We’ve previously written about guerrilla marketing ideas and we’re definitely big fans of the endless possibilities for entrepreneurs. The beautiful part about guerrilla marketing is that you can generate a ton of visibility on a dirt-cheap budget – if any budget at all. In truth, the biggest investment is creativity and a little time to make it happen. Obviously, the bigger your budget the easier it may be to pull of something that can attract a lot of attention – but even some entrepreneurs have proven this isn’t always the rule.

As a quick refresher, think of guerrilla marketing almost as a polite way of saying “in your face” marketing. Lots of times the most successful guerrilla marketing ideas take the least amount of thought to process. Also, guerrilla marketing ideas can happen virtually anywhere, but it’s most effective in places where there is high street traffic so more people can be exposed.

There are some important things to take into consideration, though, when planning and executing a guerrilla marketing campaign. Today we highlight one Colorado fur business that recently got into some trouble over an attempt to launch a guerrilla marketing campaign – or should we say park a guerrilla marketing campaign – right in front of its own store. Denimaxx was recently told (after someone filed a complaint) by Aspen city zoning authorities it can’t park its company van in certain places throughout the city, including in the parking spot right in front of its own store, because the city sees it more as a standing billboard advertisement rather than a company van to be used for deliveries. The van is a very visual display and representation of its brand and products, which for some isn’t appropriate street material.

Important lesson of the day as it relates to anything guerrilla marketing: Make sure you’re abiding by the laws. Guerrilla marketing is fun and can also be highly effective at extending your brand. But be careful with your campaign as you don’t want it to backfire on you (we’ll consider this one a backfire since it ultimately led to someone, possibly more than once, actually complaining about the company). Some may say there’s nothing wrong with a little bad PR, but we’ll refrain from advising any company to take this approach.

So, then, what makes good guerrilla marketing ideas? Check out this list of good examples of guerrilla marketing to get some ideas. Also, use these tips as a reference:

–Go against the grain and do something that is the opposite of what people normally think. You want people to stop, look and think.

–Launch your guerrilla marketing campaign with good timing. Don’t do a football-themed campaign in June, for example.

–Go where your target audience is located. If the people you want targeted are at an event, consider being in the parking lot of that event (or inside the event, if you can get away with it).

–Focus on who will actually be involved in the guerrilla marketing portion, otherwise known as your street team. You want highly likeable and energetic people if it means interacting with others.

–Branding, branding, branding. This is your chance to really get your brand out there, so make sure your logo, colors and any tag lines or messaging are clearly present during your guerrilla marketing.

–Use the guerrilla marketing for future marketing. Video or photo the guerrilla marketing campaign (lots of people interacting with your company) so that you can show people in future marketing opportunities just how big you appear. Also for video you can use in viral marketing opportunities.

–Have a call to action. Small business guerrilla marketing is definitely about getting your brand out there. But it’s also about getting people motivated to take some kind of action (visit a Web site, go to a store, sign up for something or make a purchase).

Tell us about your guerrilla marketing ideas and success stories by leaving a comment.

The following UnderstandingMarketing.com column illustrates how one person has been successfully using guerrilla marketing tactics to promote a self-published title.

When it comes to marketing my new book it has been guerrilla marketing all the way.  I did not have time to wait for others to validate what I had to say or give permission for my writing, so I self-published and planned how I was going to get the product out.

First and foremost I did not go into marketing blindly.  I used a specific scale and formulas for organizing my entire project and then began to follow them.  Second, I designed the cover to be bright and appealing to the eye.  I thought about people referring to my book and I wanted them to have visual specifics to remember.  Next, having a web site was most important. People needed to visit the project any time they made time. I got promo cards made that resembled the book, gave a little blurb about the content, and told where and how the book could be purchased.  Now I was ready to start.

I opened social networks in Facebook, Myspace, and Ning for starters.  I started a Facebook Fan Club too. This is how I developed a following for the book and made people aware of the topic.  I began discussions on other prominent websites that dealt with the book’s topic and got tremendous response.  I then scheduled appearances at events that were well publicized and relevant to my product.  I had an attractive display and my assistants and I wore colors to match the cover if the book and all promo.  We were attractive to the eye to say the least.  I developed mailing lists for people to sign at the events, with the book cover on each side.  Mailing lists are golden because they are people’s permission to contact them even after their signing.  From these I created my database for the book’s following. We made a definite impact wherever we went.

Really important and potentially challenging to come by was my “media liaison.” This young lady saw me on Facebook, loved the work and began networking for me like mad.  From her participation came organized, videotaped book discussions, a presence on YouTube, commercials for the book, invites to the discussions by prominent figures, radio interviews and articles in print media.  She was a direct result of that scale I followed in the beginning of the project.

My web designer made sure I had Stat Counter to monitor how many visits to the site I had and I realized that visits were particularly high after good radio shows with people that called in.  Outside of all this, I speak to people about my book daily.  I pass out my card and give one to every mom I can.  I post on public bulletin boards and make posters with my picture telling people that I wrote a book and how they can get it.  What’s been most effective is outright asking followers on Face Book to buy the book.  This is where the bulk of our sales have come from and it is only the beginning of the journey.

Editor’s Note: Asadah is the author of “Beat Black Kids,” which is a book about not having to beat children to discipline them.  Combing her 15-year expertise as an educator and her experience as a single mom, she developed a riveting book that generates immediate attention and gives viable solutions for handling a controversial issue confronted by major media sources to date.

Additional resources that may help:

Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team

The Publicity Handbook

Guerrilla Marketing, 4th edition

How to Make Money with YouTube

1. It’s another great example of guerrilla marketing at its finest and an example of how a video can go viral.

2. We’re always big proponents to talk about raising awareness to help battle breast cancer.

The video is a wonderful example of how a person, group of people or company can take advantage of the Internet’s ability to promote something on a large scale. Although this video was produced with some thought behind it, any small business or entrepreneur is capable of producing a video on a whim, having it seen by millions of people and then getting all kinds of publicity. The pink glove dance video also helps that it’s a feel-good message. Other people in the news lately haven’t had such luck on the positive publicity front.

Here’s a clip of CNN reporting with a few snippets of the video itself.

Here are a few other resources to help you develop a video for guerrilla marketing:

How to Make Money with YouTube

Guerrilla Marketing Weapons: 100 Affordable Marketing Methods (Plume)

Guerrilla Marketing, 4th edition: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits from Your SmallBusiness

What are your thoughts?

Guerrilla marketing tactics are best when they’re executed in a very simple format. Notice the number of people and bystanders that are taking their own videos of the bubble. Many of these people will most likely use their mobile devices to the email the photos and videos to their friends or place on their social media networks. This process turns a good guerrilla marketing tactic into a great viral marketing tactic.

There are all kinds of different ways to launch a guerrilla marketing tactic. But remember to always make sure it doesn’t backfire on you. There have been all kinds of situations recently where people have tried to do crazy stunts to get their 15 minutes of fame. In these cases the negative publicity can far outweigh any possible media attention for you or your company.

What kinds of guerrilla marketing tactics have you done recently? Tell us about it here!

Wanna take a wild guess what kind of guerrilla marketing Proctor & Gamble did with its line of Pringles at Wimbledon this week???

(Special note: Guerrilla marketing is when a person or company takes its promotions to the street to directly interact with an audience. The interaction leaves a positive impression on people to enhance a brand’s perception among certain audiences.)

You guessed it. Proctor & Gamble handed out tubes of its Pringles Crisps with labeling that read “These are NOT tennis balls!” and offered them to street patrons making their way onto the Wimbledon grounds to watch a day of tennis. As mentioned in The Telegraph, the Wimbledon licensing police couldn’t do anything about it since they deemed no competitive foul against Proctor & Gamble’s Pringles.

The idea actually scored some pretty good kudos from members of the media for this guerrilla marketing tactic.

Guerrilla marketing is tactical in nature but relies heavily on some good old fashioned creative strategy. It is dependent on time, energy and the ability to think outside of the box. Many large companies like Proctor & Gamble and Burger King often leverage the powers of guerrilla marketing. But it’s also a great tool for the small business owner since, when done right, can be highly effective and low-budget.

The key to guerrilla marketing is in testing out a number of different ideas. Maybe you’ll get lucky and the most brilliant idea in the world will hit you early on in the process. But never be intimidated (or discouraged) to test a number of different ideas. And don’t forget to capture your guerrilla marketing tactic on film or video and then share via social marketing (like Twitter) so it can spread virally all over the world.

For some interesting guerrilla marketing ideas for your business, check out Pam Hawk’s blog post that offers 151 of these guerrilla marketing goodies, listed by different categories.

Here are a few more great resources for guerrilla marketing ideas:

Guerrilla Marketing: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits from Your SmallBusiness

Guerrilla Marketing Weapons: 100 Affordable Marketing Methods (Plume)

Have you done any guerrilla marketing for your small business? Tell us about it here.