Online Guerrilla Tactics

I have to admit, as much as I work in social media and employ guerrilla tactics to spread messages in a community, I hadn’t adequately considered ways to utilize guerrilla tactics online to drive traffic to your website and business until recently. So having given it some thought (at long last) here are my top five ways to utilize guerrilla tactics to grow your business online:

1. 

   Give something away. Ask for an email address, like, or follow, and in exchange, give something away – free. A whitepaper, or solution to someone’s problem. You get contact information, you also build trust.

2. Engage. Make someone’s day, seek them out on Twitter or in Facebook and leave a thoughtful (non promotional) message of encouragement, appreciation, or kudos.
3. Make it a game. If you haven’t yet seen the Find Red promotion in Toronto, you’re missing out on some fun. What can you do to make engaging with your brand online a game?
4. Laugh at yourself. How can you and/or your product be different, strange, eye catching, and entertaining? It’s been around for a long time now, but the “Will it Blend?” series by Blendtec is a great example of finding a way to laugh at yourself and your product.
5. Share the wealth. Online especially, you get more by giving more. So how can you help to promote someone else’s business? The more you help to promote someone else, the more likely it is that they will cross promote you in the long run. And make no mistake, this is a marathon – not a sprint. So share the love.

The great thing about guerrilla tactics executed online is that they are relatively inexpensive and have the potential to create significant buzz. And buzz – is a very, very good thing.