Developing Marketing Resources

Once you have established your perfect tourism business, the challenge to sell your product to attract visitors begins.

Advertising, printed material, the internet, public relations and media exposure are the communication resources you could use to showcase your product to potential customers. International visitors and trade are exposed to a wealth of information, and you want your business to stand out from the crowd.

Where to begin

Your marketing and communications need to emphasise your point of difference. What are the benefits that customers will experience with your product that they wouldn’t in any other? What is your point of difference?

Your collateral should focus on your unique selling points and highlight any advantages you have over your competitors. The quality of your material should also be of a high standard to attract the international visitor. Remember to include any industry accreditations such as Qualmark®.

Remember that first impressions always count.

Brand

Establishing your brand is one of the most important aspects of promoting your product. It will help consumers identify with your product.

Your brand must reflect what it is you do. Your brand will usually consist of your product name and your logo; sometimes it might also include a tagline (slogan). Your brand should be consistent across all the marketing material associated with your product.

Intellectual Property

When you are setting up a business, it is very important to think about the intellectual property of your business. This is about more than just the company name. It is about the goodwill of your company and the reputation that you have or intend to build up.

If you do not protect your brand, you open yourself up for others to start companies which then benefit from your hard work.

Check the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand website www.iponz.govt.nz. This has a searchable trademarks and patents area so you can see if anyone else has already tried to trademark your brand. You may also like to check www.freeparking.co.nz that the domain name you would like for your website for your company is not already in use.

What is the best way to promote your product?

There is a range of marketing tools you can use to promote your product - and a mix of a few will probably be the best fit for your business.

Most visitors will use a number of different sources to plan their travels, so diversifying your marketing spend is important. It’s also important to look for the communication tools that your target market is most likely to use.

Do your visitors plan ahead and do research before they arrive? If so, it could be that getting your website up and running and linking with the right regional and international sites is your top marketing priority.

On the other hand, if your target market is likely to make spontaneous decisions, getting your brochures into your closest i-SITE Visitor Centre, and local retailers and accommodation providers could be the best way to encourage business.

Tourism New Zealand’s target market tends to use websites, guidebooks such as Lonely Planet, Rough Guide and Frommers and travel agents prior to arriving in New Zealand to help them plan their trip.

Once in New Zealand Interactive Traveller© are also high users of the i-SITE Visitor Centres. For location details of i-SITE centres visit www.i-SITE.org