Guerrilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing is quite different from traditional marketingefforts. Guerrilla marketing means going after the conventionalgoals of profits, sales and growth but doing it by usingunconventional means, such as expanding offerings during gloomyeconomic days to inspire customers to increase the size of eachpurchase.

Instead of asking that you invest money, guerrilla marketingsuggests you invest time, energy, imagination and knowledgeinstead. It puts profits, not sales, as the main yardstick. Iturges that you grow geometrically by enlarging the size of eachtransaction, having more transactions per year with each customer,and tapping the enormous referral power of current customers. And,it does it through one of the most powerful marketing weaponsaround–the telephone.

The telephone is a remarkably effective follow-up weapon. Don’tuse the phone to follow up all your mailings to customers, butresearch has proved that it will always boost your sales andprofits. Sure, telephone follow-up is a tough task. But it works.Anyhow, no one ever said that guerrilla marketing is a piece ofcake.

E-mail ranks up there with the telephone, possibly even outoutranking it. It’s inexpensive. It’s fast. It lets you prove thatyou really care. It helps strengthen your relationship.

Lean upon your website as well. Instead of telling your wholestory with other marketing, use that other marketing to directpeople to your site. Then, use the site to give a lot ofinformation and advance the sale to consummation. A key to onlinesuccess is creating a brief and enticing e-mail that directsreaders to a website that give enough information for a person tomake an intelligent purchase decision.

Guerrilla marketing preaches fervent follow-up, cooperationinstead of competition, “you” marketing rather than “me” marketing,dialogues instead of monologues, counting relationships instead ofcounting sales, and aiming at individuals instead of groups.

All guerrillas realize that the process of marketing is verymuch akin to the process of agriculture. Their marketing plans arethe seeds they plant. Their marketing activities are thenourishment they give to each plant. Their profits are the harvestthey reap. They know those profits don’t come in a short time. Butcome they do if you start with a plan and commit to it.

Guerrillas know they must seek profits from their currentcustomers. They worship at the shrine of customer follow-up. Theyare world-class experts at getting their customers to expand thesize of their purchases. Because the cost of selling to a brand-newcustomer is six times higher than selling to an existing customer,guerrilla marketers turn their gaze from strangers to friends. Thisreduces the cost of marketing while reinforcing the customerrelationship.

When your customers are confronted with their daily blizzard ofjunk mail and unwanted e-mail, your mailing piece won’t be scrappedwith the others and your e-mail won’t be instantly deleted. Afterall, these folks know you, identify with you, trust you. So they’llbe delighted to purchase–or at least check out–that new productor service you’re offering. They’ll always be inclined to buy froma company they’ve patronized.

Guerrillas are able to think of additional products and servicesthat can establish new sources of profits to them. They’reconstantly on the alert for strategic alliances–fusing marketingefforts with others in order to market aggressively while reducingmarketing investment.

The internet and your bookstore are teeming with a treasuretrove of marketing tactics that can help you discover smartguerrilla marketing tactics. But learning about them is only halfthe battle. If you don’t begin putting them into practice, youwon’t see the results these type of marketing efforts can have onyour bottom line.