The Role of Psychology and Community in Guerrilla Marketing
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Since I stepped into the ring and became a guerrilla author in writing Guerrilla Social Media Marketing with Jay Conrad Levinson I have come across all kinds of misunderstanding, misuse and abuse of the term guerrilla marketing. Today’s podcast was inspired by what I can describe as a well meaning (or possibly not) but off-base commenter on the Creative Guerrilla Marketing blog.
I decided instead of just replying in the comments section that I would take the time to respond in the form of a podcast. Why? It’s so vital to understand the role of psychology and community in Guerrilla Marketing.
I also think it’s important to establish that Guerrilla Marketing is well defined, and it’s body of wisdom and definition that is widely accepted and used by over 20 million readers of the Guerrilla Marketing Series of books. Some people will take pieces of the body of wisdom and use them to suit their outlook on marketing but the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In addition to this just because you slap the term guerrilla on a book, blog post or marketing campaign it doesn’t make it guerrilla.
Here are the facts:
- The term “guerrilla marketing” was coined by Jay Conrad Levinson and popularized by his best selling book that was released in 1983. Guerrilla Marketing uses unconventional means to achieve conventional goals, it relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget. (We added community on-top of time, energy and imagination for Guerrilla Social Media Marketing because of the vital role it plays in social media marketing).
- Since then over 20,000,000 (that’s twenty million) books have been sold and read in Jay Levinson’s Guerrilla Marketing series of books making it the #1 best selling series of marketing books in history. Jay’s definition is the original and most widely accepted definition and grows by 1million readers and fans per year.
- Guerrilla’s apply and use the 19 Guerrilla Marketing Secrets (Principles).
Instead of paraphrasing why true guerrillas must understand and depend on psychology, I have posted in Jay’s own (timeless) words the importance:
Guerrilla marketing does not rely on guesswork because wrong guesses are so darned expensive. Instead, it relies upon psychology as much as possible. Psychology used to be a body of theories. Today, many of those theories have been debunked while others have been transformed into laws, actual laws of human behavior. Guerrillas lean on these laws because they want certainty to be a hallmark of their marketing.
There are 15 things that all guerrillas know about psychology as marketing is slowly transforming from guesswork into science:
- Purchase decisisons are made in the unconscious mind. People may say the words consciously, but they process the data in their unconscious.
- We now know how to access the unconscious mind. The way to do it is with repetition. Put these two thoughts together — purchase decisions are made in the unconscious, and you can access the unconscious with repetition, and you begin to understand the entire process of marketing.
- People are either left-brained or right-brained. Left-brained people respond to sequential, logical reasons and love marketing that gives ten reasons to buy. Right-brained people respond to emotional, aesthetic appeals and love marketing that looks stunning and tugs at heartstrings. Guerrillas are sure to hit both left and right-brained people.
- Businesses that succeed are those that form two bonds with all customers: the human bond and the business bond. The stronger the human bond, the stronger the business bond. Connect up as two human beings before you connect up as buyer and seller.
- All marketing has two messages — the stated message and the metamessage. The stated message is what you say. The metamessage, often stronger than the stated message, is what your marketing looks like, feels like, where it appears, what size it is, and how professional it appears.
- If you’re interested in increasing your share of market, the way to do it is to first increase your share of mind. If you go only for the share of market, don’t expect much customer loyalty — or even many customers.
- There are two schools of marketing hard at work in America these days — Freudian marketing, which is based on Sigmund Freud’s work and aims for a change of attitude — and Skinnerian marketing, based on B.F. Skinner’s proof of the power of behavior modification. Which does a guerrilla choose? Both. Guerrillas constantly implant attitudes while peppering their prospects with special offers that require instant action.
- During a recession, the tactics that generate sales are: leaning on current customers, enlarging the size of each transaction, offering a guarantee, and showing that high prices are an assurance against making a purchase mistake — something nobody wants to do during a recession.
- Realize that people hate taking the hard step of buying something, so guerrillas use soft steps to make the hard step a little easier. Soft steps include things like free consultations, free seminars, brochures, videos, demonstrations, and free samples.
- Full color marketing materials increase retention by 57% and increase inclination to buy by 41%. And the cost of full-color drops dramatically if you tell the printer you have the patience to wait for a gang run.
- Use as much non-verbal communication as you can. There are only about 250,000 commonly-used words in the English language, but there are 600,000 non-verbal gestures. They are more potent than the spoken words.
- You can gain guerrilla marketing power if you blend customer insight with product insight. The more your insight, the better your marketing.
- The way guerrillas view their marketing is as an opportunity to help their customers succeed. If you do the same, your profits will show it.
- A key to successful marketing is making each of your customers feel a special way. The way they should feel is unique. Not easy, but necessary.
- It is essential that you constantly feel a sense of dissatisfaction with your marketing and try to improve it without changing your identity. This personality trait will fare you well in the marketing wars.
So I have a challenge when someone (for their own self-interest) tries to redefine Guerrilla Marketing. Add to it? Great! Innovate? Great! But don’t negate, shrink, or dilute it. Back off. It is a timeless body of wisdom that has grown to be mainstream but it is more relevant than today than it was 20 years ago. It works, it’s simple, and it’s time tested.
Guerrilla Marketing is a body of wisdom and movement. It’s bigger and more important than campaigns, tricks, or tactics. To learn more about the book that started the movement (and continues to grow daily and globally). You can visit http://gmarketing.com.
Have a listen to the podcast and tell me what you think!
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Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Defined (Podcast)
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Today’s podcast is an audio recording (by the author) of Chapter 7 of Guerrilla Social Media Marketing. A book that was released (globally) this past October that I co-authored with Jay Conrad Levinson. It is a full unabridged version with some side-comments from myself of course.
If you want to start reading thebook on your iPad in the next 5 minutes you can always pick up a copy at the iTunes store.
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Social Media Assessment Part 2 – Social Outposts – Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube
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Last week we posted part 1 of our seven part social media assessment. In this week’s podcast I will talk briefly about how you can assess social media effectiveness on various networks including Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and sites like YouTube and Flickr. Each social network could be a full one hour podcast on their own – but today I have given you the 20,000 foot view. The major focus of the assessment is to determine how prepared you are technically and culturally to engage in two-way conversations with your stakeholders. It also looks at your ability to provide content that is filled with contrast and relevant information for your market.
Social Media Assessment Part 1 of 7
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Today’s social media podcast is part 1 of a 7 part series on assessment. Before any major endeavor we need to take inventory of our assets, attitudes, and liabilities. Working with everyone from one person businesses right up to fortune 500 companies I have developed a social media assessment process that helps take that inventory. It’s a work in progress and in it’s present form has already helped me develop strong direction and focus with my clients. I’m sharing this process to help my readers and listeners, and also of course to get feedback — what do you like? What am I missing?
This is a process we developed working with our clients at Socialized! and it takes an inventory of the following:
- Your existing website: Is it socialized with a blog, integrated with the major social networks and well optimized for search engines?
- Your social profiles: Are you maximizing the use of the major social sites that are relevant to your audience. This entails not just creating content but having relevant conversations and engaging?
- Social Media Policy: Do you have a personal or corporate social media policy that fosters a social culture and creates accountability?
- Social Media Plan: Do you have a strategic plan for launching and sustaining focused social media communications.
- Trained staff: Is your team trained in the rules of engagement and in the technical aspects of the tools they will use?
- Integration: Silo? Online/Offline? Bi-directional?: What best describes your social media use. If only one person or one department is using it then you will be faced with bottlenecks and a one dimensional communications strategy.
- Metrics, Monitoring and Measurement?: Are you using social media monitoring tools like Twitter Search, Post Rank, Google Alerts etc. to find business intelligence, identify stakeholders and get involved in the conversation.
Today’s Podcast is focused on part 1 of the assessment: Your Socialized Site or Blog and asks 12 major questions (covered in the podcast)
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1) Website/blog platform: Is it based upon a platform that is social ready? |
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2) Is it easy to upgrade and keep pace with social media advancements? |
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3) Does it offer multiple channels/media for two-way communications? |
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4) Does it aggregate online conversations about your brand and industry? |
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5) Does it provide a launch point to your social media outposts? |
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6) Does it provide industry standard blogging capabilities and plugins? |
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7) Is it search engine friendly? |
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8 ) Does it allow community contribution of content, ideas or questions? |
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9) Does it include multiple methods and media to learn about how you can help? |
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10) Is it easy for visitors to share all of your content on the web? |
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11) Are you proactively participating in communications and conversations on your site? |
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12) Is the content consistently updated and current? |
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The most important thing to realize here is that most of the questions are focused on how you are using your blog and site. Some of it focuses on basic functionality but most is about the application. I will be posting Part 2 “Your Social Profiles Assessment” in the next few days.
11 Social Media Tips in 140 Characters or Fewer
I tweet social media tips on a regular basis. For those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter or for those who missed some of my tips this week, here are 11 tips on social media (if you have any to share please post them below):
- Social Media Tip: Focus on what you love and those who love the content you create.
- Social Media Tip: A single tweet may not create a best friend but it’s a doorway to many new relationships.
- Guerrilla Social Media Tip: Nano-marketing is not just about hyper-segmentation – it’s the process of developing intimacy with people.
- Social Media Tip: Social media monitoring isn’t for keeping score it’s for deepening engagement. #scrm
- Social Media Tip: Social media monitoring allows you to have the right conversation with the right person at the right time. #scrm
- Social Media Tip: Engagement is great BUT sustained engagement will maximize ROI.
- Social Media Tip: Being the signal not the noise also means with more attention you will have more critics. It’s a sign of success.
- Social Media Tip: Your blog is for both creating and aggregating content and conversations. It’s part of an ecosystem.
- Social Media Tip: While marketing online creates profits, leadership can create legacy. Think short and long-term.
- Social Media Tip: Mobile and location based tools are growing in importance and effectiveness. Invest in learning about them.
- Social Media Tip: When writing your 2011 business plan see social media as part of the mix – there are applications in most departments.
Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Secret #19 Implement
Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Secret #19 Implement is covered today by Shane Gibson. Implementation is a key element in any marketing strategy.
Social Media Calendar
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There are many aspects to success in social media. Having a solid goal, knowing your core target market and of course monitoring social media conversations and your brand. Producing great content and engaging community are also vital. All of this has to be grounded in a solid implementation plan in order to work over the long term. A goal, great content, and community engagement are not enough to succeed using social media as a marketer, sales person or entrepreneur. We also need to ensure that we are consistent in our approach, message and community involvement.
Today’s podcast is about the importance of a social media calendar for individuals and organizations. I have also provides a social media calendar template that Jay Levinson and I developed for Guerrilla Social Media Marketing.
Have a listen, download the sample social media calendar and then let me know how it works for you.
Download the sample Social Media Calendar (WORD) and Social Media Calendar (PDF)
Social Media Calendar
Guerrilla Social Media Marketing – Foreword by Guy Kawasaki
Since late 2009 Jay Conrad Levinson and I have been working on our new book Guerrilla Social Media Marketing. It’s the latest in the Guerrilla Marketing series of books, the top selling marketing series of books of all time (20 million copies sold). I know Jay personally and when the opportunity came up to write the book I jumped at it. It wasn’t until 1/2 way through the book did I realize the magnitude of the opportunity (and the work entailed in living up to the Guerrilla Marketing brand).
You can order it here or join the Facebook page here.
In the meantime I thought I would share the foreword written by Guy Kawasaki of Alltop.com:
How to Become a Social Media Guerrilla
I first met Jay Conrad Levinson, the father of guerrilla marketing, when I interviewed him in early 90s. I met Shane Gibson at an Olympic Hockey Tweetup in Vancouver, Canada. When Shane told me that he and Jay were working in this latest volume of the Guerrilla Marketing series about social media, he captivated my interest because the two are a match made in heaven.
Alltop owes its success to social-media guerrilla marketing. We used Twitter and Facebook to create Alltop evangelists, galvanize our supporters and critics, and generate page views and brand awareness. We also tapped community and built multiple nano-casts of content for the nano-markets that Jay and Shane talk about in this book.
The combination of the social media and guerrilla marketing enables entrepreneurs to level the playing field in their industry. Capitalizing on social media is not just about using them as tools but taking matters beyond this and making them guerrilla-marketing weapons.
Jay and Shane have crafted a comprehensive guide for the marketer, entrepreneur, or executive that is serious about profiting from social media. The challenges that people face in social media are:
• What tools to use and how to use them profitably.
• Finding and engaging profitable target markets.
• How to build community and then raving fans.
• What and how to measure ROI.
This book answers all these issues. It’s not an easy path; it will take discipline, tenacity, and creativity. For those who are willing to pay this price, Jay and Shane have provided the ultimate roadmap needed to achieve your goal.
Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki is a founding partner and entrepreneur-in-residence at Garage Technology Ventures. He is also the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web. Previously, he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc. Guy is the author of nine books including Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. He has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.
.tel Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Weapon #88
Excerpt from Guerrilla Social Media Marketing by Shane Gibson and Jay Conrad Levinson:
.tel: This is a new domain name extension but it’s more than just another domain. Yourname.tel, Yourproduct.tel and yourcompany.tel are vital guerrilla tools. A .tel domain is driven by a proprietary software that integrates a variety of SmartPhone and web based applications. Embedded in the .tel are your contact details and key information. With a click of a button your prospects can immediately download your contact information into their address book or cellular phone. George Moen CEO of Blenz Coffee has a business card with no phone numbers, addresses or e-mail on it. It simply says GeorgeMoen.tel.
What the .tel network is building is worlds biggest phone book that dynamically integrates into websites and applications. Anytime you update your contact details in your .tel dashboard it automatically updates all of the other sites and the Smartphone applications. How many times have you been somewhere and forgot your business cards? Now you can simply tell people to visit yourname.tel, yourproduct.tel or yourcompany.tel, and most people will find that easy to remember and easy to do.
Copyright 2010 Jay Conrad Levinson, Shane Gibson and Entrepreneur Press
Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Weapon #65 Alltop.com
Alltop.com: Is described by co-founder Guy Kawasaki as “the online version of the magazine rack in your bookstore except that it has 900 subjects and is free.” It organizes news and blog entries by subject, and gives you the five most current pieces from top websites and blogs. You also get a preview of each story.
Guerrillas need to constantly feed their community and connections with value added content. They also need to keep up to date with specific industries and niche markets to remain competitive. Alltop’s always current and up-to-date news and blog feeds are a great source of guerrilla intelligence and content.
Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Traditional Websites versus Social Sites
In writing Guerrilla Social Media Marketing Jay Levinson and I developed a quick comparison between traditional websites and social sites. Guerrillas know that to build community and consent your website and homebase must be social.
Traditional Websites versus Social Sites
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Social Sites |
| Require technical knowledge to update and add content | Require very little knowledge to update and almost anyone can add content |
| Full of me-focused marketing and are written like a corporate brochure | Written for the customer about things that can help the customer |
| Are unidirectional in their mode of communication | Allow for bidirectional communication between guerrillas and their visitors and also allow visitors to share and communicate with one another |
| Is a marketing island | Are community hubs and push content out to guerrilla outposts and also pull in and aggregate content from those networks |
| Are difficult to keep on the top of search engine rankings because of their static nature | Are easy to keep on the top of search engine rankings because of constantly added content by guerrillas and their visitors |
| Lock up and protect their content, such as videos | Make all of their content easy to share and repurpose |
| Require visitors’ contact details and consent before establishing a relationship or providing any real value-added content | Are full of value-added content, tools and information that benefit their market, and don’t require you to give consent before adding value |
| Require expensive custom plugins or web-based applications and a significant financial investment when upgrading the look and feel | Due to their open source nature, are inexpensive or free to upgrade. This also allows for inexpensive redesigns |
| Typically corporate-supported | Typically community-supported |
| Provides limited channels and access to limited number of people within a company | Provides multiple methods for connecting with your company and provides access to multiple people within your organization |
Copyright 2010 Jay Conrad Levinson Shane Gibson and Entrepreneur Press
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