“Guerrilla Marketing” is all about being smart with your marketing budget by using a lot of elbow grease to make each dollar go farther. If $150 is what you have to work with, you will want to find marketing venues that are tightly focused around your target demographic and then put in the requisite face-time with the prospective clients. The combination of a little bit of money and a whole lot of personality and physical effort will pay off for the travel agent willing to go the extra mile.
Today’s guerrilla marketing tactics for $150:
- Sponsor a Contest and Award – choose a local community activity with lots of participants in your demographic and sponsor a
civic contest and award of $150. For example, most communities have a little league soccer or softball program. Work with the organizers to promote a “Clean up our Park” day. Donate the $100 to the team that collects the most refuse in baggies. Use the remaining $50 to purchase refreshments for the kids. Or you might hold an essay contest among all the six grade students in a school to send essays on a civic topic “The Importance of Voting” and award the $150 for school supplies to the winning class submitting the best essays. It’s a great way to do some good and to get your name out in a community of families! - Sponsor a Tree(s) – Next Earth Day, work with a nursery to sponsor a promotion. Have the nursery run a “$10.00 off this tree” promotion. Tag 15 trees with your business card. Purchasers of those trees get a discount and your business card. You get their name and permission to send them materials on your travel planning practice. The same idea can work with other holidays – Flowers on Mother’s Day, Flags on Veterans Day (You can buy a lot of flags for $150), pumpkins at Halloween…
- Free Sandwiches – Most communities have a local deli that is a popular breakfast or lunch place. Work with a deli owner with your target demographic to cross-promote: The first 25 breakfast sandwiches are free! The first 25 customers ordering an ABC Travel Egg and Cheese Sandwich get a free sandwich (and your business card). You are there to mix with the crowd, help hand out the food, and to let people know that your company is pitching in and doing your part for the community’s morale during the recession.
- Work with Public Radio – OK. We knew you might not be crazy about the idea of working a deli deal, so we are throwing in an extra today as a substitute. Twice every year, the public radio station in your community does a fundraiser of their own where local community volunteers answer the phones. Donate your $150 to the public radio station and offer your staff to answer the phones. The radio station will mention your company name over and over on the days that your staff works, giving you lots of publicity in a very nice demographic.
If you have associates in your business, get them involved in any of these ideas to generate some company spirit and lighten the load! Working with a limited budget doesn’t have to be limiting! Use these ideas as starting points to create your own variations on the theme. After all, it’s your personality that makes any marketing tactic really work.
Monday: 3 more ways to spend $150