College Essays

Guerrilla Marketing: A Chance for Small Entrepreneurs

May, 2015

Guerrilla Marketing: A Chance for Small Entrepreneurs

Guerrilla marketing is term that was first used in 1984 by Jay Conrad Levinson, but the tactics of guerrilla marketing had been around for much longer. Guerrilla marketing is when people go out of the norms of traditional marketing and make themselves more noticeable. Most people see that guerrilla marketing is aggressive, inconvenient and expensive. When business owners see how much money it would take to do guerrilla marketing it turns people off from it. In reality the benefits would be much better than the risk because it lets people know that the business is out there and what the business has to offer. A person has to put themselves and their business out there in order to acquire the wanted customers or they wouldn't receive many. Not everyone will succeed using guerrilla marketing, but most do if it's done correctly. A person will have to find out what the correct way of doing it is and how to do it legally or ethically.A small or starting entrepreneur should use guerrilla marketing tactics instead of traditional marketing because it attracts customers, it can make a small business larger, and would be beneficial in the long run.

Guerrilla marketing basics are different from the traditional marketing. guerrilla marketing is normally used by smaller businesses and entrepreneurs. The primary thoughts when doing guerrilla marketing should be time energy and imagination instead of money because the point is to bring in more customers letting them know your strengths and the uniqueness of the business. While larger businesses tend to use traditional marketing and focus on the money is because the larger entrepreneur had already acquired its large amount of regular customers. This doesn't mean that all larger entrepreneurs don't use guerrilla marketing tactics, in fact many larger businesses use guerrillamarketing. The father of guerrillamarketing, Jay Conrad Levinson, has to say about the success from guerrilla marketing is, "The bad news is that one day you'll no longer be an entrepreneur. If you successfully put the principles of guerrilla marketing into practice, you'll become rich and famous and will no longer have the lean, hungry mentality of the entrepreneur "(Levinson 11). He means that people who use guerrilla marketing will bring in the wanted customers and would ­­have a popular business, this is why smaller entrepreneurs should use guerrillamarketing.

The reason that some people don't want to turn to guerrilla marketing and use it is because they think it would cost a lot and that it wouldn't work. The fear of doing something massive or and out of the box like guerrilla marketing scares people away and turns them off from guerrillamarketing. Sometimes, but not all of the time a marketing campaign doesn't turn out right but like most marketing campaigns it would have to be carefully planned and done legally and ethically in order for it to work and become successful. Beth H. Hallisy says that, "But the very best guerrillastrategy directed at the wrong audience or for the wrong reason won't accomplish a thing. In fact, it can actually hurt your brand. guerrilla marketing starts with careful planning" (Hallisy). This means even guerrilla marketing campaigns can go wrong when it isn't carefully and legally planned out. Once a brand or business is tarnished it's harder to pull itself out of that rut. With the thought of ruining a business over a simple marketing campaign causes people to run away and go a much easier route.. She gives 10 steps in order to establish a successful guerrilla marketing campaign which is, analyze, research, plan the action, brainstorm, know boundaries, do a brand test, sweat the details, be legal, show integrity, and don't judge the results too quickly. Even though it takes a lot of effort and creativity small entrepreneurs should use guerrilla marketing correctly and form the identity the business wants.

guerrilla marketing can attract more customers to a business because of the effort of putting it out there and because it's eye catching. People are attracted to things that are out there and unique. What attracts people to the guerrilla marketing is the energy and imagination put into it rather than the money. guerrilla marketing can be anywhere to word of mouth and small coupons to massive billboards and commercials. Jay Conrad Levinson and Al Launtenslager in their article talk about how coupons are a way to attract people. "Coupons are best used to create a short-term blip in traffic to a particular establishment, focused around one simple product or service" (Levinson and Launtenslager). Coupons in general are attracting to a customer because it gives them a cause to go to the business and shop. Once the customers come in for that particular coupon it gives cause for them to shop for more than just that and may even return to the business if satisfied. This is one of the smaller ways to advertise a business and give it some limelight. In Ryan Lum's article "18 Of The Most Memorable Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns" he talks about some of the many bigger versions of guerrilla marketing much like the memorable Oscar Meyer Weiner mobile. Oscar Meyer Weiner had a vehicle that was in the shape of a hot dog with the logo on the side. The uniqueness and creativeness of it caught the eyes of both children and adults. It was so popular that it made appearances on T.V. decades after it launched (Lum). This is the goal of a guerrillacampaign, it's to bring in customers and make them attracted to the business and company. guerrilla marketing techniques like this can make a business memorable and can bring in people to buy the products and that's why smaller and starting entrepreneurs should make use of the guerrilla marketing techniques.

guerrilla marketing can help increase business for an entrepreneur. Once a person has noticed a business and goes to it the possibility of an example of a business receiving more of the customers they wanted to acquire is when Ronald Morrison had owned a small service gas station called Morrison's MFA in Weatherby, Mo and had used the tactics of guerrilla marketing in his business. He had advertised with sales, coupons, advertising in the newspaper and radio. Doing the guerrilla marketing had helped people know the better qualities of his business compared to others and had doubled in business his first year compare to the previous owners. "The best thing to do is become personal with your customers and (Morrison). He isn't the only one who made an increase in business is Laura Peowski Horn she is a Director of Information and Teen Services at The Farmington Libraries. She had noticed that more teens are using the library not for the books, but for the internet. She found that many of the teens were fairly attached what's happening on the internet. She decided to bring in teenagers into the library for the books by using Facebook and other online methods (Horn). Guerrilla marketing can bring an increase in business and that's why smaller or starting entrepreneurs should use guerrilla marketing techniques.

Guerrilla marketing is more beneficial and can help in the long run. When guerrilla marketing is used and people come to the business or purchase the product a business could acquire regular customers. When there are customers coming to the business on a regular basis this means that business would start to bloom and that more and more customers will come in and most may become regulars. Ronald Morrison claimed that after the use of guerrilla marketing and he had gotten regulars that came to his service station on a regular basis. In the article Dr. Arnaud Prévot in his article "The Effects Of guerrilla Marketing On Brand Equity" he claims "Through positive experience by association, the consumer's goodwill towards an event, a situation or a specific person can be transferred over as positive equity towards a brand" (Prévot). In which he means that because of guerrilla marketing the equity of brands can increase. With the increase of equity towards a brand giving a business benefits for the long run. When people get regulars it allows a business to keep afloat and helps keep the business opened. The profits from regulars bringing in other people and other possible regulars can increase business and even allows the business to grow. Guerrilla marketing can benefit small or starting entrepreneurs and this is why they should use guerrilla marketing techniques.

All in all smaller or even larger entrepreneurs should use guerrilla marketing. It helps create a buzz and allows people to know the perks of a business. It doesn't matter how large or small a guerrilla marketing campaign is it allows the outside world know more about a business. When people start to visit a business they could soon start to become regulars and help the business out with word of mouth. When more and more people begin to frequently use the business it allows a business to grow and become larger than before. There may be some downfalls when guerrilla marketing is done incorrectly, but if it's done correctly the benefits from it would be long lasting. This is why small and starting entrepreneurs should use the methods of guerrilla marketing in order to promote their business and form the identity that they want.

Works Cited

Hallisy, Beth H. "Taking It To The Streets: Steps To An Effective — And Ethical – guerrilla Marketing Campaign." Public Relations Tactics 13.3 (2006): 13. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.

Horn, Laura Peowski. "Online Marketing Strategies For Reaching Today's Teens." Young Adult Library Services 9.2 (2011): 24-27. Professional Development Collection. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.

Levinson, Jay Conrad., and Al Launtenslager. "Go Guerrilla! Speaking, Coupons and Contests." Entrepreneur. 09 Sep. 2009. Web. 18 Apr. 2015

Levinson, Jay Conrad. Guerrilla Marketing. 3rd ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Print.

Lum, Ryan. "18 Of The Most Memorable Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns." Creative Guerrilla Marketing. 29 Mar. 2010. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.

Morrison, Ronald W. Sr. Personal interview. 12 Apr. 2015.

Prévot, Arnaud. "The Effects Of guerrilla Marketing On Brand Equity." Consortium Journal Of Hospitality & Tourism 13.2 (2009): 33-40. Hospitality & Tourism Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.