Guerrilla Marketing trends & tips for 2010

Guerrilla Marketing is going to grow larger and larger by the day – even though some of us don’t even know what it is when we see it. Sure, we all know what a viral video looks like or what a shoestring budget is, but what happens when things get a little less clear and businesses start blurring the lines between reality and marketing? Thats where Guerrilla Marketing comes in.

In todays article I am going to go over the various things I see more and more business and blog owners doing in 2010 to gain more attention, sales and fan bases. These might be things you’ve seen done in 2009, but I believe that all six of these things will become the dominant things in 2010 for the guerrilla freelancer. So without any further waiting, read the 6 guerrilla marketing trends for 2010.

Giving away your knowledge – for free

This is the #1 trend I see really gaining momentum over the next 12 months. Web designers will start writing tutorials, tips and tricks about what they do for a living and it will in turn showcase their skill levels. Marketing companies will start giving away useful tips on how to use guerrilla marketing tips to your benefit – without charging you a dime for it. Free will definitely attract more eyes, and in turn, more business.

Sample Guerrilla Marketing Tactics

• Jon from Spyre Studios does this on his blog/portfolio website where he discusses design and is also a full time freelance designer.
• Chris Brogan gives away heaps of useful information on his blog and also
• Over at Blogging Tips you can check out their e-books and high quality information on blogging, which generates them a lot of traffic to their blog.

The lower the cost, the better

Times have been rough and it’s causing people to think more strategically about where their dollars are being spent. I would not be surprised to see 5-10 dollar guerrilla marketing ideas being deployed this upcoming year, and will make the bet with you all that these types of guerrilla marketing tactics will do better than a 5,000-10,000 dollar marketing campaign.

Sample Guerrilla Marketing Tactics

• Business cards from Uprinting are $30.80 (before s&h) – get them and read our 10 guerrilla marketing tips using business cards article
• Set up portfolios on other websites free of charge like we discussed in the 10 great places to promote your designs online article
• Get creative with your street signs like the dentist company did in this post on Bootstrapping Blog

Online websites will start promoting offline

This is a trend that I believe a lot of people will start to utilize. With more and more websites being created daily that take viewers away from your website, it’s like a cock fight for traffic online. I know that a lot of niches share traffic and promote others, but lets face it – not everyone does. So what better way to get unique traffic that none of those other competitors will have than to get them offline?

Sample Guerrilla Marketing Tactics

• Are you a print designer? Why not take your flyers into a printing business and leave them there?
• If your target market as a web designer is sports enthusiasts, why not head into sports shops and chat it up with the owners?
• Dropping business cards just about everywhere is a good idea – even if you just run a blog and don’t have a service to offer.

Giving away your product/service for free

This is something I will be doing for the launch of GIANT Themes on January 1st 2010 and something I see a lot of other business owners doing as well. For instance, Subernova held a contest here recently and gave away subscriptions to their product. Doing this not only gives you word of mouth exposure but it also gets people in the door who just might very well be customers for life.

Sample Guerrilla Marketing Tactics

• Like I stated above, Subernova ran a contest here on Guerrilla Freelancing and gave away subscriptions to their awesome service.
• OBOX gave away free themes to the readers of Fuel Your Creativity in a contest which gained 75 comments and a bunch of exposure for both parties.
• Billings gave away three copies of their app to members of the Spyre Studios website in a contest

Word of mouth marketing will be front and center

Sticking with the trend above, I am going to make the assumption that in 2010, word of mouth marketing will be the big focus on small businesses. Having other people talk about you and essentially vouch for your business is a huge way to gain traction in your quest to gain new clients/customers.

Sample Guerrilla Marketing Tactics

• Offer an insider secret product that only existing customers get. Once they get it, they’ll be sure to tell friends about it.
• Run a special “essentials week” similar to the Wordress Essentials Week I am doing on WordPress Guerrilla. Any ‘special’ will do, but keep it relevant to your audience and they’ll be sure to spread the word.
• Give your clients a little something extra – 1,000 free business cards with every web design purchase, 6 months of free website edits, ect.

Up-selling to your current clients

This is one that people often think is ‘evil’ or shouldn’t be done because it’s unethical. I tend to disagree. It’s a simple process really – if you’re selling a service why not offer them the opportunity to purchase another service/product that will help benefit them and the service you just gave them.

Sample Guerrilla Marketing Tactics

• Web designers, why not find out if your client needs hosting? If they do, give them a link to a hosting company that gives you a commission on the sale.
• If you sell an e-book about marketing or blogging, why not up sell the readers in the book by telling them about your top 5 favorite books on the subject and give them your affiliate links to click?
• If you’re a copywriter and you’re working with someone who doesn’t have a great web designer, why not talk to a web design company and see if they’ll offer a share of the profits for any referrals you send – I offer a select few this option at Guerrilla and it works out well for both sides.

What do you think?

Any trends we’re missing? Let us know in the comments.