Last month, I talked about the marketing problems that teams face on a regular basis and solutions for each. Applying a travel marketing spin on it all, I then talked about how you can deal with each in your particular business. These eight strategies are taken from a HubSpot article by Lindsay Kolowich.
Now for the first post of the new year, I review the last four marketing problems that might bedevil professionals, including you, in the course of your work. These are a little more advanced techniques. So even if you’re still in the startup or beginning stages of your business, keep these in mind as you progress with your marketing plans.
Training your team
In a travel marketing setting, you’re nearly always working with others, whether that’s on the account management or creative side. One strategy to use here is looking at each person’s strengths and weaknesses, work experience and commitment, then rate the expertise priority and ROI contribution. Of course, this will take longer to do with more staff. But in the end, this process can save a lot of future trouble.
You may also want to consider marketing training for your staff, which could be achieved in several ways. Think about self-study resources, webinars or even live trainings that could lead to certification.
Targeting content for an international audience
This can be an especially common issue with American companies, who often think they have to market to people here and not abroad. But if you’re not even developing a basic buyer persona about potential foreign customers, you could be missing out a great revenue generating opportunity.
First, try to look up some global marketing shortcuts or hacks that will help you understand the international buyers’ mindset. Then start to think about your content production where you will want to pay attention to seasonal information, differences in measurement units (most of the world uses the metric system), monetary references (don’t assume everyone accepts American dollars), and allowing translators the liberty to modify your copy if needed.
Hiring top talent
With ever-changing roles for creative and account management, marketers find that they’re constantly juggling ways to piece together a strong work team. That’s become more difficult when potential employees don’t always have the skills necessary to fufill a company’s overall goals.
Companies now would desire that their workers to have digital marketing, SEO, social media and content marketing skills. But these employees almost always have an area of strength that can be best utilized. Find out what that specialty is and fit it into the list of tasks that help fulfill your plans. If necessary, hire contracted or freelance help to get the job done.
Finding an executive sponsor
This idea simply means that you have a higher-up advocating for your efforts and agenda. This might be tough, because not everyone wants to put themselves out on a limb, professionally or fiscally. But if you’d like to have more budgetary resources in your corner, this might be the marketing challenge you will most want to meet.
How do you do this? Try to have an executive look at the inbound marketing data that supports your efforts and future plans. It definitely works better than anything that looks lofty, like a mission statement.
Taken with the marketing problems from the last post, these eight together can either derail your best laid plans, or help you and your travel business to grow like never before. The choice is completely up to you, so don’t shy away from the challenge.
What other marketing challenges do you encounter that could sidetrack your business and professional goals? Share your thoughts below!
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