Wendy Davison

Session Outline

• Introduction to a new element of the

Marketing Mix to give your business a

competitive advantage

• To explore some marketing quick wins:

website design and optimisation, direct

marketing, publicity

Positive Outlook For British TourismBritain poised for ‘weak pound’ tourism boom

this year has gone up 50%. compared with last year. What’s more the number of overseas visitors to the UK is rocketing as Europeans and Americans take advantage of the weak pound.........

British Tourism is set for a bumper year in 2009, yet perversely this may not be good news for British holidaymakers. A survey by coach company Shearings found that the number of Britons choosing to holiday at home

By: Annabelle ThorpeThe Sunday Observer 18.01.09.

..........Bookings are up by as much as 40% in some parts of the country.For holidaymakers in Great Britain this means that there are unlikely to be discounts available.

The World Has Changed

Customers Have

If The World Has ChangedWhat Can You Do?

• Identify your points of difference,

you need intimate knowledge of your competitors

(not to copy but to be different)

• Build these into your marketing message

• Use creative marketing to stand out from the crowd

Points of Difference

Companies often fail to recognise or lose sight of what excites their customers

Do your customer research

Talk to your customers

Check out your visitors book

Points of Difference

Think of your points of difference as your

THE ASPECTS OF YOUR BUSINESS THAT MAKE IT STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD ARE

USUALLY AROUND THE FRINGES“IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR

CUSTOMERS COME BACK FOR MORE”

P u r p leC o w

Purple Cow – Transform Your Business By Being Remarkable by Seth Godin

Purple Cow Is About…..

being visible and building something worth noticing into your product or service

getting people to talk about what you’ve done & benefiting from Viral Marketing

Develop Niches(Niche Products & Services to Niche Markets)

• Don’t try and satisfy everyone because you end up satisfying no-one

• Develop niches within your main offer to target certain customer groups

• Try and develop added value packages which are easy for the customer to buy and easier for you to sell

Promoting Your BusinessHow much should you be investing?

4 % of turnover is anaverage spend on advertising and promotion

for UK businesses

View any expenditure as an investment not a cost

Measure the return on your investment

Quick Wins

WebsitePublicityDirect MarketingNetworking

How Important Is Your Web-Site?

Latest statistics from Visit Britain:

• 71% of British Consumers look on the web for information on travel, accommodation & days out

• Over 50% of accommodation booking are taken via the internet ..... it’s no longer an optional extra

Search Engine Optimisation

• Lots of images that download quickly (image titles using key words)

• Well chosen key words in website title and page titles• Density of key words in body of pages: 3-7% is ideal• It’s definitely worth investing in a professional web-builder

that can optimise your web-site• Google Maps listing – Free & it helps optimise your website• Reciprocal links will improve your search engine ranking,

limit links to one page• Blogs• Web stats all important to monitoring success of your site

Page Titles Appraisal

SEARCH TERM: SELF CATERING YORKSHIRE DALES

-Page 1 Listing on Google search <title>5-star Yorkshire Dales Bed and Breakfast and Self Catering near Askrigg - Stoney End</title> http://www.stoneyend.co.uk/

COMPARED TO:-Page 7 Listing on Google search<title>Home</title> http://www.bewerleyhallfarm.co.uk/

Freebie No.1Google Mapshttp://maps.google.co.uk/

A. Tippett Farm Self Catering Farmhouse - www.tippettfarm.co.uk - 01706 224 741 - 1 review

B. Orchard Cottages - www.orchardcottages.co.uk - 01200 428501 - 1 review

C. Villasun - www.villasun.net - 01204 655518 - More

D. Westfield Lodge (Bronteland) Limited - www.westfield-lodge.co.uk - 01535 646 900 - More

Local Business Results for: self catering, Rossendale

Freebie No. 2-Blogging

• Can improve search engine optimisation• Take 10 minutes to set up• No cost involved• www.blogspot.com• www.blogger.com (Google site)• Lancashire & Blackpool Tourist Board run a

course on setting up a blog• Example at http://www.wyvernhouse.co.uk/blog.html

Freebie No. 3 £30 Google Adwords

http://adwords.google.co.uk

Publicity

• Relatively low cost• You need to be proactive • Local – Regional – National publications• Niche Consumer Publications• Radio• Television• On-line media • Consumer review sites – Trip Advisor (remember half

the comments on Trip Advisor mention the breakfast!!)www.tripadvisor.co.uk/pages/getlisted.html

• Don’t forget to use your local tourist board

Ideas For Publicity (One for each month in the year plus a couple to spare!)

1. Organised events (open day, presentation) 2. New member of staff 3. Retirement of long serving member of staff4. Staff achievements5. Community involvement6. Launch of new service/new menu/new attraction7. Milestone year (eg. since opened)8. Interesting guest, visitor or customer9. Statement of future plans10. Awards success (competition wins, Investors in People)11. Planned stunt12. Support for a charity13. Sponsorship14. Relocation/Refurbishment

Publicity

Mining Your Database

• Remember information into your computer once and use it many

times

• Collect all forms of contact information:

- Address for direct mail

- Mobile Number for Texting

- Email for email shots

- Fax number for fax shots

• Include tick box asking permission to contact your customers in

future eg: “ May we keep you up to date with xxx in the future”

The Value Of Past Customers

• Don’t ignore the value in past customers

• There is a 20-40% chance of selling to past

customers

• There is 5% chance of selling to new customers

Direct Mail Letters – 10 second window of opportunity

• Glance - Who is the letter to and from ?

• Scan - To get a gist of subject matter & benefits

• Read - If the letter appears to be of interest

Glance

Good for:Reactivating lapsed/past customersTargeting new customers particularly business to business (B2B) 10 second window of opportunity

Scan

Reader is: looking to see what’s in it for me!

Read

20 Ways To Begin Your Letter

• Ask yourself –where would....• Did you ever see…• Do you know…• Have you ever felt…• How would you like...• How many times have you...• Here’s the free…• I believe you are…• I want to thank you....• Would you like to…

• This is your chance... • If my letter has…• You don’t have to be a…• If you could…• I’m delighted to....• Let me ask you – what if…• Most people never expect…• The fact is if you’re…• Since we last…• You are not on your own if ......

Power Words

Discover Sale ExclusiveNow Offer Closes FreeSave New Results Guarantee Health EasySuddenly Yes SafetyFast Benefits UniqueSecret Announcing LoveAmazing Money Back Proven

Email Shots

• Keep the file sizes as small as possible, as many email programs block large files

• Internet users respond better to links in -plain bold blue text-• One click un-subscription with simple instructions/links for

unsubscribing • Maintain your brand and image• The best time to send is Tuesday & Wednesday 2.00-3.00pm • Avoid the SPAM filters don’t use words such as FREE, SAVE,

DISCOUNT in either subject line or body of email• Include a special benefit in subject line & subject line should

be no longer than 5 words• Include interesting content that will be viewed in the

preview pane

Engaging With Others – Large scale

• Scotland’s Winter White Campaign

2007/08 was hugely successful

• PR, e-Marketing, direct mail, on-pack offers, competitions

• 170 companies participated including Wiseman Dairies

(url on 2.6m cartons milk), Johnstons Cashmere, Hamilton

& Inches Jewellers and Waitrose Supermarkets

• Generated £46m in Scottish Tourism Revenue

• 55% people who saw campaign went on to book a

holiday in Scotland, Average party spend £348 per trip

Themes & Competitions 2008/9

White Bites Wild Whites White Sights White Woolies

20 participating gardens24 competitions: Short Breaks, Flowers, Ice-cream, Shortbread, Jewellery 35 Hotel Special Offers

Engaging With Others - Small Scale

Measuring & Monitoring

• If you don’t monitor you can’t measure & • If you cant’ measure you can’t plan or

make the most of your creativity• You should be:

- drawing on the past, - to decide in the present,- what to do in the future

To Re-cap................................

1. Build your business back from the customer2. Fine tune your marketing mix to suit your

customers/niche3. Think creatively and identify/develop a purple cow,

channel this into your marketing message4. Use creative marketing to stand out from the crowd