NFIB

Street Marketing: A Sales Pitch With a Human Touch
04/ 02/ 2002

By Tamara Holmes

Go to any outdoor festival or public event and you're bound to see street marketing in action. Consumers are introduced to products through such direct marketing tactics as fliers and free product samples.

But small business owners can get more from interacting with a street marketer than just a free gift. They can get ideas for building their own businesses with a method of marketing that can turn a small investment into a big payoff.

Street marketing is the art of taking your product directly to the people to whom you're trying to sell. Rather than depending upon traditional advertising venues such as newspapers, television and radio, you're using a live person to sell your product face to face.

"All small businesses can use street marketing," says Jay Woods, marketing manager for Sony Music Entertainment. Woods should know; the entertainment industry has been using street marketing to introduce consumers to movies, music and entertainment venues for years. Sony employs several street marketers to infiltrate public gatherings and pass out free music and tickets to company-sponsored events.

Cost-conscious consumers are often naturally suspicious of advertisements, but a good street marketing plan adds a human element to a marketing pitch and, in some cases, allows people to let down their guards. And street marketing lets small business owners expose their products to people they might not have reached normally.

Some street teams use props with the hope that consumers will remember their products better. Such a scheme worked on MTV executive Depelsha Thomas. Walking home from her office, Thomas passed a man dressed as a fisherman who handed her a free sample of cough drops that had a picture of a fisherman on them. A few weeks later, when she became ill, she remembered the fisherman and sought out the brand of cough drops the street fisherman gave her.

While most street marketing plans involve handing out free copies of a product, small businesses can also use the strategy to promote services. A financial consultant, for example, can pass out key chains printed with his or her phone number and information about financial services offered. While consumers may not need financial planning advice the day they receive the key chain, it will work as a constant advertisement for the firm.

If you can't find an outdoor festival or fair to attend, plan your own and invite the public. People are always looking for places to socialize, Woods says, and they're often in a good mood and more receptive in a social setting.

Small business owners can wrap an event around their products. For example, Mary Kay representatives are known for hosting cosmetic parties where consumers come to have a little fun--and buy a little makeup.

Whatever your product or service, a street marketing plan will ensure that potential customers know about it. Why? Because you will be telling them about it first-hand.

Street marketing is powerful, Woods says. "It's a live version of a direct mail campaign."

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