At Mascola, we love the start of the new year. New projects, new campaigns, new ambitions. It’s a blank page, and everything seems ready for the taking. After all, resolutions don’t have to be tied to personal goals; they work for business objectives as well. With that in mind, take a page from our playbook. Position your destination or lifestyle brand with these five goals and get ahead of the game right from the start.
Consumers turn to their mobile devices more than ever to research specifics on hotels and other travel destinations. According to Google Travel Trends, a whopping 85% of leisure travelers in 2016 decided on their activities after they arrived at their destination. This trend is only getting stronger, so if you have an attraction to market, your first goal is to optimize your website so it’s viewable on any device and easily found by curious travelers.
Cisco predicts that 80% of Internet traffic will be video by 2019. So it’s time to get your video content up and running. Luckily, both destination and lifestyle brands make for excellent video content creation. The experience your brand offers is its main selling point, and there’s no better way to share an authentic experience (see my next point) than through video. As video space gets more competitive, stand out from the crowd with professionally edited video content.
Being true is a welcome trend seen across all marketing landscapes. Fashion brands like Aerie have adopted a no-Photoshop policy (and sales have surged). That’s because consumers are demanding transparency in nearly every category, from food to beauty products. Even ice cream and sauerkraut can be found in “artisanal” editions. This holds true for destination and lifestyle brands as well. Don’t go neck-and-neck with what your competitors are doing. Keep your messaging authentic to your own brand voice instead. Focus on your USP with a campaign that rings true, and win over consumers with honesty. Showcase the great experience your brand offers rather than what’s trending elsewhere.
Speaking of campaigns, you can’t create a proper one until you know who you are aiming it at. Create buyer personas before you develop your campaign to help deliver relevant and actionable messages to your target audience. Without documented personas, you and the rest of your team are only guessing at what your audience wants.
Customers are getting harder to reach… or so we’ve heard. They’re still there, but hanging out further from the TV. Consider alternative media placement like Pandora, Instagram, and Facebook. Each channel offers a highly targeted way to get in front of those buyer personas you worked so hard on (see above). You can target not just by geography and age, but by personal interests, political affiliation, and much more.
*Bonus Goal: Try Something Different. We always encourage our clients to try something new. If you’re a summertime attraction, consider a fly-over banner. Marketing a museum? Create a Snapchat filter that only works on your property. One of our longest standing clients, The Big E, had remarkable success with the Ad Van, a traveling billboard that opens up for meet-and-greets, giveaways, and giant, truck-size video demos.
No matter what you choose, we encourage you to get out of your marketing comfort zone. Follow these tips and get in front of a whole new audience this year. Need help getting started? Start a conversation with us. And here’s to a happy, healthy 2018!