Last Updated on Apr 7, 2020 by James W
Measuring the effectiveness of offline marketing is next to impossible.
It’s difficult to tell how many consumers saw your advertisement and as a result bought your product. However, offline marketing is still a great way to build your brand from the ground up and bypass all the noise online.
And that’s just one of the reasons why guerrilla has become so popular in recent years.
What Exactly is Guerrilla Marketing?
The actual term was coined way back in 1984 by Jay Conrad Levinson, and it describes a form of marketing that relies less on big budgets and more so on creating a creative, interactive and eye-catching message for the consumers.
Over the last few years, the technique has been employed by large corporations such as IKEA, Nike and many, many others (just look at Red Bull’s example in the video above). And while guerrilla marketing may be risky to some, it’s definitely worth the exposure and reward.
Why Should You Go Guerrilla?
Well, guerrilla marketing will give you an opportunity to be more visible, more creative, etc. but if you want some concrete numbers, check this out – when you use traditional, paid media advertising, your potential customers have a 33% chance of remembering what they saw.
And that’s assuming that they even saw your advertisement amongst the noise. However, according to the world-renown marketing guru, Neil Pate, with guerrilla marketing tactics, your average consumer will recall almost 100% of what he saw.
Four Creative Guerrilla Marketing Ideas
1. Sandwich Boards
If you follow a couple of comedic Instagram accounts (like Beige Cardigan for instance), you’ve probably seen a number of amusing sandwich boards. Business owners use them to promote their establishments and talk about everything from politics to whiskey.
Simply put, sandwich boards are a great way to promote your business in your neighborhood. What’s more, simple funny message can make any passerby laugh, take picture, poste it on a social media network and give you some much-need exposure.
2. Drink Coasters
Now, beverage coaster have been around for more than a 100 years at this point, and still, some people don’t see that they provide a great branding opportunity. If you’re a restaurant owner, you probably know that your customers are spending their entire meal with a coaster in front of them.
So naturally, they provide a great place to put an informative and innovative marketing idea that all of your visitors are guaranteed to see. But even if you’re not a restaurant owner, you can still create costars and place them into local restaurants and pubs to promote an event.
3. Stickers
Stickers are probably the least expensive way to get your brand out there. You see, people nowadays use their gaming consoles and laptops as a canvas for showing love to some of their favorite brands.
And although you can give stackers away at events (more on freebies later), you’ll also have the ability to put your brand in all kind of places. You can also use them to advertise a message in a specific location – like sticking a Snapcode in a public place to attract more followers.
4. Random Freebies
Giving away free products may sound counter-productive, but it actually helps with sales. For example, according to New York Times, a couple of years ago, 7-Eleven saw they sales shut up 38% on their annual Free Slurpee Day, even though they gave away more than 4.5 million drinks.
You can always set up shop at a local convention and give free stuff away. It doesn’t even have to be anything expensive – a simple thing like custom wristbands will draw enough people and spread some brand awareness every business desperately need.
Final Thoughts
Of course, while we claim that guerrilla marketing is great for small businesses, there are however, certain industries for which this advertising technique might not be appropriate.
According to Adam Salacuse (the president of ALT TERRAIN), the guerilla approach might be too risky for some highly controlled industries such as insurance and financial service, because it could potentially “ruffle the feathers??? of some customers.
With that being said, a successful guerrilla campaign can be tailored to almost any company – no matter the size. You only need to take a step out of your comfort zone and try something you’ve never done before.
And when it comes down to it – guerilla marketing can basically be anything you want – just as long as it is edgy, non-traditional and most importantly, memorable. If your marketing embodies the spirit of your company – it’s a clear winner – and you don’t any metrics to measure that.
