Guerrilla Marketing Techniques

T

todd@bsaw

New member
I went to a Guerrilla Marketing Seminar put on by my local Chamber of Commerce yesterday and thought the info I came home with would be a great resource to share with my fellow detailers.



Guerrilla marketing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Guerrilla Marketing" was coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his popular 1984 book Guerrilla Marketing, as an unconventional system of promotions on a very low budget, by relying on time, energy and imagination instead of big marketing budgets. The term has since entered the popular vocabulary to also describe aggressive, unconventional marketing methods generically. - Wikipedia



Many of the things Al Lautenslager, the author of Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days, lectured about were things that I have already known and have implemented. Just the general idea of GM seems to be something that is perfect for the auto detailing industry. I'll just outline the '30 Days' process and hit on some nice notes that I took and maybe we can start a great thread of ideas for others to use and bounce off.



Day 1 - The Guerrilla Marketing Mindset

Day 2 - The Purpose of Your Marketing

Day 3 - Competition and Research

Day 4 - Target Market

Day 5 - Positioning

Day 6 - Niche Marketing

Day 7 - Marketing Plan and Strategy

Day 8 - Competitive Advantage and Benefits

Day 9 - Identity and Branding

Day 10 - Marketing Communication and Creative Planning

Day 11 - Advertising and Media plan

Day 12 - Business Networking

Day 13 - Strategic Alliances and Fusion Marketing

Day 14 - Direct Selling

Day 15 - Telephone Selling and Marketing

Day 16 - Printed Collateral, Brochures, and Sales Sheets

Day 17 - Direct Mail

Day 18 - Radio/Television/Cable TV

Day 19 - Marketing Hooks

Day 20 - Public Relations

Day 21 - Marketing Calendar

Day 22 - Other Marketing: Speaking, Coupons, and Contests

Day 23 - Online Marketing; Part 1

Day 24 - Online Marketing; Part 2

Day 25 - Trade Shows and Expos

Day 26 - Newsletters

Day 27 - Marketing Budgets

Day 28 - Plan Execution and Implementation

Day 29 - Expansion/New Markets/New Income Streams/New Products

Day 30 - New Plan - The Next 30 Days and Beyond



You can see, many of this is just typical marketing talk, but it is the GM method of implementing it at a low cost relying on your own time, effort, and imagination.



These are just some notes I took on the seminar:

* Spend half of your marketing efforts on current customers.

* Find a current event to tie yourself to

* Do 3-5 things per day pertaining to marketing yourself

* 3 key aspects of GM Marketing; PR - Networking - Direct Mail

* 90% of purchase decisions are subconscious; repetition of your name is important

* Title yourself an expert and send out a press release every other month to media





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I would like to make this a long-term discussion (and possibly a sticky) because these are important to any small business owner. After a little discussion and some sharing of ideas, we could go point by point of the 30-day strategy by week and form a very informative thread.



I would be happy to lead the discussion following my workbook I received at the seminar.
 
This would be a fantastic thread to start. I myself, am in the beginning stages of building my detailing business, so I think that this thread would be very beneficial for me. Thanks
 
I, myself, am a big believer in Craigslist marketing. The vast majority of people there are hacks with text-based ads saying "I am the best, come to me" which is utterly ineffective. By writing effective copy. outlining the benefits of your services, along with examples of your work, you can get some great customers from there.
 
Holden_C04 said:
I, myself, am a big believer in Craigslist marketing. The vast majority of people there are hacks with text-based ads saying "I am the best, come to me" which is utterly ineffective. By writing effective copy. outlining the benefits of your services, along with examples of your work, you can get some great customers from there.
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I have recently placed an ad in Craigslist and was amazed at how correct you are about the other ads! I have already had one email about service, though I have gotten two emails from a spam-bot advertising goginzo.com.



One thing you are also right on about is the comparison between benefits and features. Show people what they can get out of using you, not a list of things you do.



Looks like the response is good so far. I'll type up some highlights to point one, The Mindset, tonight and open up some discussion for the week.
 
Marketing Mindset



The beginning of the marketing process is to be in the right mindset. Always have the following question involved in every activity you do (as well as everyone involved in your business):

"How am I building awareness with my prospects and clients through all of our marketing"?

Marketing is everything you do or say that your potential customers see and hear from you.



Inventory yourself by writing down (or posting) what your current mindset, attitude, and beliefs toward marketing; do you consciously think about the question on building awareness; rank your employees on the previous questions.



If you are not in a marketing mindset, what factors might be blocking this?



Make a statement, "I will read, write, send, call, or say three to five things related to marketing every day." You need to think about your marketing at all times. Combine this attitude with optimism and energy so you can handle tasks with passion. Focus on your customer, their needs, and what you are doing to satisfy those needs.



Here's a list of things to do that you can prioritize yourself:

  • Handwrite a thank you note to a client
  • Enter names into a database
  • Brainstorm tag-line ideas
  • Visit a competitor's web site
  • Write an article (on my list :) )
  • Make a list of press release ideas
  • Write a press release
  • Call a newspaper and ask who the feature editor is for your area (automotive)
  • Write an email sales letter
  • Brainstorm advertising concepts
  • Write a pitch letter to a radio or TV station
  • Get contact information from media outlets
  • Plan a renaming of your services
  • New service development and introduction
  • Invite a customer or prospect for coffee to discuss new ideas
  • Recognize a special prospect or client
  • Discuss a fusion marketing idea with a strategic business partner
  • Read marketing-related web sites
  • Post new information on your web site
  • Plan your networking calendar for the week
  • Call to follow up on networking contacts
  • Get price estimates on printing and mailing for your direct mail campaign
  • Brainstorm ideas for an "enter to win" contest
  • Rewrite your on-hold message script.
  • Write an article or paragraph for your newsletter
  • Brainstorm new service ideas
  • Develop your benefit list and compare with those of your competitors
  • Develop a checklist, top ten list, or something similar as a response to a marketing hook



***********************



First discussion topic:

Are you always thinking about marketing? When you are taking appointment calls? When you are grocery shopping? When you are filling up at the gas station?



What are you doing, in addition to those mentioned in the list, to actively pursue marketing your business? Keep it simple. Many of these things take little time and effort.





Currently, I am preparing two press releases for the local news. One on the recent floods we have had in the Midwest and the health issues of neglecting a flood damaged vehicle and one on a local car show with a charity car was my business is sponsoring over July 4th weekend. I am also preparing a simple flier to be distributed around my own neighborhood with a "Neighborly Special" as a sorta meet-and-greet (since I'm new to the area). This may pan out to a neighborhood cookout at the local park pavilion; I am currently checking with the city to see what I need to host one.



If you'd like, I can post a link to my press release for a template to be used when it is completed.
 
Todd, I just want to say "thanks" for sharing such useful information and please do post that template when it's ready.
 
Marketing is often about creating a want or a need when there is not one. It is just not finding people who already want this service. Many are like "see Joe does it so why not you".
 
Great thread!



I got this book from the library and ended up buying it from Amazon. Even though I have not finished reading it, I started working on some key principles of Brand Identification immediately. I reworked our logo, website and all printed media unifying our "brand".



We are also in the midst of a remodel of our showroom, incorporating the principle ideas from this book. Over the next six months I plan on implementing more ideas from this book.
 
Yeah, sorry for the lack of additional info, but I've hardly been on the forum and don't have the time that I used to.
 
I am looking forward to this discussion. I am a student of marketing (not enrolled in an institution studying it but acutely aware and open to questioning how effective it is and how I can use it everyday).



I've successfully owned and run a small business marketing strategy, architecture, and implementation company for the past 11 years and I still look at things as a learning process.



I have some thoughts, but I have to compose them first.



Do we want a list of ideas that we are currently using, ideas that someone could use, or theory on this discussion?
 
Todd -



Great thread! I hope it indeed does gets stickied. I started reading GM a few months ago and got through the first 3 chapters. For some reason I set it down and then the wife took it back to the library. The past couple weeks I've been planning on going back to the library so I can finish reading this book while I recover from back surgery.



For those that own a business and haven't read this book, you need to read it!



For me personally, I am always thinking about marketing and what I am doing now and what I can do in the future. It also helps that my wife is a graphic designer who works in a marketing department for a large health care provider. Once I'm recovered from surgery and can start working again, I plan to start implementing a lot of the ideas in the book.



Again Todd, thanks for starting a great thread like this. It would be GREAT if you could post your PR template.



I think too often we all get caught up in the detailing aspect (for obvious reasons) and don't put enough thought and effort into the business aspect. Even though we all do this because we love it, we are also in business to make money and provide for ourselves or a family.
 
For discussion purposes, here are some notes I took when reading chapter 1 of the book:



Chapter 1: What is Guerilla Marketing?

-70% of lost business is due to apathy after a sale, not to poor service or sub-par quality.​

-Invest time, energy, and imagination into your marketing...not money!​

-Measure success by profits & not sales.​

-Focus on a small number of services.​

-Market benefits to customers, not the details of the company.​
 
D Tailor said:
I use this site's information (or think about how I can use current or previous briefings and trends) at least once per week.



trendwatching.com's February 2009 Trend Briefing covering GENERATION G
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Some things I've started doing this month are:



1. Eco-Generous: Looking into Buying carbon 0ff-sets for details.



2. Perkonomics: Giving perks to one time customers and service contract clients





Other things I've tried (ambient marketing):



One time I parked a Aston Martin in the city in front of a heavily traffic (foot and car) area, totally trashed with dirts, grime, and filth. I left it there all day. In the dirt I wrote: Wash Me. Then I picked it up at night and took it home and detailed it to a high gloss. Parked it there again. This time I wrote on the winshield with glass paint: Thank you! and then taped a bunch of postcards on it's glass.



Ok, so I haven't done it. But I plan on doing this in the late spring of this year.
 
One thing I've been spending a lot of time on is the social network craze and brainstorming viral marketing ideas. Eventually I'm going to come up with something brilliant ... i hope... :)
 
Speaking of social stuff Todd, I've found it helpful to join our local Chamber of Commerce. There are a lot of town leaders that attend the luncheons along with many new and/or established small business owners. Personally, I want to be involved in our community and by doing so, more and more people will know me and know what I do. The better people know me around here, the more they will trust in what I say and do.



I've also tested the networking type groups, but I've found their rules or the pressure of the events makes it no fun. That's one of the reasons why I like the Chamber.
 
I've been looking to get involved in my Chamber this year as I didn't really get going much last year. I attended the GM seminar that was put on by them, but kinda had to hurry out afterwords because of an appointment. I really would have liked to stick around and chat with some of the other people there.



Thanks to you, I've picked up my GM book by Levinson again. I started making a personal mailing list of a neighborhood near me with homes over $800k by using the white pages.com and google street view. I'm going to start a small mail campaign with the list of 200 to see how effective it is and if it would be worth the time I'm putting into it. The mailings are more personal than most direct mail campaigns and I will be printing it on good stationary with my letterhead signed and postscripted personally. Levinson stresses a handwritten PS on personal mail campaigns.



I'm also preparing a press release offering a free seminar and consulting for any non-profit organizations that want to do a public car wash fund raiser more efficiently and effectively, then offer training and basic supplies.



That's what I've been up to in guerrilla marketing.



Mike, I've been waiting patiently for months for the new web site!
 
todd@bsaw said:
I've been looking to get involved in my Chamber this year as I didn't really get going much last year. I attended the GM seminar that was put on by them, but kinda had to hurry out afterwords because of an appointment. I really would have liked to stick around and chat with some of the other people there.



Thanks to you, I've picked up my GM book by Levinson again. I started making a personal mailing list of a neighborhood near me with homes over $800k by using the white pages.com and google street view. I'm going to start a small mail campaign with the list of 200 to see how effective it is and if it would be worth the time I'm putting into it. The mailings are more personal than most direct mail campaigns and I will be printing it on good stationary with my letterhead signed and postscripted personally. Levinson stresses a handwritten PS on personal mail campaigns.



I'm also preparing a press release offering a free seminar and consulting for any non-profit organizations that want to do a public car wash fund raiser more efficiently and effectively, then offer training and basic supplies.



That's what I've been up to in guerrilla marketing.



Mike, I've been waiting patiently for months for the new web site!
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Keep us posted on the mailing. I'm very interested to know how that turns out.



I really like the press release idea. My wife has already told me that a PR is something we need to do at some point. She works with a couple gals that could put something together for me so we could submit it to our local media outlets.



As far as hand-writing stuff, I always leave a hand-written thank you card in the person's vehicle, along with a littler bag with our logo, a few business cards, any some random business cards/brochures of other local automotive businesses I like to support. I also started doing a few follow-up calls last year. I think all those things let the person know you really care and that isn't something you're going to find at most places, especially detail shops.



I appreciate that you're keeping an eye on our site. I didn't know anyone was looking at it. We decided to take the old site down a while back for a few reasons. 1 - I moved into what I thought was going to be a long-term shop, but the guy that was going to buy the building backed out at the last minute so I had to move out. 2 - I sold my detailing trailer after moving in so I no longer had my trailer. 3 - The same week that the shop fell through, my dad passed away (Sept.). 4 - I was fighting a herniated disc in my back. With all that going on, I basically decided to take a break for a while. I did a few jobs between then and now, but not a whole lot. I had surgery on Jan. 6th so I'm still recovering. The good news is that I did find a shop about 2 minutes from my house that I am going to move into after I'm all healed up (tentatively March 1). Once we get things back up and running again and funds increase, we'll throw a new website up there that reflects our new operation (fixed location and not mobile). Unfortunately, I just don't know when that's going to be. Obviously, the sooner the better for the business.



Again, thanks for letting me know you're paying attention to our site!



The wifey & I are going to hit the library tomorrow so I can get the GM book and finish it this time. Like I said before, I got through about 3 chapters so I've still got a good chunk to read. Although, I'm reading the shortened version (can't remember the term for that at the moment...).



Hopefully, we can all keep this thread going for a while. I think GM provides a lot of different advertising/marketing ideas that could help all of us tremendously.
 
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