Here's a great
guerrilla advertising tip: Piggyback!

In tough economic times, smart small businesses look to guerrilla advertising for ideas on stretching their ad dollars to the max.

One of the best guerrilla advertising tips to stretch those bucks is called Co-op Advertising. Also known as "piggyback marketing," this method is about forming a strategic partnership with a complementary company by teaming up to share advertising and promotional costs.

For instance, say you own a restaurant. You know your customer shops at the local grocery store once a week. So you call up the store manager and offer to post their weekly specials flyer in your waiting area if they'll put your flyers by a couple of their cash registers. Or, perhaps you team up with a local hotel to offer a "package" deal for a romantic weekend getaway that includes hotel room and dinner. You put together a postcard or flyer mailer, combine mailing lists, and share postage and printing costs.

This approach can work for any number of businesses on any number of levels. The overarching idea here is to partner with other businesses that have the type of customer base that you are seeking out, and share costs. Their customers become potential customers for you, and vice versa. It's a win-win for both you and your piggyback partner.

By this point you may already have some ideas whirring around in your head. Great! Before you pick up the phone, though, here are some basics on guerrilla advertising, co-op style!

1. Identify the businesses with like customers.
First of all, make sure you target partners who have the customer base you are interested in. If you team up with a business whose customers won't buy from you, you'll just be wasting your money.

Action Step: Do some brainstorming and think of five to ten businesses that complement yours. You may not approach each of these businesses right away, but depending on your budget, you may be able to do several guerrilla advertising co-op programs per year, so you'll already have your "hit list" together.

2. Make sure it makes sense.
Be sure the guerrilla advertising idea makes sense. It needs to be a seamless and have an offer that will appeal to the target audiences. For example, if your business sells ski equipment, you probably won't want to team up with an orthopedic surgeon.

But maybe you're a landscape designer. Wouldn't it make a lot of sense to team up with garden shop for a co-op postcard mailing? Or perhaps approach a lawn service about sending your flyers out in their billing statement?

Action Step: Think of three different promotional and advertising ideas that you could do with each of the potential co-op partners.

3. Set up the meeting.
When you approach your potential guerrilla advertising partners, realize that you are offering them a great opportunity. So don't go with your hat in your hand. Either talk to the owner, or if it's a larger company, ask for the marketing director.

Action Step: Set up a schedule for contacting each of your targeted businesses. Perhaps you do one in the spring, one in the fall, one at Christmas. It all depends on your budget and your type of business. When you call, let them know you're interested in partnering with them for some advertising and promotion. Set up an appointment to discuss it further.

4. Create a formal proposal.
Before you go into the meeting, make sure you have thought through what you are asking them to do. In fact, I suggest you put together a formal proposal that showcases the win-win aspect for both you and your potential partner.

Action Step: Put together a proposal that details the promotional / advertising idea, along with estimated costs. Make sure the proposal also includes the "pay-off" - what can they expect to get out of it.

With small businesses getting tossed around by today' economy, it's important to save every dime we can, but not at the expense of our brands and our customer traffic. Guerrilla advertising ideas like Co-op Advertising make a lot of sense to help build a successful business.

Other Great Guerrilla Advertising Tips
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