Bootstrap Marketing for Your CVB

Pre-Work - While Waiting
Find a blank index card on table
Front – write the name of the best CVB marketing tactic or project you’ve ever seen. Who did it? What made it great?
Back – write your question for me. What do you want to learn from this morning?
Write your name somewhere on card
Prizes awarded!

Bootstrap Marketing Opportunities & Ideas for CVBs Presented by Skip Lineberg Maple Creative

On Marketing
“ What impression do you make, then, when you appear to have invested very little in your own business? You are saying you lack confidence in your own enterprise. If you are not confident enough to invest in yourself, why would I spend money with you?”
Harry Beckwith – marketing guru, author

What is Bootstrap Marketing?
Limited budget
Limited resources
Marketing by your bootstraps
Creating impact on very little investment
Leveraging zero-cost tactics

Brand Identity

Research – Find Out
Who’s coming to your place?
Why are they coming?
What is their world view/ lens?
Are trends shifting … and why?

Research – Helps You
To evaluate your marketable assets
To define your target audience (segmentation)
To test messages … see what resonates
Become more effective

Research Tool - Zoomerang
www.Zoomerang.com
Free, online research application
Create custom surveys
Up to 100 questions
Up to 1,000 invitees

Other Research Tools
Exit survey – feedback cards
Clipboard capture – man on the street
Focus group
What else?
How did you hear about us?

On Marketing
“ Marketing is a circular process, which can begin almost anywhere and never ends.”
Craig Hartsell, Azimuth

Question from Audience

Earned Media
Local relationships = local coverage
Get your news & events covered
Regional & national press
Think big – are you “swinging for the fences?”
Tie your story to recent coverage and world events or trends

The Power of National Press Canaan Valley, WV

Earned Media – Other Ideas
Editorial Review Board Session
Press Conference
Invite a travel writer to visit
Do you know who’s on the travel beat?
Invite an influential travel blogger to visit?
We offer spokesperson & media training.

On Marketing
“ Tell me a story. Make me say, ‘Hmm-I did not know that’.”
- Don Hewitt, founder and long-time producer of “60 Minutes”

Internet – Electronic Marketing
You Tube
Flickr
Blogger
Twitter

Internet Marketing – Why Bother?
Low cost
Tremendous reach
Two-way conversation – engages customers
Content tags – makes it specific
Measurable – you can track it

Flickr
Leverage your scenic beauty
Post photos of your place
www.Flickr.com
Comment on other scenic photos; invite contributor to come visit and photograph your place
Start a Flick photo group – scenic photos of your area

Twitter
Micro-blogging
www.Twitter.com
Free
Quick & easy
Attract the early adopters
Followers can spread the word

Twitter – Elkins example
www.twitter.com/visitelkinswv
Promote upcoming events
Spread good news
Invite folks to visit
Offer suggestions
Offer facts and trivia

Search Engine Visibility
Travelers pre-shop on the Internet
Internet #1 source of travel planning and purchasing
Majority of leisure travelers (66%) now use the Internet exclusively for planning a vacation.
2007 National Leisure Travel Monitor

Things Have Changed!

Google Search Results
Page 1 or Page 2 (100% … 82% … 2%)
Where do you rank?
For which search phrases?
What are your critical search phrases?

Evaluate Search Phrases
Your own research
Google Suggest, Google Trends
http://labs.google.com/
You can’t be “all things.”
You can’t afford to market your place as “all things.”
Find your niche.

WV Assoc. of CVBs April 22, 2008 How Google Sees Your Site
Connections on the Web very important to search engines - hyperlinks in/out, blogroll, partners, reciprocal links
Relevant, fresh content can boost your rankings with spiders, bots & Web-droids

How to Rank Higher on Google
Relevant content
Connections
Fresh content
Use content tags and meta-data

More on Electronic Marketing and Web 2.0
Statewide training series
Beginning in May
Five WV locations
www.MarketingConference.org

Blogs & Blogging
Create a conversation
Create fresh, relevant content
Give customers a voice
They have more credibility than we do.
You are the publisher. You’re in control.
Tag your content
Build traffic and connections

Blog Drives Traffic to Your Web Site The Maple Example

Closing
Blogs
Marketing Genius from Maple Creative
See our blogroll – other great blogs
http://MarketingGenius.blogspot.com

Key to Marketing, Especially Marketing Places
Stories are memorable – “sticky”
Powerful, persuasive stories
Powerful, persuasive images
Find and organize
Begin to cultivate and build
Put them out for customers to discover

Maple’s Marketing Plan
Leverage our strong brand
Feature talent and creativity
New Web site – promote launch
Continue to feature our blog
Some advertising – very targeted
Sign boards at airport
Speaking engagements, publish articles
New print materials – folder, biz card, note cards
Community service

On Leadership
"You can either take action, or you can hang back and hope for a miracle. Miracles are great, but they are so unpredictable." - Peter Drucker

Closing
Bibliography – recommended reading list
Let’s start a dialogue
[email_address]

Thank You!

Bootstrap Marketing Opportunities & Ideas for CVBs Presented by Skip Lineberg Maple Creative

Bootstrap Marketing for Your CVB

by guestc67ed5 on Apr 22, 2008

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Bootstrap Marketing for Your CVB — Presentation Transcript