Following the rules is an important step in guerilla marketing. Some people view guerilla marketing tactics as too aggressive, and many a marketer has been threatened with legal action.
However, if you're familiar with what you can and cannot do, you will not have to worry about this. Make sure you protect yourself!
Fairness In Advertising
Honesty is still the best policy. Consumers don't appreciate being lied to, and nothing spreads faster -- both online and in your community -- than news of a dishonest business.
Therefore, it's important that you practice fairness in advertising.
What it Means
Fairness in advertising is really a simple concept: don't claim your product or service does something that it doesn't. For example, a diet pill company claiming their product will "make you lose 50 pounds overnight!" is clearly mistaken -- this is a physical impossibility, unless you amputate your legs. Even with a quantifier like "practically" or "almost" (You'll lose 50 pounds practically overnight!), the statement remains implausible. Every person's idea of "practically" is different.
What would be fair for our fictitious diet pill company to claim? It depends on what the product actually does. In this scenario, the company may be able to state that their diet pill helps you lose weight "faster than the leading brands" or even that you may notice results "practically overnight" (not 50 pounds worth of results, of course!).
Your wording is essential when practicing fairness in advertising. You can get creative, but there is a fine line between creativity and false claims. In most cases, it's best to let your product or service speak for itself.
Customer testimonials are an excellent way to incorporate fairness in advertising. Getting real statements from the people who have used your product or service not only keeps you honest, but also allows consumers to trust you more, because the opinions are coming from someone who has no vested interest in your business.
Don't lie to your customers, and they will thank you with their business.
One of the most pervasive myths in online advertising today is this: the more people you e-mail, the more money you'll make. But if you're using bulk e-mail to get there, you're on the wrong track.
No one likes spam. In the Internet world, the term "spam" refers to any e-mail advertising a product or service that you did not ask to receive (and not the lunchmeat-in-a-can pictured above). There are a lot of marketing "gurus" who insist that sending cold bulk e-mails still gets results -- and that may have been true when the Internet was still in its infancy, but today's online community is more perceptive than ever, and it's almost impossible to slip by the collective spam radar.
If you look, you can find several hundred places that will sell you lists of thousands of e-mail addresses for a few dollars. The temptation to buy these lists is strong... who can resist thousands of potential customers in one shot, without the many hours of research it takes to build a solid opt-in list of your own?
You can! Here's why you should:
- Spamming alienates potential customers. When people receive spam, often their first reaction is to delete it unread, and most will block all further communication from that particular e-mail address: yours.
- Many Internet users hate spam so much, they will take action to shut you down. This can range from reporting you to your ISP (Internet service provider), to flaming (sending hate mail) or "mail bombs" (sending hundreds or thousands of files with very large attachments designed to crash your server).
- Your business can be blacklisted. There is an actual Internet advertiser's blacklist that warns consumers about spammers, and you don't want to be connected with that list.
- Spamming just plain doesn't work! There are so many dangerous scams online today that most Internet users are reluctant to even open any unsolicited messages. Even if you write the most brilliant and enticing advertising message in the world, if you send it through bulk e-mail, no one will ever read it.
In short: don't spam. Do the work and create your own list of people who actually want to hear what you have to say. Your business will benefit enormously, and you won't be branded as a charlatan.
Weird Laws and Ordinances
As a guerilla marketer, it's important for you to obey the law. If a customer feels you are trying to con them, skirt legal issues, or harass them into buying your product or service, you could end up with a lot more trouble than a lost sale.
You can familiarize yourself with basic marketing dos and don'ts through the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the government organization that regulates and protects consumers in the United States.
Does your city or state have strange laws that forbid a certain guerilla marketing method? Here is a sampling of some laws that might hinder your marketing efforts:
- In Alabama, it is illegal to impersonate a person of the clergy -- so don't dress up as a priest to promote your business.
- You can be fined $25 for flirting in New York. Beware of approaching strangers!
- Speaking of truth in advertising, a jail term of up to one year awaits you in Louisiana for making a false promise.
- Watch out, mobile billboard advertisers in Ohio: the Ohio driver's education manual states that you must honk the horn when you pass another vehicle.
- In Texas, it is illegal to sell one's eye. Keep your body parts close at hand.
- Florida forbids "unnatural acts" with another person... so forget playing Twister on the sidewalk. Also, it's illegal to skateboard without a license.
- Unless you own at least two cows, you may not wear cowboy boots in California.
- Seasonal business owners should note that in Maine, you will be fined for displaying Christmas decorations after January 14.
- Your profits will come in handy in Illinois, where you can be arrested for vagrancy if you don't have at least one dollar on your person.
What strange laws does your state have? Perhaps one of them will give you an idea for your guerilla marketing campaign!
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