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How To Turn Travelers Into Visitors
Low-cost tourism marketing strategies
for museums and other cultural institutions
by Katherine Khalife
Marketing is not about selling things.
It's about making it easy for people to buy.
- Kristin Zhivago
According to a 1998 Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) survey, 53 percent of U.S. adult travelers plan activities after they arrive at their destinations. The most popular activities planned after arrival are dining out (67 percent), going shopping (45 percent) and visiting a museum (26 percent).How can you reach these spontaneous planners and ensure that when they do decide on a museum to visit, it's yours? The usual answers that spring to mind, of course, are advertising in local visitor guides and displaying brochures in racks at tourist information centers, hotels, restaurants and attractions. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. Whatever your budget, there are other effective strategies you can use as well.
Good Marketing to Local Audiences
TIA found that 30 percent of travelers going to a museum rely mainly on information from a friend, relative or colleague in making their choice. That means that the marketing you do to local audiences is likely to have a significant impact on your out-of-town visitation numbers as well -- making it even more important to do a good job of building awareness of your institution right in your own community. And while you're building that awareness, don't overlook local corporations, area tourism businesses and cab drivers!Share the Experience With Those in a Position to Recommend it
In addition to advising that you become actively involved with your local Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau, I'm also a firm believer in the importance of sharing your museum directly with those in the best positions to recommend it to others. In this case, cab drivers, the frontline staff at area hotels and restaurants, and the people at local corporations (usually in human resources) who have responsibility for taking care of out of town guests. After all, how often in your own travels has an enthusiastic recommendation from a colleague, motel desk clerk or waitress influenced your sightseeing choices?Frontline Familiarizations
You can send these frontline folks occasional free passes as many museums do, but it's much more effective to invite them for a guided tour and small refreshment reception, offering a choice of specific dates and times from which to choose. Not only does doing this make the invitation more special and generate a better response, but it also gives you an opportunity to get to know the attendees and make sure they're aware of all the great things your institution has to offer.Frontline familiarization tours don't have to be expensive productions to be beneficial. They're a form of grassroots marketing that every organization can and should be doing on an ongoing basis. If your budget allows for nothing else in the way of tourism promotion, don't neglect this one. The old rule still applies: nothing is more effective than word-of-mouth advertising.
Advertise to a Captive Audience
Have you ever noticed that when you stay at a hotel or bed and breakfast on vacation, you usually read every brochure, tent card and postcard that's displayed in your room? How about the discount coupons some hotels include in your key envelope? Yep, you've probably read those too. And I bet you've watched at least a couple of those visitor-guide videos that serve as the default channel on some in-room TVs.If you want to spend your advertising dollars where they'll have the most impact, advertise to captive audiences! Even if your budget is miniscule, all it takes to get yourself an in-room presence is some creativity and persistence.
Some innkeepers will be happy to let you to put a tent card advertising your institution in each guest room. Others, especially properties with chain affiliations, will have rules against that. But they may be willing to present each incoming guest with a discount admission coupon you provide. Or, if you're in an area where no printed visitor guides are produced, local lodging facilities might be delighted to have you supply them with a list of "Things to See While You're Here." Produce it letter-size on your computer and be sure to include a good area map on the back. And of course, make certain that your institution has prominent billing at the top of the list. Some hoteliers will even be willing to pay the cost of printing or photocopying these for each room if you just provide them with a well-designed, informative master copy.
When it comes to turning travelers into visitors, creativity can be as effective as a big advertising budget. The key is to put your museum's message where the travelers are.
Copyright © 2001 Katherine Khalife All rights reserved.
For reprint permission, please e-mail kkhalife@museummarketingtips.comKatherine Khalife is publisher of MuseumMarketingTips.com and the Museum Marketing Tips e-newsletter, used every month by thousands of cultural institutions seeking practical tips to improve their marketing.
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