Marketing 101

When it comes to Marketing, and it often does, who you market to can the difference between a successful campaign and a failure. This may sound obvious, but I have often experienced that quantity is valued more than quality.  This of course varies from supplier to supplier in the travel industry but this thinking is still prevalent today. In today’s economic climate where marketing budgets are painfully tight and ROI on ever dollar are closely monitor, it is not uncommon to see a one size fits all marketing approach. I often see one message being marketed to everyone, quantity, verses individual messages being tailored to smaller target groups, quality. I am always surprised by the inefficiencies I witness. 

With today’s technology, companies can segment mailing lists and track the results of each campaign.  This can be accomplished in both direct mail marketing and email marketing. JM Field Marketing is a perfect example of a marketing company that can assist other companies creating the right mailing list and in tracking campaign results.

For most successful travel suppliers there is no better potential customer list than their own past guest list. If you are running a company that values the customer experience, convincing your past guests to return should be the proverbial “low hanging fruit”.

While this data must be mined and buying habits of your customers understood, this is the gold mind.  When working with travel supplier clients, this is the first place I go with Six Degrees Consulting. After exhausting the past guest list, it is usually necessary to go outside the list to find additional new customers. Depending on the repeatability of your product the need to grow your prospect list can be insatiable at times.

You need to find a company that will help you find luxury customers, especially one that can segment by demographics, income, net worth or buying patterns. In today’s world, quality of marketing will out trump quantity of marketing every time.

–Roy