In September 2011 I posted a blog that examined the background of destination marketing as it affects, and can be affected by, the accommodation sector - small hotels, B&Bs, self-catering, etc. I proposed that there is still, in some quarters, over-reliance on passive marketing via third parties as a result of the historical development of destination marketing. I argued that more progressive businesses had adopted a pro-active approach within the framework of the third-party destination marketing hierarchy, even within the limitations that existed before the Internet. I suggested that these limitations, mainly relating to available space and budget, had been lessened by the advent of the World Wide Web. And although conventional web site development can incur considerable expense, I hinted that there are ways that small businesses can establish an Internet presence and contribute to the 'destination sell' at low, or no, cost. "Destination Marketing Revisited" can be found HERE.
The focus in "Destination Marketing Revisited" arose, in some degree, from my experience of small accommodation businesses, especially in West Wales. This focus is, perhaps, timely. Local intelligence suggests an ageing population of proprietors, predicating an impending turnover of businesses (or, more worryingly, the return of properties to residential status). The same situation may well exist in other holiday areas where there is a traditional high turnover of business ownership. For every generation of new entrants into the trade there is a necessary learning curve that can be embarked upon by generic (and often superficial) training workshops but is most often approached by studying the activities of competitors. Such study, if the choices are fortunate, will lead to good practice and individualistic development. But poor exemplars lead to the perpetuation of bad habits and a failure in marketing efficacy, whether for the business in question or for the wider region. Although I continue here with my original focus, there is substance in what follows for small business in all sectors where an Internet presence can be used to advantage.
Please note that I make no claim to expertise in the more technical aspects of ICT, nor in web site design. Over the years I have developed web sites and peripheral activity for my own purposes, mainly as test beds to find my way around the continually evolving digital world. My interest has been in the basic principles of information organisation, the Internet in a communications and marketing context, and in maintaining some passing familiarity with the issues, developments and trends that should influence marketing decisions and routines. I am, as always was, a firm believer that there is no substitute for 'hands-on' learning - with a little help from your friends!
Pictorial content is used to impart the general ambience of the destination area.
Micro Businesses & The Internet
At the outset I would point out that for the small business with limited human resources, prioritisation is an indispensable component of strategic marketing. The number of online marketing channels available has increased substantially in recent years. While I will show that core or supplementary online activity can be undertaken at virtually no financial cost, the price is paid in management time - a scarce resource for owner-managers. It is therefore essential that marketing effort is kept within manageable limits. It is better to develop a few channels effectively than to spread effort thinly over a wide spectrum.
I am going to proceed on the assumption that the reader is the owner/manager of a small hospitality business, possibly a new entrant, who has identified a need for an Internet presence; but much of what follows is applicable to other resource-starved small businesses, community groups, etc. I would hope that readers are aware that the web does not simply offer a passive means of presenting their product to the marketplace, but that they also appreciate the possibilities of opening up channels of communication with existing and potential markets.
A web presence, once established, should be seen as an anchor for marketing activity. It is a central reference point whose effectiveness depends on successful employment of the various mechanisms that can attract site visitors - a marketing exercise in its own right. So what are the options?
In-house web site development may well be beyond the skills and resources of the small business owner. Even with these skills in place, developing and maintaining a dedicated web site incurs some cost and is time consuming. And although the owner retains complete control, the processes involved in developing the site beyond adding simple updates to, say, a News & Events page are unwieldy. Nevertheless, a dedicated web site with good content may attract the attention of search engines, can focus in on the particular attributes and benefits of your immediate locality and will certainly provide the foundation for pro-active marketing. The alternative to in-house development, a professionally designed and maintained web site, can be costly. It cannot be assumed that web designers have any specialist knowledge of your industry or your particular business, so that you will need to allocate management time to providing input in the form of content, etc. And the constant refreshment of the site, a necessary ingredient for SEO and regular visitors, can be delayed and add to costs when undertaken by a design house.
Many small accommodation businesses rely on third parties to gain an online foothold. Opportunities exist within the traditional destination marketing hierarchy - national, regional and local - most of which outlets charge for listings. Another option is the letting agency, especially prevalent in the self-catering sector, where costs in the form of sales commissions can be substantial. Although these routes to the web save greatly on management time, there is a corresponding loss of control over design and content, and the opportunities for regular updates and pro-active engagement are more limited than with a dedicated site. A further point is that your business is presented alongside a sizeable number of competitors, so that the site visitor may be spoilt for choice. Bear in mind also that web sites that service a wide region can only present a generic and diluted destination sell.
Outdoor activities encompass a range of niche markets that respond to web content that plays to specialist interests: Yankee Doodle, E2, Lands End.
All of the above cases provide small businesses with URLs (Uniform Resource Locators), Internet addresses that can be used to promote and drive traffic to a solus web site or a specific page on a joint marketing site. So far, so good. But is there any way that the limitations of the above options can be avoided to create more direct and more immediate involvement with target audiences? The answer is the Blog.
Blogging For Micro Businesses
Blogs are most generally used by the opinionated to bring their invaluable judgements to the world at large (comments are not invited!). But the blog format offers a structure that can be used as an alternative to a conventional web site for new entrants, or as an add-on to proprietors with a dedicated web site or whose Internet presence is reliant on third parties. All that is required is a little familiarity with word processing. The advantages of a blog are total control, flexibility, professional presentation, instant updates and amendments, an anchor point and URLs for general marketing activity, a mechanism for engaging directly with audiences and, not least important, a FREE Internet presence.
My own choice of blog provider was Blogspot, operated by Google, and I will use this blog as an example of a web site alternative. Origination could not be simpler. Go to www.blogger.com and sign up for a free Google account if you don't already have one. This gives you access to the blogosphere and you will be prompted to select a name for your blog which will appear as part of the URL(s).
The first step is to choose from a range of templates that will set up the general design scheme of your blog. Once done, all of the formatting commands that are common to word processing programmes are available to you on your blog pages including typeface, font size, embolden, italicise, underline, range left, right or centre, text colour, etc.
Blogspot offers you up to ten pages of content. If you go to the top of this page you will see that I have used six of my pages so far, all with individual tabs: the 'Home' page; some personal and professional information (About Barrie Foster); a brief introduction to the blog (About This Blog) a Copyright caveat; and two pages dedicated to specific activities (ProHelp and Canmol). These pages are, of course, designed to be relevant to my own business, but the opportunity to segment aspects of any business are obvious. In the case of an accommodation operator wishing to exploit the advantages of his immediate area for particular markets and specialist interests, pages might be generated for local wildlife, history, architecture, local events, outdoor activities generally or even individual sports. These aspects of the destination sell can sit alongside an 'About Us' page that presents the accommodation product and a 'Contact' page that includes a call to action.
Wildlife enthusiasts can be targeted seasonally. For example, bird migrations and seal pupping can attract business for the autumn shoulder: October 2011, North Pembrokeshire. Photo: Jill Morgan, Carnachenwen.
The 'Home' page is dynamic and is the landing page for the main site URL. Each new addition (local events, special offers, etc.) is headlined and automatically datelined, archived and indexed in the 'Blog Archive' on the right. Nonetheless, content can be amended or fine-tuned if necessary, and errors corrected (even Homer nods!). Visitors can elect to be notified of updates via their Favourites bar (see 'The Easy Way to Follow this Blog' on my 'About This Blog' page) or subscribe to email updates using the 'Add A Gadget' facility on the Blogger 'Design' tab (of which more below).
The remaining pages are static, but, again, they can be amended and updated at any time. They can be reached from the tabs at the head of the site, but each static page has an individual URL that can be used in mailshots, etc, to target audiences with known susceptibilities. It is worth noting at this point that specialist knowledge is invaluable when addressing specialist pursuits: hosts can engage with customers and potential customers more sympathetically when there is common interest. Work to your strengths: birdwatchers, walkers, watersports enthusiasts; all are a valuable source of local knowledge to the visitor, and by imparting your knowledge via the Internet you will generate the kind of authoritative, content rich copy that attracts search engines. But the most important function of the Internet must be to begin, and continue, conversations with your customers.
How much do you know about your local history and architecture? St Davids Cathedral and Bishops Palace.
In addition to the dynamic Home page and the static tabbed pages, Blogger has an 'Add a Gadget' option on the 'Design' tab which generates additional panels that can be positioned where required. These can accommodate a variety of functions, including links to social networks, MP3 clips, video, search boxes and much more.
Within the main pages it is a simple matter to insert pictures, illustrations and videos from your PC or other sources. You can also include links to other web sites, or to individual postings and static pages internally.
All of these possibilities can be implemented easily. Blogger is to a great extent self-explanatory and intuitive. The palette is, perhaps, a little restricted, but affords most of the benefits of the Internet to the owner-operated small business, including a 'Stats' feature, even where the blog is the only Internet option employed. And with a blog in place, the games can begin!
The blog URL can now be featured across the range of marketing activity to drive traffic to the core product presentation. A URL allows listings in web directories, many of which are free. A URL allows you to exchange links with other web sites, using the 'Link List' option in Gadgets. A URL allows you to register with search engines - and a particular advantage of Blogger and Blogspot is that it is powered by Google and your blog is automatically registered with (currently) the most significant search engine on the planet. And a URL opens the door to other strategic and tactical opportunities, some of which will be examined in my next blog.
Finally, the contribution of all of the above to destination marketing was summarised in my previous blog. "The ramifications for destination marketing of a structured web presence by individual businesses are considerable. First and foremost they contribute to the cumulative effect of a multi-channel, multiple platform, communications environment. Secondly, by offering different viewpoints and perspectives, they create interest and engagement, texture and vibrancy - a multi-layered picture that can only benefit the destination as a whole."
Putting it all together: for the third and last piece in this series click on "Destination Marketing & Local Communities".
Blogger supports a range of embedded functions: 360 Degree Panorama, Lower Fishguard Harbour, North Pembrokeshire.
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