101 Marketing Tips for Tourism by Site Optimized

101 MARKETING TIPS FOR TOURISM

Table of Contents

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Introduction

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Chapter 1: Event Your Way to The Top

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Chapter 2: Powerful Press & Media Potential

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Chapter 3: Target Repeat Business

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Chapter 4: Getting Followed on Facebook

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Chapter 5: Social Media Power, Twitter and More!

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Chapter 6: Going Local

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Chapter 7: Images – A Picture’s worth a 1,000 Reservations!

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Chapter 8: Those User Reviews

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Chapter 9: Blogging for Guests

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Chapter 10: Miscellaneous Marketing Tips

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Powerful Press & Media Potential

Recording a radio spot need not be prohibitively expensive or out of your budget/creative range. Local companies produce these spots all the time, and likely your radio station – if they don’t produce them themselves – can put you in touch with the right company for the right budget. If you are the person reading the copy and are not exactly Meryl Streep in the acting/voice department, consider having someone record you answering some questions off the cuff. I have captured some great sound bites for clients by interviewing them instead of having them read a script. Keep in mind that the cost of ad space on the radio is like the cost of printing postcards: the ads are cheaper the more you buy. People need to hear an ad several times before they take any action, so it generally doesn’t help to experiment with it unless you can invest enough to give it a good chance of winning.

Tip # 13:

THE REAL VALUE OF THOSE FREE PRESS RELEASE SITES For years press releases were the go-to resource for marketing professionals. Today social media and other viral opportunities have stolen some of the press release thunder, but there is still a great way to reap the benefits from those free press release sites: search engine results. There are dozens of sites that let you post and promote your FREE online press releases, from PR Web to PR Newswire. While the chances of a Washington Post editor finding your press release or tourist-related business on one of these sites is slim, if you insert the links to your press release onto your website, Google will notice when other sites pick up the news along with the link -- that’s good! Your site will start to rise to the top of the search page. Imagine the same press release appearing not just in one online database, but dozens. By regularly submitting at least one press release per week/ month, you can create an almost instant Internet presence. Experimenting with different headlines can help your press release to rise to the top for a variety of keyword phrases in Google, Yahoo and Bing. When a visitor is choosing between two destinations by Googling them both, and finds that one has listings all over the Google page and the other is barely even on page 3 -- which destination do you think will get the click?

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101 MARKETING TIPS FOR TOURISM

While most of these sites do allow you to submit for free, features like the ability to embed links and photos are up sells that have a wide range in prices. Here are the top press release distribution websites: 1. http://www.24-7pressrelease.com 2. http://www.prweb.com 3. http://www.prleap.com 4. http://www.1888pressrelease.com 5. http://www.clickpress.com 6. http://ecommwire.com 7. http://express-press-release.com

Tip # 14:

SCHEDULE FOR SUCCESS For maximum exposure, keep yourself on a regular schedule of sending out press releases. For instance, if you hold a monthly contest giving away a free romantic weekend at your cozy B & B, then like clockwork send out a well-written press release at least two weeks in advance of the contest. This gives folks plenty of time to enter and, hopefully, win; if not this month, then next. If you don’t have something going on regularly to promote, why not? Scheduling regularly posted press releases may lead to dreaming up actual events, celebrations, holidays, specials or teasers that lend themselves to promotion – and that’s always a good thing! For print, be sure to find out the deadlines for submission of each publication and get them emailed to the appropriate editors or reporters on time. For online news, note that many distribution sites require at least a day in advance to review your release or charge an extra fee for next day distribution.

Tip # 15:

THE POWER OF LOCAL TV In the same way that local radio can boost revenue when produced and targeted correctly, don’t overlook the power of local TV – even public access – when looking to promote your tourist-related business.

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101 MARKETING TIPS FOR TOURISM

Tip # 21:

FEEDBACK, FEEDBACK AND MORE FEEDBACK! To make sure that customers both new and old are always satisfied, every time, develop a consistent, simple and affordable method of getting feedback from your guests. Don’t make it hard for them. Keep it simple, quick and easy. I have seen a variety of methods for getting feedback from guests, including simple comment cards stapled to their bill all the way to online surveys. My favorite FREE tool for creating an online survey is Google forms http://www. google.com/google-d-s/forms/. Another good one is Survey Monkey http:// www.surveymonkey.com/. You can easily create a feedback form that also collects customer information and then use that info for targeted mailings. Regardless of the method(s) you use, make feedback a priority so that you can attract repeat business through better and better service every time.

Tip # 22:

THEY SAY IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY! Collecting the birthdays of your customers can make for some great marketing opportunities. One of my favorite restaurants always sends me a postcard for a free drink good for the week of my birthday. Facebook allows you to create ads that only appear on someone’s birthday. Combined with their feature for targeting only fans of your business page and you can surprise people with some really personal promotions and coupons.

Tip # 23:

GOLDEN REPEAT VISITS Don’t treat your repeat customers like first-time guests. Avoid asking guests, “Have you visited us before?” Instead, develop a system that alerts you to repeat visitors so any front desk clerk, hostess or ticket taker can quickly say, “Thanks for joining us again!” or “Welcome back!”

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101 MARKETING TIPS FOR TOURISM

www.constantcontact.com, or Mailchimp, http://www.mailchimp.com are just a few of the easy to use, inexpensive tools for managing your email campaigns. Emails directly from your outlook or other email client can be really time consuming due to limits on the number of addresses allowed. In addition, you miss out on very useful template tools and tracking features.

Tip # 28:

“FREE” IS THE PLACE TO BE! Wherever you can and whenever you can, without imploding your internal budget, offer “free” services to guests. Here are some popular items guests will appreciate being free, and that won’t cost you an arm and a leg: • A free bottle of water per room can cost pennies per unit when bought in bulk. • If you’re a theme park or restaurant, offer “free” stickers or “goody bags” for the kiddies heavily featuring a favorite theme park character or your restaurant logo. • Consider offering free Wi-Fi on your property if the cost to you isn’t prohibitive. • If you have a bar or restaurant on site, consider offering a “free” cocktail coupon at check-in.

Tip # 29:

FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT While leaving the property may be a guest’s last impression of your tourist destination, don’t forget the importance of first impressions. If you’re serious about making a significant, positive and long-lasting impact on new and repeat guests, make every first impression count by making it memorable. For instance: • Upon check-in, you can offer weary guests warm cookies, individual mints with the hotel logo stamped on the packaging, complimentary champagne, etc. • If it’s a themed destination (like a Polynesian restaurant or piratethemed putt-putt course), offer a simple, inexpensive and fun gift upon paying the price of admission. Leis for the grownups, pirate

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101 MARKETING TIPS FOR TOURISM

ignored. Facebook now allows you to totally hide your personal identity when you are posting as a Facebook business, so consider giving administrative privileges to all of your employees and dividing the duties. Here are just a few of the daily duties set aside for your Facebook maintenance: Posting new and unique material that begs either comments, liking or clicking on a play button • • • •

Sharing/linking to relevant content Uploading pictures and videos Responding to user comments, complaints, suggestions, etc. Updating profile pictures and/or wall themes

Contributing help and ideas to other Facebook pages (‘contributing’ is not the same as blatant self-promotion. If you’re spammy, you risk being in violation of Facebook guidelines, and alienating potential customers)

Tip # 36:

VANITY URL When you first create a Facebook business page you get an awkward web addr.ess that looks something like http://www.facebook.com/ yourbizname/000111839302? etc. but you can change that to something cleaner and easier to share. If you click on “edit page” then “basic information” you will see an area that says “change name”. From there you can choose a web address that you can display clearly in the email signature of your staff, your site, print ads and even in a decal stuck to your front window.

Tip # 37:

FACEBOOK DEALS As of this writing, the Facebook Deals platform is still getting off the ground, but -- mark my words -- it will become a very powerful marketing tool for you and a very useful resource for your customers. When you create a Facebook deal as a way to promote a feature of your

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Getting Followed on

business (“Two-For-One Tuesdays”) or drive traffic during a slow period (“Early Bird Special”), Facebook does the marketing for you, through friends’ news feeds, on a deal page of its own and in specific emails to folks who sign up because they want to receive deals. You can even tie your deal to a Facebook Event for extra promotional muscle. There are different kinds of deals you can offer Facebook users – one for an individual, a “friend deal” for a group of people, a repeat customer deal, and one that promotes a specific charity. As the Facebook app for mobile phones gets smarter, think about deals that attract walk-ins and people who happen to be in the area and using their smart phone to crawl for promotions. Your Facebook “check-in deal” could be the difference between a new customer and someone who walks right on by. For more information, go to http://www.facebook.com/deals/business.

Tip # 38:

A 2 WAY CONVERSATION As of this writing, Facebook settings allow for notifications when someone posts a comment on your page. Don’t let user comments go without a response; it’s like letting a phone ring and nobody answering. While you don’t have to respond to every user comment immediately, ticking minutes often equal wasted opportunities. Make sure that the email address for admin or admins is checked frequently and address customer concerns or complaints quickly. Everyone makes mistakes -- but the real damage (or opportunity) comes in the response to a mistake.

Tip # 39:

MIX UP YOUR POSTS A good rule of thumb offered by Mari Smith, the queen of Facebook media, is to split your posts 50/50 between stuff about your own business and other valuable info out there on the web. I think users also appreciate some personal info that is not about business every once in a while. Try not to post the same thing, at the same time, every day. While consistency www.tourismtips.co/

Going Local

press. • Here are some great tips on how to do just that: • Suggest story ideas or trend pieces • Host a monthly “round table” discussion on local tourism and make sure the business or Arts & Entertainment editor(s) is always invited • Offer to write a monthly column on tourism for the local paper(s) • Be an active part of the online presence of local papers with blog comments or forum posts

Tip # 53:

TARGET REPEAT LOCAL CUSTOMERS The value of repeat, local customers is that you don’t just win their business, but you win the goodwill, word of mouth and referrals to their families, friends, neighbors and coworkers as well. A husband brings his wife, coworkers bring their families, parents bring their kids, siblings recommend your place to their visiting brothers and sisters – and their families – based on a great time they had there. Make targeting repeat, local customers a priority at all times, for all staff, in every way possible, including but not limited to the following simple but effective ideas: • • • • • • • •

A standing discount for those bearing a local driver’s license Regular specials for “locals only” Targeted advertising in local media A customized mailing campaign to residents within several local zip codes A 10% off dinner offer with a local ID A discounted room rate offer for locals during midweek when rooms are emptier/business is slower A “re-use your ticket stubs” ticket offer for locals to your local amusement park A two-for-one admission offer for locals to your historic landmark

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Going Local

While this tip may not produce local guests overnight, running your business with integrity and a “locals first” attitude will result in steady, longterm and appreciating business over time. • You can create a strong and visible local presence by: • Appearing regularly at local job fairs • Speaking or joining local business organizations • Letting your current employees be the first to know when you’re hiring • Hiring local responsible teens for summer and off season positions

Tip # 57:

CREATE LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS Part of courting local guests is making local partnerships. Don’t do all the work of attracting local residents yourself, but instead spread the work by joining other local businesses in running specials, offering discounts, packages, inducements, enticements, etc., together. You don’t have to include everyone on your partnership. In fact, it’s better to work closely with two to three local businesses that share your same entrepreneurial spirit and are reliably trustworthy than to throw your hat in the ring with a variety of “unlike” minds who could leave you doing most of the work. Examples: • A caterer might partner up with a photographer and a historical site for a wedding special package. • A tourism related real estate development project might partner with a fundraising effort • A museum might team up with an historic hotel

Tip # 58:

REMEMBER YOUR BRANDING Anytime you participate in a local festival or parade as a vendor’s area, make sure you are seen. Get with a local printer and make sure you always have plenty of good-sized banners, flags, pennants, flyers, cards and other printable options to feature at any and all local events. Create a standard “uniform” whenever someone from your restaurant, www.tourismtips.co/

101 MARKETING TIPS FOR TOURISM

com • Getty Images has terrific contemporary photos as well as archival images but can be very expensive: http://www.GettyImages.com • Pond 5 has not only stock photos but video footage, sound effects, and music at a very low cost: http://www.Pond5.com • iStockphoto has a great library of free and low priced photos: http://www.iStockphoto.com

Tip # 64:

WHAT TO CAPTURE We’ve talked at length about social media and targeting the local/national press on behalf of your tourist-based destination. Adding images to any interaction is always a plus. Here are just a few ways you should always be including imagery in any social media or just plain media interaction: If you’re writing a story or editorial for the local paper/press, include photographs as an added incentive to publish the piece. In my experience, editors are a hundred times more likely to publish a story if there is a compelling or funny photo to go with the press release. If you’re blogging about your site, town or city, include pictures to bring the story to life. Always, always have someone as the designated photographer when you have an event and tell them to take pictures of action. Jumping in the pool, crossing the finish line, even cutting a ribbon or pulling the winning raffle ticket out of a hat: all events have action, capturing that can bring your photos to life. • Employees: potential customers love feeling like they know the people who might check them into a hotel or prepare their food. Happy, smiling employees are an invitation for a great visit. • Meals – If you are in food services, delicious looking photos can compel people to make reservations immediately. Include action kitchen shots as well as satisfied customers. • Products – If you have a gift shop whether or not you sell online, product photos can make the gift shop a must see.

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Images – A Picture’s worth a 1,000

When shooting an event like an open house or a festival, take 2 minutes before taking out your camera to ask yourself: “What is the plot of this story?” Every event has a beginning, middle and end. You want your photos to tell that story. From the crew arriving to erect the tent, through the quartet all the way to your event planner kicking up her feet and having a glass of champagne at the end of the day. If you use photos to tell the story of the event, people will have a greater sense of what’s fun or interesting about what you do and will be more likely to make a reservation.

Tip # 65:

PHOTO TIPS There are thousands of great how-to books on photography. Since I am not a professional photographer I am not qualified to offer too much on the topic but I can offer some tips that have worked for me and my clients. Here are a few: • If you want to shoot a portrait of someone with nice light and do not have lighting equipment, try having your subject stand about 1 foot inside of an exterior door at around 3 p.m. in the afternoon. At that hour the light bounces nicely off of the street and the placement of the subject can avoid a harsh direct light. Avoid bright sunlight when shooting people. • Avoid trying to capture a wide vista with people in the frame. A photo with a beautiful mountain and a tiny person standing awkwardly doesn’t sell well. • For portraits, always have the light in front of the person not behind them unless you have a strong flash or other lighting. A camera that adjusts automatically will get confused by the light and the subject will be dark against a bright background. • When shooting interiors, try to get a camera that allows you to swap out the regular lens for a wide angle one. Photos of rooms shot without a wide angle lens tend to look cramped. • Use the cropping tool in your editing software to cut off the parts of the photo that pull the viewer’s eye away from the main object that you want to focus on.

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101 MARKETING TIPS FOR TOURISM

Tip # 74:

ACT ON YOUR REVIEWS Whenever you see a review mentioning your destination, hop on it. Have someone dedicated solely to viewing, sharing and if necessary responding to user-generated reviews. While it may seem like a lot of work, think of it as (extremely) targeted marketing. After all, anyone who takes the time to review your destination is clearly someone who has been “moved to action.” Much of our efforts in marketing are about getting people to pay attention. A customer who has paid attention and has taken the time to share about it is a golden opportunity because the conversation has been started. My sister saw a user review for the hotel she was thinking about booking. Someone posted that the hotel was nice but the view of a particular beach was best. The general manager saw the review and commented on it. My sister contacted him and requested a room near the beach that the user review mentioned. The G.M. wrote back agreeing to her request and she has not stopped telling people about that hotel and their great responsive customer service.

Tip # 75:

DON’T SHY AWAY FROM BAD REVIEWS The worst thing a tourist destination can do is ignore, avoid or shy away from bad reviews. If done right, you can turn any review into a chance to show people you care. Every business is going to get a bad review from time to time and the goal is not about getting the bad reviewer to come back (though sometimes you can win over a disgruntled customer), it is about showing potential customers that they can disregard the pan. Here are some simple tips for dealing with a bad review: • Fix the problem: If the complaint is legitimate don’t ignore it. Address it with your staff and those who may have been responsible (i.e. if the review was of horrible dinner service and the waiter was named, if a gate attendant was rude or a bathroom was dirty, etc.) Though we know that the customer is not always right, you should at least bring the issue up with the staff. The employee might genuinely be in need of more training.

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Those User Reviews

• Be proactive: Whatever you do, do something. If a bad review was personal, or irresponsible or even irrational, some user-review sites do have steps you can take to remove it or at least flag it for further attention. • Get in touch: If at all possible, get in touch with the guest and let them know you take their complaints seriously. Offer a coupon or discount on their next visit or, if you find the claim to be legitimate, a refund. Most reviewers want a simple validation and, once validated, can sometimes be converted to “fans” rather than detractors. • Be defenseless: Don’t try to defend yourself. Potential customers don’t want to read that it wasn’t your fault that the room was suffocating that night. They will respect you much more if you say “We really apologize for that lousy night sleep. We want you to know that we have now replaced that air conditioner and we hope you will consider staying here again.” Don’t say “sorry but” just say “sorry. . . and”. • Give people the benefit of the doubt: You would be surprised how many people read through bad reviews and blame the reviewer for being whiner and feel like an advocate for the venue being judged. Having some bad reviews is not the end of the world.

Tip # 76:

PROUDLY FEATURE REVIEWS Let’s face it: asking guests to review your tourist-themed destination is asking a lot. Some people review everything; from hotels to motels, from restaurants to theme parks, to books, to music to movies. But those serial reviewers are in the minority. Getting past, present and future guests to review your site will take work, but one way to encourage reviews of any kind – good, bad or indifferent – is to frequently feature a variety of reviews on your website, blog, Facebook page and other social media sites. Featuring guest reviews on your website is not only great web content

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101 MARKETING TIPS FOR TOURISM

Tip # 85:

SET UP A FOLLOW OR SUBSCRIPTION FEATURE Not everyone will want to subscribe to, join or “follow” your blog, but many in fact will, so make it easy for them. Most do-it-yourself blogs will allow you to add this feature a la carte with the click of a few buttons, and it’s a great way to encourage reader loyalty. Here are some tips for getting readers to follow you: • Make the “subscribe” button prominent and high on the page for easy viewing/clicking • Try it yourself to make sure it’s as easy as one or two clicks; if it’s too complicated most folks won’t stick with it. • RSS subscribe links make it very easy for interested customers to stay updated. Make sure your RSS Subscribe button is easy to find. • Create a free Technorati account (http://www.technorati.com) which will allow you to measure who is following your blog (among other great features).

Tip # 86:

THEME IT! If you’re struggling for a way to generate weekly or even daily posts, here is a great tip: theme it. Having a clever title for daily or occasional posts not only increases their creativity but also helps readers learn to expect them more regularly. Here are some“themed” examples for an entire week’s content. Again, you don’t have to post every day of the week, but see which of these do appeal to you and post on those days instead: • Movie Monday: Quotes or clips from your favorite tourism, hospitality or vacation related movies. • Tasty Tuesday: Post a recipe (this is always great for restaurants but also hotels with restaurants and even theme parks, etc.) • Worker Wednesday: Post an employee picture and profile, or let

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101 MARKETING TIPS FOR TOURISM

• • • •

Provide solutions Create ideas Offer suggestions Guest blog

Tip # 96:

MERCHANDISE IT! Tourists love souvenirs. If you are not offering merchandise featuring your business’s name, logo, likeness or other imagery, you are missing an opportunity -- not only for increased revenue but MUCH more importantly… increased branding. When you sell merchandise, you are essentially getting volunteers to advertise your business for free. When guests wear your T-shirts, caps, jackets, or fanny packs back home, or read your souvenir book on the plane, they are living billboards for your business. Consider, or reconsider, offering merchandise to your guests, even if it’s just a few basic items that they would be proud to own. If you do so, here are some additional tips for increasing sales: • Design something functional but fashionable • If you’re including your business address, phone number or website, make the print large enough to be visible but not obnoxious • Don’t scrimp on quality; guests will pay more for something that looks good, feels comfortable and lasts awhile • If you want to start out small, use sites like Cafepress.com and Lulu.com. These sites allow you to upload your images and print and ship the products on demand. This is a quick solution for short runs - but you will save money if you can afford a bulk printing from a local printer instead.