The term guerilla marketing was coined by Jay Conrad Levinson and is described in his many books with this term in the title. Here is a brief overview of guerilla marketing tactics and how to get started.

What It Is
Guerilla marketing is really a way of thinking and acting in the context of your business. It is about finding any number of tens or maybe hundreds of available creative yet inexpensive ways to market your good or service. It is less about having a big advertising budget and more about thinking like your customers and finding ways to get the message about your value across to them. The keys are creativity, consistency, and repetition of your message in multiple ways by using your existing resources and abilities.

Who Can Use It
Small and midsize businesses have the most to gain from guerilla marketing. However, even large companies with multiple, niche brands that have smaller target markets may employ guerilla marketing techniques to market their products and services. Any individual or company with a relatively small budget and lots of creativity, energy and time can implement a guerilla marketing campaign.

Ethicality
Levinson’s ideas have a bit of a “by any means necessary” tinge to them that some people take to mean “being unethical is okay.” I actually strongly disagree with this interpretation of his work. In fact, I feel that his books emphasize that you actually do need to deliver on the implied promises you make to customers each time you launch a campaign. Whether your marketing practices are ethical is up to you, but guerilla marketing itself is completely legitimate and ethical.

Getting Started
To get started as a guerilla marketer, you first need to take your creativity and passion about your product or service up a notch or two. Finding multiple ways to get your message about your product or service out to potential clients is your path to success. Reading any one of Levinson’s books will give you a solid grounding in his techniques. However, this practice is more about mindset, energy and creativity than it is about a pre-defined, inflexible marketing methodology.

If the marketing budget for your company is relatively tight but you are looking for more ways to get your message to would-be customers, guerilla marketing tactics are a great option at your disposal.

Click on the thumbnails for inspiring examples.

Author: Everett Maclachlan
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