We’re all about innovation, digitalizing and automating, but here at OperatorHub, we still see great value in getting back to basics.
The right digital approach can help you to promote your tour on a global scale, but it’s important that you cover the basics first. What are you doing to manage local exposure for your business? Could you be doing more?
Here’s our local promotion checklist:
1. Pick a local bar to partner with
Try a “you scratch our back, we’ll scratch yours” approach. Ask a local bar for discount drink tickets to hand out among your tour groups. It’s the oldest trick in the book but it works a treat: Your customers will love you for the freebies, the bar staff will love you for sending business their way and your tour group are likely to recommend your tour product to other patrons once they. It’s a full circle of happy customers and business owners.
2. Promote your tour in local touch points
How much media space is up for grabs in the areas your customers are arriving in? This isn’t always airport bathrooms. Does a local taxi company have an activities booklet? Shuttle bus drivers love a chat. Why not set up a referrals rewards system for drivers recommending your product to a market who has just touched down, excited and ready to book?
3. Work with your local “Destination Marketing Organizations”
This method starts with working out who that is. How is your tour product destination being promoted to an inbound audience? The DMO take care of this and will often feature “must-do” local activities in their attempts to inspire travelers. This could very well include your tour or activity.
DMO’s are typically government funded meaning this type of advertisement can be completely free for your business.
Work out why your tour product is the missing ingredient to marketing campaigns for your business destination and be sure this is covered in your proposal for the DMO.
4. Work with accommodation providers
This isn’t always as black and white as dropping off some brochures to display in local hostels and hotels. Work with accommodation providers to understand what their customers are doing. Can you offer a shuttle service to out of town hotels to remain a preference?
Each accommodation provider will be different so it’s important you find the missing ingredient in each proposition and cater to it.
5. Have a presence at as many local events as possible
What’s on in your area? What can you contribute? Donating prizes to charity events is a great way to ensure your business is contributing to local causes and it doesn’t stop there.
Branded merchandise has its place at every local event and for the small price of manufacturing, you could be promoting your tour product to a whole new audience of potential customers.
6. Or why not host your own event?
Be it a local agent famil, a B2B networking night or charity event for a local cause, your tour or activity probably stands as a great platform for bringing locals together, use it as your superpower and reap the rewards.
Looking to streamline your business procedures before promoting locally? Trial OperatorHub for free.