Know-How Exchange : Branding

Hi,

I'm sure that this is definitely not the perfect solution to your question, but I hope it would give you some food for thought.

1. Since you mentioned of a low marketing budget, try to work out a co-operative marketing scheme with tour operators or any other such similar sectors which can bring you some exposure.

2. Try to get a list of your existing clients and start an e-mail or a direct mailer campaign with discounts, etc, especially on their Birthday's, Anniversaries, etc (If you have the customer data with you)
You could use this to promote the word of mouth as well and work on various discount packages for groups of 3 or more.

3. Try launching some group packages and try to categorize your marketing into different age groups, seasons, etc. and target them accordingly.

4. Monitor your competition and see what they are trying to do and what makes them click.

Hope this was of some help.

Cheers.

izanemba,

Let me suggest some fundamental issues for you to consider:

1. Analyze your target customers groups andtheir segments as they are now and you want them to be( demographics,holidaymakers,business travelers etc).
2.Analyze needs and expectations of your target customers as per segments
3.Look at your competition-who they are, what segments they cover, which of your target customer needs they meet and which they leave poorly fulfilled or not satisfied at all,how your competition position themselves
4.Analyze your company's strenghts and weaknesses as to possible satisfying the needsa nd expectations of your customer segments
5.Think of positioning your hotel/services in a way that better fits the needs of your audience and what strongest points of your offering you could make your Unique Selling Proposition and why.
6.Think of the best way to communicate your Unique Selling Proposition to your customer segments( ads,word-of-mouth,guerilla marketing,promotions etc.)
7.Consider who can help you best reach your target customers(co-branding,tour-operators).

Hope it helps

Adam

You've gotten some good advice.

The question I'd ask is WHY the budget is so limited. If it's because the hotel management doesn't think marketing is important, then I wouldn't count on them to make the necessary changes to support the marketing effort.

If it's that they are struggling to make ends meet, then maybe advertising and promotion are not the right first steps. They need to get their pricing and costs under control first.

I have a feeling that you're dealing with a symptom, not a fundamental problem. Marketing a bad product, no matter how effective in generating initial trial, is not usually a winning strategy.

Go back to business basics and see what's going on that makes the marketing budget so skimpy.

izanemba
I'm not sure if you are still monitoring your post as you've received some great tips. however, just in case you are, here are my thoughts.
There are a number of issues here - why is the budget so low?
what can be done to increase it?
What targets are set and to which department and if these targets are reached, will the budget be increased?
But let's assume you've addressed all of these and are still left with a management that views marketing budgets as a cost not an investment, and you are not alone, (a hotel here in Malaysia spent US$30 million on renovations but refused to approve a marketing budget! The owner was convinced the rooms would sell themselves!).
The next step is to determine who your customers are and what you want from them. Are you looking to get guests to stay longer or spend more in your outlets? If you are a resort hotel, what percentage are new customers and what percentage are repeat customers. This will also help determine much of your strategy - be realistic - you won't get that many businessmen to a resort hotel unless you have state of the art communications in every room. you MUST research who your customers are.
you really need to talk to your customers, either face to face, via email or comment cards to determine who they are and what it is that brings them back to your hotel. Don't ask "are you satisfied with ...." because satisfaction isn't measurable. ask specific questions that can help you improve specific areas of your business.
Don't forget, in the customer economy of today the customer defines the brand, not the firm. I hope this helps