Marketing

There is a misconception that marketing is just the same as advertising i.e TV, newspapers, website that are used to promote a product or service.

Marketing is much more than that – it is the management process of identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer needs profitably. It is a complex subject, forever changing and can be studied at degree or masters level with tourism focus. Many colleges and universities offer face-to-face or online courses and the Chartered Institute of Marketing offers residential and non-residential courses at all levels.

You may want to try the NCTA’s new tourism marketing course “Attracting New Customers” at www. tourismmasterclass.co.uk which can be studied as a complete course or as individual modules. These are the main things you need to think about.

Who are your customers?

Before working out how to attract more customers, you need to understand who your existing customers are. Very few businesses are all things to all people. If you want to communicate successfully and clearly, you need to know your audience. Are they from England or overseas, what life stages are the most common, are they on holiday or business and have they been before?

Go to YOUR CUSTOMERS to find out more about how to collect information about your customers, what they think and how they found out about your business.

Potential new customers

It is useful to understand who your potential customers could be. Find out what sort of people are coming to your area already, when they come and what sort of services they are looking for.

Go to UNDERSTANDING TOURISM LOCALLY to find out more.

Targeting your marketing

Once you know who your customers are and who is coming to the area, you can make comparisons. Are there sectors that you are not attracting? Are you doing particularly well with another sector – if so perhaps this is where you should focus your attention. Review the marketing activities you have used in the past, look at what your competition are doing and think about what your unique selling proposition is. You can then work out who you should be targeting and set some objectives for growth.

Generating repeat visits

The easiest and cheapest way of attracting more customers is to encourage existing customers to return or to recommend to family and friends – or to acquaintances through social media. Here are some ideas to consider to encourage more repeat business:

• Make sure the visitor experience is excellent, especially what happens when they leave
• Ask for feedback and respond
• Build a relationship with customers via email, newsletters, social media etc
• Suggest special offers or rewards if customers return or recommend to others

Think particularly about reasons for existing customers to return when you are not busy with special offers, extras or special packages.

Acquiring new customers

Once you have decided who to target, your next step is to work out how to reach them!

Website

If you have a guesthouses or B&Bs your own website or at least a presence on a joint one is essential. More than 50% of people use websites to book their holiday – including those over 55’s. If you’ve had one for a while, think about updating it taking particular notice of search engine optimisation and Google analytics. Does the website really do you justice? But equally important, make sure it doesn’t oversell which could lead to customer disappointment. Does the website showcase the benefits of visiting you and the area – or are you just producing a list of information? Do customers understand easily how they can reach you and how they can book? Making your preferred method of contact as visible as possible is crucial, your phone number, for example, should be prominently displayed on every page.

Are your customers frequent users of smart phones or tablets? Making your website mobile responsive will make booking far easier for most people.

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)

For many accommodation businesses, OTAs such as booking.com, lastminute.com and Expedia are the source of the majority of their bookings. Although they are generally easy and effective to work with, commission rates can be dizzying. Think about ways of attracting customers to your site in other ways.

Social Media

Social media has quickly become an important tool for engaging with new and existing customers. It is now used regularly by 38bn people in the UK with usage rising at 6% per annum. Most popular is Facebook but Twitter, Instagram and Google + are all used regularly by significant numbers. Social media is particularly useful for keeping in touch with previous customers, perhaps encouraging repeat visits or recommendations through special offers/events or new facilities. For more information see NCTA Best Practice Guide to Social Media.

Great Business also offers a useful guide to choosing the right social media for your business.

For comprehensive advice on how to use digital techniques in your marketing, check out VisitEngland’s Online marketing toolkit.