Great marketers are successful because they manage to reach more people, more effectively. Successful in the past, street marketing is seeing a huge resurgence, and if you can incorporate some of the following street team marketing ideas into your overall marketing plan, you may discover a whole new market.
The Various Types of Campaigns
Explore the following types of campaigns to find out what may work best for your products or services:
- Seemingly spontaneous performances like flash mobs can really garner the public’s attention, be performed repeatedly as well as become integrated into a much larger campaign.
- Giving people physical products to take away, like a handout or freebie, will help them to remember your brand, ambassadors and the experience long after after they get home.
- Demonstrations can help people to witness the tangible results and personal benefits of your products and services without the risk of paying. Always appreciated by potential customers.
- If you need to know how your brand is perceived, just ask! A street team survey can be extremely valuable. If it’s brief enough, it could also be combined with any of the above.
Choosing The Right Locations
Where will you reach the most people? Hint: Rural neighborhoods are probably not the best spot unless that’s who your target population is. Street team marketing ideas are usually most successful in busy locations.
Street team tactics are very much a numbers game as well as targeting the right people at the right time. So always keep this in mind when seeking out a local.
- Trade Shows and Conventions. You can target your audience more effectively by timing your street team marketing with an applicable trade show or convention. People even try and piggyback at shows that are completely unrelated simply due to the mass amount of people.
- City sidewalks. If you need a random sampling of people, send your street team out to a busy sidewalk. Any should suffice, just make sure it safe…
- Subway and Other Public Transportation. If you don’t need to engage the public for long conversations, the subway or a busy bus station can be a great place to be seen. The constant flow of new faces ensures you don’t hit the same group twice. If your objective is to be quick, people in a rush are less likely to take up valuable time mingling.
- Restaurants or Bars. Even if your street team can’t be inside a restaurant or bar, stationing them near one of these establishments gives you a great opportunity to engage people’s interest. Catch the right person in the right “state of mind” odds could go up.
Defining Your Objectives
What is the goal of your street team marketing? Don’t dive into a campaign without resolving the question; “What will I be happy with at the end of the campaign?” Some possibilities:
- Boost Awareness: No pressure marketing, just friendly introductions to the product/service.
- Closing Sales: Going to take a little more time per person, and some great brand ambassadors but if ROI is your goal, focus solely on closing on the spot.
- Fans: Only in summer when its hot. Joking aside, turn the heat up with increases in customer lifetime value or decreased cost of acquisition objectives by converting strangers into true brand fans and referrers.
- Social Media Followers: We all know it’s important, we all know the value.
- Feedback: Ask them anything! The more candid the question the more honest the response.
New Innovations Considerations
- Video: With Tablets, it’s possible to show videos or demos anytime, anywhere. Use technology to your advantage!
- Sign-ups. Again, with mobile technology, you don’t have to tell people to go home and sign up for something. You can hand them your tablet and let them fill out the form right there where you can answer questions.
- QR Codes. Want to give your prospective customers access to your Facebook page? Videos of your products? An inspirational message? Let them scan a QR code so they can continue learning as they walk to their next destination.
There is no shortage of street team marketing ideas out there. Legalities are really the only restriction. Free public advertising has been around for centuries for a reason and with face-to-face interactions dying now is the time to stand out and drive the most impact.
