Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Affordable Promoting For Tourist Discount Card?

Posted by Anonymous on 7/26/2011 at 9:29 PM ET 250 Points
I live in a vacation town that has several attractions. Most visitors rely on coupon books for savings. I recently developed a tourist discount card that contains offers at over a dozen area attractions, with offers better than in the coupon books. I am selling them for $10 each. They can be used repeatedly and are good for the year.

I have two concerns I am dealing with: 1) I am on a limited budget at the moment, so I need to keep things affordable. Of course, as sales go up, budget is more free too so if it is a 'home run', there can be more 'wiggle room'. But overall, budget is a factor.

And 2), I got started late in the season, so I of course prefer things that can get going quickly.

Any suggestions are very much appreciated!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 7/27/2011 at 6:39 AM Moderator
    How do people learn about your product? What is your marketing plan? Where/how do they purchase your product?

    Is it available at the retail locations of the merchants who honor the coupons? Can you get support from the hotels/motels/inns in the area? Hire clean-cut students to sell the product at local attractions, on the main street(s)?

    It sounds like your planning was not too good, and you're paying the price for that now. Without adequate funds, it's going to be difficult to do much. There are no free lunches.
  • Posted by marketbase on 7/27/2011 at 11:14 AM Accepted
    Most certainly, a clear cut marketing plan is always the best starting place. Assuming that you do have one, what is the total savings of the tourist discount card (TDC)? In other words, what is the $10 investment worth? Besides the obvious, saving time cutting (tearing/ripping) them out of the book, what else can it do for the customer?

    Starting with the twelve or so cooperating businesses, see if they will allow you put up a poster/sign/flyer (which includes a copy of said TDC) that says "TDC accepted here; $$ savings at more than ## tourist attractings" and use that to begin leveraging its presence. Is there an overlap/competitive position with the long-held coupon book program?

    Hotels, transportation, food servic and of course entertainment venues are all possible ''partners.'' Try to make sure you have representative ''savings'' from each.

    Best of luck!
  • Posted on 7/27/2011 at 5:02 PM Author
    Yes, I have/had a full marketing plan. I would rather not discuss my personal life on a forum, but something happened that greatly affected both my time and finances. Things are getting back on track, but I am having to play catch-up a bit at this point. I have several things in the works, but thought it wouldn''t hurt to get others input as well. I am well aware "there are no free lunches".

    I had already implemented almost all of the suggestions made, and then some. At least that makes me feel somewhat validated about some of the things I have tried. Thanks for the input, and thanks for the well-wishes Marketbase.
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