Advertising is not a light switch

Don't stop.

(Sure, the ad above is for a spa and you may not be a spa, but it does have some relevance to our topic today. Besides, it’s an ad we did and we’ve always liked it.)

Of all the things that can adversely affect your success, short-sightedness could do the most damage.

Several years ago, we had a hotel client who used to cancel all of his advertising whenever his occupancy was up. “We’re doing pretty well right now.” Then, invariably, he’d call back in a couple of weeks in a panic. “Occupancy is down! We’ve got to do something!”

Unless you’re promoting a limited-time offer, advertising isn’t an immediate cause-and-effect thing for any business. Nor is it an on-and-off thing, like a light switch. You advertise — online, via email or however you do — to build and maintain desire and awareness for your business and what you have to offer.

It’s easy to tell yourself “We’re good right now. People know about us.” But do they? Almost certainly not as much as you think.

And after going dark for a while, catching back up to where you were can be a real bear. An expensive with some sort of presence. 

So . . . 

Ohmygodbabydon’tstop.

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Thinking, ideas and on eyond digital

Thinking, ideas and on beyond digital

 

The world of independent hotels and resorts is a bit hurly-burly these days. 

There are properties lining up under the umbrella of one of the soft brands created by the big chains, and management companies are getting bigger through mergers or acquisitions. 

If you’re an independent and your competition fits in either of those categories, all of a sudden that competition has resources — and in some cases a Brand name — you don’t have. And probably access to some in-house marketing help they didn’t have before. 

But you can still gain a competitive advantage. Thinking — strategy, ideas and innovation — can give you an edge and, so far, nobody has cornered the market on thinking. There are creative firms out there that can help. Innovative, creative, affordable firms with experienced people for whom a hotel with a competitive challenge will not be their first rodeo. 

The one thing you don’t want to do is fall back on a big digital company to do it all for you. Remember, they're primarily tech companies, not creative marketing companies. You’re unique, so you don’t want an off-the-shelf marketing and advertising plan. 

A digital company will do a great job with a hotel website, email program, SEO, re-targeting and so on, but non-digital creative strategies are not typically their stock in trade. You’re going to need to go beyond digital. Or at least you’ll need a creative strategy to drive the digital tactics. 

Maybe the smartest thing you can do to stand out is something like sponsor a festival. Or create a series of themed rooms and unexpected promotions. Ace Hotels had a promotion in Arizona a while back that included a tattoo with your weekend stay. We solved a resort’s off-season problem once by re-positioning that off-season as a special time of year, not a down time. You can read about that and the need for strategy here, but the point is, that’s not the sort of thinking you usually get from a digital firm. But it's the kind of thinking that can give you a competitive edge.

And about those “agencies that can help?” We’re one of them.

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