You’re probably wondering how guerrilla marketing can help your eCommerce store? Of course it can! There are so much possibilities when it comes to marketing. Just because you have a store online that does not mean you have to limit yourself to only doing traditional online marketing (eg: social media, SEO, email marketing and etc).
“Don’t be afraid to get creative and experiment with your marketing.” – Mike Volpe
What exactly is Guerrilla Marketing?
Don’t worry! It has nothing to do with actual Gorillas. heh! Guerrilla marketing is an advertising strategy for businesses today to promote their products/services at a low budget but through a wide reach. This marketing strategy may not involve a lot of money to carry out however, it does involve creativity. The more creative your advertisement/campaign the more memorable it is. The main point of guerrilla marketing is to carry your advertisement campaigns outdoors which can attract many people’s attention at once. A physical representation of your store/brand at a place where it can be seen by a big audience.
Guerrilla marketing can also be considered a form of “word of mouth marketing” where your campaign causes people to talk and spread among-st their friends and family. If your brand/product advert goes viral enough, you might get media attention! (e.g: bloggers, news outlets, social media influencers) Which is great and what you want at the end of the day!
Here is a guide on what you should consider looking into before you carry out your marketing campaign:
- The Law – Remember that at the end of the day the law is the law and we as law abiding citizens should all follow it. You wouldn’t want your marketing campaign to be stopped or interrupted by a law enforcement officer would you? Imagine how bad your brand would look in front of all those people. So, make sure you do research on the law of the place you plan on carrying out your guerrilla marketing.
- Send a clear message – Remember to link your guerrilla marketing and whatever you create to what your brand stands for or else people may not understand the message you are trying to send. At the end of the day, the whole purpose of this is to get customers to notice you and your eCommerce store.
- Weather – If you’re planning to carry out your guerrilla marketing at an un-shaded place out doors remember to check the weather of the day you’re planning to do it. Not only will it affect you but bad weather can also cause people to stay in doors and not see your marketing campaign.
- Keeping an open mind – Just like any regular marketing campaign, guerrilla marketing might work or it might not. However, that entirely depends on how you plan it, your creativity and how you carry out the campaign. The better and more creative the idea, the higher chance of your campaign being a successful one.
Snapchat
Social media is all the rage these days and everyone is using it. Give your customers the cool experience of sharing where they are with their friends using the Snapchat Geofilters.
When you’re carrying out your guerrilla marketing campaign you can create a special geofilter with Snapchat for your visitors to use when they are near or are at the place. This will encourage them to share it with their friends and possibly get them to visit your campaign too.
How do you create your own Snapchat Geofilter? You can do it in 3 simple steps:
- Upload your own template or use one that Snapchat has ready for you.
- Pick a time and a geofence for your filter
- Submit it and have it reviewed in one day
Snapchat Geofilters are fairly inexpensive to create. Then again, that depends entirely on the radius of your geofence.
An example would be the Starbucks Frappuccino Happy Hour Geo-filter. Every May Starbucks has their Frappuccino Happy Hour where you can get a frappuccino at half price! People who are walking near a Starbucks will be able to see the filter. They will also be made aware of the happy hour promo and maybe walk to the nearest Starbucks to get themselves a yummy frappuccino. It is better to set a wider geofence so that people near you can also see the filter on their phones rather than just having it where your campaign is at.
Sticker Marketing
Sticker marketing is one of the most inexpensive ways to get your brand logo or message out there. Some people will place the stickers of their favourite brands on their notebooks, laptops, back of their phones and many more public places to show it off.
Stickers are cheap to make and can be easily given out as well. You could give them out with flyers, in gift bags or even just the sticker itself.
Try to design your stickers with cool images and not just place your logo there. If you’re not a big brand name, people might not be willing to place your sticker on their personal items. However, if your sticker design image is cool people are more likely to stick it on to their belongings. This does not mean that you shouldn’t put your company name or logo on it. But you should be smart about how you incorporate it onto your sticker.
Freebies
Yes that’s right! FREE! Everyone loves free things. Giving out small samples of your product is a great way to get potential customers to try you out.
First of all, it is much easier to sell a product to someone when they know what the product is. Secondly, by giving customers something they could also potentially be more obliging by giving you something back, which is time! They’ll give you their time so that you can explain more about your product or brand to them.
Also, remember not to get too lost in giving away free things as the main point is to make customers aware of your online store. It is important that you incorporate your website or your brand onto the freebies you’re giving away. After the customers take them home they can look for you online.
Temporary Store (Pop Up Store)
What is a pop up store? A pop up store is a store that is available for a short amount of time so that brands can showcase their products.
The great thing about a pop up store is that you are bringing the Point Of Sale (POS) to your customers. Customers who might not trust online shopping or customers who prefer the full shopping experience. Furthermore, you are also giving your customers different payment methods options. (cash or card).
Learn more about the InstanteStore Point Of Sale (POS) System:
How to Set Up InstanteStore POS
Where to set up a pop up shop? You can do it in a free office space, departmental store or even on the side of the street. Thinking of doing a pop up shop for your business? Look for a good location as location is key! After all, it can make or break your guerrilla marketing campaign.
If you have a big budget to spend on your pop up shop you can build a creative customized shop. Nevertheless, if you don’t have a big budget to spend on a flamboyant store that absolutely fine too. You can try negotiating with departmental stores or collaborating with them for a space inside.
Example of a big budget pop up shop:
A big budget pop up store would be like the one Kylie Cosmetics did at the Westfield Topanga in Canoga Park, California. Kylie rented out a shop lot within the mall and hosted her pop up store there. Kylie Cosmetics was founded by none other than Kylie Jenner herself. Before her pop up store, Kylie only sold her products online and still does today. Like any clever business woman Kylie decided to take the guerrilla marketing approach and it worked! Jenner’s pop up store was a success just like her online store. (Kylie’s appearance helped).
Example of a small budget pop up shop:
A small budget pop up store could either be independent or located in a departmental store. We Are Hairy People is a UK based online brand who has a pop up shop in the Top Shop flagship store on Oxford Street UK. The Top Shop flagship store is so huge it has 3 floors and is always welcoming independent brands to have their pop up store there. WAHP is a brand that is all about art and love. Get this they hand paint all their clothes, it’s 100% organic (vegan, cruelty free) and they are affiliated with the Fair Wear Foundation and proceeds go to helping improve working conditions and lives in all areas of clothing production.
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