As the Director of an attraction or destination assembles or examines their marketing staff, there are many marketing functions that need to be covered. After all, the only chance that management has to increase attendance and revenues is through successful marketing implementation. There is a lot to accomplish: On an annual basis, a marketing campaign needs to be developed and launched; marketing materials created, produced, and distributed; news stories generated; and social media strategies executed, continuously.

Historically, a combination of internal junior and senior employees have been assigned these tasks. With an eye on the budget, management also weighs the option of utilizing outside resources to supplement that internal team. Most often, they opt to keep the whole operation in-house. Perhaps that’s a fatal mistake.

One important factor to consider when evaluating the marketing team is the importance of perspective. Outside perspective. When the entire marketing effort is generated by staff, it is difficult at best to evaluate the messaging from the viewpoint of the customer. Staff will inevitably fall prey to inside perspective.

On an individual basis, most of us know that it is virtually impossible to look in the mirror and see what others see. We are looking at an idealized version of ourselves, made up of a lifetime of baggage. The same is true for the employees of any organization. They cannot, and do not, see what the customer or client sees. Their vision is clouded by the day-to-day challenges of their jobs, and in many cases their desire to please the people at the top of the organization.

An outside marketing partner brings the greatest value by working closely with management to bring one of the most important elements of a successful business plan – perspective – to the table. An external marketing agency looks at the growth objective with fresh eyes and without the baggage like “we tried that before and it didn’t work.”

In essence, we “become” the customer to help clients understand the big picture and better address the needs and desires of their core audiences.

Sometimes (more often than not), a fresh perspective makes all the difference.