What is street team marketing, and how can it help to promote your business? Since the pandemic, companies have pumped millions, if not billions, of pounds into digital marketing, but the public is tired of staring at screens! Street marketing should not be overlooked!

What Is Street Team Marketing?

Street team marketing is a type of promotional campaigning that sees a group of brand ambassadors ‘hit the streets’. They can be hired to promote a product, service, event, or brand. Street teams bring promotion directly to potential customers rather than waiting for them to come to your company themselves. They promote where the public work, live, and spend their leisure time.

The basis for the now-extremely popular street team marketing technique began in the 1990s. Various hip-hop and rap record labels employed the tactic to generate ‘street-cred’ and word-of-mouth publicity for their artists and newest releases. Teams were often already fans of the music and would take to the streets for free. Here they would publicise and generate buzz for musicians, concerts, singles, and albums!

Nowadays, mainstream street team marketing involves distributing leaflets, coupons, and samples, as well as more innovative guerrilla marketing techniques. It focuses on face-to-face interactions, engaging directly with consumers, and creating lasting positive impressions. Compared to television or online marketing, street teams are much cheaper, and can often be more cost-effective.

Street marketing often takes place in areas of high foot traffic. For example, high streets, commuter links, outside or indoor train stations, and shopping centres. Anywhere where you are likely to interact with hundreds, if not thousands of the general public! Be aware, however, that you may need a permit from the local council to promote in certain public areas.

Tips For Street Team Marketing

Push Promotions have been supplying staff for street team promotional events and campaigns around the UK for over a decade. Over the years, therefore, we have accumulated plenty of advice to help your street teams event be a success!

• The Weather

When running a street team’s marketing campaign you will most likely be outside, and so will be at the mercy of the weather.

In winter make sure your staff are wrapped up warm, and in the summer have lots of water available for hydration and sun-cream. Don’t let the rare British sunshine catch you off guard! In case of rain make sure that your staff has waterproof clothing and/or umbrellas, and if you are planning on distributing samples or leaflets, you will need somewhere to store or cover them in the event of a downpour.

If there is a storm or rain, it is likely that your potential customers will be sheltering, and not leisurely walking down the street and willing to chat about your company! If possible, have a backup indoor location available to move to (shopping centres, train or bus stations for example). Or be willing to accept defeat if the weather is not on your side, and rearrange for another day when your event has a much higher chance of succeeding.

• Be Flexible

With street marketing and the general public, you need to be flexible. As previously mentioned, the weather may not be on your side and this will impact the number of potential customers that you are likely to interact with. You may have planned your event for an area of usually high-foot traffic, but on the day of your event/campaign, it is unusually quiet. If not, be flexible and willing to move your street team to somewhere busier! 

Additionally, you can never entirely predict how the public will react to your promotion. Certain pre-planned conversation starters or brand/product messages may not go down as well as expected. Be willing to adapt on the day and not ‘stick to the script’. Planning can only take you so far.

• Brand Ambassadors

As the name suggests, the ‘team’ that you hire for your street team marketing is of paramount importance! The team consists of brand ambassadors and promo staff who have been briefed beforehand. They know the ins and outs of your product and so can answer FAQ’s. The ability to successfully engage with the public and create a rapport with them is essential for a street team member. They represent your company, and so you will want staff who are approachable, enthusiastic, and agreeable! 

Consider having your street team wear branded clothing to further raise brand awareness and make them more recognisable.

Push Promotions have a network of over 3000 promo staff members who are based all over the UK. This means that we can supply staff nationwide- often at short notice. Our staff are all highly trained and experienced, and are guaranteed to help your street teams marketing campaign be a hit!

• Be Innovative & Exciting

How can you make your company/brand memorable? Think outside the box! Adding a personal or exciting touch to your marketing campaign will make all the difference. It will therefore increase the chance of the public becoming invested, loyal customers. This may be something as simple as your team wearing funny-looking hats to increase memorability, or handing out branded freebies to attract attention. Using photo backdrops, competitions, games, and mascots can all be used to incite public interest.

• Set Goals

Setting goals for your promotional event/campaign will help you with structure and ensure that you get the most out of it. For example, consider setting a target for the number of samples or leaflets distributed, the number of feedback forms completed, or the number of competition entries. This will give your street team a goal, and something to work towards.

Push Promotions Experience

As previously mentioned, Push Promotions has over a decade of experience supplying staff for street team marketing campaigns. We work with our clients to ensure that we supply staff with relevant experience and previous knowledge of the industry sector being promoted.

In the past, we have supplied street team staff to some of the UK’s most famous brands, such as Duracell. To read in more detail about our previous staffing experience, click here.

This article is bought to you by Push Promotions. A promotional staffing agency that supplies staff nationwide to support some of the UK’s largest brands at their promotional events and campaigns. We can supply a variety of staff including corporate event staff, product sampling staff, data capture staff, exhibition staff, and promotional models. We work closely with brands and agencies to ensure that we deliver the staff that you need!

For more information check out our website or get a quick quote here.