The advantages and disadvantages of Guerilla Marketing

Advantage

Guerrilla marketing is cheap. At the high end, you may end up investing a few hundred dollars in promotional items or a major, centralized piece that you can build a number of different campaigns around. At the low end, it’s free and you can’t beat free!

• In addition to growing your business, guerrilla marketing involves networking, both with your customers and with other businesses. In the process of executing and maintaining your campaign, you will make a lot of new friends and allies.
• Guerrilla marketing is specifically tailored to meet the needs of small businesses, whereas traditional advertising venues are complicated and expensive to the point of exclusion (bordering on snobbishness).
• Many aspects of creative guerrilla marketing campaigns are just plain fun! You get to perform wacky stunts and engage in unusual activities, all in the name of working for a living.
• Guerrilla marketing works. If you do your research, plan your campaign, and stick with it, you will more than likely end up with a better and more profitable business.

Disadvantage

Guerrilla marketing works, but it is not completely fail safe. It is, after all, advertising, which is far from an exact science. The number of variables involved in advertising guarantees that nothing is 100 percent effective.

• As with any advertising campaign, you will not be able to pinpoint exactly what works and what does not. Obtaining measurable results is difficult (but not impossible, unlike other marketing techniques).
• Guerrilla marketing requires a greater level of dedication and energy than traditional advertising venues, which often consist of throwing large amounts of money at other people to do the work for you.
• If you are looking for a quick fix, guerrilla marketing is not your solution. You will not see instant or overnight results stemming from your efforts. An investment of time is required in order to achieve your business sales goals.
• Guerrilla marketing is not for the thin-skinned or faint of heart. At the very least, you will have a few detractors who find fault in your methods. At worst, you may be threatened with legal action (which is why it’s so important to check your local laws before engaging in a guerilla marketing campaign).