What is Guerrilla marketing? How can small businesses use Guerrilla marketing tactics?

Small businesses are always looking for innovative ways to promote their products or services. To make a mark and boost brand awareness among their target audience, small businesses need to differentiate themselves from the competition. And that's where Guerrilla marketing comes in handy.

Guerrilla marketing is the best option for them and it helps them to stand out from the crowd without having to spend a lot of money on traditional advertising. Do you know? Around 57% of consumers believe that Guerrilla marketing is an effective promotional tool.

The concept of guerrilla marketing comes up with innovative and creative ideas that make conversations about your brand among people.

In this article, we will cover Guerrilla marketing tactics including,

Let’s dive into the topic,

What is Guerrilla marketing?

Guerrilla marketing is an advertising approach and it differs from traditional marketing methods which use unconventional interactions like eye-catching tactics and the element of surprise to promote a product or service.

Source: anerdsworld.com

Guerrilla marketing is a non-traditional approach to advertising that deviates from conventional methods like print media, TV commercials, billboards, and direct mail. The strategy involves creating memorable images or activities that disrupt public spaces and events intending to build brand associations or drive purchases. Instead of relying on a large budget, guerrilla marketing focuses on personal interactions to create a significant impact, hoping to spread through word of mouth and social media.

Types of Guerrilla Marketing

There are 4main types of guerrilla marketing, which include,

Ambient Marketing

Ambient marketing is an innovative marketing technique that aims to place advertisements in unconventional locations where people wouldn’t typically expect to see them. The main aim is to catch people’s attention, which may lead them to seek more information about your products or services.

Ambient marketing is designed to capture attention and it makes a lasting impression as well. Ambient marketing can be enjoyable for both the advertiser and the audience. With the right approach, even when an advertisement is placed in a surprising and unexpected environment, it can still appear seamlessly integrated.

Examples of Ambient Marketing:

Source: khushiadvertising.com

Ambush Marketing

Ambush marketing is also known as coat-tail marketing or predatory ambushing. It is a high-risk strategy because it is the practice or strategy adopted by a brand or a company that takes advantage of other brand’s marketing campaigns. The main purpose of it is to gain exposure. These may include a sporting event, festival, or concert.

For example, you can offer valuable prizes to winners or attendees of a sports event sponsored by your competitor.

Examples of Ambush Marketing

Flash Mobs - A flash mob is a spontaneous gathering of individuals who appear unexpectedly in a public place and start dancing or performing an unexpected activity to attract the attention of bystanders. A flash mob is a great way to get people talking about your brand.

Use Signage Wisely – place your signage on the streets outside of the event. It will help you to take advantage of a crowd of people even if you are not the sponsor of that particular event.

Viral or Buzz Marketing

Buzz marketing relies on authentic endorsements, especially from notable individuals or celebrities, to enhance brand awareness and exposure.

The objective of viral marketing techniques is to leverage the potential of word-of-mouth marketing for a product or campaign. The idea is to promote it in a way that leaves a lasting impression on people, prompting them to discuss it. This approach can effectively capture the attention of the target audience.

Examples of Buzz Marketing

Use Rumors – People love gossip. Why not use this to your advantage and try to create conversation on social media? It is a great way to get people talking about your brand and encourage the audience to share your content.

Use influencer marketing – people trust influencers more than any advertisements. All you need to do is hire a person with a great social influence to recommend your product or service through their social media channels.

Experiential Marketing

Experiential marketing is a process to connect with your customers through real-time experiences to create unique and memorable moments. Traditional marketing treats consumers as passive recipients of a company's message, while in experiential marketing, brands actively involve consumers and may even provide insights into the development of an advertising campaign.

Experiential marketers use innovative marketing methods to build an emotional connection and strong relationship between customers and a business.

Examples of Experiential Marketing

Pop-up stores - pop-up shops are a great way to build brand awareness while offering a fun opportunity to potential consumers. Consider hosting contests or events to entice customers to visit your pop-up store. Encourage them to participate through social media, which can help spread the word about your shop. You can reward the winners with free products, limited-time merchandise, or a special shout-out on your social media channels.

Street teams - Using street teams is an effective strategy to increase brand exposure and create buzz around your product or service. Essentially, a street team is a collective of individuals who promote your brand in public spaces by distributing flyers, samples, and other marketing materials.

Source: bestmediainfo.com

Guerrilla Marketing Pros & Cons

Pros:

Cons:

How to set up Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns?

Set Clear Objectives

In any marketing campaign, it's important to remember that its primary goal is to achieve your marketing objectives. To ensure that your campaign is successful, it's essential to establish SMART goals for your campaign.

Make sure your Guerrilla marketing end goal is to increase brand awareness and sales and it has to align with your overall business goals to achieve the desired outcome.

Focus on a Specific Target Audience

To achieve better results with your guerrilla marketing campaign, it's recommended to target your efforts toward a specific audience. By gaining insights into your audience's interests, behavior, and preferences, you can create a more effective and targeted guerrilla marketing strategy. You have to ask yourself the following questions to know your target audience.

Choose your location wisely

The success of a Guerrilla marketing campaign greatly depends on the location where the product is being marketed. Choosing the right location is crucial to ensure that the campaign is impactful and reaches the right audience, resulting in a successful marketing strategy.

Create something Memorable

The primary objective of guerrilla marketing is to leave a lasting impression on people's minds. Your marketing campaign should be designed to make a memorable impact and create a buzz that lasts well beyond its completion. Your advertising needs to be unique and creative.

Here are a few Guerrilla marketing ideas for you

Use surprise and humor

Use playful strategies and clever language in your messages, so that you can easily distinguish yourself from your competitors. Humor is the best way to establish a connection with the audience.

Don’t tell everything in your message. When a message is left open to interpretation, it adds an element of mystery and surprise and that can create curiosity among people. This approach can create more engagement compared to simply revealing everything about oneself all at once.

Use visuals

Using more visual content, images, shapes, and graphics is a great idea for your Guerrilla marketing strategy. They have a greater impact on the audience and they stick with their minds for longer than text messages. Humans are visual by nature. Our brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text.

Consider projecting a suitable video or advertisement on a public wall or the front of your store. This visual experience can effectively attract people's attention to your business, leading to positive word of mouth.

Measure your Results

As I mentioned above, Guerrilla marketing is difficult to measure. However, measuring the result is important to understand whether your Guerrilla marketing strategies make an impact or not.

Here are some tips to measure your Guerrilla marketing results,

3 Guerrilla Marketing Examples to Inspire Your Business

Colgate’s wooden sticks in ice creams

Colgate came up with an innovative approach to stress the significance of brushing teeth, particularly after consuming sugary treats. They hide subtle reminders inside ice cream bars and cotton candies. Once the bars were consumed, individuals could see the wooden sticks resembling toothbrushes featuring Colgate's logo.

Source: adsoftheworld.com

McDonald’s crosswalk street fries

McDonald's utilized a pedestrian crossing to promote its product and converted it into a large bag of French fries. The crossing was designed to resemble French fries emerging from a box, with the yellow stripes symbolizing the fries. This innovative guerrilla marketing tactic effectively grabs the attention of passersby, thus raising awareness about the product.

Source: moosend.com

Nike’s seatless benches

Nike used park benches which had no seats, to promote their fitness message.  They named it “Run” to motivate individuals to become more active by standing up and moving.

Source: sfwpexperts.com

Conclusion

Guerrilla marketing is a powerful form of marketing to promote your business at a low cost. To make your Guerrilla marketing successful, first, you have to understand what Guerrilla marketing is, consider some ideas we’ve discussed above, think outside the box, and try to avoid common mistakes.

It's important to keep in mind that guerrilla marketing has its pros and cons. While it can produce excellent results, it can also have negative consequences if not implemented correctly. Certain guerrilla marketing strategies can be illegal, so before implementing your strategies make sure to conduct your research.