Much like guerrilla warfare, which uses atypical tactics in order to combat the enemy, Guerrilla Marketing uses atypical tactics to engage the target audience. Guerrilla Marketing comes in a variety of different forms. It can creatively weave its way into our cultural landscape or it can utilise more audience-involvement.
The most powerful element of Guerrilla Marketing is the element of surprise. People are constantly being bombarded with different forms of advertising, so they begin to develop a tolerance to it. It is impossible to take everything in, so they tune out the stuff that is boring or unimportant to them. However, when something unexpected and creative catches their attention, they remember it. For this reason, Guerrilla Marketing can be an incredibly effective way of getting into your customers’ minds.
1. Do something different, yet relevant to your brand.
Everyone knows that you are supposed to do something ‘different’ with a Guerrilla Marketing campaign, but often businesses fall into the trap of having it be so different that no one connects it to their brand. Having a weak connection to your brand is one of the quickest ways to have a memorable stunt that goes nowhere. There is no point having a brilliant and fun idea if people walk away from it going “That was awesome! I wonder it was about?”
Be sure that people are going to know that whatever you end up doing was specifically from your business.
2. Utilise social media.
We are currently living in the best time for the spread of information. Guerrilla Marketing ‘stunts’ can have a massive proliferation in the social media culture, in a very short timeframe. Because of this, some of the best Guerrilla Marketing campaigns today use heavy consumer involvement as the driving force. If you can get the target audience engaged in the process, a lot of the ‘buzz’ will take care of itself.
3. Be prepared to take a risk.
By its nature, Guerrilla Marketing is unconventional and therefore has very little guidelines. This means that it is going to be a risk no matter what you do, so be prepared not to hold back. Going into the venture half-heartedly is a sure fire way to ensure that your idea leaves a lacklustre impression on your audience.
It is important to note that Guerrilla Marketing is not exclusive to big, multi-national businesses. Originally, it was devised as a form of marketing for smaller to medium sized business because of its generally low costs. So there is no need to feel restricted by the size of your business in terms of the viability of Guerrilla Marketing for you. Local, small-scale events can be a great way for small business to make an impact on the surrounding area, so have a go!