100 Guerrilla Marketing Weapons

By Brett E. Salisbury, Preferred Marketing Strategies

 

Your marketing arsenal can be much more potent than it is right now, and it won’t even require much of an investment.

Ask the average business owner (or yourself if you qualify) what marketing is and you'll be told that it's advertising. Guerrillas know that this is nonsense. Advertising is only one weapon of marketing.

How many weapons do you think most business owners aware of? According to Jay Levinson, the Godfather of guerrilla marketing, maybe five or ten. How many do they use? His extensive research and experience conclude approximately three; however, guerrillas are aware of a full 100 guerrilla marketing weapons and make use of about 40 of them.

Did you know that over 50 weapons are free?

Would you be surprised to find out that more than 50 of the guerrilla weapons in this article are FREE? Many of them are incredibly simplistic, often forgotten or overlooked, or considered inconsequential...but those types of thinkers aren't guerrillas.

The weapons below are presented in no particular order but all deserve your attention. When you come across guerrilla marketing weapons that "jump" out at you make a note of them now so that you can begin work on those as quickly as possible. Remember...use as many as you can, but guerrillas too are known for methodical execution and if you can't put 100% into the weapon at this time then don't and wait for a more appropriate time to add it to your arsenal.

The first 100 found originally in Jay Conrad Levinson's "Guerrilla Marketing" published in 1984:

Marketing plan Marketing calendar Niche/Positioning Name of company Identity Logo Theme Stationery Business card Inside signs Outside signs Hours of operation Days of operation Package and label Flexibility Word-of-mouth Community involvement Neatness Referral program Sharing with others Guarantee or warranty Telemarketing scripts Gift certificates Printed brochures Electronic brochures

Location Advertising Sales training Networking Quality Reprints and blow-ups Flipcharts Opportunities to upgrade Contests/sweepstakes Barter options Club memberships Partial payment plans Phone demeanor Toll-free phone number Cause (environment) Free consultations Free seminars Free demos or tours Free samples Giver vs. taker stance Fusion marketing Marketing on hold Past success stories Attire Service

Follow-up Yourself and your employees Free gifts Catalog Yellow pages ad Column in a publication Article in a publication Speaker at a club Newsletter All your audiences Benefits of your offering Computer Selection Contact time with customers How you say hello and goodbye Public relations Publicity contacts Online marketing Classified ads Newspaper ads Magazine ads Radio commercials TV spots Infomercials Movie commercials

Direct mail letters Direct mail postcards Postcard for postcard deck Outdoor billboards Fax-on-demand Special events Show displays and staff Audio-visual aids Posters Prospect mailing lists Research studies Competitive advantages Marketing insight Speed Testimonials Reputation Enthusiasm Credibility Spying on self and others Easy to do business with Brand name awareness Designated guerrilla Customer mailing list Competitiveness Satisfied customers

Now that you have read through the 100 weapons you must be asking what and why some of the items were included and mean. For example..."Company Name"...you are probably saying to yourself, "I already have a company name!" Guerrillas are thinking about every aspect or opportunity to touch or reach prospects and when creating a business the company name is very important. You want to consider the 6 different ways people process information and then try to encompass two or more of those in your choice of a company name.

If you have an IT business what makes more sense? The common inclusion of your own sir name, some off-the-wall and cool name like "Wired"; or, does it make more sense to consider all the marketing factors such as where would your company end up of directory listings based on the typical alphabetical ascending order used, or simply making sure that "IT" is in the business name so that when someone sees your brand there is no guessing at the services you provide? The later is the correct answer.

There are many considerations that go into each and every one of the 100 weapons and obviously we can't cover those here, but be sure to look for future articles and sign up for our FREE newsletter "Guerrilla Marketing News" where we will be featuring weapons every month over the course of the next year.

It's now time to put on your guerrilla hat and pick the first ten weapons. Remember...guerrillas methodical in development, packaging, execution and most of all, we are patient. Most marketing doesn't produce results over night and in print sometimes as long as 15 months; however, guerrillas are patient and if you are using your guerrilla arsenal effectively it will come and you will see profits unlike ever before.

See you in the trenches!

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