What is Guerrilla Marketing and How to Plan for Your Brand

Guerrilla marketing is often used by startups who want to reach as many people as possible while working within a rather thin budget. However, even multinational corporations who have specific ways of operating will use guerrilla marketing tactics from time to time, running them in conjunction with their current big-budget ad campaigns. Furthermore, even individuals have implemented guerrilla marketing tactics to try and get an edge over their competitors.

For instance, some unemployed people, such as freshly minted graduates, have used guerrilla marketing strategies to help find employment by marketing themselves in an unorthodox manner (i.e., holding a signpost and a resume in hand at a popular street corner or venue). Here, we will focus on the different types of guerrilla marketing currently available to guerrilla marketing companies, as well as how you can utilize their benefits to plan for your brand.

Types of Guerrilla Marketing

Alternative marketing uses an unconventional strategy to advertise a product or brand. Moreover, it usually involves a press release or some public statement that is issued by the company that does not directly promote a particular product. Instead, it helps form a base for the product that is appealing to the core demographic that the company is targeting, which, subsequently, will inform customers of the existence of said product.

Ambient marketing is the most expensive form of guerrilla marketing because it tends to involve the use of a given venue, and also consists of recreating said venue. As such, the fees that are incurred to do so can be quite expensive. Ambient marketing involves using a key element that is synonymous with your company and then placing that pertinent element in specific venues that would typically not be associated with your company or the products that you usually sell.

Astroturfing is a form of guerrilla marketing that is somewhat similar to many grassroots campaigns, which tend to promote a product because the people involved genuinely enjoy or like the product. However, unlike grassroots movements, astroturfing involves people blogging about a product that the company that they work for has created, or they may even be the owner of the company itself. Hence, there is an ulterior motive involved with these blog posts, but the blogger will not admit that they work for or own the company whose products they are reviewing.

Experiential marketing, as the name suggests, involves getting the customer involved, by having them try or experience a product. By doing so, the prospective customer will be able to make an intelligent and more informed decision, as they will have had a tangible source and experience.

Presume marketing is a form of guerrilla marketing with a primary goal of helping consumers become aware of the product that they’re promoting. The marketing team will try and place the product in areas where it is most likely to get the exposure and recognition that the company seeks.

For instance, a company may use product placement in a television show, video game, or movie to subtly make the viewers or gamer aware of their product. Presume marketing also extends to the internet, whenever a company places photos or notes on various websites, making visitors aware of the presence of their latest and greatest product.

Tissue packing marketing is a different form of guerrilla marketing that involves advertising a company’s products on tissue paper covers. Interestingly, tissue packing marketing was first developed in Japan and is considered by many marketers to actually be more effective than flyer-based advertisements. Tissue paper is used on an almost daily basis by most consumers, helping the product remain in the memory banks of most of its consumers.

Undercover marketing is a form of stealth marketing which may involve a professional athlete or celebrity using the company’s product out in public. By doing so, they are essentially endorsing the product in question, which may encourage their fans to also consume it.

Viral marketing uses very popular games, videos, and social media platforms to generate awareness of the company’s product as well as its brand. Viral marketing is popular a form of guerrilla marketing where the product’s targeted user base does all of the promotional work for the company, at no cost to the company itself.

Wild posting is considered an “in-your-face” form of guerrilla marketing that is sometimes used by marketing agencies. Moreover, wild posting tends to be very effective in the long run, despite the initial start-up costs. It involves plastering walls and buildings with posters and other adverts so that the company’s product and it’s messaging can be nearly impossible to miss.

How to Plan for Guerrilla Marketing

The first thing you will need to do is define the purpose or primary objective of your marketing campaign. Take the time to brainstorm with your marketing team to devise a guerrilla marketing strategy that will work within your allotted budget and that will cater to your key demographic. Your message should resonate with your target audience; it should be clear, concise, simple, and persuasive. Maintaining respect is also paramount, as you do not want to offend anyone with a blaze or crass marketing campaign that can backfire and lead to lost sales and weak results.

Author Bio – Monica Benoit is a blogger in Toronto. Previously, she worked as an outreach coordinator for Grassroots Advertising. She graduated with honors from University of British Columbia with a dual degree in Business Administration and Creative Writing.