Online retail marketing can be an expensive proposition if you only pursue “old-model” marketing strategies. Today’s guerilla marketing approach can work for the online retail site just as well and costs a lot less.

Jay Conrad Levinson coined the term “guerilla marketing” in his 1984 book by the same name. The guerilla marketer relies far more on time, effort, and ingenuity to develop consumer interest than on large expenditures.

The goal of this type of online retail marketing is to generate positive chatter in the marketplace with the idea that the positive exposure will extend along personal networks, or “go viral.”

Remember that the goal is a low-cost, highly creative online retail marketing campaign. The first consideration, then, is what low-cost avenues are open to you.

Social networks jump immediately to mind. Consider that figures from Internet-usage tracking firm Hitwise recently showed Facebook drawing more users than Google.

Similarly, carefully timed release of news or pertinent information about your products can get picked up on search engines. A “top seller” list for products in your online retail category might well draw interest. Read the rest of this entry