Our agency being on the smaller side has the ability to be nimble while at the same time employing new marketing tools in real time for our own http://www.YourCover.com product as well as for our clients.
Because budgets can be tight we’ve learned a great deal on how to maximize efficiencies and take a guerrilla marketing approach to particular projects. But what exactly does the term ‘guerrilla’ marketing mean? It seems to mean different things to different people.

Thanks to Wikipedia the definition of guerrilla marketing is: ‘an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget. Typically, guerrilla marketing campaigns are unexpected and unconventional; potentially interactive; and consumers are targeted in unexpected places. The objective of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, engaging and thought-provoking concept to generate buzz, and consequently turn viral. The term was coined and defined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his book Guerrilla Marketing.

That sounds all fine and good, but too many people equate guerrilla marketing with – you don’t have to spend any money. I don’t believe Jay Conrad Levinson had that thought in mind. Then there’s also the notion that somehow when guerrilla marketing strategies and tactics are employed we agency types will be smarter and more cost-conscious. My point is that ALL marketers should always be trying to do things smarter and more cost-consciously on every project.

For example, building a Facebook ‘website’ type page within Facebook is something different that might fall into the guerrilla marketing category – it’s unconventional (at least for now), has a potential reach of 500 million Facebook users and is decidedly a less expensive proposition than a conventional website. But even with that less expensive approach than that of a conventional website, it’s far from free or even a nominal expenditure. Strategy, concept, and execution on the part of the agency are what we get paid to do.

We like and ascribe to the idea of unconventional approaches but there also are times when we know a big fat branding and marketing campaign will be the best way for a client to achieve their marketing objectives. We feel that way about YourCover all the time but lack the resources to blow out a big time brand message so we continue to grow the company using a myriad of what we consider to be affordable tactics and channels. So yes we are employing guerrilla marketing when we know we’d be better off if we could employ gorilla marketing!

I’d love to hear about some of the unconventional approaches you’ve encountered out there. Please share your stories and we can all learn a little more.