Flash mobs, massive art installations, and wild stunts. What do they all have in common? Well, they grab tons of attention.
That’s because they’re all forms of guerrilla marketing. A tactic that relies on surprise, creativity, and bold moves to make a splash.
But what if you could make these stunts even more effective and personal? Well, you actually can! All you need to do is start using customer data.
In this guide, we’re giving you the lowdown on all things guerilla marketing. From what it is and why it’s great to how to use customer data in your guerilla marketing campaigns. Let’s begin.
Understanding Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla marketing is all about catching people off guard with fun, quirky, unconventional ways to promote a product or service. Think of it as the wild child of marketing, unpredictable and in-your-face.
Unlike traditional marketing, which tries to get the word out to the masses, guerrilla marketing creates buzz in specific spots (we’re talking streets, concerts, parks, sporting events, festivals, beaches, and shopping centers). These campaigns are often super cheap (sometimes even free) and rely on personal interactions and viral social media moments.
Now, a lot of people out there love the boldness, while others might find it too much. But hey, that’s the beauty of guerrilla marketing. It’s all about stirring emotions and getting people talking.
Guerrilla Marketing History
The term “guerrilla marketing” was coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his 1984 book Guerrilla Marketing. It shook things up by ditching traditional ads for more creative and interactive ways to get attention, all while keeping customer acquisition cost low.
Guerrilla marketing changed the game. Levinson’s ideas let small businesses compete with big ones without spending a lot. Instead of pricey TV ads or billboards, guerrilla marketing used unique, unexpected ways to grab attention.
Over the years, guerrilla marketing has grown and adapted to new media. Today, it includes social media platforms, interactive online events, and campaigns that leverage social media management tools to efficiently orchestrate and analyze these efforts.
But the main idea is still the same: be creative, surprise people, and make a statement. This approach helps businesses stand out, improve the customer journey, build strong customer loyalty, and gain actionable insights to enhance future marketing efforts.
Types of Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla marketing can take many forms—let’s check out some of the main ones.
Viral or Buzz Marketing
This one’s all about content going viral because people can’t help but share it with everyone they know. Imagine starting a security architecture startup and posting a funny video online showing how your software beats cyber villains. It gets shared by tech-lovers everywhere.
Ambient Marketing
Instead of sticking out like a sore thumb, ambient marketing blends into everyday places. Think of ads on bus benches that feel like they belong there, not like they’re shouting at you.
Using the same example as above, your customers could spot bus benches with QR codes. They’re not flashy or in-your-face, they just blend in naturally. Curious, they scan one, and bam! They’re watching a quick video on their phone about how this new enterprise architecture software keeps data safe.
Stealth Marketing
This sneaky marketing strategy tries to advertise to you without you even realizing it. Like those ads on TV that pop up while you’re watching your favorite show—they’re trying to sneak their way into your brain. At a tech expo, you subtly slip your business card into attendees’ badge holders, with a discreet message about your solutions for SaaS development.
Ambush Marketing
Ever seen ads at big events from companies that didn’t sponsor them? That’s ambush marketing. Like a major city marathon sponsored by a sports brand. You set up a pop-up store nearby, offering discounts to runners with race bibs. They flock to you for last-minute gear, riding the event’s hype without paying for sponsorship.
Projection Advertising
This flashy move uses big projections on buildings or walls to grab attention. Perfect for events. Imagine renting a billboard in a busy spot and projecting stunning visuals of wildlife conservation efforts. Passersby stop to watch, sparking conversations about your eco-friendly tourism company and responsible travel. Or, if you’re trying to define enterprise architecture you could project a dynamic visual map outlining your IT infrastructure across a city skyline.
Grassroots Marketing
This one’s all about low-cost methods that get people talking, like handing out flyers or hosting community workshops. Imagine organizing a DIY birdhouse workshop in a local park using recycled materials. Families love it and spread the word about your eco-friendly landscaping business. Or, if you’ve just opened up an omnichannel contact center, you could hand out flyers helping people better understand what is omnichannel contact center.
Benefits of Guerrilla Marketing
So, you know what guerrilla marketing is and the different types out there, but let’s get into why it’s so brilliant.
Gain More, Spend Less
Why do businesses love guerrilla marketing? It’s usually super budget-friendly. You don’t need to spend a ton of money. This makes it perfect for startups, local and small businesses, or companies that like to break the corporate mold.
Fully Unleash Your Creative Side
Guerrilla marketing is all about creativity. It lets you get wild and use less traditional methods to improve the customer experience. Think outside the box (or even throw the box away!). This freedom can make your campaign more engaging and fun for both marketers and your customer base.
Have a Stab at Going Viral
Another great thing is the potential for high impact. With the right idea, a guerrilla marketing campaign can generate a lot of buzz. People love sharing fun and surprising experiences, which can lead to your campaign going viral. This means your message spreads quickly and reaches a large audience without spending big bucks
Stick in Your Customers’ Minds
Guerrilla marketing also builds strong customer connections. These campaigns are often interactive and memorable, which helps create a deeper bond between brands and customers. This can boost customer loyalty and keep people coming back for more.
Unlock Insights for More Successful Marketing
Lastly, guerrilla marketing can provide valuable customer insights. Seeing how people react to your creative ideas can give you actionable insights into their preferences and customer behaviors. This helps you tailor future marketing efforts more effectively.
5 Ways You Can Use Customer Data for Guerrilla Marketing
Let’s get practical! Customer data is your ace in the hole for ramping up guerrilla marketing. When you know your audience inside out, you can cook up campaigns that hit the mark and stick in their minds. Here are five different types of customer data to use in guerrilla marketing.
1) Geo-Targeting Data
In guerrilla marketing, you take your campaign directly to your audience—no waiting around. That means knowing exactly where your crowd hangs out.
Image sourced from civicscience.com
Take Gen Z, for example. You’ll likely find them at their favorite fast-food joints like Chick-fil-A or McDonald’s, as per a 2023 customer data report.
Or, if you want to shock busy professionals with a flash mob, you could use current customer data to pinpoint their favorite coffee spots or lunchtime hangouts (maybe a cool coworking cafe in the financial district or a trendy food truck spot near office buildings).
By choosing these hotspots, you can guarantee that your guerrilla marketing stunt hits the right people at the right moment.
2) Demographic Data
Next up in our how to use customer data guide is demographic data. This type of customer data gives you a snapshot of your audience, basically telling you who they are, where they live, their age (and birthday), gender, interests, and more. This info is pure gold for guerrilla marketing because it lets you understand your audience on a deeper level.
Where do you find this data? Well, you can gather it from a lot of different sources like customer feedback, customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, social media analytics, ABM platforms, website registrations, and even public records and other third-party data.
However, it’s crucial to navigate the use of this customer data with strict adherence to data privacy laws and ethical standards, ensuring that all marketing practices protect customer information and respect their privacy.
By piecing together these insights, you can craft campaigns that truly resonate with the right people in the right places.
A brilliant example of how demographic data was used is when Spotify teamed up with astrologer Chani Nicholas. They launched “Cosmic Playlists” tailored to each zodiac sign’s characteristics. Whether you’re a dreamy Pisces swimming in the stars or a fiery Aries charging ahead, Spotify has a playlist that feels like it was made just for you.
By tapping into demographic insights, Spotify didn’t just shuffle random tunes. They used data to pinpoint which zodiac signs were rocking the charts among their listeners. Then, they crafted playlists that spoke directly to the unique characteristics and preferences of each astrological tribe. So, when looking at how to use customer data, definitely take inspiration from Spotify here.
Image sourced from open.spotify.com
3) Behavioral Data
Behavioral data is the info you collect from your customers, observing how they interact with various platforms and touchpoints (like your website, social media platforms, mobile apps, and physical stores). This data provides actionable insights into customers’ preferences, interests, and behaviors, which are crucial for refining marketing strategies and enhancing customer experiences.
To gather this kind of data, you can use various tools and methods. For instance, web analytics platforms track visitors’ actions on websites (like pages visited, time spent, and interactions with content). Social media analytics monitors engagement metrics such as likes, shares, and comments. In physical stores, you might use more high-tech gadgets like sensors or mobile apps to track customer movement and behavior.
Take UNICEF’s clever campaign with dirty water vending machines, for example. They noticed how many people buy bottled water without thinking twice, so they flipped the script. Instead of just showing sad pictures, they made a bold statement: What if your bottled water actually contained dirty water? It got people thinking about the privilege of clean water and how they could make a difference.
4) Psychographic Data
Now, this goes beyond just understanding someone’s age or job. It’s essentially peeking into people’s minds to understand what makes them tick (like their lifestyles, values, attitudes, and what makes them choose one thing over another.)
Marketing mavens like yourself can use this data to figure out who their customers really are and what drives their decisions. It’ll help you talk to customers in a way that feels personal and spot-on. And, by knowing what matters most to people, you can create ads and products that hit home and make customers feel like you really get them.
Take Red Bull’s Stratos Space Jump, for example. They used psychographic insights to pull off this mind-blowing event that captured the world’s attention. Felix Baumgartner, like a real-life superhero, leaped from the edge of space to break the sound barrier without a jet. Redbull live-streamed the jump and gripped 8 million viewers worldwide, with its logo flying high beside him.
Psychographic data guided Red Bull to understand its audience’s thirst for excitement and achievement, paving the way for a campaign that not only broke records but also cemented Red Bull as a symbol of energy, adventure, and pushing boundaries.
Image sourced from redbull.com
5) Social Listening Data
Last but most definitely not least, social listening data gives you a direct line into what people are talking about online.
Maybe there’s a major news story breaking. Social listening lets you instantly gauge how people are reacting, what their concerns are, and how it might impact your brand or industry. Or perhaps a new viral trend, or a customer issue gaining traction, you’re tuned in to understand the buzz and respond effectively.
In guerrilla marketing, this real-time insight is invaluable. Say you’ve just spotted a trending topic that aligns perfectly with your brand’s message. With social listening, you can quickly craft a campaign that taps into the buzz.
“SmileAtTheWorld,” a team of orthodontists, made a bold move with its advertising in 2020. They saw COVID-19 as a unique opportunity for their business and launched a clever guerrilla marketing campaign. Their idea was to encourage everyone to get braces while masks were still the norm worldwide. The reasoning was simple yet genius: wearing a mask would hide the braces, making it the perfect time to straighten teeth discreetly.
By closely monitoring social media trends and public sentiment through social listening, SmileAtTheWorld identified a growing acceptance of mask-wearing and its impact on personal appearance. This informed their decision to launch a guerrilla marketing campaign that not only addressed a practical concern but also resonated deeply with their target audience’s current lifestyle.
Image sourced from instagram.com
Final Thoughts
Guerrilla marketing is all about being creative and grabbing attention in unexpected ways. From flash mobs to crazy stunts, it’s about making people stop and talk. But to really make these moves count, you need to understand your audience using customer data.
Digging into what your audience likes and customer behavior (demographics), what they believe in (psychographics), and where they are (geo-targeting) can help you tailor your guerrilla marketing to hit the mark. And don’t forget social listening intelligence. It’s like keeping your ear to the ground online, knowing what’s trending and what people are talking about right now for ultimate customer satisfaction.
So, whether you’re planning a surprise event or using big projections, customer data helps your marketing teams create memorable guerrilla marketing that really connects with people.
