How to use optimism & positivity to boost your business

Most tourism marketing advice deals with promotional tools and marketing methods. I don't think we focus often enough on getting the message right for our target markets or on understanding their mindset. 

If you've ever unsure what to say in your social media, on your website or in a blog, a good burst of optimism and positivity works really well. 

Everyone loves to feel good. Who would you rather spend time with: someone who moans about life or  someone who bursts with enthusiasm about their area or what they do? We're drawn to people with energy and sparkle - the same is true on social media and in marketing.

The internet has been flooded (oops) with photos of floods and bad weather. Of course everyone is fascinated by the extremes of weather but after a while they all resemble each other. I recently saw one popular post that illustrates the way optimism works. It was a bookshop in Hebden Bridge. They showed the flood waters in their shop, with an 'after' photo a couple of days later once the shop was cleaned up and ready to re-open. It gave a real sense of hope, a burst of optimism and actually showed that they were ready to welcome visitors, instead of just the usual 'open for business' message that convinces no-one. 

During the winter months at some point everyone feels down-hearted and thinks Spring will never come. Short messages of hope and optimism work wonders. Photos of Spring flowers and posts looking forward to Spring can be really effective. 

We don't need to pretend bad things never happen but putting a positive spin on things can help everyone feel better and more hopeful. The more you look forward, sound optimistic, believe that things will get better, the more your potential visitors will want to do the same. When they see plenty of positive messages about Spring and Summer and photos reminding them of how it looks and feels, visitors will be enthused and ready to book and plan a visit. 

You do need to be careful of sounding overly Tigger-like and too bouncy. Your marketing messages need to sound authentic and genuine so don't gush if that's not your normal approach. Just focus on the positives instead of the negatives. 

Talk about things you're looking forward to. Sound optimistic. Show positive change. Be upbeat. Be positive about your business, your area, other businesses. 

You might also think about being positive by being generous in your marketing, talking about other local businesses and why you love your area. You might like and share posts by others more often, or comment on people's blogs. Once you do this, there's definitely a sense of reciprocity. Most people will notice when you're being positive about them and want to reciprocate in some way.

The goodwill gradually builds in power. Others will see your positivity and join in too.

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