How to Execute a Guerrilla Marketing Campaign

Executing a guerrilla marketing campaign provides freedom in the business world. Guerrilla marketing has little to no restrictions, rules and boundaries. You can directly interact with your audience in a creative way that is impossible to ignore. Guerrilla marketing is personalized, edgy, thrilling and memorable.

Guerrilla marketing campaigns are exciting to plan, and the actual execution is even more exciting. At the end of the day, people will remember participating in a guerrilla marketing campaign because it stands out from daily routines and other conventional advertisements.

Here are our tips and tricks for executing a guerrilla marketing campaign…

Establish Goals

Before you start planning for any advertising execution, you should establish your goal or goals.

Ask yourself: what do you want to accomplish from this campaign?

A helpful acronym for formulating objectives is SMART which stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. Setting specific goals provides a direction of what you are going to do and minimizes ambiguity. Goals should be measurable, so you know when your goal is reached and how far along in the process you are. Goals should also be challenging but still attainable and realistic. Setting relevant objectives ensures you consider the current conditions of your industry. Last of all, linking your goals to a time-frame will create a sense of urgency and keep you on track.

Creating goals at the very beginning of your planning process helps steer you in a clear direction. It’s also crucial to know what you are working towards so you can choose an advertising medium that will best meet those target(s).

Determine Budget

Luckily, guerrilla marketing is a lot more budget-friendly than other advertising mediums. However, there is a cost variation among guerrilla marketing mediums. Thus, its necessary to form your budget at the start of your planning process so you know which mediums you can afford.

Define Target Market

Describing and understanding your target market will help you determine the location of your guerrilla advertising campaign.

Firstly, identify who you are trying to target. Then ask yourself: where do they hang out? What are their interests and hobbies? What does their daily routine consist of?

Once you figure out where your target market is, you can plan your campaign location accordingly.

It’s essential to know your target market before picking an advertising medium because different mediums target different people. For example, projections target the nightlife crowd or people who attend concerts, sporting events, etc.

Evaluate Guerrilla Marketing Mediums

Before choosing a guerrilla marketing medium, you should look at the advantages and disadvantages of each one.

Researching previous guerrilla marketing campaigns will help you generate ideas for your own campaign, and it will show you what can be done with guerrilla marketing. Exploring past guerrilla advertising executions will also assist you in realizing what’s effective and what’s ineffective.

Construct Campaign Details  

Constructing campaign details consists of determining the campaign location(s), length and timing.

Target markets help determine your campaign location(s). If you have several target groups, then you have the option of running a multi-market or international campaign.

When selecting a campaign length, your goals and budget should be taken into consideration. A longer campaign will increase exposure, but it will also increase costs.

Current events and the time of year can influence your campaign date(s). For example, TIFF attracts massive crowds to Toronto so running a guerrilla marketing execution during TIFF will target people from around the world. Also, weather can have a huge impact on guerrilla marketing campaigns.

Launch Campaign

The next step is to find an agency to run your guerrilla marketing campaign unless you have the resources to launch it yourself. If you plan on using a guerrilla marketing agency, then looking at their past campaigns and clients will provide a picture of their capabilities. If you plan on linking numerous mediums or running a multi-market campaign, then you should confirm that the agency can provide all those services.

For instance, with Wildposting® some important matters are maintenance and locations. Wildposting® can tear during a campaign so you should ensure that your Wildposting® are maintained so that they remain posted in good condition for the entire campaign duration. The board locations affect the amount of exposures so you should ensure the agency has high-traffic boards.

A final suggestion is tying your guerrilla marketing campaign to social media. People love taking photos of themselves, especially when there is something exciting to take a pic with. Thus, incorporating a photo wall along with a hashtag will lead to your campaign having a further reach then just the people who participate in it.

We would be ecstatic to work with you to launch your guerrilla marketing execution. For more information on past campaigns we have run, check out our Unique and Award Winning Executions Page or Facebook page. Also feel free to give us a call to discuss campaign details, we’d love to hear from you.