Download Why Advertise?

Chapter 8
Advertising to the Meeting Planner
Convention Management and Service
Eighth Edition
(478TXT or 478CIN)
© 2011, Educational Institute
Competencies for
Advertising to the Meeting Planner
1. Describe how hospitality companies use print media
and technology to advertise.
2. Identify the purpose and types of collateral materials
hospitality companies use in advertising.
3. Explain how to conduct a direct mail campaign.
4. Summarize the process of planning an advertising
strategy.
5. Describe how public relations and publicity can help
a property reach meeting planners.
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Why Advertise?
• Supplements your direct sales efforts
• Reaches a vast audience
• Can be targeted to specific market segments
• Demonstrates your competitiveness and allows
planners to compare features and benefits
• Begins the process of building interest and
desire for your property
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Advantages of Print Advertising
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Color print
•
Good reproduction
•
Magazines have a long reading life
and can be shared with others
•
Easy to focus on target markets
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The AIDA Principle
Attention
• To attract attention, make your ad stand out from
the rest.
Interest
• To interest the reader, text should be specific and
concise.
Desire
• To build desire, present features as benefits and
show how your property is different from others.
Action
• To facilitate action, include a way for readers to
contact you.
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Elements of Ad Design
• Color—creates stimulation and has eye-catching
“stopping power”
• Photos—communicate realism
• White space—use freely, avoid cluttered look
• Text—should support the headline
• Position on the page—eye tends to be drawn to upper
part of right-hand page
• Size—depends on budget
• Frequency (single shot versus campaign)—generally
requires several exposures to get response
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Headline
Illustration
Copy
Logo
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Technology and Advertising
• The Internet
• Property websites
• Social media
• E-mail
• Fax transmissions
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Internet Advertising
• Growing in popularity
• Websites can include text, graphics, audio, video, and
interaction with users
• Properties can make their own websites, link them to
meeting-related websites (e.g., CVB websites), and/or
advertise on other sites likely to be visited by targeted
segments
• Properties can be listed in the electronic directories of
travel service firms
• You must drive traffic to your website to be effective
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Internet Advertising
(continued)
• Allows e-mail advertising
- Inexpensive
- Fast
- Best to use “permission marketing” (create an
opt-in form on your website
- Can be used to nurture customer relations via
e-mail newsletters (relationship marketing)
• Banner ads are the dominant form of advertising on
the web
• Properties can be listed in the electronic directories of
travel-related firms
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Social Media
Online Networking Communities
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• FaceBook
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E-Mail Advertising
• E-mail is widely used by meeting planners to send
requests for proposals (RFPs) and to communicate
with vendors
• E-mail is fast and inexpensive, but like any media
program, it must be carefully planned
• Best to use “permission marketing,” whereby
planners opt-in to receive mailings
• Can be used to nurture customer relations via
e-mailed newsletters
• E-mail yields a greater customer response than
direct mail and is an effective lead-qualifying tool
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Collateral Material
Differences from Other Advertising Materials
• Directed specifically at decision-maker
• Brochures usually provide more details
than ads do
Types
• Convention brochures
• Video brochures
• CD-ROMs
• Others: postcards, fliers, maps, menus, tent
cards, newsletters, etc.
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Convention Brochures
Purpose and Characteristics
• Inform the decision-maker
• Give the planner enough information to
begin planning
• Information must be detailed, clear, concise,
and pertinent
• Include it in a meeting planner’s kit
• To develop one, get ideas from competitors
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Video Brochures and DVDs
Video Brochures
• Very versatile and effective
• Can show the property at different times
of the year
• Captures service aspect
• Can show a variety of meeting setups
• Usually 4 to 6 minutes long
• Use a professional firm for development
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Video Brochures and DVDs
(continued)
DVDs’ Advantages over Video Brochures
• Can store more information
• More durable
• Cannot be erased by magnetic fields
• Easily and inexpensively reproduced and mailed
DVD Development
• Use a professional firm
• Reuse website material to save on
development costs
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Direct Mail—Advantages and
Disadvantages
Advantages
• Flexible—can be used to screen prospects, follow
up on advertising leads, and make printed sales
presentations
• High volume possible
• Easily cost-controlled, easily tested and measured
• Cheaper than print or broadcast advertising
• Can be targeted to the most promising prospects
• Personal and can be designed for prospect
involvement and action
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Direct Mail—Advantages and
Disadvantages
(continued)
Disadvantages
• Increasing postage and production costs
• Low interest (seen as junk mail)
• Costly and time-consuming to maintain
mailing lists
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Planning Direct-Mail Campaigns
Planning a Campaign and Forming Lists
• Lead sources: internal records, directories and
publications, circulation lists, convention
bureaus
• Plan follow-up strategy
• Develop a general list of all prospects and a
preferred list of screened prospects and past
customers
• Campaigns are more effective than one-time
mailings
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Planning Direct-Mail Campaigns
(continued)
Contents
• Sales letters, surveys, postcards, and visual aids
• Keep sales letters personal—they are the most
important part of the mailing
• First letter should be an attention-getter
• Next letters should creatively build on first
letter’s theme
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Elements of an Advertising Strategy
Factors to Consider
• Marketing plan
• Budget
• Target market(s)
• Choice of media
• Reach
• Frequency
• Timing: continuous, pulsing, or flighting
• Consistency
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Elements of an Advertising Strategy
(continued)
Tips
• Use a media chart
• Plan your follow-up strategy
• Monitor and evaluate your plan
Special Options
• Exchange trade advertising
• Cooperative advertising, strategic partnerships
• Advertising agencies
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Advertising Agencies
• Many convention-oriented hotels hire advertising
agencies for creative design, ad production, media
placement, and research.
• Agency must work within the hotel’s marketing plan
and become the hotel’s marketing partner.
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Public Relations and Publicity
Public Relations (PR)
• Communicate favorable information about
property to create positive image
• Plan PR and implement it properly
• May use internal PR staff or external firm, or both
• Often involves community outreach—donations of
surplus products to charities or schools, for
example
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Public Relations and Publicity
(continued)
Publicity
• Gratuitous mention of property in media
• Communicating with media: finished pieces and
press releases
• Press kits—news releases, fact sheets,
photographs, news clippings, and other materials
designed to give the news media background
information about a property
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