to become visible in the market.
Interestingly, with fewer resources— guerrilla marketing has allowed small and medium enterprises to focus on their marketing strategy and innovation.
Large corporations, on the other hand, can afford to spend a lot of money on marketing because of their financial power. In addition, it also allows companies to develop a whole new marketing campaign if things go wrong.
Q3: What’s an Encirclement Attack when it comes to marketing?
An encirclement attack is a marketing tactic for enveloping competitors in all possible ways. Moreover, the purpose is to analyze the opponents' vulnerabilities and strengths while simultaneously launching a multi-pronged attack.
After you understand your own strengths and your competitors' shortcomings, you'll be in a much better position to use guerilla marketing to your benefit. You may, for instance, exploit a flaw in your competitor's brand reputation.
As a result, you may change the tone and phrasing of your guerrilla advertising to emphasize this shortcoming and how you can improve things for clients.
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Final Takeaways
We have finally reached the end section of this detailed guide. We have listed some crucial points for your future reference. Let’s revise:
- Guerrilla Marketing is a strategic term used among businesses or brands to endorse their products or services
- For small businesses, guerrilla marketing can be incredibly cost-effective with low investment
- It is important to deliver a clear message in your endorsement that could instantly grab your audience’s attention. Furthermore, your promotional message could be witty, humorous, inspiring, and more
- You must understand your audience's desires, concerns, and pain points in order to elicit emotions with your marketing initiatives
- Ensure that your campaign's goal is in accordance with your company's broader objectives
- Guerrilla marketing is mainly reliant on word-of-mouth advertising, which is one of the most potent influences since it allows users to interact with your campaign voluntarily
- Carry out research. You can ask your consumers and random people if they've heard about the campaign and how they feel about your brand thereafter by conducting a poll
- Guerrilla marketing may drive your potential customers into a purchase while also helping you save money on marketing. Even so, this strategy benefits just a small fraction of marketers
- Make sure to develop material that encourages people to engage with it and interact with it. Some of the popular examples include virtual reality activities, product testing and demonstrations, contests, treasure hunts, and more
- If your company tries to profit from intellectual property that they haven't paid for. Then, guerrilla marketing comes under the illegal segment
- You'll need permission from the entity in charge of that venue because these campaigns are frequently held in public place
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