Week #7 – MBA 6101 – Guerrilla Marketing, Chapter 7: Secrets of Saving Marketing Money

In Secrets of Saving Marketing Money, the seventh chapter of Guerilla Marketing; Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits FromYour Small Business, Levinson outlines marketing strategies that optimize a marketing budget without sacrificing effectiveness.  According to Levinson, a savvy guerrilla marketer can save marketing dollars by not squandering marketing dollars. 

Levinson argues that identifying and staying with a marketing strategy provides two benefits to the entrepreneur.  First, it enhances the broad impact of your marketing efforts.  Second, you avoid sinking precious marketing dollars into repeatedly changing your marketing campaign.  

Levinson also urges entrepreneurs to consider bartering.  By partnering with ad publishers like television stations or newspapers and other entrepreneurs it’s possible to barter various services and goods as an alternative to paying retail price. 

Along with bartering, Levinson also suggests accessing cooperative advertising funds.  Similar to product placements in television or films, advertisers with large budgets may pay other advertisers that promote their products or services in their ads. 

Another option suggested by Levinson is a per inquiry (PI) or per order (PO) arrangement with a radio or television broadcaster.  In exchange for advertising time, the advertiser will pay a commission to the broadcaster. 

According to Levinson, regardless of how the guerilla marketer decides to conserve marketing resources, the entrepreneur must consider three variables, “quality, economy, and speed.” While speed can be important, quality and economy are the center of a successful guerilla marketing campaign.  For Levinson, marketing falls in two categories, “expensive” and “inexpensive.”  Expensive marketing “is the kind that doesn’t work.”  Inexpensive marketing “is the kind of marketing that works, regardless of cost.”