Five marketing mistakes to avoid

Most people associate marketing with potentially expensive promotional elements such as websites,brochures and advertising. They ’re all important but if you make any mistakes,your precious marketing budget is quickly squandered. The good news is that most common marketing mistakes are also easy to avoid! Susan Briggs tells us how ..

Mistake 1: No plan

The first and most obvious mistake is not having a proper marketing plan. The fact is you can't get where you want to be if you don't know where you're going. It's essential to have a specific objective in mind.

Most people want their business to be more profitable. This is easier to achieve if you set very tangible targets for yourself such as increasing room occupancy by 5% or attracting more guests on Sunday nights.You also need to set a realistic time frame in which to achieve your target.

A good way to do this is to have an overall target for the longer term, such as 'increase net profit by 20% over three years' and more specific targets for shorter periods of time such as 'achieve a 10%year on year increase on bed occupancy on weekday nights.'

Even if you don't have time to sit down and write an extensive plan, you need to organise your ideas and scribble a few notes, trying to answer these questions: Who are your main target markets?What do they really want to hear?What are the benefits of what you offer and how are you different from your competition? What sort of words do you need to use as triggers to get people interested in staying with you?How much have you got to spend on marketing and how are you going to spend it?

Mistake 2: Vague target markets

The easiest approach is the one many accommodation providers have – "I'll take anyone who comes to my door". But what happens when no-one comes? Or when the guests who do come won't pay the rates you want?

You need to divide your target markets into sectors. For example, you might want to achieve a 40/60 split between business and leisure visitors, or target guests from overseas from specific countries.

Once you ‘ve done this, try not to just use the traditional market descriptions of age and socio-economic background. It's easier if you can think of them as real people with real needs that you can meet.

Sparing five minutes to write a brief pen portrait of your preferred target markets will save you time later and make all your marketing more effective. And it doesn ‘t cost anything. Here's an example: Stressed, city-dwellers who are time-poor and cash-rich. They want to cram in as much as possible into their short break or holiday and are not afraid to spend in order to do that. They crave freedom and relaxation and are happy to use their break as a chance to pamper themselves and indulge in treats, whether it's a pub meal, long sweet-smelling bath or huge slice of cake.

A pen portrait like this will help you to think about your target market as humans and to develop much more effective services and promotional activities.You'll make wiser decisions about the content of your brochure and website, and where to advertise.

You might want to make small tweaks to your product or service to appeal to your target market. For example, simply adding high quality toiletries, a rubber duck and stack of magazines next to the bath would give people a talking point and help to differentiate your accommodation from others. And it barely costs anything.

Mistake 3: Not being clear about the benefits you offer

Accommodation providers tend to talk about the features of their property rather than the benefits of their service. They list the number of en-suite rooms and other physical details rather than thinking about how they can benefit their guests.

When someone makes a decision to buy something they are sub-consciously thinking, "what's in it for me?" You need to make sure you've answered that question.

Compare these two descriptions of the same place: All our bedrooms are individually designed and have en-suite facilitiesYou'll be able to relax and unwind in one of our individually designed bedrooms, each with a private bathroom.

The second one is much more appealing because it addresses the reader directly, gets into their mind and considers their needs.

Mistake 4: Designing without thinking about copy and content

Brochure and website design can be very expensive. Unfortunately, this money is frequently wasted because the accommodation provider hasn ‘t spent enough time on the content and words they use. As the above example shows, turning sentences round so they focus on the guest can be very powerful.

'You' grabs more attention and is more compelling than 'we'. As you write, try to keep thinking, "Why would someone book my accommodation?" Considering your guests' motivations – such as stressed city dwellers wanting to relax – helps to change the way you describe your service. You're more likely to use the words they want to hear, so they're more likely to believe you're offering what they want.

Once you've done this, you can think about the images you use. Now that digital cameras are so popular, there's no excuse for poor quality shots or those that don't reflect your property in the best possible light. One of the simplest ways to improve a photograph is by cropping. This means focusing more strongly on your property instead of the tarmac or double yellow lines in front of the building. You might also want to think about staging a room for a photograph, adding props like a dressing gown or case to bring it alive.

Take a look at what your competitors are doing to create an impact. Go to www. enjoyengland. com and consider their entries and websites. What sort of photographs do they use? How welcoming do they look? Does their description draw visitors in? How can you differentiate your accommodation from your competitors?

Mistake 5: Assuming everyone wants a bargain

As our description of stressed city-dwellers indicates, for many people value for time is as important as value for money. They're not as interested in getting a bargain as they are in finding ways to save time, gain time and enjoy their time. People may even pay more if you can help them do so.

A group of Indian/Bangladeshi restaurants next to the City of London were all in price competition. One restaurant offered two courses for a fiver so the next did … and the next. . Another offered three courses for a fiver and so the downward spiral went, but they were all still empty.

They hadn't stopped to think about their potential clients – the City bankers who were far more worried about being late back in the office after lunch than saving a few pounds. One restaurant realised this and started to offer one course for £10, guaranteeing that lunch would be good and not take more than 45 minutes.

The result: happy customers and even happier restaurant owners – they were able to serve less food and earn twice as much!

Hopefully the message is loud and clear. Improving your marketing doesn't have to be difficult. It hardly costs anything but can make a big difference.