How to Use Guerrilla Marketing in Your Community - Part 2
- ARTICLES |
In part one of this series, we talked about what guerrilla marketing is and gave an example of how to use it effectively. In part two, we discussed the idea of creative marketing and how to impact a small market by giving away freebies. We expanded this idea in part three by discussing how to impact a larger segment of your community by involving other local businesses in your campaign. This time around we're going to explore how you can use a combination of traditional and guerrilla marketing strategies to solve a problem in your community and increase your customer base, both before and after the problem has been addressed and solved.
If you or one of your friends are a parent of a child that is between 4 and 12 years old, you've probably heard about how important team sports are to the development of children. Team sports improve coordination, teamwork, and social skills, which become more and more important as a child grows. Something else you've probably heard is how tough it is to get funding for buying uniforms for a child's little league team. Once again, we're going to use guerrilla marketing to solve a problem for our community. Quite honestly, the typical uniform expenditure for a little league team, whether it is baseball, football, soccer, or any other sport, is not that high. Unfortunately, it can easily be beyond the financial reach of the parents or the sports organization that requires it. The part that needs to be funded is usually the jerseys, and that suits our plan perfectly. Be prepared to work when you start this advertising campaign, but it will pay off in high dividends once you're done. We're going to break the plan down into three parts, for ease of reading. Of course, with such a large plan, you'll need to be in touch with the team organizer beforehand, so that you aren't working at cross purposes and so that you have their permission to sponsor the uniforms.
For part one of the plan, you will need to invest in some traditional advertising through the local media. It is your choice of what media outlet to use, but a good recommendation would be a local radio station or newspaper. In general, radio stations and newspapers are community friendly, and should be willing to run your ad for a discounted price, and possibly for free, once they hear what your ad is. The advertisement will be fairly simple, as the statement that you want to get across is the following; "xx% of our revenue for the next xx number of days will be going to fund uniforms for the [insert local sports team]. Please help out our local community." Don't kill your profit margin on the percentage, but make it enough to not make yourself sound stingy. Fifteen percent is usually a good number, depending on what your average daily income is, how long you are running the promotion, and, of course, what the cost of the uniforms will be. Give yourself plenty of time to let the advertising campaign take off, and remember to account for processing time when you order the jerseys, especially if you are ordering them from an online Print on Demand shop. This is a strategy that is better started early than late.
Part two of the plan is pretty simple. Start working your fingers off when your community minded customers start calling in. Don't forget to take 15% of the money and set it aside for the uniform fund. Already, you'll be seeing an increase in your business along with an increase in your revenue stream, even after taking out the percentage for the uniform fund. The best part is, we're only two thirds of the way through the plan.
Part three is the fun part. You get to spend money, order the jerseys, and help out the children in your community all at the same time. Make sure when you get the jerseys printed that the sponsorship line says "Sponsored by the customers of [Your Company Name]." After all, this has been a group effort, and you don't want to irritate your customers by leaving them out of the recognition.
Our plan is complete, and we have accomplished three goals. We've helped the community out by sponsoring a youth sports team. We've increased our business and revenue by helping out the community. And best of all, we've gotten your brand in front of your customers while at the same time bringing in new customers for your business. As for the leftover money from the uniform fund, some people would be tempted to keep it. However, it is community money, so donate it to the team for equipment purchases or to a local charity in the name of your customers.
So far, we've gone over what guerrilla marketing is, shown its effectiveness with a few examples, and discussed how you can use creative marketing strategies to not only build your customer base, but also to help out your community. In the fifth and final part of the series, we'll talk about the two most important tools of your guerrilla marketing campaign, and why if you don't have them you are crippling your business.
Visit PLR Blogs, Minisites, Ebooks, Plugins and more for high quality, low price PLR products.
If you or one of your friends are a parent of a child that is between 4 and 12 years old, you've probably heard about how important team sports are to the development of children. Team sports improve coordination, teamwork, and social skills, which become more and more important as a child grows. Something else you've probably heard is how tough it is to get funding for buying uniforms for a child's little league team. Once again, we're going to use guerrilla marketing to solve a problem for our community. Quite honestly, the typical uniform expenditure for a little league team, whether it is baseball, football, soccer, or any other sport, is not that high. Unfortunately, it can easily be beyond the financial reach of the parents or the sports organization that requires it. The part that needs to be funded is usually the jerseys, and that suits our plan perfectly. Be prepared to work when you start this advertising campaign, but it will pay off in high dividends once you're done. We're going to break the plan down into three parts, for ease of reading. Of course, with such a large plan, you'll need to be in touch with the team organizer beforehand, so that you aren't working at cross purposes and so that you have their permission to sponsor the uniforms.
For part one of the plan, you will need to invest in some traditional advertising through the local media. It is your choice of what media outlet to use, but a good recommendation would be a local radio station or newspaper. In general, radio stations and newspapers are community friendly, and should be willing to run your ad for a discounted price, and possibly for free, once they hear what your ad is. The advertisement will be fairly simple, as the statement that you want to get across is the following; "xx% of our revenue for the next xx number of days will be going to fund uniforms for the [insert local sports team]. Please help out our local community." Don't kill your profit margin on the percentage, but make it enough to not make yourself sound stingy. Fifteen percent is usually a good number, depending on what your average daily income is, how long you are running the promotion, and, of course, what the cost of the uniforms will be. Give yourself plenty of time to let the advertising campaign take off, and remember to account for processing time when you order the jerseys, especially if you are ordering them from an online Print on Demand shop. This is a strategy that is better started early than late.
Part two of the plan is pretty simple. Start working your fingers off when your community minded customers start calling in. Don't forget to take 15% of the money and set it aside for the uniform fund. Already, you'll be seeing an increase in your business along with an increase in your revenue stream, even after taking out the percentage for the uniform fund. The best part is, we're only two thirds of the way through the plan.
Part three is the fun part. You get to spend money, order the jerseys, and help out the children in your community all at the same time. Make sure when you get the jerseys printed that the sponsorship line says "Sponsored by the customers of [Your Company Name]." After all, this has been a group effort, and you don't want to irritate your customers by leaving them out of the recognition.
Our plan is complete, and we have accomplished three goals. We've helped the community out by sponsoring a youth sports team. We've increased our business and revenue by helping out the community. And best of all, we've gotten your brand in front of your customers while at the same time bringing in new customers for your business. As for the leftover money from the uniform fund, some people would be tempted to keep it. However, it is community money, so donate it to the team for equipment purchases or to a local charity in the name of your customers.
So far, we've gone over what guerrilla marketing is, shown its effectiveness with a few examples, and discussed how you can use creative marketing strategies to not only build your customer base, but also to help out your community. In the fifth and final part of the series, we'll talk about the two most important tools of your guerrilla marketing campaign, and why if you don't have them you are crippling your business.
Visit PLR Blogs, Minisites, Ebooks, Plugins and more for high quality, low price PLR products.