Remember when "viral" had anything but good connotations? It suggested unstoppable strains of the stomach flu and microscopic bugs crawling around a Petri dish. The same could
be said for guerrilla tactics; being ambushed in Vietcong does little else than incite post-traumatic stress disorder.
Leave it to the Internet, then, to completely reverse these stigmas, elevating viral and guerrilla--at least in terms of marketing--to the pedestal reserved for only the most
creative communications professionals out there; after all, when applied to PR, the two terms imply quick-and-dirty campaigns executed on the cheap, which, against all odds, end
up spreading through cyberspace like wildfire.
Of course, executives who have bore witness to this phenomenon, personified by viral darlings like Blendtec (of "Will It Blend?" fame), are desperate for strategies to take
their own initiatives viral, or to unleash guerrilla-style tactics that instill their brands into the hearts and minds of consumers. The only catch? The very nature of viral makes
it tough to pinpoint what will take off, and what will languish and fizzle out. However, implementing some strategic guerrilla tactics and emulating savvy success stories can
boost your brand; as it turns out, sometimes the best way to go big is to start small.
Take Microsoft's digital search application, msdewey.com. "It was built around Microsoft Live Search," says Matt Ross, president, San Francisco, McCann Worldgroup and CEO of
the Microsoft account. "Then we re-skinned it with personality--a character, Ms. Dewey, who responds to you when you enter search queries. You get a live video persona that teases
you. If you search for something food-related, for example, she'll say [something relevant] and then produce results."
The kicker, though, is that Ross' team relied solely on viral marketing to promote the new application.
"There was no paid drive-to marketing," he says. Instead, the team e-mailed friends and family, encouraging them to visit the site and to spread the word to their own network.
"In several weeks, [the site] reached more than 10 million search queries, but it all started with 150 e-mails," Ross says.
It may be surprising that a company with as deep pockets as Microsoft's would rely on viral e-mails, especially when its executives could have poured gobs of money into
promoting the application. However, at the same time, it reiterates the enormous influence that online users--not companies--have on the success of any initiative, big or
small.
Instead of focusing on creating programs that pull audiences in, this ever-growing influence of online users is the perfect segue for corporate communications executives and
agency professionals to move away from traditional marketing strategies based on pushing messages. Guerrilla marketing centers on the latter approach, and it's made even easier
by digital platforms. With that, consider these tips for engaging in "guerrilla warfare:"
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Create platforms that allow audiences to interact with your brand. MTV hit a home run with its 2007 "Channel the Change: Darfur" initiative. Among the tactics used to
get audiences involved was the Darfur is Dying video game, which allows users to simulate a day in the life of a displaced Darfurian. It may seem like a grim approach, but it
caught the attention of millions of people (1.5 million, to be exact), many of whom became champions of the cause and spread the word on their own accord.
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Make it relevant. If you have a campaign that you want to promote on a shoestring budget, one effective way to hit the ground running is to tie it to a news story or
current event. If done correctly, you can ride the momentum without shelling out too much cash.
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Toot your own horn. Al Lautenslager, author of Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days and principal of Market for Profits, recommends nominating your business or
communications campaign for an industry award. There are a million award programs out there, and winning one--or even being named as an honorable mention or finalist--boosts
credibility and spreads the word about your business without the need for extra cash.
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Socialize. Not only is in-person networking a key element of guerrilla marketing; social media networking is too. Create content about your brand that can be customized for
each big online platform. If you do it right, you'll be surprise to find that, once up and running, these communication efforts will sustain themselves (see sidebar).
In short, viral and guerrilla marketing strategies are very relevant in today's warp-speed communications environment but, as always, for every believer there are two non-
believers.
"Viral campaigns are over-hyped," says Curtis Hougland, founder of Attention PR. "The life of viral content is most often a tight bell curve. The key is to sustain engagements
and create multiple engagements. So, think vital instead of viral." PRN
CONTACTS:
Curtis Hougland, [email protected]; Shabbir Safdar, [email protected]; Jason
Alcorn, [email protected]; Matt Ross, [email protected]; Al Lautenslager, [email protected]
Guerrilla Marketing: 5 Online Strategies
Three years ago, marketing yourself online meant buying ads or finding ways to get as many sites as possible to link to you, all with the purpose of driving people back to your
Web site.
Now though, the days of "big honkin' Web sites" are over. Nowadays you can expose your brand and your message to tens of millions of people cheaply through intermediaries such
as social networks and search engines--in other words, you can use guerrilla marketing tactics.
Let's look at the 10 most popular Web sites and craft a strategy for them. As of May 15th, Alexa lists them as: Yahoo!, Google, YouTube, Windows Live, MSN, MySpace, Wikipedia,
Facebook, Blogger and Yahoo Japan.
Yahoo! and Google search engines: Time spent on search engines is brief, as people use them to find something and leave. Do your own SEO by choosing some key phrases people
search for in your field; then, write regularly on your areas of expertise, be it in newsletters, whitepapers or blog posts, and always incorporate these phrases as often as
possible. Your rank will rise without having to pay third parties to tweak your links or run "fake sites" to artificially raise your prominence.
Yahoo! and Google e-mail applications: Take the content you are writing regularly and start an e-mail list. Some people will read your e-mail exclusively.
YouTube: Examine your field of expertise and ask if it lends itself to a visual.
MySpace and Facebook: Take your communications messages and adapt them for these social networks. If you want an example of success in this area, look at the rise of the Obama
group on Facebook.
Wikipedia: The great thing about Wikipedia is that anyone can edit an entry, and that includes you. Actively maintain the Wikipedia entries for your brand and your area of
expertise. Write from an impartial point of view, and for the benefit of readers. Don't just post press releases. The goal should be to be truly informative, and remember not to
get defensive when people post valid criticisms of your brand.
These strategies won't cost you a dime--just the commitment to write and produce material that reinforces your area of expertise.
Editor's Note: This article was written by Shabbir Safdar and Jason
Alcorn of Virilion. For more information, see their article on http://www.prnewsonline.com
entitled, "The Era Of Big Honkin' Websites Is Over."