Monday, December 22  

How should I market to this?

I've mentioned before this very example I'm about to give, but this time I'll use it to lead into an example of developing a marketing strategy.

On the weekend, my wife and I went to Sydney (Australia) for the weekend. It's 1,000 km down the coast. As usual I booked the air travel via the airline's web site (Virgin Blue) and the accommodation via a web site that provides last minute (2 weeks in advance) accommodation.

The hotel I stayed in was superb. Just metres from Circular Quay, it was the perfect position. We couldn't have booked a better place.

But this hotel is like many, many hotels and motels in Australia. They don't have an e-customer strategy. Or if they do, it's terrible.

This hotel cost me $180 for the night.
Here are a few things to tell you that this hotel's e-strategy is non-existent:

a) Via Wotif I can book the hotel room for $180 per night.
b) Via the hotel's own web site, the cheapest I can get this exact same room for (on the exact same night) is $584!
c) I can just about guarantee that this company will never contact me again with any sort of promotional literature.
(I have never, ever been contacted by a hotel I've stayed in. Never. And in this day of emails and SMS, the least that could be done is toss my details into a database and say "Thanks for staying. Hope everything went well. Here's another offer for next time."

Cutting prices is never a smart strategy (unless you cut value)

I think that the fact that hundreds of hotels are happily cutting each other's throats in terms of discounting, via sites like Wotif, to be a major strategic error. They're saying to the customer "It's not about value or relationships. It's only about price."

And they take the easy option by not even matching the prices on these discount sites (prices they put on themselves) on their own web sites, and saving themselves the 10% or so commission. And let's not forget the added value of email marketing, better information, being able to demonstrate value without instant comparison, etc if they use their own site more effectively.

Okay, I've gone on for long enough. How about I do something about it. How would I get this hotel to employ me as an e-strategist?

1. Direct mail?
2. Call up?
3. Get a friend to refer me?

None of the above. What I would do is establish myself as an expert to meet this particular company's needs. Positioning myself as that expert will mean:

a) Articles to industry publications
b) PR campaign to raise my profile within this niche
c) Start an industry specific newsletter
d) Speak at an industry conference

That would be a good start. Then when I approach the company (or they approach me after some well-targeted newsletters, press clippings and articles) my credibility as an expert is well-established and they'll be much more receptive to what I have to say. Easy!

If a potential client thinks you're an expert, then you are. If a potential client thinks you have superior product knowledge, then you do. What influences your market? How can you ensure that you are seen as a credible solution provider?

Cheers

Brendon