Guerrilla marketing is increasingly present in the strategies of small businesses and is very useful for competing with large corporations and their budgets.
It is no longer necessary to invest exorbitant amounts to increase your brand's reputation. This is because, even without a budget, there are other, more strategic ways to generate this buzz. Guerrilla marketing is one of them.
“Marketing is a war of the mind. It is the ideas in people’s heads that determine whether a product will be successful or not.”
Al Ries
In this article, you will learn what guerrilla marketing is for small businesses, guerrilla marketing ideas to put into practice, and you will also learn about some success stories to inspire you and boost your brand.
Did you like it? Then enjoy reading!
What is Guerrilla Marketing for Small Business?
Before we talk about what guerrilla marketing is for small businesses, you need to know what guerrilla marketing actually is.
Guerrilla comes from the Spanish word guerrilla and means “small war”. It is a type of war in which the main strategy is to attack the enemy by surprise, at several dispersed points. The fighters are separated into small groups and attack at different times and places when the enemy least expects it.
Guerrilla warfare is typically used by fighters who have fewer resources and numbers than their enemies and who usually have to face large armies that have much greater strength. Were you able to make the connection between marketing for small businesses versus large corporations?
In the case of guerrilla marketing, therefore, the main idea is to reach consumers gradually, in different formats, establishing your brand in the imagination of your target audience. You can achieve this by using creativity, surprise, boldness and agility to reach your consumers.
The term was coined in the 1980s by Jay Conrad Levinson, considered the “father of guerrilla marketing” , but it remains more relevant than ever. Nowadays, it can be used for a variety of products and services, such as streaming companies, cell phones and even distance learning courses .
We will explain in more detail the main characteristics of guerrilla marketing for small businesses so that you can apply it to your business!
Characteristics of Guerrilla Marketing
To apply guerrilla marketing to small businesses, you need to develop an idea that is creative, bold and agile, in addition to taking your audience by surprise.
To do this, you must ensure that your idea has the following characteristics:
Consumer emotional engagement
You know that advertisement or action that makes us feel happy, emotional or even angry? It remains in the consumer 's imagination because it stirred emotions. This way, the chances of them wanting to know more about the product or talk about the idea with someone are greater.
Consumer experience
The experience that a consumer goes through austria business fax list during a marketing campaign can also be more engraved in their imagination than the final message itself. If it is a memorable experience, they will have much stronger feelings for the brand that caused it.
Learn more: Fly higher with 15 free digital marketing tools
It reaches several people at the same time
A successful guerrilla marketing campaign usually goes viral. To do this, it needs to be easy to share. In the case of in-person campaigns, it should be easy to take photos or record videos. In the case of campaigns on digital platforms , sharing should be easy.
It's original
It’s not enough to be bold and creative; you also need to be original. There’s no point in copying an idea that’s already gone viral, because it won’t create new emotional engagement with the consumer if they’ve already seen something similar recently.
Talking about current events
Finally, it needs to speak to the current world. It is interesting to relate the action to recent real events, which brings the consumer's emotional involvement even closer and makes them feel closer to the final message.
All of this must be taken into consideration so that your guerrilla marketing action has the planned result.
Also read: Digital Marketing for Small Businesses: 6 Strategies to Attract Customers
Guerrilla Marketing Ideas
With all this information in mind, it’s time to create your guerrilla marketing campaign. To do this, the product or service offered by your company must also be taken into consideration.
To reach the final decision, it is first necessary to:
Define your persona;
Find the channels where it is most present;
Define the objective of the marketing action;
Define the format of the action;
Put into practice.
Now that you know the entire theory of guerrilla marketing for small businesses, it's time to check out practical examples to inspire you and better understand how this modality works.
“The goal of marketing is to know and understand the consumer so well that the product or service fits him or her and sells itself.”
Peter Drucker
Guerrilla marketing actions
Guerrilla marketing for small businesses can be implemented in a variety of formats. Keep in mind that the term was coined in the 1980s, long before social media and even the internet as we know it today.
In general, guerrilla marketing actions can be carried out in person or online.
Want to know how some companies put these teachings into practice and managed to create great guerrilla marketing cases? Then read below for some examples to get inspired!
Guerrilla marketing: success stories
Happiness Machine
Despite already being a very large and consolidated brand in the market, Coca-Cola likes to invest in guerrilla marketing. One of them was carried out in 2011 and was called Happiness Machine. In Brazil, this action was carried out in Porto Alegre.
The Coca-Cola machine didn't just offer the drink. It also offered balloons, flowers and various other objects that brought happiness to those who received it, playing with the public's emotions and delivering a good experience.
Cursed Ponies
How could we forget that 2011 Nissan ad that featured a catchy song sung by ponies to promote the new Frontier? In it, the driver complains about the power of his car, which is powered by ponies instead of horses.
The song went viral and was trending on Twitter in Brazil for 2 days. This happened because it touched the consumer's emotions and also provided a meaningful and unusual experience (even if the song that gets stuck in your head is annoying).
At the end, the pony still interacted with the viewer, suggesting that he share the video with 10 people or else the “Pony Curse” would leave the song stuck in his head forever. Unusual, right?
Ice Bucket Challenge
Do you remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? This campaign began in 2014 with the goal of raising awareness about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and raising funds.
The challenge was nothing more than pouring a bucket of ice over one's head, recording one's reaction and posting it on social media. At the end of the video, the person showed that they had donated an amount to an association for ALS patients and challenged three friends to do the same.
The campaign was created by a young American named Corey Griffin, when he discovered that a friend had been diagnosed with the disease.
This is an example of guerrilla marketing carried out through social media that went viral and even managed to raise millions of dollars for research institutions.
Learn more: How to create challenges on Instagram? Step by step guide to using the strategy to your advantage
It's time to invest in your guerrilla marketing!
In general, actions on digital platforms are even more democratic than in-person actions, as they are easy to share.
Furthermore, the media is much more accessible today. All you need is a cell phone with internet access to create and share a low-cost marketing campaign.
How about starting to put these teachings into practice with guerrilla marketing for small businesses?
In addition to guerrilla marketing, there are other strategies to boost the growth of a small business. It is also possible to train employees with online training, for example.
In this case, the EAD Platform is ideal for developing the best training. With it, you have control over your business with transparency, technology and practicality. All this with a simple, intuitive and easy-to-customize interface.
