Choosing
the right promotional tools
Marketing
promotion is essentially the process of communicating with selected
target markets. The ‘menu’ of
promotional tools is diverse and includes: print
material; public
relations (PR);advertising; internet; direct
mail; sales activities; exhibition
attendance; and joint promotions with other organisations.
The
promotional tools you select will essentially be determined by
your target
markets and marketing budget. On the subject of
budgets, it’s worth mentioning that few organisations consider
their marketing budget to be big enough. It’s not unusual
for small budgets to be blamed for a lack of success. A bigger
budget can make life easier but it is possible to make an impact
without major expense. You need to be focused and imagine and make
sure you evaluate the impact of everything you do.
Carefully
targeted activities are always best. It's particularly important
if you have a limited budget to select a specific segment to
work on. Make sure you really understand that market and provide
what they need and then ripple out your promotional activities
from
there rather than adopting a bland "something for everyone" approach.
Just as you have hopefully spent some time thinking about your
marketing plan, its important to set timescales and plan promotional
activities carefully. Whenever possible you should test promotional
ideas before launching them to the wider world, and make sure you
build in monitoring methods. Some
of the factors which should influence your choice of promotional
tools are:
a) Target Markets
What
promotional methods are your target markets used to? Is it
better to use the ones which they accept and which experience
proves
they
react
to, or perhaps make an impact by trying something different?
Consumer
and trade marketing are very different. Consumers need to be
given
information and messages to make them want to buy,
possibly through the travel trade. In this sense consumer marketing
is the ‘pull’ - encouraging consumers to demand the
product through appropriate distribution channels.
The
travel trade need to be given information which inspires them
to sell
the product to consumers. This is a ‘push’ campaign.
Messages designed for consumers won’t always have a positive
impact on the travel trade. For the travel trade magic words like ‘commission’ or ‘profit’ are
more likely to work than ‘relax and enjoy...’.
b) The product
Some products are quite complex. Those that might need personal
explanation so some promotional methods will be unsuitable. It
is very difficult to convey atmosphere or ambiance through some
media so promotional tools need to be adapted accordingly.
c) Competition
Some activities will be determined by those of your competitors
so you should always try to be aware of what they are planning.
If they undertake a major advertising campaign and your operation
looks like it could lose market share, the only option may be to
retaliate with a stronger campaign (but not necessarily more expensive)
or you may decide to focus on different markets for more impact.
d) Product awareness
New products which are just being launched generally need more
promotion than established ones - advertising and PR activities
are likely to reach a larger number of potential customers than
personal sales. Conversely old products which are perhaps becoming
stale will also need an extra push from time to time.
Working on the principle that all purchasers move through the
five stages of: unawareness; awareness; understanding;
conviction and response it is necessary to consider which point they have
reached and choose promotional tools according to their level of
awareness.
The
following uses the example of the area of Masham in Yorkshire.
Let’s
assume the tourism officer there wishes to increase the numbers
of higher spending, longer staying visitors from overseas.
The tourism officer first of all needs to identify potential market
segments and determine their level of awareness of the destination.
Unawareness
It
is difficult to be precise about the profiles of visitors at
the unawareness
stage. Little information is known about the market
beyond a general category of people who don’t currently come
to Fife in any sizable numbers, and who might be referred to under
the geographic description of ‘Rest of the World’.
At
this stage the potential visitors will not only have never heard
of Masham but their geographic knowledge of Britain in general
is likely to be hazy. It is more appropriate for VisitBritain
to undertake a PR and advertising campaign on behalf of Britain
as a whole, than for the Masham tourism officer to try
to educate these visitors. Promotional tools: advertising and PR
campaign; Message: general.
Awareness
In
the awareness stage countries and segments can be identified
more precisely, and promotions undertaken by VisitBritain. Potential
visitors
have to
be moved on from the awareness to the understanding stage before
the Masham tourism officer can become fully involved in promotional
activities. Promotional tools: advertising, PR and some general
publications. Message: general information with more detail than
earlier stage.
Understanding
At
the understanding stage it becomes possible to identify and research
segments of potential visitors and to identify particular
strategies to target them. The Yorkshire Tourist Board (or the
new organisation for the area) would be involved at this level.
Promotional tools: advertising, PR, exhibitions and publications.
Message: information becomes more detailed, focused and persuasive.
Conviction
By
the conviction stage the segments become clearer and can be
easily identified. Promotion and information dissemination is carried
out by the regional tourist board, tour operators and accommodation
providers. Promotional tools: Advertising, PR, exhibitions, publications,
direct marketing and personal contact. Message: more focused and
persuasive, with detailed information on specific tour operators,
accommodation listings, attractions etc.
Response
The
response stage means that visitors can actually be identified
and possibly even named. Promotion can now be undertaken at a more
local level, including district tourism officers and visitor attractions.
Promotional tools: similar to Conviction stage but with much more
focused messages. Message: highly focused and specific, action-oriented
and capable of directing visitors to particular attractions or
routes.
Adapted
from "Successful Tourism
Marketing" by Susan Briggs
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