Bananas for Online Guerrilla Marketing?
The definition of the term guerrilla is defined in many ways depending on the context. In the military, guerrilla refers to operations carried on by independent or semi-independent forces. Business-wise, guerrilla refers to a form of marketing that is low budget and against the grain of traditional marketing practices. In the online world, guerrilla marketing conjures a number of definitions and leaving many to wonder exactly how does online guerrilla marketing applies to campaigns?
From the source…
In the 1984 book, Guerilla Marketing, author and GM creator Jay Conrad Levinson further explains guerrilla marketing tactics in his 1984 book, as ones that, “rely on time, energy and imagination instead of big marketing budgets.”
In its basic form, guerrilla marketing is designed to break through the mess of traditional marketing and hit an audience unexpectedly. Messages are attention grabbing and intended to capture individual interest rather than an entire demographic.
Sound like a pop-up ad?
Online marketing does incorporate several forms of guerrilla marketing. In fact, there are a number of sites that offer tutorials, tips by the hundreds, and even boot camps that will teach online marketers the secrets to delivering ads to that unknowing, yet, ultimately willing customer.
Current online marketing trends thrive on demographic data, yet technology has enabled marketers to deliver highly segmented ads by tracking individual user actions. This results in calculated pop-ups, highly segmented banner ads, and a slew of targeted emails in consumer inboxes. Despite this pinpointed delivery, these ads reach consumers by surprise in what is usually a captive setting. Plus, several online marketers employ low-budget, yet highly effective marketing strategies including blogs, article archives, and free offers. A guerrilla marketer would refer to these strategies as ‘weapons,’ while traditional marketers would look at them as - well, traditional marketing tactics designed to promote brand recognition and customer retention.
If there’s one thing that’s certain, it’s that online marketing tactics take on new forms by the campaign. Information is instant and often ignites a viral response no matter the marketer’s original intentions.