Beyond Destination Marketing Essentials

Okay, so we’ve gotten the destination marketing essentials out of the way. I know some of them seem a little edgy, but it’s not all that bad. I just wanted to make a point; that point being this: most impediments to successful destination marketing are self-inflicted.

Will a little attention in a few key areas, you can create a simple, inexpensive marketing program that just kills last year’s numbers.

This site will be discussing the finer points of focusing on your target, hooking them with emotion and crafting a compelling story that will draw them in and make them just rabid to come see what you’re all about.

It will be more difficult for governmental agencies than for individual attractions, but not impossible by any stretch of the imagination. There are lots of great campaigns floating around out there. And that gives you lots of good ammo when convincing the higher-ups that if this is worth doing, its worth doing right.

But for the rest of you, getting there will be easier than you ever thought it would. All it takes is tapping into the resources that you probably take for granted every single day, and using them to build your destination into something that starts growing itself.

I hope you stick around to find out more. In the meantime, thanks for visiting Serious Destination Marketing.

 

The Essentials of Destination Marketing.

Okay, so here’s the overview: what must take place in order to create a killer destination marketing campaign.

1. Forget about your destination for a moment and focus on the traveler. Forget what you think you know about selling the benefits instead of the features. You have to go way beyond that.

2. Find a SINGLE VOICE that expresses the attitude of your destination. You can’t be all things to all people. And you’ll never create an ad that everyone likes. Focus on the people who SHOULD come to your place.

3. Put the shotgun down and pick up the blowgun instead. And, no, I’m not explaining this here…you’ll just have to keep reading.

4. If the story you tell doesn’t match reality, THEIR story will spread faster than yours.

5. There is no room for egos or agendas. Either it’s about the traffic or it isn’t. Leave the belt-notching for the WaterWorks Board.

There you have it, a crash-course in destination marketing. Follow these guidelines, and you can create a campaign that will generate traffic for a decade or longer. Ignore them, and go the way of the ghost town. Now…let’s look at how we put these into play.

Thanks for visiting Serious Destination Marketing

 

Why I Created “Serious Destination Marketing”

Destination marketing can be some of the most incredible work out there. Beautiful vistas, unique landmarks and truly inspired character gives businesses in this industry an advantage over many industries, where the only thing that differentiates one company from another is the name.

And yet, often as not, most destination marketing efforts fall sickeningly flat. The ads are boring. Informational. Safe. Bland. The positioning statements are dreadfully trite, or fantastically empty (I’m looking at you, Atlanta).

The entire point of this site is to start a conversation about the obstacles to great T&T marketing (not the least of which is politics…I’m no fool), and what we can do to get over, around, under or straight through them.

Because if we remember the true point of destination marketing is to help more people enjoy the things that make our destinations great, then it’s a whole lot easier to come up with a great, potent, effective campaign.

So sign in, speak up and let’s start making magic out there!