Tour Business Marketing: From Scattergun to Laser-Focused [Costly Tour Business Mistakes 6/7]
Welcome to video 6 of 7 in our series on the 7 most common mistakes that keep tour business owners from selling more tours. Book a free 45-minute strategy call with a tour business coach here.
In this video, we share with you why the scattergun approach to marketing doesn’t work and how you can get laser-focused on your ideal target guest and how to show up in a way that brings value to them.
As a tour business owner, effective marketing campaigns can be a major challenge. Countless conversations with fellow operators have highlighted a common pain point—the spray and pray approach to marketing. Many of us lack the necessary training and have been disappointed by agencies that promise more than they deliver. Marketing, at its core, is about capturing the attention of your prospects. It’s about delivering the right message, at the right time, to the right person.
We’ll show you the power of the Guest Focus Formula™ and how actionable strategies can help enhance your marketing efforts. It’s all about the right message, at the right time, to the right person.
By the end of this video series, we’ll show you that your success as a tour operator is not determined by finding the right software, the right tool, or using the latest marketing hack. But Instead, the single, most effective path to building a thriving, profitable, tour business is to put your guest experience at the heart of everything you do. From Guest Focused tour design and delivery to Guest Focused sales and marketing.
As tour business owners, we often struggle with creating effective marketing campaigns. The scattergun approach, trying multiple strategies without focus, leads to wasted resources and disappointing results. Effective marketing boils down to capturing prospects’ attention with the right message at the right time. By embracing the Guest Focus Formula™, we can determine our target audience, create compelling messages and deliver value that resonates. Let’s explore key strategies to enhance marketing efforts and achieve a high return on investment.
Delivering Value to Ideal Target Guests
To create successful marketing campaigns, we need to deliver value to our ideal target guests. This can be done through various mediums such as Instagram, Facebook, blogs, email marketing, or videos. It’s crucial to choose platforms where our target audience spends their time. By entertaining, inspiring, educating, and engaging them, we can capture their attention and build rapport.
Examples of Effective Guest Focus Marketing
Let’s take a look at two success stories that demonstrate the power of guest focus marketing. Walter, a coaching member who runs Walters Ways Tours in Ireland, spent time in Facebook groups where his ideal target guests planned trips. Rather than focusing on self-promotion, he delivered value by answering questions and offering insights. This approach built trust and ultimately resulted in over 400,000 euros in direct bookings.
Melanie, who runs Classical Pursuits, set up a detailed itinerary call-to-action on her tour sales pages. By offering a Travel Planner and a series of automated emails showcasing the value of their tours, she effectively engaged potential guests. Overcoming objections, she included a direct link to a calendar for booking calls with travel advisors, resulting in increased sales and time savings.
Automating Marketing Processes
Automation plays a significant role in streamlining marketing efforts. By automating processes like email campaigns, tour operators can save time and focus on developing new partnerships and distribution strategies. InquisiTours, for instance, built a guest focus marketing funnel targeting travel agents. Their landing page featured testimonials, personalized trip presentations, and sales webinars, resulting in increased collaborations and bookings.
Deep Dive into Ideal Target Guests
Understanding our ideal target guests is crucial for successful marketing campaigns. By identifying their challenges, frustrations, and dream scenarios, we gain inspiration for content creation. Blog posts, videos, and social media posts that address their needs and aspirations will resonate with our target audience. By delivering value and building trust, we can guide them through the sales funnel to our irresistible offers.
Taking Action and Simplifying Marketing
Marketing can be overwhelming, especially with information overload and numerous strategies vying for attention. To simplify the process, we must focus on mediums that effectively reach our target audience and deliver value. By asking ourselves if a chosen medium and message will resonate and engage, we can cut through the noise and make informed decisions.
Mastering guest focus marketing is key to achieving success as tour business owners. By delivering value, building rapport, and understanding our ideal target guests, we can create effective marketing campaigns that yield impressive results. Take action today by revisiting your Guest Deep Dive and leveraging your knowledge to solve problems and fulfill dream scenarios. If you need guidance, our guest focus coaches are available for a free 45-minute strategy call. Let’s propel your tour business forward with guest focus marketing. Stay tuned for our next video, where we’ll explore another costly mistake to avoid.