I know, it’s nearly Christmas and you’re probably rushed off your feet. The travel agents among you have booked everyone’s Christmas break and moved on to the next thing. You’re probably also looking after the customers who are already away at the Christmas markets. Christmas party season is in full swing in the hotels too. You’ve been promoting Christmas celebrations for months, so why am I talking about this now?
Because celebrations are for life, not just for Christmas.
Where is your focus?
It’s always a good idea to focus on your big ticket items when it comes to marketing. At this time of year that’s probably going to mean Christmas party nights and trips to go shopping in New York or to the markets on mainland Europe. There will probably also be a healthy supply of people who don’t want to cook Christmas dinner or just want to get away from it altogether.
That said, you probably did the marketing for all that months ago. Once you get to November and December the focus is on the delivery, so what’s next? You may have moved on to Valentine’s Day or Easter and be thinking about the summer holidays. But there could be small things you can do to boost your sales before that.
The work behind the celebration
Yes Christmas is fun and a great excuse for a party. However, there’s a lot of work that goes into it too. I’m on the PTA at my son’s school and organising the Christmas fayre leaves us all positively frazzled. While celebration is on everyone’s minds, a lot of people just feel tired. A late deal for a post-Christmas break might just tempt them. Equally, if you’re the hotel offering a rest stop with hot coffee in luxurious surroundings, you may well be inundated.
You can make the most of your location by using Facebook adverts targeted at people nearby. The ads are dynamic so can reach the customers who look to their phones for suggestions whilst they’re standing on your nearest high street.
Celebration happens all year round
I’m probably preaching to the converted here. You know when the big celebrations are. Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day and Halloween all have their own identity. Then you have the summer holidays when wedding season is at its peak and the school holidays bring their own kind of celebration.
The trouble is, everybody does those. Travel and tourism marketing is often at risk of becoming a bit bland and boring. Everybody’s adverts look the same. How do you stand out? How about celebrating something unusual? You could use an awareness day or week that’s relevant to your offering, like national chip week or national toast day in February. The Big Pedal is an initiative that runs in UK schools during March to get more kids cycling to school, but you could use it to promote cycling holidays.
You could even just do something silly, like take your dog to work day. Or invent your own. You could be the first hotel in your area to have its own conker championship or an alternative school sports day. Choose something that fits your brand and helps your customers work up an appetite.
Whatever celebration you choose, I hope it’s a good one. And please leave me a comment and let me know if you come up with something new!
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Further reading
More ideas for awareness days
https://www.awarenessdays.com/
https://blog.hootsuite.com/weird-holidays-to-celebrate-on-social-media/