10 Wild and Crazy Marketing Ideas That Worked

Any small business knows that marketing expenditures are hard to justify. The most cost-effective marketing is an idea that can be spread by word-of-mouth. The benefit of this type of campaign, often called guerrilla marketing, is that when done right, it can engage Facebook friends, Twitter followers, local press, and national media. The best ideas for a guerrilla marketing campaign are not expensive. YouTube videos made with smartphone cameras and cheap props can generate as much buzz as a $1 million TV ad campaign. Staging the campaign at the right time, in the right place, can also up your visibility. We present 10 recent guerrilla marketing campaigns from marketers big and small that all had one thing in common: they mastered the art of getting attention. —David Kiley