Guerrilla Marketing on the ‘Net: Does It Make Sense for Your Business?

Guerrilla marketing has long been used in the offline world, comprised of creative tactics for launching advertising campaigns and brand promotions, along with clever marketing programs designed to attract mass amounts of customers in a short period of time.

Corporations including Nike, Microsoft, and Apple have long used viral campaigns and guerrilla tactics to attract customers during the launch phases of new products, and many online companies are following suit by using online media tools and platforms. Contests, targeted advertising, and blogging opportunities abound, but how effective is guerrilla marketing online? Can it really help generate traffic and boost sales, or is it just a wasted effort that will hack away at your marketing budget?

Understanding the Roots of Guerrilla Marketing

You already know how important developing, and sometimes re-developing, your marketing and branding strategy is for your business, and pursuing a guerrilla marketing strategy is one way you might complement a campaign.

Guerrilla marketing is simply an unconventional way of promoting an idea or product. It has traditionally been used for bootstrapped marketing budgets, reaching a wide audience with very little cost. Jay Levinson first coined the term in his book ‘Guerrilla Marketing’ in the mid-80s, and today the initiative is best described as one that focuses on maximizing exposure and publicity with a concentrated campaign launched for a very short period of time.

However, this ‘short period of time’ had a different meaning back when the Internet wasn’t a primary resource for targeted advertising. In today’s time-sensitive web world, content and media spreads overnight, and the lightning-like speed of word-of mouth buzz makes it difficult to gauge what exactly is a guerrilla marketing strategy, and what may simply be part of a social marketing campaign instead. Knowing where to set your sights will require you to evaluate:

Understanding where you stand with today’s web-savvy audience is an essential step towards finding the campaign that brings results.

The State of Guerrilla Marketing On the ‘Net Today

Guerrilla marketing on the Internet takes the form of blogs, viral video, and even discussion forum participation with varying results. When you’re searching for the right fit, reviewing the potential value of a campaign presents a choice:

  1. Choose a steady traffic-building strategy that amasses loyal customers, visitors, or readers
  2. Proceed with a guerrilla marketing program for fast-action responses, overnight traffic generation, and an opportunity for rapid word-of-mouth buzz.
  3. Your creative potential

Steady traffic building requires persistent and conscious effort; you might need to create a PR team to start link-building, working on SEO optimization and really understanding how to market online. Companies that have reached the top ranks of Google make use of extensive online marketing strategies to get there, and stay there. Traffic and hits are a part of the magic formula, but much of this has to do with the quality links and potential reach for these sites. This is a form of online marketing that does bring results, but requires extensive effort.

Guerilla marketing on the web has quickly turned towards viral video, blogging, and ‘live media’ in a variety of domains. While these aren’t ideal methods for every business, more and more companies are turning to innovative ways to capture the precious attention of the online audience.

No matter which method is chosen, the most effective strategies are those based on repeatable efforts to make the brand stand out in the customer’s mind, and something that’s compelling and unique enough that the audience is simply eager to share it with others on their own.

Choosing the Campaign That Works For Your Business

Choosing a campaign that works best for your business will require some strategic thinking; if the competition is fierce in your industry, you’ll need an especially creative guerrilla marketing strategy to out-do your competitors; this is where brainstorming and integrating new media are essential.

Guerrilla marketing can be particularly challenging for startups or businesses just entering a new market. Leveraging online tools and resources is simpler if you have a strong knowledge and background in social media, but not every business is equipped with the knowledge and experience to create a program that works. Common guerrilla marketing tactics on the web include:

There is also an element of risk involved. Since social media is so, well, social, there’s a good chance that a failed or unresponsive effort will leave potential customers with a poor impression. Unless your business already has a strong web presence and brand, it might be especially challenging to make a guerrilla marketing effort actually work for you; especially one that features videos, podcasts or other social media.

A Comparison of Guerrilla Campaign Options

Campaign TypeLarge market reach?Easy to Use for Beginners?Low Cost? Can it be implemented quickly?

Blogs 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Craigslist 

Depends on location 

Yes 

Yes; free 

Yes 

Article Syndication 

Yes 

No 

Yes; writer’s fees are usually the only cost 

Yes 

Press Releases 

Yes 

No 

Yes; usually free 

Yes 

Affiliate Programs 

No; highly specialized 

No 

Yes, but fees incurred in some cases 

Yes 

Linkbuilding 

No; specialized niche 

No 

No, may require technical experts 

Yes, but it’s long-term marketing that can be done in phases 

Podcasting 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes; podcasting equipment required 

Depends on production time 

Viral video and YouTube 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Depends on production time 

If you choose a steadier marketing approach instead, the results may be much more promising. Taking advantage of today’s top social marketing tools means getting up to speed with blogging, e-mail newsletter distribution, and even online video advertising. Viral video and podcasting campaigns are other ways you can start to build your brand and your business.

Steady marketing campaigns may include referral programs, an e-mail newsletter, subscription service, or even an interactive marketing that encourages customers to engage and interact with your company in new ways. These are long-term strategies that can start creating a buzz for your business over extended periods of time, and although they may require more direct effort, your business can enjoy longer-lasting benefits. You can still be creative with these, but might choose to:

Deciding between a guerrilla marketing strategy and/or long-term marketing campaign in today’s competitive online world can be challenging. The best way to start is by identifying your strengths and weaknesses, considering your budget and time commitment, and learning how your brand fares amongst the competition so your chances of success are much higher.

by contributing editor Sabah Karimi

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Networking 101 - It Is Who You Know, But Here's How to Meet People

When I first sought a job outside of college, I often heard the adage "it's who you know." I naively thought that didn't apply to me and that I would get jobs on my own merit. While that became true, it didn't happen through the standard recruiting process. It took me a long time to find a solution that worked. Eventually, I got my first two jobs from ingenuity and networking - looking up names of conference attendees from a conference I had scribed during college - and contacting them. That taught me the value of maintaining contacts. When I started my own business, I utilized a similar strategy that still works today.

Networking is mostly a science, but a little bit of finesse doesn't hurt. It's a difficult choice to determine how much money to spend on marketing and networking because often results cannot be quantified, but at the beginning of a new business, it's important to err on the side of putting more funds toward networking - essentially attending events and meetings to meet new people, finding applicable networks online, talking to friends for ideas of new contacts, and following up with all of these people.

Events and More Events

There is something special about in-person contact when developing relationships, so start networking with in-person events. Not only is it a great way to gain customers, investors or advisors, but it is also a way to hone your pitch and learn new things about your market.

Finding the right events can be tricky, and it largely depends on where you live. If you're founding a high-tech startup in Butte, Montana, you won't have the same resources available as you would if you were in Silicon Valley. Not that it can't be done – you can network online – but travel to major events outside your residence or business location may become the only viable option.

The first step is to meet other people starting similar companies, because having a trusted board not only helps hone your business plan, but it serves as a method for maintaining sanity when you face challenges.

Events geared toward entrepreneurs - everything from major conferences to small subgroups within clubs or professional organizations can be gold mines. It's not only new entrepreneurs who attend these events - often experienced individuals will attend just because they like meeting new people.

And you never know where you might find good tips; you could be building a widget to re-task other widgets and the person next to you designs defibrillators, but s/he could have a great idea for building your customer base. Recommendation: always be interested and courteous, and always get that person's card. You never know where it might lead later.

After building a base of other entrepreneurial contacts, it's time to target your market. Attend trade conferences or meetings related to your business. That's where you can get the most customers. If you're looking for funding, attend events designed for people to meet and learn from angel investors or venture capitalists. These people speak at events so they can meet new potential businesses to fund - don't be scared to introduce yourself.

Lastly, attending social or philanthropic events – while seemingly unrelated – can produce great results. This practice is hit-or-miss and shouldn’t be pursued with high expectations, but whenever you go to a party, make it a point to always bring business cards, always be prepared to pitch your business, and ideally, limit alcohol intake in order to present the best face for your organization.

Online Networking

In the past, online networking meant e-mail introductions and cold contact with people through their web sites. With the advent of social networking sites, particularly LinkedIn and Facebook, online networking is a breeze.

This is a way to learn about people and get introductions. Another good way is through mailing lists. Any site that has anything even remotely related to your company, get on their mailing list. Newsletters often have articles by or about people in your field and you will find out about more events this way.

Blogs

Nearly every possible topic in existence is covered on a blog these days. Simple searches – like via Google’s Blog Search – will find whatever you’re looking for. Seek out sites that pertain closely to your business and comment frequently on those sites. You will develop relationships with the bloggers and possibly be invited to blog yourself. Follow the links through that blog’s list of related blogs (aka blogroll) and find additional information that way.

Friends of Friends

While Facebook and social events provide two ways of meeting friends of friends, direct introductions tend to produce the best results. It may be scary to tell friends about your business at first, but aside from getting contacts from them, it creates another feedback mechanism for your ideas. Ask to get together with people for coffee.

Coffee doesn’t commit anyone to more than 20 minutes if they are busy, and if you click well, it could last two hours. Or if you’re not local, arrange phone meetings. Phone meetings have become much more common lately. With unlimited long distance, VoIP (voice-over-IP) like Skype, and free conference call services like freeconference.com, phone meetings are a breeze to arrange.

Follow Through

It’s important to start slowly with all of these networking activities. I’ve found that signing up for more than 1-2 major events a week can be exhausting and distracting. Unless all of the events are in the must-not-miss category, keep the number low and focus on building your contact database.

Collecting a bunch of business cards at meetings is meaningless unless you put them into action. Getting a solid contact management solution that is easily transportable and regularly backed-up will ensure that your hard work on networking will not go to waste.

Once you have the contact data sorted and organized, follow-up! Send that e-mail you promised to Joe who you met at the startup convention. Give Elisa a call about the lead she mentioned. If more than a few days have passed, make sure to remind them of who you are and keep in touch. Networking is fun and the results can be very inspiring. Best of luck.

by contributing editor Sarah Granger

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The Struggles to Finding that Perfect Name

I've never considered myself an entrepreneur. With a degree in Journalism and a background in TV production, I've always fallen into the "creative" category, not the technical, business mindset. But my quest to regain my life and reclaim my time led me to venture into starting my own consulting business. I've managed to pick up clients here and there, but one of the biggest struggles for me has been picking a name and branding my company - and I've definitely learned a few things along the way.

A business name is tasked with being so many things: clever, succinct, explanatory, easy to remember, easy to spell, a reflection of who you are. We've all seen a business name and wondered, "what were they thinking?" Some of my favorites are ones that use incorrect grammar to be cute - "Kwik Kopy," "Kute Kuts" - that's just bad branding all the way around! While a good name can reflect what's important to you as a business owner and make people want to know more, a bad name can turn people off altogether.

So how do you come up with something that's catchy, classy and clever?

  1. The "easy" answer is to brainstorm

    I'm a neat, tidy, organized person, and while I'm a creative person, I've never been a fan of brainstorming - it's a messy process, and if something silly or stupid comes to my mind, I'm loathe to give it life by writing it down on paper. I'm learning that's what brainstorming is - it's giving life to EVERYTHING you think of. Write it all down. Don't gloss over one idea, suggestion, or thought process. Something may end up growing on you, or you may go back to the list later and see something in a different way.

  2. Figure out what you want to convey with your name

    Lately, there's been a big trend toward industry buzzwords, using terms like "connect" "precision" "pinnacle," etc. Do you want your name to reflect an industry? Your location? Certain beliefs you hold? Your name? Figuring out what direction you want to take your business name can help you narrow down ideas, and come up with new ones.

  3. Look for the perfect website

    Nowadays your business has to have a website. While designing, architecting, and building one is the subject of another article entirely, at this stage, you do need to check for domain names before you become too attached to a name. It's a good idea to have several names you like relatively well, and check for different variances of those names. There's a delicate balance here. Being too attached to a name could lead you to register a domain name with too many dashes, underscores and periods. You want to find something that's easy to remember - not only when it comes to telling people the name of your company, but also when it comes to the website. If you're getting into the dot-dash-underscore realm, it may be time to move on to another name selection.

    On the flipside, if you have a name that manages to be clever, catchy and classy, it may be worth a little re-working in order to keep the name, and come up with a website that suits it.

Finding that perfect name - the perfect brand for your product, business or service - may take a while. Always keep in mind what kind of image you want to convey to potential clients or customers, and remember that in the early stages of naming, no idea is a bad idea!

by contributing editor Alexis James

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