Understanding Digital Guerrilla Marketing

Understanding Digital Guerrilla Marketing (Keywords: digital guerrilla marketing, online guerrilla marketing, ambient marketing, above the line marketing) (Word Count: 747) Although you might not be familiar with the term guerrilla marketing, you’ll undoubtedly recognize it when you see it in your everyday life. This type of marketing typically involves adapting an advertisement to utilize components of its environment to elevate its visibility or message. For example, some neighborhoods paint their zebra-crossings multiple colors to celebrate Pride month. Other forms of guerrilla marketing include billboards with pop-out elements or everyday objects being painted to resemble products or other brand symbols. When guerrilla marketing incorporates its environment in this manner it is also known as ambient marketing. However, not all guerrilla marketing involves such dramatic displays, some may be as simple as a flash mob, carefully placed stickers, or organized graffiti. Whatever form it takes, at its core guerrilla marketing is all about novel advertisement designs or positions. How Can Guerrilla Marketing Be Applied to the Digital Landscape? Digital guerrilla marketing can be a little more difficult to wrap your head around. However, it is very much possible and largely successful. Consider some novel websites you've visited in the past, how did they use their digital medium to their advantage? It can be as simple as a hidden online game or as complex as an entirely new website dedicated to a gimmick or marketing campaign. For example, despite its later controversy, Fyre Festival conducted an excellent digital guerrilla marketing campaign. Just before tickets for their event went on sale, they orchestrated a mass Instagram campaign where numerous mega-influencers posted a solid color block of their trademark orange. Digital Guerrilla Marketing Helps You Stand Out Most advertising mediums give you a chance to stand out, especially in the real world where you can utilize context and all three dimensions. However, on a flat digital display, all ads start to blend together. This is why it’s particularly important to harness techniques like online guerrilla marketing to make the most of every advertisement. True ambient marketing can only really be achieved when you can exert a strong influence on your environment, but it is possible to create a unique advertisement experience online. When you approach marketing from the perspective of guerrilla marketing, you will inevitably look at your medium more critically. This will help you think of novel ways to engage your audience and develop a marketing campaign that leaves a lasting impact on them.

Understanding the Limitations of Digital Guerrilla Marketing While guerrilla marketing is an excellent way of engaging your audience and achieving wide-spread brand awareness, it is also limited in some respects. Online guerrilla marketing is ideal for above the line marketing, where the intended purpose of the advertisement is to garner brand awareness and reach as many people as possible. Typically, guerrilla marketing fits into its environment so uniquely that it could rarely be positioned to optimally reach a specific target audience. This is why it is traditionally considered a form of above the line marketing, which directly refers to marketing aimed at garnering a wide audience with little consideration for a target demographic. This holds true with digital guerrilla marketing, although the nature of online marketing means adjustments can be made for advertisements to reach an audience closer to their target demographic. However, this may not be ideal, as guerrilla marketing is excellent at drawing in people whose curiosity is piqued, many of whom may not fit into the established metrics of your target demographic, but may still be interested in your business. How to Conduct Online Guerrilla Marketing If you would like to try conducting an online guerrilla marketing campaign of your own, you should first select the platform you would like to use. While other forms of marketing can be easily adapted to any platform, the key to guerrilla marketing is using both its context and medium to their fullest advantage. To do this, you need to be deliberate about the platform you select. For example, although Instagram and TikTok may share many similarities, their trends and interface differ in some fundamental ways. Consider previous successful marketing campaigns on the given platform, such as a flood of cryptic posts by various users or a series of posts telling an intriguing storyline. The fundamental nature of guerrilla marketing means that every single advertisement is unique and a product of deep thought and creativity. If you struggle to grasp these concepts or have difficulty implementing your idea, you should consider a digital marketing professional who can help you harness the power and potential of digital guerrilla marketing.