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Guerrilla Marketing: How to Get Huge Results from a Tiny Marketing Budget

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Powerhouse marketing strategies from Trump University's Marketing Mastery Program

When you start a new company, chances are you do not have the marketing budget of a Toyota or Procter & Gamble. How can you attract new customers?

It might surprise you to learn that you need to apply the same marketing principles usedToyota and P&G. Just like they do, you must target your market and position your product. The difference is that you need to be more creative and strategic about how you do those things.

Irecommend an approach called guerrilla marketing. It relies on the basic tenets of marketing, but is more tightly focused. Here's how to put it to work for you:

  • Target a highly specific market. If you are starting a family restaurant, for example, focus your efforts on persuading families with small children to come to you. Find out where they get their information - on bulletin boards, radio stations, mailers - and utilize those communications channels. Perhaps you should sponsor a youth soccer team or create promotions with local childcare centers. The more closely you target your market, the better the return on investment from your advertising dollars.
  • Position yourself distinctively in the marketplace. Positioning is how you differentiate yourself from your competition. If you are a family restaurant, for example, you can offer a large selection of "secret recipe" fruit drinks for kids. Or train your wait staff to sing "happy birthday" with special flair. The best positioning is defensible, meaning that it is so unique, your competitors will be reluctant to copy it.
  • Brand your products strongly and consistently. Develop strong product names, memorable taglines ("The Smile Doctor," if you are a dentist), a distinctive product logo - and use all those elements consistently and often in your advertising.
  • Provide guerrilla service. Recruit and train front-line people who are polite, courteous and enthusiastic. Be open for business during the hours when your target customers need you. Have a clean place of business. Provide extras, like fresh coffee in your lobby. Handle customer complaints and service needs promptly and cheerfully.
  • Create guerrilla promotions. It takes more than pricing to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Use coupons, gift certificates, frequent-shopper discounts and other promotions that engage your consumers in the process of doing business with you. You'll be a standout - and standing out is what it takes to become a company of choice for your target customers.

In an upcoming post on this blog, I'll share do-or-die tactics for guerrilla advertising and marketing research. Please look for it soon.

Donald Sexton, PhD, is Trump University's professor of marketing and sales andinstructor for our Marketing Mastery Program. He is also Professor of Business at Columbia University and President of The Arrow Group, Ltd.,a leading marketing consulting group. Dr. Sexton is author of Trump University Marketing 101. Contact Dr. Sexton at marketing101@thearrowgroup.com.

Donald Sexton, PhD, is Trump University’s faculty member in marketing and sales. He is also Professor of Business at Columbia University and President of The Arrow Group,  a leading marketing consulting group. Dr. Sexton teaches The Marketing Mastery Program at Trump University.

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8 Comments

[-] Posted by sam on 11/03/2006 2:12 PM
I think that you are a really cool guy. the show ythat you run is very good and full of action. I do not doubt for ansecond that whsat you are doing is the wrong thing. I want to be like you whenm I grow u p
[-] Posted by China Moon on 11/03/2006 3:28 PM
During this Buyer Mkt; people are frozen in time. Here in Madison WI: this weeks MLS showed 300 new listings and only 45 closings. To me is not always who gets the listing but who can MOVE the listing...

You're right, target marketing is key but knowing where to target and narrow things down can sometimes fluster individuals. What some don't understand is you may have to send that mailer out 6-7 times with a handwritten note before you get that one (1) phone call.

You gotta pay your dues. Everybody does...

~China Moon, Realtor®
www.SmokeSignalHomes.com
SmokeSignalHomes.WordPress.com
"Have you been to China?"
[-] Posted by Igor M. on 11/03/2006 3:57 PM
Helpful post.

To sum up I'd say ... instead of using a "Shotgun approach" use a "Optical view rifle". Oh and being unique helps.
[-] Posted by Gayle Ealey on 11/04/2006 12:19 PM
Hello,we started a high end dog store in Victoria B.C. old Chinatown that is just starting to get developed last 5 years. How do you bring victorions that grew up here and see this area as a dump? we are out of money and no customers coming?
[-] Posted by Mitza on 11/04/2006 12:53 PM
I hope soon I will open a business or something, and until then I learn this gold materials.

Thanks
[-] Posted by Dana on 11/04/2006 8:33 PM
Mr. Sexton,
to jump on the market with a product ..a special one, so unique as each person is and his capacity to create also buut, I sense that on the long run, many are obstacles wich appears and is not sure are this obstacles the stages to test the capacity to fight for a dream or is the mirror of that¨¨constancy¨¨of labour to refine the product or the lack of constancy..
Any how the foundation we lead for a product is the first step and after a whole challenging venture is starting..
Yes learn first to ensure the proper foundation for the final product as result of learning as base and peak ensurred from the creation...
Can you believe that the targetet market is also splittet somehow no matter wich niche we touch,is about saturation assured from the biig corporations wich for survive and maintain the name diversify the products, GM, Toyota, Mercedes, from wood industry until space technology..and is also a phenomen on going, an underground one wich avoid taxes and legality but is difficult to prouve that or attack it(look is not my sake that last point!) so are organizations wich are work in a sistem as MLM(multilevelmarket)and wich cover onbelievable maaany niches on the market are spreading and growing and offering not a specifiec product, they work hand in hand with the products of the large industry but with significants
advantages for members gradually depending on the activity done..is about GoldWorldClub wich in relatively 30 years or more are a significant presence worldwide..no idea if in Real Estate they act but regarding vacations and facility¨s where high targetet in ¨96 I think when participating in one of theyr presentations...at that time they have cards with wich can buy almoust everywhere products with a significant %discount and they planned to make it soo personalized ¨till introduce a small chip on the arm imagine going to shop and as barcode of the products is checket to pay for, the ID is on thissame light sistem approach the arm and the sistem contain all the data¨s, cards e.s.o.!!!so High tech work already with the eye or voice print,
Schindler ID products are relatively new on the market but GWC use it perhaps from far too long time ago..?no facts to prouve that information wich level reached now but idea was so presented and i¨ve see that in airports f.e. they have exclusively restaurants e.s.o. :)
that¨s mean the high technology wich need a time until reach the masses at a large scale is knowed and used already in some circles and if you think that a product is new, is already created and realized in a way that...know well the market and the unique product will need really a solid knowledge of the market itself to ensure that the time and efforts are worth for..
Think big and act accordingly it works, is prouven!having a good foundation of knowledge and scanning at mm the market to find exactly the free way to act for...
if we doubt somehow about our product who then will go for it further?
as in the story with 7Up soda, promoting that product under the name 1Up, 2-nd Up e.s.o 6times and giving up, the other person was wich promoted thissame product with the name 7Up and the rest is history..
The moral from a wise man was as: that person simply gived up too soon.
That story s a part of Trump University insider.The point is that the team is important, share the dream and work for, the pulse of the stuffy market is accurately catched as the team is bigger, right?At least knowing the market will not compete in out of hand way.
Know what you do and love it and the guerrilla marketing can start!
Well,to talk is easy, learning also :)
just this.Best Regards, Dana
[-] Posted by Dana on 11/04/2006 10:02 PM
About the importance of the team and the art of the deal, it starts perhaps from the family, no matter how the budget it¨s look like, thiny or large, important is the glue to bind them together ..the faith, the ideals the final picture.. That kind of faith start my mother early on his life, and the way she got the family in hands no matter how large our family is, is an amazing for me. But, with the new generation living in the actual conditions of our life, the ¨part of¨¨ was available to each one of us, a cycle, each turn for each of us. I don¨t know when the cycle was broken and how what before served as glue without words, is changed soo damn that perhaps is my fout to see the empty half of the cup.
Each big company have a politic a quality system and targets. But the team we have at home and the synchronicity
to act in so many waves, job home friends eso assure on the long run the success.
How can big company s maintain the harmony I¨ve see it. Just few of them impressed me with the peak-a difficult one to reach it and after maintain it...
Where we come from we can¨t choose, is a fact, but how we choose to grow is not always softly, if start from below zero few times, the secret to do it better next time I sense it, something important is missing that glue. Is that aspect of the art of the deal to maintain the peace on a small level can affect the choosed work somehow? are thissame patterns acting on other aspects of our life?
Depend only at a individual level or as in deals to be 2 or more at the table show the cards and make the rules depending on the final target in benefit of all? At the last event in family, my mother is missing and few of the new generation are splitted also and celebrate in 2 waves.. have the power to let the door open is not a small thing.
Well celebrating is the full half of the cup but how it make the difference. Hope to don¨t contaminate that way with a bad mood the positive energy we receive in that special site, but maintaining the focus and momentum is the finest art which I hope for me to be possible to learn it and apply it as a proper mindset and looking arround to see the differences as results, if somebody manage that fine art(is always a softly path for?) and share the secrets which can be applied in life generally as in work with thissame results, appreciate! But how is possible that what earlier with less maintenance and much more less than today in many aspects, today imply more maintenance and more time and less results, like if 6 adults earlier as brothers, now we are dancing in contrary waves with different timing, depending… on the wind?!!
Earlier that glue was stronger to survive tornado¨s events in our lifes!!
Or just haved that time the wrong perspective also?
Sorry if the subject appear as out of the topic but how important is the proper association with the proper values..at small or large scale isn¨t?!
Surprised me to see that the courses of team building appear as childrens games, and I wonder why in schools increase the hours of study and sport but that sort of games some how did¨t have place nor in public schools nor in neighbourhood, looke another way to find excuses for the missing time to play but in a constructive way with our childrens,
Any how today where also our childrens complete team to celebrate but is strange that they mirror between them our distances, curious if in time one of them will continue the fight to take in hands the team…no matter what!
thank you for the time, Dana
[-] Posted by Bettsyja on 11/05/2006 2:55 AM
Dr. Sexton, thanks for this beautiful tip of guerrilla marketing strategy. However, in developing countries like mine (Ethiopia) if you are hired in a marketing or sales connected company you have to implement the guerrilla marketing strategy and the funny part is we don't learn that in colleges or universities it is like an assertiveness program you have to develop
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