Sticker Marketing: How to Make Something Go Viral

Sticker Marketing: Viral and Guerilla Campaigns

Reddit co-founder credits this sticker to the success of the website

I know what you are thinking: “How can stickers make something go viral?” Well, think of it like this: the more often someone sees a unique sticker plastered around their community, the more likely they will investigate what that sticker is all about. Brand recognition is just one of the factors why stickers can lead to your brand or website "going viral".

Somewhat surprisingly, stickers are a proven advertising method. Just ask reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. In his book, Make Something People Love: Lesson from a Startup Guy, Ohanian reveals: “Yes, stickers [were] the soundest investment I ever made.” Plastering the custom reddit alien stickers everywhere - on signs, poles, other advertisements - generated interest in reddit. It took some time but eventually, after handing out the stickers at conferences and events, the sticker campaign went viral. Other people began stickering the stickers and uploading pictures of the stickers to the Internet. It might not seem much, but reddit’s sticker marketing campaign worked and now the site receives 100 million unique visitors per month.

Guerilla marketing with stickers is quite common. Some of the most powerful brands still use sticker marketing. Apple for instance, still includes stickers of their apple logo in their product packaging. Some other ways to distribute stickers ranges from slipping stickers into books at your local bookstore to leaving stickers along with tips at restaurants.

But don’t be afraid to try unconventional methods to attract customers to your business. Cautious advertising attracts a limited number of people and as the reddit co-founders demonstrated, marketing with stickers doesnt need to be “safe”

This is an ongoing list of viral and guerrilla sticker campaigns. Click on the photos or descriptions to learn more about the campaign!