Recap: Selecting the Most Lethal Marketing Methods

Recap of J.C. Levinson's Guerrilla Marketing as it applies to SBH Labs.

In this chapter, Levinson goes into great detail explaining different types of marketing mediums for guerrillas to advertise. This book was last revised in 2007. As I've mentioned before, it is dangerous to look at statistics that are older than just a few years for marketing. Anything more than three years old might as well be archaic. However, the core concepts explained by Levinson still apply, especially relating to Levinson's spot-on prediction of online marketing.

In Levinson's words: "Online marketing presents guerrillas with the marketing medium of their dreams - where the golden opportunity is interactivity blended with action, connectivity, tangibility, community, and economy." Since 2007, the world has changed around the internet. It is not essential for surviving in a first-world economy. How would you know where to go eat without Google Reviews or Yelp?

Sadly, there is no groundbreaking, new ideas from this section of the book. But there are still great pieces of advise to remember:

• A marketing calendar
• Choosing mediums according to your target audiences

A social media marketing calendar is the backpackers of any digital marketer nowadays. But are all marketing efforts reflected in that calendar, too? I know mine aren't. They should. It is easy to forget about certain campaigns, especially if it's not your project. A fully integrated marketing calendar will be like looking into the future.

The next piece of advice rings true in 2007, rings true today, and will continue to ring true in the foreseeable future: you have to tailor your selection of marketing methods to your prospects.

The last parting wisdom from Levinson I leave you with is this:

"Before you select a marketing method, remember that it is not necessary to say everything to everybody; nor is it possible. If you try to say everything to everybody, you'll end up saying everything to nobody or nothing to everybody."

References:
Levinson, J. C., Levinson, J., & Levinson, A. (2007). Guerrilla marketing: Easy and inexpensive strategies for making big profits from your small business. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.