• Travel Oregon Team

• Central Oregon Visitors Association

• John Kelsh

• Workshop Participants

Overview of Today’s Topics

What is Marketing?

Your Marketing Plan Workbook

What experience you are selling?

Product positioning and branding

Destination Marketing Roles & Coop Marketing: Travel

Oregon/COVA

Coop Marketing and Content

International Marketing and Travel Trade

Marketing communications strategies and action planning

Budgets, timelines, measurement

Discussion

Evaluations and wrap-up

Outcomes

How to communicate in a way that the visitor finds

compelling.

Familiarity with marketing terminology, strategies,

action planning.

How to extend and maximize human and financial

resources through partnerships.

Tools and resources from which to develop a tourism

marketing plan.

1. Your Vision

2. Marketing Action areas with consensus

3. Tourism Trends for Central Oregon

River Canyon Country

COMMUNITY TOURISM VISION

River Canyon Country in 2030 is a region that is engaged toward a common future with a clear shared identity. The community has worked hard to build on values of quality education, health and creating an active lifestyle, and this has paid off in having a dynamic and high caliber workforce and strong social capital. This is reflected in how our community organizations and volunteers work together in a coordinated and cohesive manner. This cohesion allows us to adapt and capitalize on new and emerging opportunities, while maintaining our strong community base. We value our people and invest in creating opportunities for them to work, contribute and thrive in the region.

We have beautiful landscapes, parks, and natural vistas, which are now connected by a highly developed network of trails, by-ways and transport systems. We have a strong economic tourism infrastructure focused on leveraging our unique regional assets of local food, outdoor recreation and cultural diversity and identity. Our thriving economy is built on our locally owned entrepreneurial businesses, and complemented by world-class destinations. We are known worldwide for our authentic, family friendly and environmentally sustainable practices. We have become a renowned mecca for well managed outdoor and eco-tourism and cultural experiences that make us the ‘must-do’ destination for our many new and return visitors from across the world.

1. Create a regional leadership structure for tourism

development

2. Develop a regional marketing strategy

3. Conduct local trainings to increase local knowledge of

tourism experiences (what there is to do!)

4. Ramp up local communication about tourism development

(improve internal communication systems)

5. Develop infrastructure for recreation and transportation

6. Develop packages and itineraries for visitors

7. Conduct an asset inventory and do a gap analysis

8. Ramp up business development for tourism

9. Create new and grow existing events

WHAT IS MARKETING?

What do YOU think Marketing is?

Definition of Marketing – The process or technique

of promoting, selling and distributing a product or

service. To be most effective, marketing requires the

efforts of everyone in an organization and can be

made more or less effective by the actions of

complementary organizations.

Marketing includes everything from the initial

awareness of a product, service, or destination to the

marketing materials developed to the delivery of the

experience.

Marketing Plan Background & Rationale – Page 7-8

What Experience Are You Selling? Page 9-10

Positioning & Branding – Page 11

Understanding Your Target Markets – Page 12

Section One

Create your organization or business mission statement

Mission – A broad, general statement about an organization’s business or organization’s and scope, services or products, markets served and overall philosophy.

What is your business/organization?

What services or products do you provide?

Describe the markets that you serve.

What is your overall philosophy?

Marketing Plan Background & Rationale – Page 7

What is happening in the world around you?

Economic Conditions?

Current travel trends?

Current social trends?

SEE: “Tourism Trends Overview” PDF,

Longwoods Oregon 2009 Central Region Research,

RCC Baseline PDF

Marketing Plan Background & Rationale – Page 8

What Are You? - Page 9

The LURE: the experience that motivates the visitor to

actually come to your destination. It is your brand.

DIVERSIONS: things visitors can do closer to home but

will do in your destination because they are already there.

AMENITIES: Things that make the visit a comfortable one:

signs, restrooms, shade trees, parking, seating and gathering

areas wifi, etc.

AMBIANCE: historic buildings, public art, street banners,

etc.

• Who is your customer?

• Lead with the benefit to your customer.

• Name the company second.

• Are you part of a larger niche or destination

brand?

When selling: - Page 9

Page 11

A Brand is a promise of the experience

you are going to deliver.

Positioning is how you describe what you

are selling. (marketing)

(A good reference book is “Destination Branding for Small Cities” by

Bill Baker.)

What branding IS NOT:

• A logo

• A slogan

• A marketing campaign

• Geography

• History

• Tie in with a destination brand when possible

• Become known for something special

• If the product is not unique, make the service

special

Even if you do nothing, you still have a

brand. It just may not be the one you want.

Because consumers decide what your brand is, your product,

service or destination has a brand.

Do you really know what your brand is?

Are you managing your brand?

Lunch

Marketing Objective – A goal that your

organization or business attempts to achieve,

usually focused on a target market.

Marketing objectives should be:

– Results oriented

– Target market specific

– Quantitative/measurable

– Time specific

Examples of Marketing Objectives: - Page 13

For an attraction: “To increase the number of trips

sold(result) to RV visitors(target market specific) by 100

(quantified) during the summer season 2012 (time

specific).”

For a small lodging establishment: “To increase the

number of room nights (result) generated from the

bicycle touring market (target market specific) by 100

(quantified) during the spring and summer of 2012 (time

specific).

Example of a marketing strategy and action plan: - Page 14

Strategy for an attraction or tour: ““Leverage existing

electronic media sites to create awareness of our attraction”

• Action plan attraction or tour: “Create an attractions listing

for VisitCentralOregon.com and TravelOregoncom”

Marketing Strategy - A course of action selected from the marketing mix to communicate to various target markets.

Media Mix – Activities to communicate your brand, market

position, product/service features and benefits to the customer. For example:

Website

Social networks Brochures

Press releases FAM trips

Other

Page 14

Key Shoestring Strategies

• Digital Content

• Public Relations

• International/ FAM trips

• Special Events

How to create an Interactive Strategy

• Use COVA’s website

• Using TO digital content/social media

• Use TO e-marketing newsletters and e-blasts

• Use TO blog, RSS feeds

• Develop YouTube, Vimeo videos

• Using co-op opportunities with RCC, COVA, Travel Oregon

SEM SEO

Advertising on Google, Yahoo, Bing

1. Banner ads and SEM keyword ads.

2. Budgets are flexible by day.

3. Experiment with key words.

4. Pay only for visits to your site.

5. Try different ad copy.

6. Ask how visitors found you.

7. Use Google ANALYTICS.

Emotional Benefits

Core Product and Experience Themes

Brand “Reasons to Believe”

Destination Promise

Tangible Benefits

Tangible Benefits EXAMPLE

• Public park settings that create an environment of rest, relaxation, quiet

time, solitude or light recreation

• More rigorous outdoor exercise for those who desire it

• Comfortable walking trails and trail maps

• Programmed events for the different styles of relaxation of the targeted

visitors. E.g., music would include rock, jazz and classical

• Places for family gatherings

• Water and other view locations with benches

• Experiences in the redwoods

• Healthy dining

• Spa treatments

• Physical comfort

Emotional Benefits EXAMPLE

• Restfulness

• Tension and stress relief

• Quiet

• Being unplugged from the world

• Contemplation

• Recharging

• Peace of mind

Use with a character your audience can relate to – (that could be

me!).

Set the Stage – (Here’s how we rescued a fawn on the day we

visited River Canyon Territory).

Establish conflict – external or internal. Start with this.

Foreshadow – hint at what is to come to keep it moving.

Use dialog – stories are about people and people talk.

What great stories can you think of?

What is Collateral? – A collateral marketing strategy involves the

use of various printed and online materials that communicate

your brand, market position, product/service features, benefits

to the customer and pricing if you are a business.

Collateral marketing strategies can include the following activities:

• Creating attractive brochures and rack cards

• Creating posters, bookmarks and other printed materials

• Utilizing cooperative opportunities – local DMOs, RDMO, and

Travel Oregon

Key Tips:

• Lead with the best, leave the rest

• Tell the story, don’t just provide lists

• Give the details

• Photos should be large and compelling, not amateur hour

• Always have people in the photos, your target audience

• State the benefit to the visitor – it is not about you.

• Use good maps and detailed instructions on how to find

you.

Collateral Usability

• Collateral – make it easy to carry

• Fit into brochure racks.

• Use quality paper especially if you use a lot of photos

Public Relations – Activities designed to generate and

maintain awareness of your product, service or

destination among your target markets and other

organizations through nonpaid communication and

information about what you have to offer.

Why Public Relations?

• Important because it is “third party” coverage but

more controlled than social media.

• More credible than paid advertising.

Public Relations Activities

• Develop a website media or press area

• Develop a hard copy press kit, press information,

photo library

• Create and distribute press releases

• Provide media assistance for story writers and editors

• Utilize cooperative opportunities – Local DMO,

RDMO and Travel Oregon

Travel Trade – Travel agents, tour wholesalers and operators, corporate travel managers, incentive travel planners, and convention/meeting planners.

Travel Trade Marketing Activities:

• Advertising in travel trade publications

• Attending travel trade shows

• Providing Familiarization (FAM) trips

• Brochure distribution

• Public Relations

• Cooperative opportunities

International Marketing Activities:

• Media & Travel Trade Research Trips

• Trade Shows

• Sales Missions

• Partnering With Regions

• In-country Marketing Reps

• Printed Media

• Social Media – Twitter, Facebook

Page 25

Budgets & Timelines

Page 26

Budgeting Methods

1. Historical – spending is same as previous years.

2. Percentage of sales – industry average % of total

revenues.

3. Competitive – match spending of your competitors.

4. Task-oriented – consider each activity and what needs

to be spent to meet marketing objectives.

The Reality of Budgeting

1. Allocate a tentative, overall budget for marketing.

2. Determine your marketing objectives and strategies.

3. Tentatively split the budget between strategies.

4. Then split the budget between actions within the

strategies.

5. Develop and refine the activities.

6. Reallocate budget to determine final budget

allocations.

Establishing Realistic Timelines

1. Establish a full-year marketing calendar cycle.

2. Understand steps and time involved in producing

collateral and advertising material.

3. Research key deadlines for advertising insertion dates.

4. Work closely with partners and service providers.

5. Stay connected to your local DMO, RDMO, and

Travel Oregon.

6. Create and overall TO DO list that covers the

marketing cycle and includes details of who needs to

do what and when.

Measuring Your Success

Page 27

How do you measure your success?

• Establish your measurement criteria.

• Establish your base line data

• Establish marketing controls – monitoring and adjust

activities.

• Analyze the results of efforts – both at the activity

level and the overall objective level.

Overall Evaluation

• Ask visitors how they heard about you.

• Total number of room nights for the year/season

• Total income for the year/season

• Total visitors and/or visitors by target market

Examples of Specific Measures

• Website – unique visitors, page views, origin of traffic, time

spent on site, engagement

• Collateral – number of brochures distributed, bookings

generated from brochures

• Public relations – number of stories generated through press

releases, FAM trips

• Advertising – number of impressions, responses, bookings from

specific ads or ad campaigns

• Travel trade and International – number of leads/bookings

generated though various activities

• Special promotions – number of inquiries/bookings generated

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