Rajesh Sundesh @ August 8, 2017
Marketing, as we know is a broader concept and consists of many different types of techniques. Here’s an extremely niche but attractive type of a technique which proclaims itself as cost-effective and creative – both of which are attractive and useful for startups.
What does it mean?
The simplest way to answer this question would be: it’s a unique and interesting form to cater products and services to the audiences instead of using the expensive ways such as advertising.
Guerrilla marketing, like the famous guerrilla warfare in the history of mankind, proves to be extremely useful, victorious and attention seeking for all businesses especially startups. As its nature typically points out to high cost effectivity requiring low number of resources online. It includes:
Ambient
Viral or buzz
Experiential Marketing
Why Use Guerrilla Marketing?
Unconventional Advertising
Using mediums like newspaper, radio, TV and other traditional mediums for promotion is quite predictable. Audiences know that they are being advertised to. In contrast, guerrilla marketing is considered unconventional because the audiences don’t have the slightest idea of what they are being exposed to. It is unconventional in terms of look, feel, thoughts, ideas and above all experience. It’s a gentle way of selling your products to the people.
Creative Freedom
It has the potential to set you apart from the marketers and their strategies. Here, there is no specific brief or protocols to keep in mind. Imagination is your canvas and paint it with the best style and colors you can! It gives you the true liberties to market your products freely to your customers. Understand your creative freedom better with the Harry Potter example mentioned above. It is witty, amusing and addictive. Whether or not one is a Harry Potter fan, one will figure out the context clearly.
High chances of virality
As guerrilla marketing is free from all briefings on the creativity front, it is bound to seek attention of people for its uniqueness. If people relate to your campaign or ideas they will go ahead and share your creativity thus help you score high national platform – faster than any other marketing or ad campaign. It works on the basis of the snowball technique, wherein; consider the classic example of ALS Ice Bucket challenge. It garnered so much of social media attention and virality. The NGO was highlighted well because of its unusual concept and hence garnered huge profits for the cause.
Cost Effective
As the creative brainchild is upto you, what to do? How to go about? For how long to run the campaigns? And so on, it is absolutely your call as a marketer to get it done for free or to spend at least the minimal. Yes, guerrilla marketing can come for free.
Here’s a tip: Humor in the form of memes, home videos and so on work well.
Channels of Guerrilla Marketing
It is recommended that your campaigns should be full of surprises, unexpected, drastic, humorous and above all cost-effective. You can sell your product using this uncommon marketing strategy by making use of various tools which include:
Unpaid
Your own website – This is your space and your mind. You can introduce your own offer, coupons and other surprise elements for your customers in the best creative form.
Social Media Networks (Profiles, Communities, Groups, etc.) –Facebook communities and groups have a lot of followers and hence by making your presence felt on these communities can increase your product awareness and reach.
Emails – This doesn’t indicate spamming at all. Try creating and pushing different types of emailers – funny, inspirational, gifs and so on to make your customers feel special and cared for. Towards the end a simple redirection to your website or the main purpose of the emailer helps.
Videos – Everyday over 100 million people view videos on Facebook. Videos are trending and creating videos loved by all is an all time trend. Educate people about your products and services by making use of this channel.
Webinars – Educate people for free not about your product but about everything they would face issues with or they are stuck up with.
Paid
Social Media Advertising – This segment requires no explanation per se. With rising need and affection for social media, it’s a part of our daily lives and not just any other channel. Social media as mentioned above, is free only if your plan is to promote on your own profile or page, other related groups and communities. But, when it comes to advertising, it does require some amount to score. It’s great to understand the math of effective Facebook ads.
Ebooks – Publish an eBook which is relevant to your audience and they have been searching for. If you are running a product photography business, you can Eg: If you are an online marketing automation company, you can publish a helpful ebook about “ How to write a perfect email.
Online Games – Rendering your own games for greater effect can sum down to be expensive, but you can still use online games to promote your product by spending a penny and advertising in the already existing and trending ones.
Events & Promotions – We at PayU have come up with an interesting concept to cater to this active segment. https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php along With https://www.facebook.com/startnowofficial/ are super examples how we have made use of minimalist techniques to reach out to the many. Quora, and LinkedIn are other platforms which we use to reach out to our existing and potential customers.
Be it paid or unpaid, exceptional brand awareness and visibility is guaranteed with guerrilla marketing depending on your creative chords. The only sign of caution here is, to target your audience well.
Guerrilla marketing can be most effective when it is at its creative best!
Learn more about other cost effective marketing techniques to rise above the evens and march into the new horizons of well-deserved success.