Guerilla Marketing 101: Get Your Name in The Paper

One thing guerilla marketing books will tell you is that getting media attention, even if the subject of the story is not you, is a major marketing win for someone trying to build a reputation. If Britney Spears is losing custody of her kids, and you’re a professional parenting coach and can get on CNN to talk about things she can do to get her kids back, that is a major boost to your credibility and is worth more than you can afford in advertising.

First, people generally believe that people who can get on TV, radio, or in the newspaper to talk about a subject must be one of the top experts in that field. As long as you can talk intelligently about a subject and don’t express an unpopular opinion, people will start referring to you as “one of the top…”.

Any psychiatrist, psychologist, or personal trainer that regularly appears on Oprah is automatically “one of the top…” Dr. Phil himself is one of the best psychologists in the world, right? He has his own show, he must be.

Second, we live in an age where people often have a computer near the TV. They see your name, like what you have to say, and then Google you. They might find your website and then bookmark it. When people see a tax expert being interviewed on TV, it immediately reminds them they have been meaning to call a tax lawyer lately and since they don’t know any – hey, there’s Shaun Davies, Tax Lawyer on local TV talking about how tax season is right around the corner.

Third, like any social group, reporters feel at ease going back to the same sources instead of having to find new ones. So the next celebrity is caught dangling their baby off a balcony and what-do-you-know, the same parenting coach is called for another interview a few weeks later. Every few weeks, reporters will go back to the same sources for some good quotes.

And last, even if people found you through a referral or some other way, the fact that you appear in the media from time to time provides validation to your current and future customers that they made the right choice choosing you. If your customers can cut an article out of the paper and tell their friends, “This is MY dentist. I’ve been going to him for 2 years and look, he’s in the paper!” that increases the loyalty of your current customers.

Email is dead, but everyone still has a TV and a lot of people still watch it.