Guerilla Marketing Tactics on a Dime

Submitted By Janelle McCoy, Director of Development and Public Relations, Women In Transition

No one feels the critical need for low-cost marketing more than small businesses and non-profits. Competing for market share and brand recognition while creating relationships with clients, donors, and patrons requires strategy. Thankfully, there are solutions that won’t stress the bank account.

Email Marketing

First created by e-commerce businesses over a decade ago, email marketing is a highly effective and inexpensive tool. The campaign analysis is rich with much more actionable information than direct mail. Reports detail who opened your email, in addition to when, which part of the email was clicked on, and how often it was forwarded. One can measure market response to discounts, content, subject headers, and see which recipients could be targeted for qualified leads — all within real time. Depending on the list size and the vendor, the cost is as cheap as a few hundred dollars, annually. Compared to direct mail, which bears the expense of postage, printing, paper, and significantly more management hours, the costs are at a fraction.

Facebook

Facebook is a free social media tool that harnesses the power of relationships. Businesses and organizations set up pages and groups that advertise events, even discounts. Pages have graphics, links, video — all important positioning media. Facebook creates a “stickier” environment, meaning that patrons can have a multi-faceted relationship with your business. The stronger the relationship, the more likely it is that patrons will generate higher sales and qualified leads.

Furthermore, Facebook can use the relationships of key staff, board members, and/or volunteers to communicate the behind-the-scenes story and leverage recommendations. Particularly for non-profits, individual fundraising goals are prominently advertised, encouraging peer giving. Knowing that a colleague or friend donates to an organization lends a personal “seal of approval”; this demonstrates viral marketing as an effective lead generation tool.

Twitter

Twitter, a free micro-blogging tool, is a mixture of RSS-like feeds, Facebook and blogging. With only 140 characters at hand, Twitter also provides unique delivery. Followers receive SMS updates by cell phone, Facebook or web. Uses vary from releasing discount codes (see Pennsylvania Ballet’s “paballet”); raising social awareness through advocacy alerts (see Women In Transition’s “helpwomen”); bringing a new dynamic to planning sessions and white boards; even putting a human face on mail-order distribution that otherwise had small market share with younger buyers (see Zappo’s “inside_zappos”). Again, whatever can create a more complete relationship with patrons generates more dedicated revenue.

In short, there are many marketing solutions even for the tightest budget – all with real-time results. Technology allows businesses to access a market share that traditionally small businesses and non-profits have had difficulty in tapping. Moreover, because of its ease of use, there is no reason not to make the most of these thrifty tools. Of course, like all marketing, it’s learning how to speak the language relevantly.

Janelle McCoy is the Director of Development and Public Relations for Women In Transition, a domestic violence and substance abuse agency located in Philadelphia. www.helpwomen.org