When I give mentoring sessions, one of the main concerns for those just starting out is the lack of budget for their startup’s marketing. I relate to them a lot because, just like them, when I created my first venture, I had no budget either. Over time, I realised that this was not an obstacle but an opportunity to think differently.
When you launch a startup, the initial excitement quickly collides with reality: there’s not always a budget for large-scale advertising campaigns. But here’s the good news: the lack of resources is not the end of the story; in fact, it can be the spark that pushes you to innovate and differentiate yourself.
That’s when I came across the term guerrilla marketing, born precisely from that need: doing more with less, generating impact and visibility through creativity, ingenuity, and a deep connection with your audience.
What is Guerrilla Marketing?
Guerrilla marketing is a set of unconventional strategies and tactics designed to achieve maximum visibility and impact with limited resources. The term was popularised by Jay Conrad Levinson in 1984 and is inspired by guerrilla military tactics: small, precise, unexpected moves with a big impact.
Some key points I learned along the way:
- Creativity before budget
- Surprise and originality
- Clever use of existing resources
- Direct focus on specific niches
- Constant impact measurement
Why it works for early-stage startups
Over time, I realised it works because:
- It cuts through digital noise: in a world saturated with ads, creativity stands out.
- It builds community quickly: connects with people who value authenticity.
- It’s scalable: you can start small and replicate what works.
- It’s focused: ideal for testing hypotheses and validating markets.
Guerrilla Marketing must be:
- Original: do what others are not doing.
- Relevant: connect with your audience’s context and culture.
- Agile: test, measure, and adjust quickly.
Low cost, high impact: optimise every action.
- Emotional: provoke a reaction (wonder, curiosity, empathy).
- Storytelling as a connection engine
- Stories always connect. I often say that we all have a story that can be the tool someone else needs to solve their situation.
Guerrilla marketing is not just a creative action; it’s a story people want to tell. Storytelling turns one-off actions into narratives that generate loyalty, empathy, and virality.
The key is telling why your brand exists, not just what you sell.
Tactics that worked for me
Offline:
- Creative interventions in public spaces, such as eye-catching stickers with powerful messages.
- Paper advertising in strategic locations.
- Networking with focus and purpose.
Online:
- Provocative or unexpected content on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, or the most relevant platform for your business.
- Cross-collaborations with other startups for shared visibility.
- Creative use of newsletters and WhatsApp to build loyalty.
- The power of blogs as a low-cost ally
- Authority and SEO: a well-managed blog positions your brand and attracts clients organically. If you don’t have a budget for hosting or a domain, I recommend starting with free WordPress. I did this early on and managed to appear in search engines.
- Guest Blogging: collaborate on third-party blogs to reach new audiences.
- Partnerships with platforms: get your content published in other spaces to improve SEO.
- Content recycling: a single article can become 10 social media posts.
Common Guerrilla Marketing MISTAKES
- Copying campaigns without adapting them to your context.
- Not measuring results.
- Focusing only on visuals and forgetting the message.
Conclusion
For me, guerrilla marketing is more than a low-cost strategy: it’s a philosophy that puts creativity, authenticity, and connection above budget.
If you’re an early-stage startup, this approach could be the engine that takes you from anonymity to relevance.
I applied it in my early days, and it was a key step in my growth.
Thanks for reading me,
Jhamile Abuabara
www.jhamileabuabara.com
Source: https://jhamileabuabara.com/marketing-without-a-budget-guerrilla-tactics-for-early-stage-startups/
