Andrew Szabo is a Certified Guerrilla
Marketing Coach

 

 

 

The following information is excerpted from the eight week "Laser Marketing Program" - a proven program for building your business!

Over a million people have benefited from Jay Levinson's Guerrilla Marketing books. Now, for the first time ever, your business has access to these revolutionary marketing strategies combined with the expertise of a professional marketing coach. With a coach you can accelerate your marketing knowledge, your marketing experience, and your marketing action with all the insights and wisdom that Guerrilla Marketing has used since 1984. It's like putting a turbo charger on your business success; like having a personal trainer for your marketing goals. 
 


 

 

The Seven Step Guerrilla Marketing Plan 

1. The Purpose of Your Marketing

"Begin with the end in mind." --Stephen Covey

What is the outcome you really want? Be specific. A true Guerrilla knows that the clearer the goal in the mind and on paper, the richer the rewards of your marketing efforts. Maybe it's to develop 100 new leads in the next month. Or to generate 1000 web hits a day. Or cultivate ten new clients in the next 3 months. Send 100 newsletters targeted to the most influential people in my industry. Develop a new brochure. All steps to follow will be based on the clarity of your initial goals and purpose. Start now. 		Homework:
  • On a scale of 1-10 how clear and measurable are my marketing goals?
     
  • Have I written then down and put them in a place I can see daily?
     
  • What systems of accountability do I have in place? ( Marketing calendar, success partner, reminder system, coach etc)
     

2. The Benefits of Your Product or Service

As soon as you clearly determine what your target market wants, you can orchestrate a marketing campaign based on addressing these needs. What do people really want? Some of the things they want are: to be happy, safe, successful, wealthy, to be liked, to
be in loving relationships, to have a sense of purpose, to have fun, to be pain free and to eat tasty foods. Marketers often confuse features with benefits. Features are the things inherent in your product or service. Benefits are what the buyer gets from your product or service. The following table will help:
 
Features Benefits
Driver airbags Feelings of safety and security
Ergonomic chair Relieves pressure on spine, stress-relief
Tele-coaching No commute, call from anywhere

Tune into their favorite radio station WIIFM- what's in it for me? The goal is not in accumulating lots of benefits, but to find the ones that will meet the desires of your customers. What do they really want? How are you different? What do you offer that your competition does not?

 Homework:
  • Write out the most unique and desirable benefits you offer your target market.
     
  • Put an asterisk (*) next to the one(s) that your feel are your competitive advantage.
     
  • Read What Do People Really Buy?

 

3. Your Target Audience

Now that you've identified the purpose of your marketing and the benefits of your product or service, it's time to clearly define your target market. Exactly who wants and needs what you have to offer? The wrong answer is "everyone".

You want a niche and the more focused the better. What are their age, income and important needs? What makes this group different? If you can't get a clear enough picture start with the market first and then define the product or service. For example, you might notice that women in their 40's have concerns about the health hazards of pregnancy. What product or service might benefit them?		 Homework:
  • Write out your target market(s).
     
  • Can they afford your product or service?
     
  • What is the core problem(s) you can help them solve. If you do, are they ready to buy?
     

4. Your Niche

Now that you have determined your purpose, benefits and target market, it is time to define your marketing niche. Guerrillas know that the marketplace is cluttered with competition and that it can really pay to be a leader in a smaller pond.

Lance Bohannon is "the organizational performance consultant for the petroleum industry". Andrew Szabo is the "strategic marketing coach for hi-tech," and Doug Blankenship is "a financial planner who focuses on independent professionals". Guerrillas carve out a position where they can differentiate themselves and it is apparent in every marketing weapon they use. Niches can be defined in many ways: through a specific target market or a distinct means of service. 		Homework:
  • What’s your niche? Write it down.
     
  • Discuss the viability of this niche with your success partner or coach.
     

5. Your Marketing Weapons

Guerrilla Marketing offers over one hundred weapons for launching your marketing attack (see Guerrilla Marketing Weapons in our Library) .


 

 

 Homework:

  • You will want to spend some time with the 100 Weapons list and choose those most appropriate for beginning your attack. After you make your selections, list your top ten right here.

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6. Your Identity

A word to strike from your marketing vocabulary is image. An image is a façade, something phony. A far better I word is identity. Your identity is automatically honest. If you communicate a real identity, people sense feelings of comfort and relaxation when they contact you. What they see in your marketing is ultimately what they get from your goods and services and that builds trust and rapport.
i.e. Federal Express:Reliability, Nordstoms: Superior Customer service, 		Homework:
  • How would you describe your identity? Write it down.
     

7. Your Budget

 
The beauty of Guerrilla Marketing is that over half the marketing weapons are free. But don't let that fool you, there are important reasons to spend money on your marketing.

The Guerrilla knows that the most important place to spend money is on your business presentation. This means the quality of your stationery, business cards, brochures, flyers and logos. The public will get their first sense of your professionalism through your written materials. Make a strong impression. This may cost you some money, but look at it as an investment in your future. 		Homework:
  • Now spend a few minutes deciding where you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck with your marketing dollars.
     
  • Write out your budget for the next 3 months.