“Going Guerrilla” isn’t as terrifying as it sounds.
On the contrary, guerrilla marketing is a concept you’ll want to embrace ASAP.
While some may be disappointed to learn it has nothing to do with King Kong or visiting the zoo, for marketers, the reality is much more exciting.
Guerilla marketing is all about creating a truly unique and awe-inspiring way of increasing brand exposure by way of producing a buzz that drives audiences into a curiosity frenzy.
This type of marketing is becoming increasingly popular as it’s more attention-grabbing – and cost-efficient – than traditional marketing.
And when it comes to capturing people’s attention, guerrilla marketing wins.
Every time.
So what does this form of marketing look like?
And why should you be incorporating it in this day and age?
In this article, we’ll outline the top three reasons to do guerilla marketing along with examples to get those creative juices flowing.
1. You Can Take on (And Defeat) Bigger Brands
One of the best things about guerrilla marketing is that anyone can do it.
As long as you utilize creativity, this form of marketing is yours to play with. When done right, you can gain some very lucrative results.
There have been many examples of smaller business stealing the limelight in a massively competitive market – and these remarkable wins aren’t the result of people slaving over modern-day online marketing methods to ‘go viral’.
As we’ll see from our example below, it’s easy to go viral with guerrilla marketing, and it’s even possible to become one of the most popular brands of our era.
In a time when brands are brainstorming about how to incorporate the latest trends into their campaign, sometimes all it takes is a clever presentation, and then you can let your audience do the rest with good ol’ word-of-mouth marketing.
The Ultimate Example: Pinterest
Speaking of gargantuan, Pinterest, the massive social media application actually started off quite small.
Ben Silbermann, the CEO of Pinterest started off with a mere 3,000 users when it launched in June of 2010. However, it slowly became one of the most popular social media apps of our time.
How did Silberman do this?
In part, by visiting his local Apple store and setting Pinterest as the homepage for every display computer that potential customers in the store would be testing.
Along with classic word-of-mouth marketing from friends, Silbermann began spreading awareness about Pinterest, slowly but surely, growing his empire to 17 million users, becoming the hot social startup in Silicon Valley, next to Instagram.
Of course, after that, the company began investing in other ways of marketing, but this example goes to show how much you can achieve through this form of marketing – despite your competition.
2. It’s Actually Super Affordable
The popular television network, Discovery Channel, took guerrilla marketing to a new level when they distributed surfboards featuring large bite-marks to promote Shark Week’s 30th anniversary. A delightfully scarring way to remind audiences to tune-in.
And guess what?
Your brand can make a similar splash in your market while sticking to a super reasonable budget.
According to Jay Conrad, author of Guerrilla Marketing, “Guerrilla marketers do not rely on the brute force of an outsized marketing budget. Instead, they rely on the brute force of a vivid imagination.”
This form of marketing is meant to help smaller companies make a big impact. So, by focusing on creativity as opposed to your lack of available resources, you’ll soon attract your audience in a huge way while keeping costs to a minimum...
...a marketing scheme that’s hard to come by in 2019.
Don’t believe us? Let’s take a look in our underwear drawer for inspiration.
The Ultimate Example: GoldToe
The underwear company, GoldToe was looking for a way to promote the launch of a new line of undergarments and decided the best way to do so was to display the new items of underwear on statues across New York.
And guess what’s impossible NOT to do when you come across an iconic charging bull statue wearing a gigantic pair of briefs?
Take a picture with it for social media.
Depending on where the company got their fabric to make the bull-sized underwear, this marketing tactic would cost almost zero financial investment.
And as you can imagine, this strategy would be a lot of fun to implement.
3. You Create Memorable Experiences
If anything, guerrilla marketing is memorable.
The trick to this form of marketing lies in its creativity and cleverness – aspects that stay in the audience’s mind for quite some time.
Ripping your audience away from the mundane day-to-day routine inevitably will create a memorable experience.
Sometimes, transforming the most mundane objects creates the most dramatic and long-lasting effect. Think about stairs. They’re everywhere.
Why does that matter?
If you make your mark with some savvy guerilla marketing, your brand will be what comes to mind every time a consumer walks up or down a flight of them, possibly until the end of time.
Ikea mastered this exact idea.
The Ultimate Example: Ikea
Ikea transformed their store’s main staircase into a super creative marketing scheme by presenting an open chest of drawers instead of a regular stair surface, showcasing perfectly organized clothes in each “stair drawer”.
This highlights the efficient use of space that comes with Ikea furniture, and in the most effective manner possible – they bring the customer out of their reality while making a statement people can’t forget.
This simple, yet show-stopping way to engage your customers is something that your brand may be able to do to engage people as they go about their daily life.
4. Start Guerrilla Marketing to Stamp Your Brand’s Authority
So, there you have the main reasons to do guerilla marketing.
By embracing this budget-friendly, highly-competitive and undeniably unforgettable tactic, you can change YOUR brand’s marketing strategy and fortunes in a big way.
Make sure you always:
- Be disruptive, not ignorant.
- Think simplicity – some of the best ideas come from the simplest inspirations.
- Don’t be afraid to get a bit silly. Have fun with it.
- Aim for a combination of enthusiasm, preparation, measurement, and creativity.
- Don’t just rely on guerrilla marketing - explore multiple techniques.
And there you have it!
Everything you need to know to get create a memorable marketing experience for your customers, and your team as well.
