In 2001, computer giant IBM caused the ire of San Francisco when it spray-painted the streets with the words “Peace, Love and Linux.” Not to be outdone, Microsoft flew in a thousand butterfly stickers on the city of New York, plastering public areas with hard-to-remove promotional decals.

Apparel brand Le Tigre resorted to sexy men and scantily-clad women to hand out t-shirts and wristbands sporting their galloping tiger logo in an effort to revive the brand and boost sales. To reach a whole new market base of the high-income, Sex and the City-esque, urbane female professionals, financial giant Citigroup handed out coins and a sales pitch, telling these women that not employing their investment advisory services is just like throwing away money. And unconventional, new and innovative marketing strategies such as these are rapidly catching on.

Is Guerilla Marketing merely a gimmick or a successful marketing tactic?

Believe it or not, guerilla marketing works. And it gets people talking, believing and eventually buying your product.

People are bombarded with thousands of advertisements from the TV, the radio, billboards and just about everywhere. For many companies, it is a challenge to stay above the din and get noticed. And this is where guerilla marketing comes in. Though still a relatively new idea, guerilla marketing was a term coined and popularized by Jay Conrad Levison in the early 1980s. Just about any unique, wacky and aggressive tactic that relies on imagination and a sense of humor (rather than on big marketing budgets) can be classified as guerilla marketing. And the best part is that these promotional strategies work really well for small businesses.

Guerilla marketing and Small Businesses

Small businesses do not have the big bucks needed to launch a full-blown advertising campaign. Rather than rely on money, start-up and small entrepreneurs often have to resort to more creative and ingenious ways to get their message across. Thus, a guerilla marketer has to be resourceful and imaginative in devising his own method of advertising and promotion in the most inexpensive way possible. Ultimately, guerilla marketing techniques succeed based on the noise, and controversy, that they generate.

It is wise to keep in mind that marketing is not an expense, it is an investment. And this investment needs commitment to make it happen and generate profit for your business. Once you have devoted your time and effort in guerilla marketing, got the buzz going and people talking, it’s important to have a successful follow-through. Make sure that you can “deliver” with a product or a service that is worth all the fuss. Guerilla marketing can get the customers through the door, but to maintain a long-lasting and profitable relationship with your clients takes a whole lot of work and a product that lives up to its promise and customer expectation.

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