As a brand owner... you're constantly looking for ways to expand your business. Maybe you've already tried SEO, social media marketing, email marketing, and more...
And these marketing approaches make it easy to establish your eCommerce brand— online and offline.
But sometimes, these marketing tactics require a decent marketing budget. That's how you can ensure your business gets the success it deserves.
So, here's an idea! This is one of the most effective low-budget marketing types...
It's guerilla marketing! Many small businesses used this marketing method even before the internet. They used this tactic to grow their businesses.
Creating a guerrilla marketing campaign serves as a low cost digital marketing solution for brand owners with a limited budget... which helps you achieve optimum results without spending a huge sum.
This blog will teach you...
- What is guerilla marketing?
- How does guerilla marketing work?
- 7 tactics to grow your eCommerce brand offline
So, let's get started!
What is guerrilla marketing?
The term 'Guerrilla Marketing' was first coined by Jay Convard Levinson in his famous book 'Guerrilla Advertising' in 1984.
Guerrilla marketing focuses on strategies that create buzz and make a lasting impression on customers.
It also acts as a perfect bridge to bring buyers online to offline. Unlike other forms of marketing that follow a standard set of rules... guerrilla marketing ideas rely on creativity and execution.
While guerrilla marketing was introduced to help small businesses... many large-scale businesses also take advantage of the best guerrilla marketing tactics to grow their business offline.
So, there are different guerrilla marketing types...
1. Experiential marketing
Unlike traditional marketing models, in which customers usually act as passive participants... experiential marketing allows them to participate in the process and helps a brand grow and excel.
This method uses creativity to introduce guerilla marketing campaigns that help customers connect emotionally with your brand and products.
2. Astroturfing Marketing
Unlike buzz marketing which involves organic recommendations from a brand, astroturfing marketing uses fake endorsements to build a reputation and social proof.
3. Buzz Marketing
Buzz marketing is a popular guerrilla marketing tactic used by marketers to create hype about a product or a brand.
This type of guerilla marketing is incredibly cost-effective as a brand has minimal involvement.
The process revolves around getting genuine endorsements from high-profile individuals, celebrities, and influencers to promote your brand or products without getting anything in return.
4. Stealth Marketing
Stealth marketing is a popular guerilla marketing tactic. This method targets customers without them realizing they're being targeted.
Guerilla marketers use this strategy to create brand awareness and buzz around a product or a service.
5. Street Marketing
Street marketing is not as popular as other forms of guerrilla marketing. But this tactic can drive more engagement and leads than other available alternatives.
Marketers use posters, billboards, and street art to communicate their brand message.
Now, I'm sure you're wondering...
How does guerrilla marketing work?
1. Location
First of all, you have to consider foot traffic. The idea here is not to target people but the right audience who are genuinely interested in your products.
2. Don't annoy customers
It can be easy for your buyers to ignore your guerilla marketing tactics unless your idea is powerful enough to capture their attention.
Even if you have successfully captured your audience's attention... the real challenge is getting your message across without breaking laws or annoying your customers.
3. Consider different variables
An effective guerrilla marketing campaign depends on many factors, including city laws, theft, weather, and more.
4. Create A Link Between Your Offline Marketing And Online Brand
Customers should be able to find a connection between your brand and offline marketing strategies.
In other words... your guerrilla marketing strategies should complement your overall business goals and objectives.
So make sure you keep these things in mind before creating a campaign for your business. Are you ready? Let's discuss...
7 Low-cost guerrilla marketing tactics to grow your business offline
1. Use sticker marketing to boost your brand
Did you know simple stickers can make your brand stand out in the crowd?
That's fine if you haven't heard of this type of marketing. After all, guerrilla marketing is all about pulling off creative marketing tactics.
But this strategy has the potential to create brand awareness and help your target audience become familiar with your brand.
Reddit is an example here. The popular social media platform used their legendary alien logo stickers to create awareness.
Those stickers became famous in no time. And we've seen them on people's laptops, cars, binders, and everywhere.
Interestingly, Reddit only spent $500 on those stickers, and according to the CEO, the results they got were astounding.
2. Set up a pop-up shop
Yes, you guessed that right. Another effective low-budget marketing tactic is to set up a pop-up shop.
The good thing about those shops is that anyone can easily create one. Also, you can take them down whenever required.
With these pop-up shops, you can provide your consumers with a point of sale they can use to purchase their desired items. You can even process payments using the POS system.
But the main point of concern is the location. The good news is you can set up your store anywhere — in your office, home, or even inside any other shop. Or in public places, but with permission.
This strategy, if done right, can bring wonderful results to your business.
3. Give away samples
Who doesn't like free stuff? Of course, we all do. Why not leverage this foolproof guerrilla marketing tactic to grow your business offline?
Giving away free samples is a surefire way to know people have access to your products and they will use them.
First, people love freebies. Second, when people get free samples, they feel obliged to spend their money on the products they once received as samples.
How to implement this?
You can talk to local events or fairs organizers. Ask them if you can distribute your products as samples to their visitors. You can also set up a booth if you want to interact with your customers.
4. Pay attention to product placement
How you position your product can make or break a deal for you.
So, the key here is to place your products in front of your customers so that they realize their value. Then they will eventually feel the urge to invest their hard-earned money in them.
This is an excellent idea to increase brand awareness because you're introducing your products to a larger number of people.
5. Support local community events
One of the best ways to gain exposure is to become active in your local community events.
For example, if your local community is organizing any seasonal fair or charitable event... you can sponsor that program to give your brand positive exposure.
When people around you start recognizing your brand, they will search for you. And if you have a great search engine optimization strategy, you’ll get more traffic to your website.
6. Street propaganda
Street propaganda is another old-school yet highly effective guerrilla marketing strategy.
This involves creating innovative street guerilla marketing campaigns to implement in your nearby area.
But of course, you need to be creative in your guerilla marketing ideas. That's how you can get attention. You can also start by distributing flyers or posters to increase brand awareness.
7. Work with influencers
You don't really have to collaborate with famous social media stars and Tiktokers to gain exposure for your brand... especially if you're not willing to spend thousands of dollars.
Many offline influencers can spread positivity about your brand. The good news? Without having you spend extravagantly on your guerilla marketing efforts.
You can look for those influential figures around you and approach them with a proposal. Some influencers ask for a monetary reward, while others can even settle for a free sample or a giveaway.
Even if it's a cash reward, it will be much less than what you pay to macro-influencers or celebrities when they promote your brand within their social circles.
The key here is to find an influencer who can make a big difference.
So, what are you waiting for?
Execute the best guerilla marketing campaigns with these tips!
Guerrilla marketing can be truly rewarding when you go for the wow factor instead of trusting those traditional tactics.
While guerrilla marketing tactics have a limited reach, it still can expand and speed up when you know what you're doing.
But why should you limit your brand's potential to offline reach? When you can expand online!
Ricky Hayes
