Free Guerrilla Marketing Ideas
What is Guerrilla Marketing?
Guerrilla marketing is simply promoting a product through fun, unique, and outrageous methods. Rather than paying money to get people to see the company's promotions, guerrilla marketing attempts to create advertisements that people will WANT to see because they are funny, captivating, or completely crazy.
Marketing a new product or business can be expensive. From designing the promotions to placing the ads where they will be seen, getting a business seen is not a cheap or easy endeavor.
Fortunately for businesses that are not large enough to compete with the budgets of the big guys, there is another way to effectively get your name seen.
Guerrilla marketing.
For those who are willing to take a risk, potentially look ridiculous, and spend some time instead of money, guerrilla market is the perfect solution. By creating marketing campaigns that capture the imagination and attention of potential clients, an entrepreneur can get the word out about her business quickly and inexpensively.
If you play your cards right, you could even end up in the news.
Frozen Grand Central: Improve Everywhere
IKEA's Angry Birds Game
Volkswagen Slide
5 Guerrilla Marketing Ideas
Because society has gotten so fed-up with the constant pounding from advertisers, most people completely ignore regular advertisements. This is a huge plus for small businesses because it means that they have the potential to compete with the big guys!
Although it is important to design an individualized marketing strategy that effectively promotes your specific business, here are several ideas that can may be a good starting point in launching an effective guerrilla marketing campaign.
1. Give away prizes for accomplishing a task
TOMS shoes sends a flag with the TOMS logo on it in each box mailed. Customers are then encouraged to take a picture with this flag in the craziest places possible and post them on the TOMS website and Facebook page. The best are shown on the home page and elsewhere - providing people with great publicity.
The headphone company, Skull Candy, sent out stickers and encouraged people to place them on anything and everything. The people who stuck the stickers in the craziest or most creative places would receive free Skull Candy gear. Because Skull Candy focuses on the "bad boy" customer, this almost-vandalism method works very effectively.
2. Place your product somewhere public - free to use
Do you make furniture? Set up a living room in the middle of a park - with couches, chairs, a coffee table, and some candy. IKEA got publicity with Conan O'Brian's game of Angry Birds involving their furniture. If you associate something fun with your product in public, people will enjoy it and remember it.
3. Create a flash-mob event
One start up in Austin gave out 1000 water guns to people on the street and started a massive water fight. If you want to get great ideas for flash-mobs check out Improve Everywhere (Youtube or Google them) for some great ideas. Then simply find a way to incorporate your business into one of these.
4. Be awesome and crazy - yourself
There are certain business people that are known for their ridiculousness if you check out Richard Branson (of the Virgin Group) or Bob Parsons (of GoDaddy.com). Both of these guys are constantly pushing the limits of what is appropriate and acceptable. Richard Branson has hot air ballooned around the world and sailed across the Atlantic to set a world record. His company logo is always on whatever vehicle he uses to set this record.
Create a personality for yourself, end up on TV, and the popularity of your product will follow.
5. Create Interactive Advertisements
The more that people can play with your product, the more they will remember it. Volkswagen built a slide, Coca-Cola created a never ending soda machine that also gave out pizza and subs. The longer a person interacts with your brand, the more likely they will be to remember you and eventually do business with you.
Coca-Cola Happiness Vending Machine
Further Reading
Check out the following sites for more guerrilla marketing ideas:
Take a Risk
Starting a business is already a huge risk. Sometimes the challenges and difficulties can appear overwhelming. However, with a bit of optimism and hard work, you can succeed at every aspect of your business.
For more great tips and ideas on how to market your business creatively, read up on what others have done, keep your eyes and ears open for problems that you may have a solution for, find ways to make life more enjoyable, and consider contacting a professional guerrilla marketer to create a specialized plan for you.
Good luck getting your business off the ground and please share any great ideas or methods that you use or have seen! I would be more than happy to pass along whatever campaigns you put on.
