| Guerrilla marketing, as described by J. Levinson in his popular 1984 book Guerrilla Marketing, is an
unconventional way of performing marketing activities (primarily promotion) on a very low budget.
Levinson claims that small entrepreneurial firms are very different from large firms. He quotes a Harvard Business Review
article by Welsh and White which says that small business is not a
little version of big business. There is much more to it than just a question of scale. The biggest difference is the relative
“resource poverty” of small businesses. Because of this lack of resources, small business must use an altogether
different set of marketing strategies and tactics than big business.
A typical entrepreneur should use such guerrilla tactics as:
- a word of mouth campaign
- personal canvassing
- telemarketing by all members of the firm
- personal letters
- advertisements in the Yellow pages
- personal meetings
- circulars and brochures distributed at parking lots, homes, offices, malls, etc.
- classified ads
- ads in local community newspapers
- billboards
- truck and automotive signs
- direct mail campaigns
- seminars, lectures, and demonstrations
- searchlights
- flags and banners
- t-shirts
- matches, pens, and calenders
It is up to the guerrilla marketer to be creative and devise unconventional methods of promotion. They must use all their
personal contacts, both professional and friends/family. They must examine their company and its products looking for sources of publicity. Some forms of publicity can be very inexpensive.
It is argued that if you use these guerrilla tactics, you will find your small size an advantage. You will be able to obtain
publicity more easily than a large company. You will be closer to your customer and more agile.
Although guerrilla marketing was designed for small business, it can also be used by large businesses.
Finding related topics
Other Sources
- Guerrilla Marketing, Secrets for making big profits from your small business Jay Conrad Levinson, 1984, Houghton
Muffin Co. ISBN 0-396-35350-5
External links and references
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