Marketing your business well to your community and those surrounding is great, but by effectively extending your scope of reach to tourists, an entirely new world of clients becomes available. While making that connection might feel daunting or mysterious, it’s actually not. Here are five ways to attract tourists to your business.
Know Your Niche
Even if your business doesn’t occupy a resort destination, odds are it’s located someplace that receives visitors throughout the year. Travelers are always interested in exploring something new, even if they’re just in town to visit family for a few days. Find ways to communicate the uniqueness of your business within the community and demonstrate that it offers an experience or products unlike any place else. Create a distinct brand and image. Similarly, if you do happen to occupy a resort community, find a way to tie your marketing to the spirit of the community.
Incentive
Offer deals, discounts, or similar incentives to tourists. Whether you call it an out-of-town package or seasonal offer, take steps to show tourists you specifically want their business. Giving them an extra reason to patronize your business through incentives suggests to tourists you have something exclusive to offer them. This strategy can be very influential in creating residual business.
Be Unforgettable
In the literal sense, don’t let tourists forget you. Tourists love souvenirs, and offering something for your customers to remember you by will help you build a connection with them for the next time they visit. Even if you normally don’t sell products, keep a few promotional ones on hand. T-shirts, mugs, and pens are a few great examples of products that will carry your business anyplace a tourist calls home. These promotional products can be imprinted with your company’s logo and contact details so every time they are used by current and potential customers, you gain marketing exposure. Some restaurant owners who were able to find promotional products in Colorado Springs attracted a lot of tourists with clever t-shirt designs—helping them to not only get people into their restaurant, but to buy a shirt as well as a meal. Word of mouth is still one of, if not the, most effective marketing tools. A t-shirt and personal endorsement will go a lot further than an ad.
Get Online
If you haven’t created a website and social media accounts, do it today. Being online is an absolute must. Once you have both platforms up and running, spend time pursuing connections with people in your region or even the country. Social media is fundamentally free and offers truly worldwide reach. It’s a great way to connect with individuals and spread the word about what you do or offer. When it comes to attracting tourists, competition can be intense so you need to keep up with your competition. Giving your potential customers a place to find you online before and after they visit will be crucial in attracting tourists to your establishment.
Purposeful Marketing
If you want to attract tourists, don’t just throw your efforts out and hope you’ll get your message to them. Get creative. Search for organic opportunities and unique outlets that already appeal to tourists.
Depending on your location, there could be a lot of potential customers in the “tourism” category that you haven’t yet tapped into. Once you are able to get substantial support locally, it will help you to gain a good reputation, which is always something that attracts tourists. Focusing on those out-of-towners and what they might be looking for in your city will definitely help you to tap into a new market, allowing you to make more money.