Tourism marketing advice, tips and ideas
  • Ideas & how to...
  • Susan Briggs
  • Sign up
  • Profit Programme
  • Ideas & how to...
  • Susan Briggs
  • Sign up
  • Profit Programme

Are you saying what you think you're saying?

26/1/2017

 
Picture
A while ago I re-learnt a useful tourism marketing lesson from N, my then 12-year old. We were planning a weekend in Berlin. I lived in East Germany in the early 1980s in the days of the Cold War and find it fascinating to go back. N. really wasn't keen and at first I couldn't understand why not. 

"Whenever I think of it, it's in black and white and sounds miserable and horrid. When you talk about being arrested and bad food and people following you, it makes me think it's like a scarey old film. I don't want to go there".

The penny dropped. N has heard me talk about my experiences living in East Germany. I've never told her the full story of the reunification or how Berlin has developed into a funky weekend destination. Her mind is full of pre-conceptions and outdated, incomplete information: I need to overcome some of those before she'll look forward to a weekend in Berlin. 

This is something which happens so often in tourism marketing. ​

We can waste a fortune by failing to understand what's already in someone's mind.  This conversation reminded me of VisitBritain research which found many Chinese people have read Sherlock Holmes stories and therefore believe London is still prone to pea-soupers. They need to see new images of modern-day London before they'll want to visit.

Tourism marketeers don't always help themselves. For years the North East was promoted as "Catherine Cookson Country", as the setting of some of the most miserable books you'll ever read. Just because a certain literary style or writer is popular doesn't mean it should be the focus for all your marketing. 

Until very recently businesses in Haworth (see earlier blog on this) couldn't understand why tourism wasn't constantly developing on the back of the Brontes (3 sisters who died before their mid thirties and a drug-riddled, alcoholic brother are not always the best advert for a place even if they write well). 

Tourism marketeers are constantly throwing out messages, telling me people what we want them to hear. But how often do we stop to think about what's already in their minds? What are they really interested in? What misunderstandings do we need to overcome? Have we assumed potential visitors are all as fascinated by the things we want to tell them about (Brontes for example) or are there other aspects of a place we should stress? Do our visitors even understand the information we're putting out? 

What are you telling your potential visitors? Is it at odds with what they might already know/believe? We need to find out what's already in their minds before we can fill them with new (and sometimes contrasting) information. ​
    Sign up to receive weekly Tourism Knowhow in your inbox every Tuesday
    Please note: all articles are copyright Susan Briggs 2021

    Ideas

    All
    3 Things Every Visitor Wants
    5 Ideas For Good Tourism
    5 Must-do Activities For A Quicker Post-Covid Bounce Back
    6 Mistakes You Can Fix Now
    6 Ways To Use Trends To Benefit Your Business
    9 Easy Tips For Photography That Sells
    About Pages
    Advertising - Is It Worth The Money?
    Advice - Coronavirus
    Advice From My Mum And Isaac Newton
    Are You Saying The Wrong Things
    A Single Solution To Many Different Marketing Issues
    Ask For The Sale
    Bad Reviews - Good For Business?
    Bad Weather? No Problem!
    Better?
    Better Times - Beyond Covid
    Bigger Bolder Braver
    Brushing Teeth & Tourism Marketing
    Building Anticipation
    Build Trust To Generate Revenue
    Chrysalis Or Butterfly?
    Colour Counts
    Colour Psychology
    Copywriting Counts
    Design Tips
    Direct Mail
    Down With Discounts!
    Duvet Days?
    Easy Ways To Use An Emotional Appeal
    Easy Way To Get Media Coverage
    Encourage Recommendations And Repeat Visitors
    Essential Marketing Tips
    How To Be An Expert & Benefit Your Tourism Business
    How To Use Local Distinctiveness
    How To Use Optimism & Positivity To Boost Your Business
    Is Social Media Effective?
    Keep Going
    Last Impressions
    Lessons From Low Cost Airlines
    Lessons From My Window Cleaner
    Maintenance Marketing
    Make Money While You Sleep
    Making Progress In Your Business
    Marketing Collaborations
    Marketing Mind-reading
    Membership?
    Millennials
    Niche Marketing
    Not For Everyone
    No Time For Tourism Marketing?
    Off Peak Marketing
    One Simple Way To Make Your Business Better
    Pictures For Better Marketing
    Piggyback Marketing
    Planning For A Better Future
    Power Of Three
    PR Coverage For Your Business
    PR: Don't Upset Journalists
    Profit Through Generosity
    Promote Off-season
    Questions To Help Build Your Business
    Quick & Easy Marketing Tip
    Reassurance - An Essential Marketing Tactic
    Restorative Tourism
    Safe Won't Sell
    Say The Right Thing
    Scared Of Selling?
    Share Your Small Successes
    Simple Idea For Immediate Impact
    Small Steps Make The Most Difference
    Smile!
    Social Media Engagement
    Social Media For Direct Bookings
    Some Positive News
    Spring Clean Your Marketing
    Status Stories
    Stop 2-1 Discounts
    Targets & Witchcraft
    Telling A Good Story
    The Hole In Your Marketing
    Toilet Twinning
    Too Ambitious?
    Trends & Business Opportunities For 2020
    Using Local Pride As A Marketing Super Power
    Walking A Dog
    Word Of Mouth Publicity


Build your business, using my tourism expertise, energy & enthusiasm 

  • practical tourism marketing advice to raise your profile and increase your revenue
  • creation and implementation of marketing campaigns
  • public relations activities and copywriting, including content for websites
  • developing and using local distinctiveness
  • digital marketing, and help to understand search engine optimisation and social media
  • advice and support for visitor attractions, accommodation, food and drink producers, artists, craftspeople and small specialist tour operators

All articles on this site are copyright Susan Briggs, The Tourism Network Ltd 2021
Picture
Email Susan Briggs 

The Tourism Network Ltd, The Old Mill, Millgate, Masham, HG4 4EZ 
Tel: 07768 365591    
​​