Keep in mind: Guests don’t necessarily book your rooms; they book the people who work
in the hotel.
What is the service delivery of your property? If the guests like or have a connection with the staff
and management they will keep booking your property with a reluctance to stay elsewhere.
Determine a percentage of gross income to spend annually on marketing.
Set specific marketing
goals every year; review and adjust quarterly.
Carry business cards with you (all day, every day).
Create
an attractive nametag or pin with your company name and logo on it and wear it at high visibility meetings.
Stay
alert to trends that might impact your target market, product or promotion strategy.
Read market research studies
about your profession, industry, product, target market groups, etc.
Collect competitors' ads and literature; study
them for information about strategy, product features and benefits, etc.
Ask clients why they hired you and solicit
suggestions for improvement.
Ask former clients why they left you.
Identify a new market.
Join
a list-serve (email list) related to your profession.
Subscribe to an Internet usenet newsgroup or a list-serve that
serves your target market.
Create a new service, technique or product.
Offer a simpler/cheaper/smaller version
of your (or another existing) product or service.
Offer a fancier/more expensive/faster/bigger version of your (or
another existing) product or service.
Update your services.
Establish a marketing and public relations advisory
and referral team composed of your colleagues and/or neighboring business owners to share ideas and referrals and to discuss
community issues. Meet quarterly for breakfast.
Attend a marketing seminar.
Subscribe to a marketing newsletter
or other publication.
Train your staff, clients and colleagues to promote referrals.
Hold a monthly marketing
meeting with employees or associates to discuss strategy, status and to solicit marketing ideas.
Join an association
or organization related to your profession.
Get a marketing intern to take you on as a client; it will give the intern
experience and you some free marketing help.
Maintain a consultant card file for finding designers, writers and other
marketing professionals (MM Design is a good start :)
Analyze your rate structure; look for areas requiring
modifications or adjustments.
Establish direct bill payment options for key accounts / top clients.
Give
regular guests an "upgrade."
Learn to barter; offer discounts to members of certain clubs/professional
groups/organizations in exchange for promotions in their publications.
Give "quick pay" or cash discounts.
Produce a "we want you back" flyer for current customers and previous guests. (It doesn't have to
be fancy or expensive.)
Develop a property rack card or brochure.
Include a postage-paid survey card with
your brochures and other hotel literature. Include check-off boxes or other items that will involve the reader and provide
valuable feedback to you.
Remember, business cards aren't working for you if they're in the box. Pass them out! Give
prospects two business cards and brochures -- one to keep and one to pass along.
Produce separate business cards/sales
literature for each of your target market segments (e.g. government and commercial, and/or business and consumer).
Create
a poster or calendar to give away to guests and key accounts.
Print a slogan and/or one-sentence description
of your business on letterhead, fax cover sheets and invoices.
Develop a site on the Internet or Social Media page.
Create a "signature file" to be used for all your e-mail messages. It should contain contact details including
your Web site address and key information about your company that will make the reader want to contact you.
Include
"testimonials" from customers in your literature.
Test a new mailing list. If it produces results, add
it to your current direct mail lists or consider replacing a list that's not performing up to expectations.
Use custome
designed mailers for your direct mailings to pique recipients' curiosity.
Announce free or special offers in your
direct response pieces. (Direct responses may be direct mail, broadcast fax, or e-mail messages.) Include the offer in the
beginning of the message and also on the outside of the envelope for direct mail.
Update your media list often so
that press releases are sent to the right media outlet and person.
Write a column for the local newspaper, local
business journal or trade publication.
Publish an article and circulate reprints.
Send timely and newsworthy
press releases as often as needed.
Publicize your 500th client of the year (or other notable milestone).
Create
an annual award and publicize it as an outstanding employee of the year.
Write a letter to the editor of your
local newspaper or to a trade magazine editor.
Take an editor to lunch.
Get a publicity photo taken and
enclose with press releases.
Consistently review newspapers and magazines for possible PR opportunities.
Submit
"tip" articles to newsletters and newspapers.
Conduct industry research and develop a press release or
article to announce an important discovery in your field.
Create a press kit and keep its contents current.
Ask
your guets to come back again.
Return phone calls promptly.
Set up a response system to easily
respond to customer inquiries.
Use an answering machine or voice mail system to catch after-hours phone calls. Include
basic information in your outgoing message such a business hours, location, etc.
Record a memorable message or "tip
of the day" on your outgoing answering machine or voice mail message.
Ask clients what you can do the help them.
Take clients out to a ball game, a show or another special event just send them two tickets with a note.
Hold
a seminar at your office for clients and prospects.
Send hand-written thank-you notes.
Send birthday cards
and appropriate seasonal greetings.
Photocopy interesting articles and send them to clients and prospects with a
hand-written "FYI" note and your business card.
Send a book of interest or other appropriate business gift
to a client with a handwritten note.
Create an area on your Web site specifically for your customers.
Redecorate
your office or location where you meet with your clients.
Join a Chamber of Commerce or other organization.
Join
or organize a breakfast club with other professionals (not in your field) to discuss business and network referrals.
Mail
a brochure to members of organizations to which you belong.
Hold a property open house.
Send letters
to attendees after you attend a conference.
Advertise during peak seasons for your business.
Provide Rolodex®
cards or phone stickers pre-printed with your business contact information.
Promote your business jointly with other
professionals via cooperative direct mail.
Advertise in a specialty directory or in the Yellow Pages.
Write
an ad in another language to reach a non-English-speaking market. Place the ad in a publication that market reads, such as
a Hispanic newspaper.
Distribute advertising specialty products such as pens, mouse pads or mugs.
Mail "bumps,"
photos, samples and other innovative items to your prospect list. (A bump is simply anything that makes the mailing envelope
bulge and makes the recipient curious about what's in the envelope!)
Create a direct mail list of "hot prospects."
Consider non-traditional tactics such as bus backs, billboards and popular Web sites.
Project a message
on the sidewalk in front of your place of business using a light directed through words etched in a glass window.
Consider
placing ads in your newspaper's classified section.
Consider a vanity automobile tag with your company name.
Consider
a friendly bumper sticker for your car.
Code your ads and keep records of results.
Invest in a neon sign
to make your office or storefront window visible at night.
Create a new or improved company logo or "recolor"
the traditional logo.
Sponsor and promote a contest or sweepstakes.
Get a booth at a fair/trade show attended
by your target market.
Sponsor or host a special event or open house at your business location in cooperation with
a local non-profit organization, such as a women's business center. Describe how the organization helped you.
Teach
a class or seminar at a local college or adult education center.
Volunteer your time to a charity or non-profit organization.
Donate your product or service to a charity auction.
Appear on a panel at a professional seminar.
Write
a "How To" pamphlet or article for publishing.
Produce and distribute an educational CD-ROM, audio or video
tape.
Start every day with two cold calls.
Read newspapers, business journals and trade publications for
new business openings and for personnel appointment and promotion announcements made by companies. Send your business literature
to appropriate individuals and firms.
Give your sales literature to your lawyer, accountant, printer, banker, temp
agency, office supply salesperson, advertising agency, etc. (Expand your sales force for free!)
Put your fax number
on order forms for easy submission.
Follow up on your direct mailings, email messages and broadcast faxes with a
friendly telephone call.
Extend your hours of operation.
Reduce response/turnaround time. Make reordering
easy reminders. Provide pre-addressed envelopes.
Display product and service samples at your office.
Remind
clients of the products and services you provide that they aren't currently buying.
Call and/or send mail to former
clients to try to reactivate them.
Take sales orders over the Internet.
Never let a day pass without engaging
in at least one marketing activity.
