Guerrilla Marketing – Why your marketing budget should never be an issue

By Ricky Bugeja

We get it. No, we really do – honestly.

It’s July, you’re halfway through the financial year but your company has exhausted all the money that was allocated to your marketing efforts for the entire year. And so, you coast on your own steam, hoping past efforts have been fruitful and that you’re going to get enough organic leads to see you through until the next marketing budget is approved. Covid-19 might have effected you, both personally and financially and now you cross your fingers and pray that your target market still remembers that advert you produced way back in January, rather than listening to your competitors’ ads which are blasting through the four corners of the digital and broadcast domains. As you try to pull yourself together, you also remember that you paid somebody to do some SEO for your website last year, or was it the year before? Hmmm, I wonder how effective that still is.

Unfortunately, you’re not alone in this conundrum. Many companies all over the world fall into the same mousetrap, whether it results from poor planning, un-forecasted additional expenses, or there simply just not being enough change left over in the kitty for the marketing department, it always seems to be that a company’s’ marketing efforts are the first to suffer.

It shouldn’t be like that however. We’ve heard time and time again from the CEOs of some of the biggest brands in the world that marketing is one of the most valuable and indispensable facets of their business. Indeed, building a reputable brand that resonates with its target audience can be seen as the biggest asset that a business may ever possess. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get back to the topic at hand.

What is Guerrilla Marketing and why should you consider using it?

In essence, Guerrilla Marketing is one of the purest forms of marketing. In itself, Guerrilla Marketing is an art form. It involves the use of unconventional ways to connect, interact and leave an impactful message with your target audience. More specifically, Guerrilla Marketing often involves the use of high footfall physical environments, which may be outdoor such as city centres & parks or Indoor such as passenger terminals and shopping malls. Installations within these environments are meant to trigger intrigue, convey a message, and above all, give your brand exceptional prominence.

Guerrilla Marketing is particularly useful in a B2C application rather than a B2B. The primary goal through use of this tactic is reach and the potential for virality. The more memorable your Guerrilla endeavour is, the more the chance that it will be shared by passers-by who encounter your installation. This is especially true if whatever it is you are doing is clever, intriguing, or evokes an emotion.  By pulling on the heartstrings of your audience or getting them to engage with your installation, not only are you creating a memorable event that will give you brand recognition, but you are also creating the potential for virality in today’s social and instant media landscape. What is more is that one installation can function as a proof of concept – and if it works – Guerrilla Marketing is highly scalable and repeatable.

Finally, Guerrilla Marketing can act as the most opportune platform for band activation and direct contact with your consumers on the ground. Whether through the use of promoters, competitions, or sample distribution, users have the opportunity of connecting with your brand and taking a piece of it with them in their daily lives.

A word of caution, however, implementing Guerrilla Marketing can sometimes act as a double-edged sword. There’s a fine line to traverse between the successful implementation of a viral project, and the complete failure for the campaign to take off. Not only that, unsuccessful campaigns have had devastating effects on even some of the world’s biggest brands in the past. Many a time, this results from the oversight of a small detail which in the grand scheme of things ends up offending, panicking or genuinely hurting the audience which you aimed to win over in the first place!

Luckily, there are steps that one can take in order to mitigate this issue. Careful planning, legal consultation, clearance from the relevant authorities and in-depth market research are just some of the tools necessary for the successful implementation of a Guerrilla marketing campaign in your communications strategy.

It’s time to leave Covid-19 out of the picture and focus on what matters most. If you’re thinking about coming up with an out-of-the-ordinary plan to stand out from the crowd and really make a meaningful, lasting impact with your brand, then get in touch with us to today and we’ll help you take the right steps!