It’s a typical day at the office and the phone rings. The first thing that comes out of the future client’s mouth is, “I’ll be honest, I need help with my resort’s marketing, and I need it now. Can you help me?” Of course the first thing that you want to say is sure, but I don’t. My years of experience have taught me to NOT say yes, unless I am sure. I have to see if I can truly help them.
The marketing company that asks questions should give you a sense of relief. It shows they care and want to understand the nature of your needs. Today’s resort marketing encompasses so much more than painting a pretty picture to lure the vacationer to your property.
Today’s online professionals need to be able to help with the resort’s efforts on various strategy levels such as:
- Website maintenance
- SEO
- Print (it’s not completely dead)
- Social media
- Review sites
- And stay within the budget
Your vendor of choice needs to be able to communicate with various departments of your resort. For instance, one of our team members was conversing with a future vacationer on Twitter about their stay on the Gulf Coast. The dialog finally led to that future vacationer making reservations at the resort. The team member quickly contacted the reservations desk to let them know that they should be expecting a call from the vacationer and what they were looking for. This was all coordinated in a matter of minutes. The end result was a very happy vacationer that gave wonderful reviews about the property and has returned several times since then.
Today social media plays a large role in a resorts operations both customer service and marketing. It is vital that when getting help with your resort’s marketing that the help you employ is up for the challenge.
Ask yourself this, getting help with your resort’s marketing will help you do what?
- Manage your social media
- Keep track of your ad placements
- Update your specials
- Attract new guests
- Keep you past patrons coming back
- Put heads in beds
And those are just a few questions you should consider when getting help with resort marketing.
