Guerrilla Marketing: Benefits, Examples, and How To Do It

Guerrilla marketing is an unconventional way of doing marketing for your business. It’s all about getting people’s attention by standing out naturally with your marketing initiatives.

This article will teach you everything you need to know about this marketing strategy. Moreover, you will find a lot of examples that will help you visualize its effectiveness.

What Is Guerrilla Marketing?

Guerrilla marketing is a strategy that uses unconventional and creative techniques to promote a brand or product. The whole point of this marketing strategy is to get people’s attention and communicate the brand identity. Brands using this strategy aim to create a memorable and lasting impression about their business or products. Moreover, these techniques generate free advertising as people witnessing it will talk naturally about it.

This type of marketing can take many forms, including flash mobs, public installations, stickers, graffiti, and more. However, it requires planning and a clear understanding of the audience. You will see a lot of examples of guerrilla initiatives throughout the article.

Guerrilla marketing is powerful because it manages to catch people’s attention in a natural. As advertisements surround people, many conventional marketing initiatives are not effective anymore. However, since this type of marketing uses unconventional ideas, people cannot help but notice the initiative and the brand behind it.

Let’s have a look at the benefits of using guerrilla marketing.

Benefits of Guerrilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing offers several benefits to businesses and brands.

First, getting attention from ideal customers and prospects can be cheap and effective. Effective guerrilla marketing can cost you just a few bucks compared to ads and other traditional advertising methods. The most complex part is coming up with a compelling idea.

Second, these marketing initiatives create a strong connection with the brand. An effective initiative will intuitively communicate a product or an aspect of the brand. Therefore people will get the message without having to think. This can create brand awareness and increase customers’ loyalty toward a business.

Third, guerrilla marketing is also effective because it can go viral and reach thousands, if not millions, of people. Consequently, thanks to these initiatives, people can discover a business or product for the first time.

Last, these initiatives are flexible. Anyone can approach them, and there are no entry requirements to using them. You must define your goals and develop an effective idea to get your audience’s attention.

4 Types of Guerrilla Marketing

Although people use this term for any type of unconventional marketing initiative, there are at least for types of guerrilla marketing.

• Indoor
• Outdoor
• Event Ambush
• Experiential

In a few cases, guerrilla marketing types blend together. So you don’t need to overthink these definitions. It is helpful to know these distinctions when planning your initiative.

Depending on your business, customers, and goals, you might find one of these types suitable.

Let’s have a look at all of them.

Indoor Guerrilla Marketing

Indoor guerrilla marketing refers to initiatives that take place within a venue. These marketing campaigns typically occur in large venues such as shopping malls, airports, and train stations.

Indoor initiatives involve unconventional tactics, such as surprise events and interactive activities that engage customers directly. However, these initiatives work fine even in smaller places like pubs or restaurants.

Companies can create powerful campaigns and get people’s attention by focusing on smaller, more intimate spaces.

Outdoor Guerrilla Marketing

Outdoor guerrilla marketing focuses on creating an impactful image that anyone passing by can see. Outdoor initiatives take advantage of the environment to create memorable advertising.

These are typically more expensive than other types of guerrilla marketing. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes, a brilliant idea can go a long way.

Event Ambush Guerrilla Marketing

Event ambush guerrilla marketing uses surprise tactics and creative techniques to generate virality and create lasting emotions. Examples are flash mobs, street theater, or stunts.

The main idea behind event ambush guerrilla marketing is to create buzz around a brand, product, or service in an unexpected way. This particular type of guerrilla initiative works best in trafficked traffic areas where it is easier to reach a large audience.

Experiential Guerrilla Marketing

Experiential guerrilla marketing requires creating immersive and interactive experiences for the audience. This will help build a stronger and more special connection between the users and the brand.

As with all guerrilla initiatives, however, it must be unconventional and unexpected. These initiatives typically leverage senses different than sight. The goal is to create a physical or sensory experience that people cannot forget.

How To Do Guerrilla Marketing

Creating an effective guerrilla marketing campaign is not necessarily tricky. All you have to do is develop a compelling and actionable idea. Then, you have to execute it.

Here are the essential elements to consider when creating a guerrilla marketing campaign:

• Creativity: The essence of guerrilla marketing is to do something unexpected and out of the ordinary. So you must come up with unique ideas that grab people’s attention.
• Audience: Knowing your target audience is crucial to implement an effective guerrilla initiative. WiFi marketing software can help you with that.
• Budget: Guerrilla marketing does not necessarily require extensive resources. You might want to have a budget in place for equipment, material, or permits.
• Time and location: Ensure to pick the right location and run the campaign at a time when your audience is receptive.
• Legal and Risk assessment: Play safe and conduct an assessment to ensure that your campaign is safe and legal.

By considering these elements, you can create a memorable and effective campaign that helps you achieve your marketing goals.

4 Great Guerrilla Marketing Examples

Now that you know how this marketing strategy works, let’s give some extreme examples.

These initiatives might be too sophisticated for you. However, they will help you visualize the effectiveness and simplicity of this marketing strategy. Following are a few great guerrilla marketing examples.

Nike

When it comes to guerrilla marketing, Nike always manages to stand out. They made many outdoor campaigns that attracted people and reinforced their brand.

One of their most popular campaigns involves removing the planks of a bench. This type of campaign aimed to reinforce their brand identity and their motto. Just do it.

McDonald’s

McDonald’s marketing is always memorable. The company stands out, whether it is ads, social media content, or guerrilla marketing. In this guerrilla initiative, they simply painted a pedestrian crossing to resemble their famous fries. Simple and effective.

Axe

Axe, a famous producer of male deodorants, placed just a few stickers next to an emergency exit sign. It now looks like a man is running away from females attracted by his perfume.

As you can see, this is a cheap and effective way to reinforce brand identity. That is exactly what guerrilla marketing should be.

Weightwatchers

WeightWatchers is a wellness company that provides weight management and health services. They implemented one of the most influential and collaborative guerrilla marketing campaigns.

The picture shows a woman with an obesity problem and a claim, “Together we get rid of pounds.” When people pull the piece of paper to get the number, the woman will change her shape. This initiative shows how simple and effective a marketing message can be. They managed to convey a message, promote a product and get people’s attention in one shot.

Guerrilla Marketing Ideas for Small Business Owners

Guerrilla marketing is not only for big companies or corporations. Also, small businesses can come up with effective guerrilla marketing ideas. All you need is your creativity and planning the campaign properly.

For example, if you are advertising for a new restaurant. You might dress the staff up as pirates and serve food to passers-by from a pirate ship. This will help you get noticed and create a lasting impression.

You must consider your ideal audience and goal to develop good ideas. Then, you have to make something actionable with your resources. You can also consider using interactive elements like temporary shops, virtual reality experiences, or live performances. You can also combine these tactics with traditional media to maximize the impact of your initiative.

Final Thoughts on Guerrilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing is an effective way to promote your business. All you need is creativity and actionable ideas. By implementing a guerrilla initiative for your marketing, you can get people’s attention for free and create an emotional connection with your brand.

Moreover, these techniques can be way cheaper than traditional media. Therefore, you might want to try them out. However, you need to know who your customers are and what they like. When you know your customers, you can create effective campaigns.

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