Marketing

We often say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but how often do we actually use the right photos to convey key points? 

Most businesses have something they need to tell their visitors or need to stand out somehow. A single photo might do the trick. 

Have you thought about the key messages you're trying to convey and then made sure you're using photos that tell that story? 

Years ago I advised a hotelier, Dave, who ran a small hotel in an area that was notorious for dirty and run-down …

Who are you? What do you actually do?

What do you care about?

Do you do anything to ‘do good’?

How are you connected to your local community?

What are your values and ethics?

How are you making your business more sustainable?

As money becomes tighter, visitors think more about how they spend their precious income.

Some visitors will turn to chain businesses because they think they’re trustworthy, and offer a standardised product.

Many others are turning their back on faceless chains, a…

One of the effects of an impending recession is that many people take longer to make a decision than usual. Visitors may need more reassurance than usual.

When times are tough, businesses tend to do one of two things:

They try to sell like crazy, going into omnipresent overdrive, constantly posting on social media, offering discounts and thinking that sooner or later persistence will pay

or 

They struggle with the sense of doom and gloom, think marketing is probably pointless, and go into se…

The economic news is rubbish. Winter is coming. Morale is sinking.

Many are wondering: Is there any point in promoting my tourism business just now?

As this article about the businesses that will survive shows, you do need to believe in a better future and to keep marketing your business. Here are a few other things to think about right now.

My long experience in tourism marketing has shown me that in every recession there are opportunities. People notice the businesses that keep going, those…

There seems to be one dominant theme running through our world at the moment: uncertainty.

In fact, things feel so uncertain, some of the time it’s not even clear what we feel most uncertain about… Rising living costs, the environment, changes in the ways we do business and live, changes in the market place…

I have a bit of a mother hen approach to the businesses I work with. I’d love to gather everyone up under a broad wing, and cluck to tell you everything will be OK. Since even my bingo win…

How are you feeling about the months ahead?

Normally the beginning of September fills me with enthusiasm and hope. It's a month of fresh starts, new pens, learning, and looking forward. This year feels different. I’m still full of plans and ideas, but there’s a lot of caution in the air.

Is it all doom and gloom? In this article I take a quick look at which businesses are most likely to survive the tricky times ahead

Tourism is a fluid industry: full of arrivals and departures of both visitor…

Follow these simple notes to create an award-winning application. You’ll find this process can boost your business in other ways too.

I've acted as a judge for many different tourism and hospitality awards over the years, most recently on the judging panel for the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence. This article looks at the benefit of entering awards and gives an insight into what I and fellow judges look for.

Before you start… imagine the scene:

Congratulations! You’ve won!

What do you w…

Feeling a bit jaded by marketing? Got less energy but know you need to keep promoting and attracting more visitors? 

Let's face it: life, running a business and marketing can be exhausting. There are some times when it all feels a bit too tiring, and it's hard to decide what to actually do. 

In these times there's a simple thing you can do, that will really improve all your marketing, and give it fresh impetus. 

It couldn't be simpler. 

Just answer this question: what one thing do you want v…

When visitors aren't as plentiful as you'd like or all the economic forecasts are gloomy, it can be tempting to start discounting prices.

Stop! You might not need to. Here are a few things to think about before you discount any prices. 

First of all, are you jumping to conclusions? If you’re panicking because you think things are going to be difficult, it might be worth looking at previous booking patterns to see if you often have glitches, and their causes.

Then, make sure you've done all th…

Calls to action are an essential part of getting people to part with their cash.

They come in many forms, from a gentle reminder to follow you on social media or sign-up to your mailing list so you can start to nurture people until they're ready to become customers, to a more direct 'book now'. 

Sometimes we make things more complicated than they need to be. I was reminded of this yesterday when a letter arrived: a genius example of simplicity hitting the mark. 

The writer has my email addre…