Free Online Articles Directory
18.11.2008 Sign In Register Hello Guest
Email:
Password:
Remember Me 
forgot your password?


Guerrilla Marketing Basics for the Small Business

Author: Colleen Davis Author Ranking Silver | Posted: 12-08-2008 | Comments: 0 | Views: 9 | Rating:  (62) Article Popularity - Blue (?) Got a Question? Ask.
Sign Up Now!


Guerrilla marketing is a concept that many small business owners can get on board with: it’s a marketing system that relies on a very low budget by using time, energy and imagination to create a successful marketing campaign. It was created by Jay Conrad Levinson, who introduced the concept in his 1984 book Guerrilla Marketing. Since then, the term has also picked up the meaning of an aggressive, unconventional marketing method.

Guerrilla marketing is meant for the small business owner. Levinson had the small business owner in mind when he wrote his book and came up with guerrilla marketing techniques or “weapons,” which are outlined in his book. But Levinson also encourages small business owners to come up with their own guerrilla weapons and gives the following seven-step process for achieving success with guerrilla marketing.

1. Research. Don’t just research your market. Research your target audience, your product or service, your industry, your competitors and even your media options. What’s the best way to communicate with your target audience? How does your product differ from others on the market? The first place to start is on the Internet, by Googling your specific product or service to see what comes up.

2. Next, you should write a benefits list. Round up the best minds in your company along with a few customers and list benefits you give your customers. It’s best to include a few customers so you can get an outside view. What you consider a key benefit, your customers might not even know about! From your list of benefits, pick the one that’s your competitive advantage. That’s the one you should talk about in your marketing materials.

3. Select your weapons. You can find the 100 weapons (marketing tactics) listed on Levinson’s Web site (www.gmarketing.com) or you can pick up his book, Guerrilla Marketing Weapons: 100 Affordable Marketing Methods for a more in-depth look. Half of the weapons listed are free to implement.

After you’ve decided on your weapons, you prioritize them and assign them to people to head them up. You also give yourself a launch date for each one. Levinson states in an article that his “average client takes 18 months to launch an attack.” Don’t feel like you need to rush or that you’ll be behind if it takes you longer than a year.

4. Maintain the attack. You have to stick with your weapons and your launch plans even if you aren’t getting immediate results.

5. Keep track of your attack. Some of your weapons will work wonderfully and others will bomb. You need to note which ones worked for you and which ones didn’t. Ask customers where they saw your marketing. Why they did they come in?

6. Make a marketing calendar. Levinson goes into more detail, but basically you chart your marketing efforts for a year and you grade the results of each marketing effort. The good ones get As or Bs and the ones that failed miserably get Fs. Your letterhead printing gained some notice but your Post-It note printing didn’t? Assign an A and an F, respectively. Once the year is over, you keep the tactics that got As or Bs and do those again the next year.

7. Next you create a marketing plan, based on steps one through six. And that’s all there is to it!

Of course, it isn’t as simple as it sounds, but now you know the basics, you can start your research!

 

Rate this Article: Current: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s).

Article Tags: Letterhead Printing

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/printing-articles/guerrilla-marketing-basics-for-the-small-business-519601.html

Print this Article Print article   Email to a Friend Send to friend   Publish this Article on your Website Publish this Article   Send Author Feedback Author feedback  
About the Author:

For more information, you can visit this page on letterhead printing

Submitting articles has become one of the most popular means to drive traffic to your website and promote yourself and your business. Join us today - It's Free!

Article Comments

Comment on this article Comment on this article
Your Name
Your Email:
Comment Body
Enter Validation Code: Captcha


Related Articles

Building an Identity
By: Kaye Z. Marks | 29/02/2008 | Printing
Being successful in your chosen field depends largely on the image you have. If you were able to build an identity that speaks of hard core professionalism and expertise, then you would definitely stay in your business for many years to come.

Outside Looking in
By: Janice Jenkins | 02/03/2008 | Online Business
more to branding than what usually meets the eye

What's in a Tagline
By: Janice Jenkins | 23/04/2008 | Online Business
what is your company's tagline and what does it represent

Making Your Logo Memorable
By: charen smith | 24/04/2008 | Internet Marketing
The more important something is to a company the harder it is to really make it work. Stop for a moment and consider all the major companies you know. Now ask yourself how many of them have a logo?

Letterhead Printing: How to Do it Right
By: Bryant Anderson | 03/06/2008 | Writing
It is best to create a good impression to your probable clients or contacts and in order to do that your company's image must be firmly established. One way to do that is through letterheads. It should be efficiently designed as it will carry out the image of your company as what you should have expected it to be. And what way of presentation, than to have your letterhead printed in the best way it can.

5 Tips on Letterhead Printing That Will Get You Noticed
By: karen grahams | 04/08/2008 | Web Design
Usually when a small business owner is making a list of all the marketing materials he needs, he’ll forget about letterhead. Other business owners may not think letterhead is that important. But letterhead is extremely important. Along with a business card, a nice letterhead gives off a feeling of a professional, established company.

Understanding Active Vs. Passive Marketing
By: Robert Johnston | 02/10/2008 | International Business
How much do you understand the difference between active and passive marketing? If you want to make good use of both of them you need to be aware of what both of these encompass and how they affect your marketing.

Marketing Specifics: Expanding Your Brand
By: karen grahams | 14/10/2008 | Internet Marketing
There are two primary things to consider when it comes to expanding your brand name. The first is helping people to know exactly what your brand stands for, and the second is making sure people remember your brand name.

Got a Question? Ask.

Ask the community a question about this article:

Q&A Powered by:
Powered by Yedda 

Latest Printing Articles

Things to Plan Well in Advance for
By: Kate | 18/11/2008
I’ve just come off writing a series of articles talking about how planning ahead might cause you trouble if you aren’t willing to keep an open mind, so now I’m going to focus instead on why you should still plan ahead no matter what.

How You Frame Your Offer
By: Colleen Davis | 18/11/2008
This isn’t really about what exactly it is that you’re offering, but more about the way you present your offer. A lot of marketing is centered on a company’s ability to display their offers in a way that appeals to their customers.

How to Create Short But Powerful Ad Copies Through Custom Printing
By: Maureen Pelayo | 17/11/2008
There may be nothing wrong with what you are doing. But certainly you are lacking on some things. If you are utilizing the print medium for your ads, you can try custom printing for a change. This is to cut yourself out from everybody else, to give your image a boost and so that people can finally notice you.

Design Postcards – Designing Your Marketing Attitude
By: Maureen Pelayo | 17/11/2008
You must dwell enough time and thoughts in any advents with regards to this. This includes how to design postcards, how to make effective ad copies and other things that you have to decide on as you utilize different tools.

The Endless Possibilities With Digital Poster Printing
By: Maureen Pelayo | 17/11/2008
Do you own a small shop? Do not think that because your place is small, you cannot opt for bigger adverting means like digital poster printing. This can serve you in many ways than you may have originally planned.

Wholesale Printing – Leading Your Business to the Right Opportunities
By: Maureen Pelayo | 17/11/2008
Wholesale printing gives you an opportunity to take your chance in advertising to a larger crowd. This is mainly because this is affordable, so you will not think twice about taking the plunge.

The Larger Your Audience the More Unfocused Your Message
By: Kaitlyn Miller | 17/11/2008
As size increases so does diversity. Every state is going to have something unique about it. Every major city is going to have those specific traits unique only to them. Every section of that very city is going to have more and more variations

Place Your Product Into a Person’s Life
By: Kaitlyn Miller | 17/11/2008
When I look at a product I’m not immediately thinking to myself about how I might make use out of it. Typically I just see the product, see what it does, and that’s it. Yes, I’m sure that product could change my life

More from Colleen Davis

How You Frame Your Offer
By: Colleen Davis | 18/11/2008 | Printing
This isn’t really about what exactly it is that you’re offering, but more about the way you present your offer. A lot of marketing is centered on a company’s ability to display their offers in a way that appeals to their customers.

What Does Your Business Card Say About You?
By: Colleen Davis | 13/11/2008 | Advertising
When someone picks up a business card they’re obviously going to be thinking certain things about the person who paid for the business card printing in the first place. A business card acts as a bit of extension of the person who made it

Know What You’ve Done Before
By: Colleen Davis | 11/11/2008 | Printing
A very important element in marketing is being aware of exactly what you’ve done in the past. There are a few reason why this is going to be important. The first is because you want to be able to gauge how well a particular message

Are You Giving the Answer to a Problem?
By: Colleen Davis | 10/11/2008 | Printing
Life is full of problems both big and small. Many of these are just little inconveniences in life that people get used to. You just don’t really think about it anymore, and because of that, you can be given a pleasant surprise when you find a solution to it.

Let Your Competition Teach You
By: Colleen Davis | 06/11/2008 | Printing
Many new business owners view their potentially heavy competition with a look of apprehension and fear at the prospect of going up against such well established companies.

Knowing the Specifics: Newsletters
By: Colleen Davis | 04/11/2008 | Printing
A newsletter is a method for a company to appeal directly to their customers and talk to them in a way they wouldn’t be able to with just normal advertising. Advertising is typically about promoting something very specific

Never Just Look at One Marketing Push at a Time
By: Colleen Davis | 31/10/2008 | Printing
I know that when you have a big marketing push that you’re working on it can be hard to then divert your attention to other things. You want to make sure that your advertising is as good as possible, and the only way you can do that is if you’re giving it all of your attention.

The Key to Strong Seminar Attendance
By: Colleen Davis | 30/10/2008 | Printing
I have to say that there are two primary reasons why I don’t end up going to a lot of seminars that I’m invited to. The first is that I often just forget about the thing altogether. I get an invitation in January asking me to come to a seminar in June

Article Categories





Give Feedback

Sign up for our email newsletter

Receive updates, enter your email below