BoxTofu

When you walk by a homeless person on the street, do you ignore them? But, do you ignore all of them? My bet is that some of them pique your interest, and sometimes you give them money.  This, my friends, is homeless marketing.

Think about it. Most blog owners are very happy if a mere 1% of visitors click on their ads. Online stores are happy if 1% of people buy products. It doesn’t take much, and if a tweak in the way you market something can get you another 0.2% success rate, you’d be very happy. Yesterday, I stood across the street from a homeless guy with a pretty standard “Any help appreciated” cardboard sign. Approximately 0.7% of people gave him money, but of course, his sign was pretty blah.

After doing some extensive research (and by extensive research, I just mean walking around San Francisco for a month), I’ve come to realize that the homeless use marketing tactics that are very applicable to all kinds of businesses. Believe it or not, there are some pretty bright minds “working” in homeless advertising right now, and I guarantee you some of them have 5% or better conversion rates. I even know of one person in particular that has an avid repeat customer (me!). He does one helluva job.

I’ve been examining their tactics  and reverse engineered them for you and your business. Whether you’re the writer of a small blog, or the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, these may be useful for you.

1. Using Animals:

Animals are a great way to market your brand. Aflak does it. Geico does it. And the dude with the dog standing by the freeway entrance does it too. The idea behind this doesn’t necessarily stem from the homeless person (i.e. the company) needing companionship (thought I’m sure it does help). It happens because it gives the consumer (you) something that you can connect with. While you may drive by and ignore a man (and only a man) standing at the freeway entrance, there are more people who will connect with the (helpless) animal and give some money to the man, thinking that eventually that dollar will go to feeding the dog, cat, whatever. It’s similar with other business models. The Geico Gecko becomes the “friendly face” of the company. People are more interested in the Gecko than they are about car insurance, which is how they are drawn in. It’s kind of that middle ground that the consumer can use to reach the big scary company. What about you? Are you more likely to give money to a homeless person who has a dog? I know I am. And guess what insurance I use too: Gecko… er… I mean Geico.

2. The Scare Sell

I’m not a big fan of this kind of homeless marketing. This is the guy on Post Street (have you run into him?) that follows you several blocks, yelling at you and telling you to buy his newspaper. This works on a surprising amount of people. I’ve read about homeless in Europe doing this to tourists. They make six figures (so, I suppose they probably aren’t homeless). Although I’m not a big fan of the “scare sell,” it is a viable form of marketing. Companies do it all the time, pressuring weaker folk (like me) into buying things. “If you don’t buy this you’ll be screwed,” blah blah blah. You’ll even see news casters do this: “Find out what’s in your home, that could kill you… at eleven.” Of course, doing this too much will get you a bad reputation.

3. The Emotional Sell

This is probably the most common form of homeless marketing you’ll see. You’ll also see this form of marketing pick up during the holiday seasons, when people are feeling a lot more like giving away their money. These are signs like “Need to feed my children” or “Lost everything in the war,” etc. This tactic can be used by businesses and individuals as well. The idea is to create emotion in the consumer. Whether that’s passion, guilt, greed, or happiness. Learning to channel these emotions into your product can be key. Weight-loss products do this all the time. They make you feel guilty about your weight, and by giving them money, you can lose that weight and therefor (supposedly) lose that guilt as well. Apple has done a great job associating happiness with their products. That’s why you see such passionate Apple users, who will throw up their fists anytime Windows is mentioned. This is the best kind of sell you can do.

4. Humor

You’ll see this kind of homeless marketing a lot in bigger cities or at ballparks. I think this must be due to the concentration of homeless marketing in those areas. It’s just like other advertising. When there is a lot of advertising competition in a particular area, it becomes important to cut through the static and stand out. The same idea holds true here.

For me, personally, I’m much more likely to give money to someone who makes me laugh (emotional sell, anyone?). Some people have funny signs. Some people do creative things, like the guy at Safeco Field who has a fishing pole with a cup at the end of it saying “fishing for beer money.” Geico, Aflak, and all kinds of other companies do a good job at the humor sell. If a company makes you laugh, watch out, because you are becoming emotionally attached.

5. The Show (Public Relations)

This one is a little bit indirect. There are plenty of homeless who play bucket drums, guitar, or do other kinds of street shows. The show that they are doing isn’t directly related to them asking for money, but it does get them more money. People feel better about giving money to these people because it feels like they’re doing something that’s like a job. Now, when we pull that over to the business world, it gets a little more difficult, but I think this is the homeless version of having good Public Relations. I helped with a study a few years back. The study was for Trojan, who wanted research done on the colleges with the best sexual health programs. Although the study itself had nothing to do with Trojan, it made its rounds to all the big newspapers, and Trojan was labeled as the good guy in this study for promoting sexual safety. Doing other things that aren’t directly your business can be really beneficial to your company, just like playing the guitar when you’re asking for money on the street.

6. Good Customer Service

Then there’s the homeless folk that are just really really good people persons. They take every interaction with every person that comes by as an opportunity to provide great service. They smile, they thank people, they have good conversation skills… the list goes on. As a company, it’s really important to do this as well. Customer service is a form of marketing, whether you like it or not. Having the best customer service means you’ll have an opportunity to get feedback, make fans, and make friends. A lot of people take the same walk to work everyday. Just imagine if over the course of a month, that homeless guy somehow befriends you or remembers something about you. Creepy, perhaps, but if done right, can be really engaging as well. I’d be much more likely to give that type of person money on a regular basis, just because I feel like I know them, and I also know that that person is kind of sort of like my friend. Customer service can have the same effect. Help someone who comes in with a problem and fix it really really well and you have a good chance at creating an evangelist of your brand

7. Providing a Service (Word of Mouth)

Some homeless people provide great services. I’m not talking about the guy who rushes your car and cleans your window, guilting you into paying. That kind of thing doesn’t get spread around. I’m talking about the really unique services that some homeless people provide. Where I work, there’s a homeless man name Lin who stands outside and helps with parking. It doesn’t stop there, though. He directs people to parking spots, then tells them when the last time the meter police have come by, and knows when they’ll come by again. If you work in the area, he’ll come into your office and warn you that you have to move your car, so you don’t get a big fat ticket. This is the kind of service that spreads, not to mention that Lin is a great people person as well (good customer service skills). I pay him a couple of bucks a day when I drive to work so I don’t have to pay $10-$20 in a parking garage farther away. With Lin, I move my car (maybe) once a week, even though I park in 2-hour parking. That’s an incredible value in terms of time saved and money saved. Of course, everyone in our office now knows about him too. In business, it’s also important to provide a unique service. If you try to sell something that everyone else is also trying to sell, it’s going to be difficult to be successful. If you can figure out a way to market yourself differently, or put a special spin on your product, you’re much better off. What part of your business is your Lin?

There’s also another guy (maybe you’ve heard of him) that hangs out in the wharfs in San Francisco. He’s “The Bush Guy.” All he does is hides himself behind a piece of shrubbery, and when someone walks by he scares them… an people pay him for that experience, and people seek him out because they tell others. That guy has an amazing conversion rate. Watching him, I’d say 20-30% of people that get scared give him money, and he scares one or two people a minute (not to mention the people that want to take pictures with him). Finding something unique like this is really important. He picked a niche and has stuck with it. He has a brand, he’s “The Bush Guy” and people like him.

8. Doing nothing

This is the homeless guy (or gal) who just scrapes by. They sit there with a cup and hope for the best. Of course, this isn’t going to be as lucrative as all the other marketing tactics he or she could pursue. There are a lot of businesses out there like this as well. People who just open up shop, and think they’ll have customers without having to do anything. It takes a lot of work to build up a following and a brand. This, of course, is the wrong way to go about business. You have to spend time marketing, you have to do something that makes you stand out. These are the homeless people (and businesses) who will never be successful. Then again, there are homeless people who are probably more successful than your business as well.

So what unique homeless folk do you have around where you live and work?

Tags: Advertising, bumvertising

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