Can local pride & passion replace pounds & pence?

Does any other county evoke such passion and pride in its attractions, landscape, food, and arts as Yorkshire? 

If we harness our Yorkshire pride, work together to talk about what makes Yorkshire special, the promotional power will be huge. 

We don't need a big budget. Thanks to the internet and mobile phones, anyone can now have their own publishing empire (websites, social media) be film makers, podcasters, broadcasters…

The challenge is to choose the right approach and right messages.
 
How do you sum up a place as big and full of attractions as Yorkshire?
Is there a way to promote more of Yorkshire, to focus on niche activities, hidden gems as well as well-known places?  

How can we use our passion and pride as our own Yorkshire marketing super-power? 
 
The answer lies in treasures, triggers and tribes: an effective and practical approach to tourism marketing. 

Treasures?
 
Visitors don’t want ‘something for everyone’. They want carefully chosen, special places. They don't want the official view. They want recommendations from local experts.

They want to uncover the unknown, find the forgotten, celebrate the hidden gems alongside the big names. They want an easy way to find the treasures. It's up to local people and loyal repeat visitors to suggest and showcase them.

The Instagram generation do still like to see famous places for themselves, but they're just as attracted, excited and intrigued by lesser known aspects of Yorkshire. They like their followers to ask, ‘where’s that?’, ‘how did you find that?’
 
Visitors, journalists, bloggers and other destination influencers need the information we can provide as local experts.

We don't always value our local knowledge as much as we should. We need to showcase our 'doorstep delights'. In short, we know where the treasure's hidden and need to bring it to the fore! 
 
Triggers? 

Ask a direct question such as ‘where’s the best place to...?’ and recommendations will follow. Tell someone you share one of their interests, and they’ll talk to you. Show an intriguing or beautiful image, and you’ll capture attention.

These are all talk 'triggers' and a great way to start conversations about our treasures. Good marketing promotion is about finding the right messages. 

Tribes? 

The big change brought about by the internet is that we don't need to do all our own marketing. We can harness the power of 'tribes' to help us.  

We all have interests, places, values, activities that we feel quite passionately about. We go through stages of life with other people in similar situations. Whatever our ‘tribe’, we identify with each other, and when there’s somewhere we love, people like us like to hear our recommendations. Tell a member of a tribe and they’ll keep spreading the word.
 
There are many, many different 'tribes', which makes it easier to promote to a broader range of markets. Here's just one example. Think of a local café where parents of primary school children gather. You’ll rarely see an advert saying ‘just dropped children off at school? Come to x’ They don't need to advertise because once a member of a tribe has found that place, the rest follow.

Word of mouth and social media become the key marketing methods. There’s nothing official, nothing scripted, word just spreads.

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