Guerrilla Marketing on the Web

Customer Relationships & Satisfaction Key in Word of Mouth Campaign

May 20, 2009

Customer loyalty and involvement in small businesses makes customer relationship marketing a snap online and allows customers to do the marketing for you.

Modern companies that do business over the internet know that here's advertising, and then there's creative marketing. To make it as a small business in today's competitive markets requires more than just a terrific product and a catchy brand name; it takes marketing using customer relationships, loyalty, and word of mouth campaigns- what is increasingly known as guerrilla marketing.

What is Guerrilla Marketing?

The term "guerrilla marketing" is used to describe advertising and marketing gags that promote awareness of a product, company or brand through unconventional methods. Guerrilla Communication, a marketing firm that specializes in this type of advertising, calls itself an expert in "non traditional or stealth marketing."

Guerrilla marketing can be done through viral advertising and word of mouth. It may also use undercover gags, volunteer efforts, and advertising approaches that use time, creativity, and personal energy rather than the financial expense of a traditional marketing campaign. The premise is to find marketing approaches that cost small businesses very little and achieve a lot in terms of customer interest and publicity.

Customer Marketing Strategies for Online Business

One of the simplest and most effective forms of guerrilla marketing for online businesses is to use a loyal customer base to draw in new customers. Every successful business owner knows the power of word of mouth marketing. The strength of viral and guerrilla marketing depends on using customer relationships to promote the product or business.

Customer reviews, testimonials, and recommendations on a business site are powerful ways to induce new customers to try the product or service. Happy clients make a connection with prospective customers and make them think they are likely to have the same experience. For businesses that sell a product rather than a service, customer photos can demonstrate the appeal and usefulness of a product in the real world. The more amateur and tacky the photos are, the better- they'll look like real people took them, not professional photographers at a model photo shoot.

Contests and Prizes for Customer Satisfaction Marketing

Offering a prize or reward for customers who submit their photos, videos, and written recommendations is another effective way that small online businesses can promote their products. Some companies may offer a discount, credit or free product to happy customers who blog about the products they've enjoyed or who refer friends and family to the business' site.

Networking Sites, Blogs, and Viral Marketing

Finally, it's important not to underestimate the impact that social networking sites like Twitter, Blogger, and Facebook can have on web based companies. These sites offer the opportunity for people to tell friends, family, and the world what they think of a company's products. This can be a good or a bad thing, depending on the product, the individual customers, and the ability of a company to use the free marketing opportunity of sites like Twitter to their advantage or disadvantage.

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