Guerrilla Marketing 101

What do you do when you need to market your company, but you can't justify spending significant amounts of money on advertising or marketing campaigns? You have to take to the streets!

Spreading the word about your business isn't difficult; it just takes imagination. Think about your target market's lifestyle and reach out to them when and where they'll be most receptive to your message.

Consider their personal activities as well as professional ones. If possible, partner with those organizations your target market frequents, such as professional organizations, recreation facilities, gyms, or local coffee shops. Make a list of locations they frequent. Decide what they would most appreciate: a promotional item, a discount coupon or gift certificate, a free consultation offer, or another offer. Finally, get your offer into the hands and minds of your target market.
With a $5,000 budget that had to stretch across four months of marketing activity in all six New England states, I once reached more than half a million college students, increasing traffic to my company's website and improving national sales by more than five percent. Since my budget allotment was so small, I adopted the attitude, "just show up," and then I carefully chose a few larger dollar events and used old-fashioned legwork and ingenuity to do the rest.

There are several places you can go, but remember always to determine city ordinances or venue regulations concerning solicitation. I was innocently giving out free frisbees on a beach once and almost found myself fined $500. Usually, a self-deprecating apology will suffice for the men and women in blue, but know your rights and responsibilities before engaging in guerrilla marketing tactics. You can also give out myriad products with your company name, description, or mission on them. You can choose from well-known promotional items such as pens, yo-yos, magnets, and so forth.