Guerrilla marketing is an advertising strategy that requires little money and is often carried out in public spaces. It uses innovative, unconventional tactics aimed at garnering maximum exposure and relies on personal interaction with the target audience.
Creativity is what makes guerrilla marketing stand out. When done correctly, it can create a lot of publicity, website traffic and profit for a self-storage business. Here are 10 low-cost yet effective techniques that’ll inspire you in promoting your brand.
Cultural Trends
By staying current with cultural trends, you can quickly get your self-storage brand to go viral. For example, in 2017, a small bakery named Clearly Cookies capitalized on the height of the fidget-spinner craze by baking fidget-spinner cookies and posting a video of them online. This quickly went viral and brought both media attention and website traffic to the company, which was featured on several relevant platforms including the Food Network.
Street Art
While it might be costly to advertise on public-facing space such as a billboard, street art is free and engaging. As long as the art isn’t permanent, it’s perfectly legal, so why not use some colored chalk to create an eye-catching, free advertisement? Design something bright and thought-provoking, such as an elaborate drawing or inspiring quote. This is sure to be noticed by passers-by and will start conversations about your brand.
Seasonal Events
One way to stay relevant is to focus your marketing on seasonal events and holidays. Incorporate the spirit of the celebration into your brand, much like Google does with its themed logos. This will show your company is up-to-date with current events and encourage traffic to your website.
Social Media
There’s no doubt social media is one of the most influential platforms in our society, so it would be foolish not to use it as part of your campaign. More online followers means more potential customers. In addition, platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are free to join.
You can easily attract followers by sharing popular content and hosting online competitions. Creating a social media audience will provide you with an easily accessible demographic that’s already shown interest in your brand.
Local Events
In a world dominated by advertising, it’s easy for your target audience to ignore ads. Getting face-to-face with your demographic by attending local events will help you stand out and make a real impression on those with whom you engage.
When the dating app Tinder first launched, its creators attended college parties to convince people to join. This quickly tripled the userbase. Tinder is now a well-known and profitable brand.
Fliers
This is one of the oldest guerrilla-marketing techniques, but it’s still very effective. By handing out a physical advertisement, you’re creating a street presence and increasing your brand visibility. Fliers can be designed for reasonable prices on several online platforms such as Fiverr.com.
Business Partnerships
By collaborating with local businesses, you piggyback off the success of an already established brand. For example, if you provide boat and RV storage, consider partnering with a dealer or mechanic for mutual referrals. You can also strike up an alliance with a realtor or offer a discount to residents of a nearby apartment complex. This can quickly yield loyal customers and improve your business relationships.
Community Engagement
The public is used to being targeted by ads. If you want to stand out, instead of promoting at your customers, create ads that engage them. This can be done through an online contest or survey.
A large-scale example is a McDonald’s campaign that featured a video billboard. The display showed several items scrolling across the screen, including an ice-cream sundae. Anyone who captured a picture of the sundae was eligible to receive a free one at the restaurant. This encouraged people to pay attention to the ad and visit the business.
Charity Work
Giving to charity is always popular, so consider partnering with a local organization. Your self-storage business could donate a percentage of its profit from a set period. In return, you can ask the charity to promote your brand at its events, through e-mail correspondence and newsletters, or via a banner at its headquarters.
Consider lending your branded moving truck to a charity to transport items, set up a donation box in your lobby to collect canned goods or clothing for a local shelter, or host an animal-adoption event at your property. Get the word out in all your marketing efforts.
Freebies
Freebies are typically small and cheap to produce. When designing yours, find something useful, such as a pen or water bottle, as this ensures people are likely to use it, keeping your brand top-of-mind and encouraging them to promote it to others.
Guerrilla marketing is incredibly useful in the early days of a new business as well as to keep your brand in the spotlight. By mastering it, you’ll ensure success in future marketing campaigns.
Adelina Benson is an e-mail marketer and writer at AcademicBrits and Origin Writings. She develops marketing strategies and edits company e-mails. In her free time, she loves exploring new ways to connect with people and share knowledge, in the real world and online.
