How should I plan my marketing?

Many start-up tourism businesses do not plan their marketing in any systematic way. It’s often only after spending a lot of money and fruitless results that they realise a marketing plan is needed to guide their thinking and to marry with their business goals.

It does not have to be an elaborate document. In fact, the simpler the document the more likely you are to use it. It can grow in detail as you refine the business over the years. By all means seek professional help and expert advice, but try to do much of it yourself. That way it will truly reflect your thinking about how you want your business to be promoted to the outside world.

Fundamentally, the marketing plan should answer these key questions:

1. Which target market will best respond to my product ? (be as specific as possible)
2. Is that market/s large enough and accessible enough to sustain the business ?
3. What are the primary motivators that drive my target market to buy a holiday product ?
4. What are the major benefits the market seeks from a holiday ?
5. How can I incorporate those benefits and fulfil their motivations into a marketing offer ?
6. What actions should I undertake to cost-effectively communicate the marketing message ?

If you can accurately answer these questions, then it is a fairly simple matter to translate them into a marketing plan.
Click here for an overview of the contents of a marketing plan (113kb)

As much as possible, approach the thinking behind your plan from a consumer perspective. Always think in terms of the benefits that the customer is seeking from the product or experience you are offering. Customer needs and wants can be as simple as ‘excitement’, ‘escape’, ‘pampering’, ‘new discoveries’ etc.

Think in terms of ‘experiences’ rather than bricks and mortar. In most cases the visitor uses a motel room, a boat cruise, a coach seat etc as a means of gaining an ‘experience’. You need to sell the virtues of that experience. You need to primarily communicate the experiences offered by your town, district or region, and only then market your facility as the means to obtain those experiences. If you product is created and marketed to meet the market needs and desires from the outset, you are much more likely to succeed in tourism.

Click here to learn more about market research and benchmarking

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