Press trips and media coverage are a big part marketing. Traditional advertising is no longer trusted by consumers, so paying bloggers or journalists to write about your route and promote it via social media can be valuable.

It is always important to research a journalist or blogger to ensure they are a good fit for the type of exposure you’re looking for and that you can afford them. Partnering with local tourism offices or municipalities can also help to increase your budget if you’re strapped for cash.

Here are some tips for hosting a blogger or journalist along your route:

Pitch the trip to them
When you’re pitching a trip to a freelance journalist or blogger, make it sound as enticing and interesting as possible. Try to keep to a specific theme – such as culture, food or wine – that will interest them. Suggest an itinerary that will provide story-telling experiences as this will make their job easier and more enjoyable. Providing the social media handles (Handles are another name for social media names on Twitter and Instagram and are used to mention or ‘tag’ the business. E.g. @open_africa on Instagram or @OpenAfricaOrg on Twitter) for the businesses along the itinerary is also useful so that the journalist/blogger can begin promoting them on social media before they even get there.

Create a Hashtag
Creating a hashtag for the trip to use on social media is another great way to show you’ve thought this through. A hashtag makes it easy for posts (photos, tweets and others) to be indexed together so that if anyone is searching for more information on the trip, they can search using the hashtag Hashtags should be kept short but descriptive as possible. For example, Reunion Tourism has a hashtag they use which tells travellers how they can reference it: #GoToReunion

See how easy it is to search for photos of Reunion Island by searching for #GoToReunion

Provide free and fast WiFi
This is one of the most important things for any travel writer. You may be in some remote corner of the country, but if they’re on an assignment or job, they need WiFi in order to tweet, post photos on Instagram and stay connected to their audience. If it’s free, they’ll be even more likely to post regularly and share news of their trip with their followers. Also remember that if you’re hosting journalists on trips to countries where they don’t live, they may be relying on WiFi for all their communication to avoid hefty roaming charges. Verify ahead of time that there will be WiFi available at least at some of the restaurants and attractions they’ll be visiting, as well as at the guesthouses and B&Bs. If there’s a fee for WiFi – get it waived.

Give them free time
Travel writers need time to check their emails, write tweets and post photos and also to stop and breathe. If their days are filled with activities they won’t have any time to reflect on their experiences and will find it difficult to promote you. It also doesn’t hurt to give them time to explore and experience things on their own, unaided by biased tour guides with agendas. Find out beforehand what they would prefer.

Give them an itinerary
Providing travel writers with a detailed itinerary ahead of time is essential. Include web links, social media handles (Business social media names, e.g. @open_africa on Instagram or @OpenAfricaOrg on Twitter) and links, contact details, e-mails of people they’ll be meeting and information about places they’ll be visiting. This will give them the opportunity to research ahead of time so they know what they’re writing about during their trip.

Personalise the visit
Travel writers of any kind have different goals and interests in their work (See the difference between traditional journalists and bloggers) By creating an environmentally-friendly trip for a blogger who is an advocate for conservation makes them feel special. These trips aren’t a “one size fits all” experience, and giving the participating journalists or bloggers different options to choose from means you’ll get more value at the end. Make sure that whatever you do, their experience is as authentic as possible. For example, if your route isn’t known for its food and wine, don’t attempt to make a food-themed trip.

Provide a brief
While it may look like they’re permanently on holiday, travelling and telling stories is how these writers earn a living and so each trip should be treated professionally and as a job. If you are paying for the writer to visit your area, provide a brief to them upfront of what you expect in return from them. What are you trying to achieve by hosting them? Is it awareness about the route, or would you like to see an increase in travellers? Do you want to promote an annual festival, or are they coming to your route to experience and cover baby turtles hatching on the beach?

Be clear in terms of social media coverage as well. You can specify how many tweets, Instagram photos and blog posts you want to come out of the trip and this is a helpful guide for them. By detailing this information, the writers will be able to manage your expectations and deliver on a product you can be happy with.

Involve your route members
When planning to visit the journalist or blogger, invite other route members to participate. The costs can be significantly reduced if route members offer free accommodation, activities and meals. In this way you can get great exposure at a limited cost.

One of the most important aspects of running a business is marketing and, amongst the tons of seemingly more important things, you might question the need for using Facebook. Many people feel it may be trivial and a waste of time, but take a look at Facebook and you’ll see that all the big brands have a presence there. Why is this? Everyone is on Facebook and is already addicted to it, which means that your customers are already in one place. You just need to speak to them.

Find out how to set up a Facebook page.

Here are some reasons why you should have your presence on a social networking giant like Facebook and take it seriously:

Customer Interaction: Having your business on Facebook through page is a great way to learn more about your customers. Through comments or posts, businesses can have direct feedback and conversations with their target audience. The people who like your business page are only there because they want to be. They are there to know what they can about you and you can do the same thing.

Give a personal touch to your business: Being well connected is important for any business, especially for a small one. Facebook allows you to give your business an image and then you can actually have live conversations with people who matter, making it a more personal experience.

Develop a loyal fan base: Facebook allows you to develop your very own community. All you need to do is post content that is both relevant and useful to your target audience. You can even have promotional campaigns and contests through your page and offer incentives as well. If done correctly, you will find that you can develop a loyal community for your business on Facebook.

SEO: Search Engine Optimization is a key aspect for any business building a presence on the web and having a Facebook page can help you in your SEO efforts as well. All the links and posts on the page are indexed by search engines which makes your business easier to find in search engines.

Beat your competition: One of the biggest reasons for you to make sure that you are on Facebook is that your competition might already be there. In this cut throat environment, lagging behind will make it really hard for your business to succeed.

Viral promotion: If someone ends up liking your page then it appears in their news feed. This makes it possible for your business to be in their eyes on a regular basis through status updates or content posting. What’s more, if they comment on your post, their friends will also see your post and this can help in viral promotion of your business.

Save money: Apart from these facts, Facebook is free. You do not need to spend anything for promoting your company through a Facebook page.

You can read more from the original article on iMarketing Factory.

The Marketing Coordinator is in charge of managing all the marketing activities associated with the route, from social media, print marketing and advertising to brand management and communications.

This Guide covers the Marketing Coordinator’s responsibilities. It is important for the route Marketing Coordinator to familiarise himself or herself with this Guide to understand what is required. The Guide will also help other route leaders and members, since it will give them a good understanding of what the Marketing Coordinator’s role should be and what support they could offer.

This Guide should be read together with other Guides covering the various leadership positions.

Why is the Marketing Coordinator’s Role Important?
As the route is a product in itself, it needs to be marketed across as many different types of platforms as possible. Online marketing is the easiest and cheapest method of marketing and, with the advent and rise of social media, the World Wide Web (the Internet) has merged with social media (Facebook, Twitter etc.) to create what is commonly known as ‘The Social Web.” It is almost impossible to engage in online activity these days without coming into contact with social media.

Websites now contain links to their relevant social media channels as well as share buttons, where customers can share content and help drive online traffic back to the website. The more online traffic or “hits” a website gets, the more attractive it becomes.

This means that anyone with a social media account has the power to share content (articles, photographs and video) on any social media channel. Some of these people have become incredibly influential with many people following what they are doing online. For this reason, social media and blogs have become essential for any business operating in the online space.

There are four main areas of responsibility for the Marketing Coordinator:
1. Brand management
2. Social media
3. Production and distribution of marketing materials
4. Traditional advertising
5. Communications

1. Brand Management
As the route’s brand and logo belong to the route, it is important that the Marketing Coordinator oversees the use of the logo in all aspects of marketing. Brand guidelines are provided by Open Africa during the branding process which need to be adhered to at all times in order to protect and maintain the parent Open Africa brand to which the route belongs and the hospitality experience that it represents.

Misuse of the logo (e.g. incorrect colour, distorted size, low resolution) can severely damage or dilute the brand and potentially have a negative effect on all other brands (routes) associated with the Open Africa route network. For this reason, the brand needs to remain consistent and professional so as not to hurt or cheapen it in any way.

2. Social Media
Social media has come a long way since the days of chat rooms and has increased collaboration, provided a platform for people to share ideas and connected people across the globe. It has become an important tool and it’s important for businesses to understand the impact social media can have on them.

Customers can now interact with brands, products and services directly and even become ambassadors for them and vice versa. Brands now have a direct link to their customers, making it possible to receive constructive feedback and deal with customer complaints in the moment. It can also, of course, have negative effects for brands which is why it is some important for someone to manage a business’s social media accounts.

Customer Reviews have become more important than advertising, especially for tourism-based businesses. Now, consumers can write reviews online about their experience at guesthouses, hotels, restaurants and even attractions for other consumers to read. A lot of good reviews can have an extremely good influence on the success of a business while a few bad ones could mean the end. This is why it’s so important to make sure your business is listed on review sites and complaints are dealt with in a timely fashion. TripAdvisor has become the world’s largest and most renowned review site and interestingly, has three times as many restaurants listed on it than hotels.

Many travellers plan their trips by researching online. This means that they read reviews for accommodation and restaurants online before they decide to make a booking. They listen to what their friends have to say about destinations on social media.

Recommended Social Media Channels:
• TripAdvisor
• Facebook
• Instagram

Please see the corresponding guides on how to market using these channels.

3. Production and Distribution of Marketing Materials
The route Marketing Coordinator will manage the production and distribution of all marketing materials and will give the final sign off once he or she is happy with the final product. As the route forms part of the larger Open Africa brand it is imperative that all marketing materials are sent to the Marketing Manager at Open Africa to ensure the parent brand is maintained and not damaged or diluted in any way.

Digital versions of materials such as banners, brochures and signage will be provided to the Marketing Coordinator for future printing needs. The files will be editable to allow for any changes or updates.

4. Traditional Advertising
While traditional print advertising can become costly, many local publications often provide discounted rates which can be a useful platform for routes to advertise. An advertorial is always the preferred type of advert as it looks like an article, can contain images and is generally more widely-read than small adverts placed in advertising sections of publications. Advertorials can vary in length from half a page to a page, to even 8 pages long, depending on the available budget. In the event of an advert being bought for the route, the Marketing Coordinator should manage the process and provide the publication with all the necessary artwork, hi-res images, text (copy) and hi-res logos.

5. Communications and media exposure
The Marketing Coordinator will be responsible for communicating with journalists and encouraging them to visit the route. This also entails coordinating the trips and ensuring that the rest of the route members play their respective parts. See the separate guide on how to invite and host journalists.

TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel site, with more than 350-million travellers visiting the site each month to research and plan their trips. If your business is an accommodation, restaurant, or attraction, your property can be listed for free. Being on TripAdvisor will increase your business’ exposure to a large, qualified audience and give you access to many free marketing tools.

Here’s a handy video to help illustrate the guide below:

How to set up an account
There are two ways businesses can set up an account: a representative from your business can request a listing, or a TripAdvisor user can write a review of the property and initiate a listing.

Before you request a listing, go to https://www.tripadvisor.com/Owners to make certain that a traveller hasn’t already added your business to TripAdvisor. Look for the list of categories under the “Start here if you own or manage” header, select your business type and enter your business’ name.

If a match appears in the search box, click “Search” and on the next screen, check that the business name and region matches and then select “Register my business” to confirm that you are affiliated with the business. If your business is already listed, you should register for the existing listing instead of creating a new one. TripAdvisor only allows one listing per business.

Registering allows you to access the Management Centre, where you can manage your TripAdvisor listing and reviews. You can also correct any details that aren’t accurate. Plus, there are free tools to help you build your business. You can find out more information here.

Request a listing
If you enter your business’ name and a match is not found, it isn’t listed on TripAdvisor yet. You can request a listing by selecting the “Tell us more about it” link at the bottom of the search result page. You’ll need to provide a few different types of information about your business to get started. TripAdvisor editors will use this information to confirm that your business meets our listing criteria and determine the best category for it on the site. Complete the request form with as much detail as possible.

Your information
The “Your information” section helps TripAdvisor verify your relationship with the business. Provide your name, connection with the business, and email address. Make sure your email address is correct because they’ll send you a message when your listing is published on TripAdvisor. Then you can register your affiliation with the property to take advantage of free tools.

Listing information for your business
Next, you’ll provide information for your business including your company’s official name and address. Once you’ve typed your address, place the marker on the correct location on the map. Your property’s mapped location will be shown to travellers on the site as they plan their trips. You’ll need to add your company’s website and phone number as well.

Keep in mind that TripAdvisor’s editors use your website or a partner’s website (like a tourist board or reservations partner) to confirm the information you provide. So, it’s important that the data you submit in your listing request matches your website and other resources.

Business details
TripAdvisor will also need you to answer some detailed questions about your type of property. These help them to make sure they’re displaying your business in the right category and including as much relevant information as possible. For more specifics on your particular type of property, check out the categories below:

Accommodations:
As an accommodation owner, your property will be listed on the TripAdvisor hotels section for your destination. There are some specific items you’ll need to provide so they can put you in the correct category within that section:

• Total number of rooms
• Price range
• Minimum stay requirements
• If you have on-site staff and security
• If room cleaning is included
• Front desk staffing details
• If bathrooms are en suite

TripAdvisor uses these characteristics, as well as official, local classifications, to determine if your property should be listed in the Hotels, B&B/Inns, or Specialty Lodging category on TripAdvisor.

You’ll also be able to provide additional information on amenities including whether your property offers complimentary breakfast, suites, tennis/golf, beach/pool access, fitness centre, internet access, etc. These details will be added to the “Amenities” portion of your listing and will help travellers research what they can expect at your accommodation.

Restaurants:
Restaurant listings appear on the Restaurants section of TripAdvisor. Individual restaurants that are open to the public can be listed. You’ll be asked to provide information on your category of restaurant (sit down, café or fast food), type of cuisine, pricing, and any special features. These items will appear on your listing page and will help travellers decide whether or not they’d like to dine at your restaurant.

Attractions:
You’ll need to select a category that best describes your attraction. If your business isn’t a fit for any of the attraction types that are listed, select “Other.” You can also provide your recommended length of visit, pricing information and details on other amenities (bathroom facilities, lockers, etc.).

In order for a property to be listed on TripAdvisor in the Attractions section, it must be a permanent place of interest (not seasonal or short-term) with an official name, address and phone number. The attraction’s hours or regular departure times must be available in a website or brochure, along with scheduled departure locations (if they vary). Tour companies can qualify as an attraction if they offer day tours, are licensed/recognised by the local city or tourism officials and the word “Private” appears in the listing name.

Add a business description
A description of your business helps travellers learn more. It must be written in your local language and cannot include any HTML coding, phone numbers, web/email addresses or text in ALL CAPS. It’s best to keep this description short, so guests can scan the key highlights you’ve provided and make a decision.

Choose a photo
Providing a photo of your business helps you make a strong first impression with travellers. TripAdvisor will display this on your listing page. The photo needs to be a .jpg or .gif (common photo formats). TripAdvisor can’t accept images with borders, logos or files that are larger than 100kb.

Submit the listing
Once you’ve confirmed that all of the information you’ve added is correct, check the box at the bottom of the form to verify that you are a representative of the business, the information you’ve submitted is valid and that you have the rights to post the image you’ve provided. Then click the ‘Submit’ button to complete the process.

Next steps
Once you request your listing, TripAdvisor editors will verify your details and confirm that your property meets the guidelines for the business type you’ve selected. This typically takes about 5 business days.

This guide can be found online on TripAdvisor.

Instagram is an online mobile (cell phone) photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, and share them on a variety of social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.

Originally, a distinctive feature was that it confined photos to a square shape, similar to Kodak Instamatic and Polaroid images, but since August 2015, a new version was released, allowing users to post photos captured in any aspect ratio (not just the small square size). Users can also apply digital filters to their images. The maximum duration for Instagram videos is 15 seconds.

Instagram is a mobile app that you can download on iOS and Android phones and tablets as well as Windows Phone 8 and later. You must create your account using the Instagram mobile app, not a computer. After you’ve downloaded the app and created an account, you can then view Instagram from a computer.

Here’s a quick video to illustrate the points below about getting started:

Setting up your account:
1. Download the Instagram app for iOS from the App Store, Android from Google Play Store or Windows Phone from the Windows Phone Store.
2. Once the app is installed, tap the  icon to open it.
3. Tap Sign Up, then enter your email address and tap ‘Next’ or tap ‘Log In’ with Facebook to sign up with your Facebook account.
4. If you register with email, create a username and password, fill out your profile info and then tap ‘Done’. If you register with Facebook, you’ll be prompted to log into your Facebook account if you’re currently logged out.
Keep in mind, if you sign up with email, make sure you enter your email address correctly and you choose an email address that only you can access. If you log out and forget your password, you’ll need access to your email to get back into your Instagram account.

We advise you find friends either through your Facebook account or your contacts. This way people will know you are on Instagram and will follow your account, creating more awareness. Users can also tag your business when they post photos there which helps you gain more followers, awareness and FREE MARKETING!

To update your profile information, including your username and the email address associated with your account
1. Go to your profile by tapping the icon in the bottom right hand corner 
2. Tap ‘Edit Your Profile‘
3. Type in your new name, username, website or bio or edit your private information then tap Done (iPhone), Save (Android) or the check mark (Windows Phone)

You are now ready to begin Instagramming your photos!

For more tips on why and how you should be using Instagram to grow your business, check out the two videos below.

Part 1:

Part 2:

This guide can be viewed online on Instagram.

Tourism operators often try and sell their own services and products without selling the area at the same time. But tourists usually want to know what attractions are available in the area they are going to, not just the place they are staying. In fact, an interesting area is almost always the deciding factor in planning their trips.

One of the benefits of being part of a route is that areas can be marketed together. This means that people are drawn into the area first, before individual operators start competing for their share of the market. Visitors need to be made aware of the area and its attractions, so they can decide that this where they want to spend their hard-earned money. Before this can be done, however, you need to know what exactly you are selling and who your target market is.

A marketing plan will help to do this.

This Guide will explain what must go into an effective marketing plan, so that the route can attract more customers to the area – to the benefit of all members there. It will explain how to write a marketing plan, what you should include in your plan, and how to monitor and review your marketing performance. It provides useful hints and tips, as well as sources of further information.

A marketing plan must achieve one or more of these aims:

• Attracting more customers to the route.
• Increasing the average sales made by route members.
• Ensuring your route visitors buy from members more often.
• Ensuring repeat visits from visitors (customers).

The marketing plan for your route does not have to be too long, and you shouldn’t be overly concerned with making your plan too complicated. The shorter and clearer it is, the better, so that everyone can understand it.

Why is a marketing plan important?

Sadly, most small organisations do not have a marketing plan, but focusing on your marketing effort is one of the most effective ways for your route to survive and thrive, especially in increasingly competitive times. This is because a good marketing plan can:

• Get you more visitors and customers
• Get inactive visitors to come back
• Get your current visitors to buy more.

By developing a marketing plan for your route, the Route Forum is collectively marketing these smaller organisations as well as the larger organisation.

It will also allow you to take advantage of all the know-how, thinking and underutilised assets that you own but are not fully exploiting. By bringing your knowledge together in a plan, you will identify all the actions and tactics you need to achieve your marketing objectives with an implementation timetable.

What is a marketing plan?

A marketing plan describes your target market and your customers so that you can better understand what they want. It will also then build on this information to plan the best ways of reaching them with products, services and experiences they will be most likely to buy at a price that they can afford.

Defining your market

Your marketing plan should provide detailed information about your target audience – this is the market you are aiming at with your product or service. A profitable market consists of people who genuinely have a need or desire for the products, services and experiences sold on your route, and will jump at the chance to buy it when you offer it to them.

For instance, most routes will want to target as least two traveler types: tourists who travel by road and business people who travel by road. You need to think about what your route can offer to each of these segments.

Your plan should typically answer the following questions about your target audience:

• Are there segments in your market that are currently underserved? For instance, does the route cater for business travellers (upmarket accommodation, meeting rooms or conference facilities?)
• Are the segments you are aiming at big enough to bring substantial business to your route?
• Does your route face too much competition for certain segments? (Is it more sensible to target low-budget travellers rather than business people, for instance?)
• What are the services or products that your route can offer that travellers cannot get easily in other areas (scenery, certain outdoor activities, certain fruit or vegetables, etc.)?

Understanding your customers

Knowing your customers intimately is the key first step to effective marketing. To prepare a marketing plan, you must know exactly:

• Who your customers could be.
• What they would want from your route.
• What will motivate them to come to your area and spend time there; in other words, what do they want to do there?

To help you really understand your customers, your marketing plan should answer the following questions:

• What are the demographic characteristics of your target customers, in terms of age, gender, income, hobbies, ethnicity, and so on?
• Who is the primary buyer and who has the primary influence in the purchasing process? These may not always be the same person. When marketing to families, for instance, should you target the husband or the wife? When marketing to businesses, should you target the CEOs or the administrators? (Ask the question: who makes the decisions and arrangements for company travel?)
• What habits do your target customers have? For instance, where do they get the information to help them make decisions? Is it from television, newspapers, specialist magazines or the internet?
• What are the main emotional motivators that will make someone consider visiting your route? Relaxation, excitement, saving money? What else?

Identifying your market niche

For most small organisations, the best marketing plans concentrate on supplying products and services to customer groups that fit the lifestyle (psychographic) and demographic (such as age, gender, occupation or income) profiles of your target market. In other words, if you define your market as everybody and anybody, then it is hard to focus your limited marketing budget.

Your marketing plan should outline how you will carve out your specific niche and how you aim to dominate it. By defining the niche and narrowing your market focus, you will find you can spread the awareness of your route more quickly. It will also become easier and cheaper to contact potential visitors, and you will almost certainly face less competition.

Developing your marketing message

Once you have identified your target market audience and profiled your niche customers, you will need to focus on developing your marketing message. This should explain what your route offers and should persuade people to visit.

There are generally two types of marketing message. One is short, to the point and often referred to as the elevator pitch. It’s your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be with someone important who asks you ‘What do you do?’ and you have 30 seconds to make your pitch.

Here is a video on How To Do An Elevator Pitch that will help you get the idea.

The second type is the complete marketing message and your plan should develop this type of message and identify where it will be used. The message must be compelling and persuasive; include the following in it:

• An explanation of your target customers’ need or problem.
• Proof that this need is important and that it should be served without delay.
• An explanation of why you are the only business that can address this need.
• An explanation of the benefits people will get by using your solution.
• Examples and testimonials of satisfied customers who have used your visited your route and enjoyed it.
• An explanation of prices and payment terms.

Defining your marketing medium

This is a crucial part of your marketing plan and will define the methods and media you will use to ensure your message reaches the target audience. It should identify exactly how you will sell your route to your targeted visitors.

Your marketing medium is the communication vehicle that you will use to deliver your marketing message. The best medium for you will be the one that reaches most people in your niche at the lowest possible cost. The following is a selection of different types of marketing media you can use to get your message across:

• Newspaper, magazine and radio adverts.
• Online advertising on selected websites and search engines.
• Social media – here is a video that shows you How To Set Up A Facebook Fan Page.
• Posters and billboards.
• Competitions.
• Seminars and talks.
• Leaflet drops.
• Travel shows – read the Guide How To Attend Travel Shows and look at these Examples of how other routes have got the most out of shows they have attended.
• Press releases and advertorials.
• Networking.
• Flyers and brochures.
• E-mail.
• Postcards.
• Sales agents.
• Gift vouchers.
• Word of mouth.
• Website links.
• Business cards.

Setting sales and marketing targets

Targets are critical to marketing success and these should be realistic and specific. If you haven’t written down your goals and targets in your marketing plan then you are simply wishing for success instead of aiming for it.

Ensure that your goals and objectives use the SMART formula:

• Specific.
• Measurable.
• Achievable.
• Realistic.
• Time-defined.

These goals should include financial values in terms of numbers of visitors, numbers of overnight stays, numbers of customer visits to key sites on the route, amounts spent by visitors per visit, length of visit per visitor, etc. You can also include targets such as enquiry levels, sales conversion rates, website traffic generated, press releases and articles published.

Once these targets are set, your marketing plan should indicate how and when you will review and adjust them.

Setting your marketing budget and timetable

Your plan should include a realistic budget to allow you to undertake all your desired marketing activity and a timetable for its implementation. You can calculate your budget using either exact figures or an estimate.

Once you have calculated or estimated your budget, you will need to produce a timetable to implement the plan. This timetable will identify:

• Each specific marketing action you will take.
• Who will carry these out.
• A timescale for each activity and when it will start.
• Key events and milestones during the year, such as trade shows and exhibitions.
• When any additional or external resources, such as specialists in PR, graphic design or direct sales will be needed.

You will find it useful you read these Guides: How To Develop A Project Budget and How To Develop And Manage A Route Budget.

Monitoring and reviewing progress

Once your marketing plan is under way, you will need to monitor and review its progress continually. Ideally, you should do this each month. You should also consider possible scenarios such as how to handle responses to particular marketing activities or how to deal with seasonal aspects of your industry or sector.

In addition, you will need to consider how to manage your marketing plan. You must ensure that you don’t spend your entire annual budget in the first couple of months. Decide how you will monitor and interpret results and think about how you will adjust the plan or introduce new tactics as you progress.

Who is involved with developing a marketing plan?

The route forum needs to facilitate the process of producing a marketing plan with the input and involvement of all members.

How do we develop a marketing plan for the route?

If there are resources available, it can assist to have an expert involved in helping the route members to develop a plan – but it must be someone with on-the-ground tourism experience in the area or a similar area. Their role would be to streamline the writing of the plan but they must take all the input from members and must be able to draw the necessary information out of members. It will not be useful for the plan to be written by an outside consultant if members do not ‘own’ the result.

The process needs to involve all members, and must express their views and capacity. This way, the objectives, plans and implementation timetables will be relevant and achievable.  

Practical tips

• The marketing plan will be one of your most important business documents, so make sure you set aside some uninterrupted time to develop it.
• Study the detail around your proposed marketing media, how appropriate your marketing message is to your target audience, and your overall marketing budget.
• To begin with, don’t worry about writing style or making your plan too complicated or long-winded.

Use of this Guide

This Guide can be used by the Route Forum to develop a marketing plan that will extend the route’s impact. It can also be used by individual members to better market their own businesses.

Other Guides and Examples

Open Africa has developed a detailed Marketing Toolkit to help you develop a marketing plan.

You may also find these other Resources on marketing topics useful:

• Guide: How To Attend Travel Shows
• Example: How Do We Attend Travel Shows
• Resource: How To Do An Elevator Pitch

Contacts and other support

SA Tourism Services Association (a database of credible tourism service providers).
Tel: 086 12 72872
Fax: 011 886 7557
Website: www.satsa.com

Indaba Tourism Exhibition is one of the largest tourism marketing events in Africa, showcasing a variety of southern Africa’s best tourism products. It attracts about 12 000 local and international visitors and around 1 700 exhibitors.
Tel: 011 483 2501/21
Fax: 011 483 0031/39
E-mail: indaba@indaba-southafrica.co.za|
Website: www.indaba-southafrica.co.za

A key role of the route is to constantly explore new ideas and projects that will attract visitors to your route, improve the experience that these visitors have, and raise the levels of income that your members can earn from this visitor flow.

This Guide will help you take a project idea and develop a Project Plan that you can present to the Route Forum for possible implementation, and propose to potential funders. It will also guide you to transform the project idea into the implementation stage, where you can implement and manage the proposed project.

One of the benefits of belonging to the Open Africa networks is that you are able to learn from the experience of other routes. Some of these routes have been operating for more than 10 years and have much experience in marketing their routes and others who have come up with innovative ways to develop new projects.

To keep up with the times and exploit new opportunities, your route needs to develop new project ideas all the time. Not all of these will be implemented – some of them might not be practical, and there will always be a limit on the resources and money you have to put ideas into action. But the Route Forum’s energy must be channelled into a systematic way of taking an idea and assessing its possible impact and viability.

This way, the Route Forum can become a funnel of good ideas – taking suggestions and concepts and then putting them through a process of testing which are the most practical, valuable and beneficial to the route.

Developing a project idea is the first stage in getting a new project started. After the idea is developed and accepted by the relevant stakeholders, there are Guides on how to develop and manage a project plan (see the list of other Guides below).

Why is developing project ideas important?

Times are always changing, and new opportunities arise with new trends and events in your area and beyond. Your route can use these to the benefit of members if everyone is thinking creatively about how to make the best of these opportunities.

An idea on its own, of course, is not enough. It must be developed to see if it could be practical, useful and affordable. And if it is, then it can be turned into a project or activity that the route can implement. A really good idea can turn into a regular project that runs continuously or is repeated at a certain time each year.

What is a project idea and how do you develop it?

The project idea will be a concept for an activity that can help the route to achieve its goals. It might be a once-off project that takes advantage of an unusual opportunity or it could be an activity that is repeated each month or each year. The FIFA Soccer World Cup was an example of a once-off event that the tourism industry was able to exploit in a number of ways, many of those businesses that benefited the most, however, were those who were able to extend the benefit by attracting World Cup visitors back again – or using the publicity of the event to gain future, sustainable business.

The trick is to be able to test an idea cheaply and quickly, and turning the good ones into practical projects that serve the aims of the route. Implementing too many ideas that fail is an expensive and unsustainable exercise.

Assess the project idea

The route needs a way of assessing a project idea before it commits the time and money that is required. Put aside some time during regular monthly meetings or arrange a separate time to focus only on one or more ideas. Bring in experts on particular things if the ideas need some specialist advice.

Examine the current reality or situation

To conduct a situational analysis is a process that routes must go through when starting up and prioritising their focus and a unique selling proposition. Such an analysis can also be used to zoom in on smaller aspects of the route area, to examine opportunities for specific projects within specific areas along the route.

This is important to ensure that every project idea has a context. It must address a certain need or opportunity that is well understood so that the intervention you plan has the impact you expect.

What will the project’s impact be?

Be clear and realistic about what the possible benefits will be to the route and its members. During the assessment, you need to estimate these impacts and measure them during implementation. This will give you more confidence about tackling the project.

So set some goals for the project. You can do this in the same way that you set the original goals for the route. Use the SMART principles: S = specific, M = measurable, A = attainable, R = realistic, and T = timely.

Is it practical and affordable?

Put some thought into how this project might be implemented. Are there any unsolvable challenges that will risk its success? In other words, how practical is it?

Also, put some figures to the different steps involved. Estimate what it will cost for the planning, the materials (or components) and the implementation. Put these into a simple budget and see if the route has the money to cover the costs; if you don’t have enough, see if there are other stakeholders who might be interested in contributing money to it.

Then identify potential (or estimated) revenue gains from the project. Explore how the idea will give something back to your members and, if applicable, the other stakeholders – who will usually be looking for something in return for their contribution.

Look carefully at the timeframe. How long do you have to plan this project and implement it? Be realistic about the sort of delays that usually occur when implementing a project – especially for the first time. Avoid pursing a project if you can see that the time is too short. Trying to rush something new is usually a recipe for disaster.

Who can put it into action?

See if the route has people employed who have the skills and experience to implement such a project. Or perhaps the Route Forum has people with the expertise that you need. You can also look to the membership of the route to find the skills and abilities required. If it’s a specialist task, you might need to get an outside expert – and the cost may be higher than you had hoped. Ensure that you factor any additional expenses into the budget.

What other resources do you need?

There may be a range of tools, supplies, partnerships, funding, meeting space, etc. that the project will need. Make a detailed checklist and see how many of these your route has access to. If you don’t have them and need to procure them from outside, add them to the project budget.

Building capacity

If a project idea looks really good but needs skills you don’t have, consider training people for the task. There is often donor funding for training – especially if it can build capacity within your route so that this project can be carried out internally and on an ongoing basis. This can help to bring more people into the route’s activities while laying the ground for them to do this work into the future and ensuring the project’s sustainability.

Evaluating outcomes

Every project need sto have some way of judging whether it was worthwhile. One way of doing this may be to measure if it brought in more income than it cost to implement– in other words, did it make a profit and is it therefore a sustainable project to continue with?

But not all projects need to show a financial return (or profit). Many activities – especially marketing – will only show their value over a long time. Plan some way of measuring these benefits, the best way in the short-term may be to ask people’s opinions – speak to those who were meant to benefit, or other stakeholders who were involved. There may even be other benefits that you did not intend, but which are important nonetheless. It is a good idea to develop several indicators that can one can measure against during the implementation phase and post-implementation.

Who is involved with project ideas?

The Route Forum needs to champion the importance of new project ideas, as it cannot be expected to come up with all the ideas by itself. Members must also be encouraged to come up with ideas – and not just the idea, but also a more in-depth proposal exploring the issues discussed above. It is unfair just to throw ideas at the Route Forum and expect it to do all the hard work of researching whether they are practical or not.

But the Route Forum can create a channel for these ideas, and can even offer workshops on how to investigate ideas and turn them into proposals. The Route Forum may even create a subcommittee, onto which they can co-opt anyone with expertise and interest, that will evaluate ideas and develop the best ones into proposals for the forum to consider.

Practical tips

• Make the brainstorming a fun exercise so that members don’t feel intimidated by your request for ideas and proposals. Working as a group has two aspects: completing tasks and building relationships. The relationship dimension is an essential part of the success of your route, so take time to get to know one another better and enjoy each other’s company.
• Keep each other inspired. Create a visual of your project design, goals and vision. Look for inspirational stories of similar projects that were successful and share them among members in the route.
• Keep up the momentum when developing an idea. Establish realistic timeframes and monitor the progress of tasks.
• Break up large goals into manageable parts and assign tasks to people based on their confidence and ability in completing them.
• Check in with group members to see where they may need support, and share their progress at every meeting.
• Determine your budget and identify all the main costs in the early planning stages.
• Based on consensus of the group, is it a reasonable investment for what you hope to achieve? Do the benefits outweigh the costs?
• Avoid developing ideas that don’t relate to your goals and objectives.

Use of this Guide

This Guide can be used by the Route Forum, but it can also be circulated to members with the request that new ideas are not only welcome but are required for the route’s success. This Guide can be a gentle way of reminding members that the route’s success depends on them, not just on the office bearers.

The need for new ideas from members can be raised at every AGM, so that members understand the need and also the process of getting an idea into the system so that the route can explore and consider it.

Other Guides

There are other Guides to help you with new project ideas for your route. These include:

• Guide: How To Develop A Project Plan For A Short-term Project
• Guide: How To Manage A Short-Term Project
• Guide: How To Develop A Project Budget

Exhibiting at trade show and events provides useful opportunities for your route to showcase products and expertise, network with potential customers and suppliers and keep up to date with news and developments.

There are numerous travel shows both in South Africa and abroad that is worthwhile attending. The most popular among the South African shows is the Getaway Show, which is held in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Open Africa attends the Getaway Show from time to time and all the routes in the network are invited to participate. Routes will need to pay for the cost of the stand, furniture rental and marketing material that will be distributed at the show and it is up to the route to raise the necessary funds for accommodation and travel to and from Cape Town or Johannesburg.

This Guide will help you prepare for an event by completing the right administration, planning your stand and preparing your employees. It also includes hints and tips and sources of further information.

While travel shows are useful events to market your route and its members, they can be expensive to attend and often hundreds of other businesses and competitors take stands. So it is vital to prepare well so that everyone involved in your delegation and the members along your route can get the most out of an exhibition. The fundamental aim of a route attending a trade show is to stand out and to attract potential customers.

There are also Guides on marketing route (using various media), a Guide on How to Develop a Marketing Plan, and a Marketing Toolkit by Open Africa.

Why are travel shows important?

Travel shows usually are open to the public, so they bring us face to face with potential customers. These people are at the show because of their interest as tourists, so they are a good group to target as they are more likely to buy what we have to offer.

The shows are also important as a networking opportunity among other tourism providers, many of whom have services that could feed into our route. For instance, tour operators may not know much about your area – this is your opportunity to sell your route to them and bring in bus-loads of tourists.

How can the route make best use of travel shows?

A travel show is an exhibition of products and services in the tourism sector, usually open to the public – where exhibitors promote themselves to visitors and network with others in their sector. The events are usually organised by professional events management companies but smaller shows are sometimes arranged by trade associations or government agencies to promote a particular areas or sectors.

Deciding where to exhibit

Not every trade show, exhibition or convention is worth the time, effort and/or money it takes to organise a successful stand. In order to find suitable events to get involved with you will need to:

• Identify exhibitions that are relevant to your business. Trade associations sometimes publicise key events and exhibitions relating to tourism. Ask other businesses that have exhibited previously whether they found it a cost-effective event.
• Find out who visits the exhibitions you are interested in. You want as many potential customers as possible to see your products and services so check the exhibition has an established reputation. Ask the exhibition organisers to send you visitor figures and profiles for the past few years.
• Find out if the exhibition is open to the public or the trade only.
• Research the visitor profile to identify whether the demographics fit with your target audience.

Once you’ve identified a show to exhibit at, the next step is to check the costs and practicalities of exhibiting. Before booking space or registering with an exhibition organiser consider the following:

• Facilities – establish exactly what is included in an exhibitor’s contract price. Hiring exhibition space is usually divided into two categories: ‘space only’ means that you are expected to provide all your own structural equipment, including a stand, screens, furniture and lighting. By contrast, a ‘shell scheme’ provides basic structural panels, but you will still need to provide your own livery, literature and any other promotional materials, electricity supply, lighting and furniture.
• Costs – set a budget for the event. Check out not only the obvious costs but also the hidden charges that will arise for electricity and use of facilities. A standard carpet is usually included in the stand price but there will be an additional cost if you want cupboards, chairs and tables, or spotlight and electricity sockets.
• Extra facilities – ask if demonstration space or private meeting rooms are available at the venue.
• Location and access – check that the venue can be accessed easily by all your potential customers and visitors.
• Labour requirements – establish who is allowed to carry out work on your stand if you have booked space only and book subcontractors’ time well in advance. Some venues and exhibition organisers insist the construction of stands and the installation of facilities are carried out by the venue’s own contractors.
• Opportunities for workshops and seminars – these are a useful way to create awareness of your business and its products and/or services and can drive visitors to your stand. Remember, don’t use them as a sales pitch, more as an educational tool.

Preparing for an exhibition

Once you have decided on a suitable exhibition, you should appoint a member of the route forum to be responsible for organising the exhibition or, if you have hired a specialists, liaise with them. Whoever you decide should be responsible will need to deal with the following issues:

• Venue – if attendance at a particular exhibition is crucial to you, book well in advance to ensure the best choice of stand and make sure deposits and hire charges are paid promptly. You may be able to get a discount if you book at the last minute, are exhibiting for the first time or book more than one exhibition with the organiser (if they are part of a series).
• Accommodation – some exhibitions last several days, so participants will need hotel accommodation if the event is some distance away from your route. Book this early to avoid last-minute problems, especially with large exhibitions. Many exhibition organisers negotiate special rates with local hotels.
• Transport – you will need suitable vehicles or a courier service to transport your exhibition material and equipment including computers and leaflet stands. Remember that posters, literature, models and samples can take up more space than you think.
• Insurance – check that your business adequate insurance has been taken out for the exhibition. You should pay particular attention to the Public Liability insurance. Some venues require you to have a minimum level of insurance cover in place so you should check this in advance.
• Site and stand – whether you have booked a shell scheme stand or arranged for the construction of your own stand, you should attend the venue at the earliest opportunity to check that everything is satisfactory. Even with a shell scheme stand you will usually have to hire and pay separately for furniture and electrical equipment and supply.
• When you arrive at the venue check carefully that all screens, shelving, desks, seating, display aids and lighting are in place and that all electrical sockets are working properly. If participants are expected to erect a stand themselves, they will need to be shown how to do it prior to the event.
• Storage – check that there is adequate storage for personal belongings, literature, refreshments and anything else you plan to take along. You should also consider having some lockable storage space to keep valuable items secure.
• Badges and permits – you need to book, collect and distribute all your exhibitors’ entry permits for participants and guests. Check that each member of the team has a personal badge that clearly shows their full name, job title and the name of your route.
• Presentation – make sure the stand and your staff always look neat, tidy and professional. Ensure that any corporate clothing and uniforms have been organised or a dress code agreed.
• Computer equipment and screens (if appropriate) – check that you have all the printers, laptops and screens that you will need or arrange to hire them. Ensure that your staff know how to operate the equipment and that it works properly.
• Parking – check that sufficient parking permits for you and your staff have been issued and that arrangements have been made to allow extra deliveries where necessary.
• Extra space – if you need meeting rooms or demonstration areas, check that they have been reserved and are not double booked.
• Participants– choose enthusiastic members of the route who are natural communicators. Don’t forget to draw up staffing rotas to ensure you have enough people to allow for proper meal breaks, rest periods and attendance at relevant seminars. Your stand should never be left unattended, even for a few minutes, while the exhibition is open.
• Training – ensure that your team is fully briefed and clear about your aims before the exhibition begins. They will need a thorough knowledge of any products and services you are promoting at the event.
• Literature – check that you have all the stationery, brochures, business cards, order forms, leaflets, corporate gifts and giveaways you need. Take plenty of spare stationery and paper as you often need more than you think.
• Deadlines – the exhibition organiser will usually provide you with an exhibitor’s pack. This may be a manual or details of a web portal you can access. It will include a list of key deadlines (for example, when payments need to be made, when bookings must be confirmed and deadlines for submitting forms).
• Marketing – send out invitations to the exhibition to your potential and existing customers and suppliers, the media, corporate guests and other VIPs. Promote your attendance at the exhibition on your website, in newsletters, e-mails, social media and promotional literature. Find out who else is exhibiting as they may be potential partners or customers. Contact them beforehand to arrange meetings at the exhibition.
• Finally, and most importantly, ensure that you have proper systems to record the contact details of all new customers who are interested in your route. At the very least, each member of your team should be issued with a notebook and plenty of pamphlets.

What should you do immediately before an exhibition?

Draw up a checklist including everything that you need to take with you to the event and all the details you need to arrange, together with contact names and numbers of all suppliers. Remember to include items to cover all contingencies, including first aid and refreshments for participants, and take plenty of back-up supplies and equipment.

Draft a contingency plan to adopt if anything should go wrong and ensure that the venue can provide bureau services if you need them.

Ensure that you have set goals and targets by which you can measure the effectiveness of the exhibition afterwards.

Consider informing your local press and obtaining PR coverage of your attendance at the event.

It is vital that every member of the team is properly briefed before they take part in an exhibition. A week before the event you should give all participants a briefing pack to ensure that they fully understand the following:

• Product and services.
• Prices.
• Sales techniques to be used or avoided. If necessary, organise role-playing sessions to ensure everyone is fully familiar with your expected standards of behaviour.
• Rotas, including meal times and rest breaks. Make sure the participants are clear about how much time they need to set up and close down.
• Dress code.
• Contact numbers for the whole team and emergency numbers for the exhibition organiser and venue manager.
• Enquiry handling – make sure that team members know who to consult if faced with an enquiry they feel unable to answer.
• Accommodation and transport – staff should know exactly where they are staying and how they are expected to travel to the venue.
• Targets and objectives – make it clear to your staff what you expect of them and what outcome you expect from the exhibition.

What do you need to do during the exhibition?

It is critical to ensure that you maximise visitor numbers to your stand and capture contact information from potential clients so that you can follow them up afterwards with a view to converting enquiries into sales.

The most important thing to monitor throughout the exhibition is the appearance of your stand. You or your exhibition co-ordinator should regularly restock empty brochure displays, tidy shelves and cabinets and clear away rubbish.

During the exhibition you should visit other stands to network with exhibitors, find out what they are doing and what they are offering to customers. This also provides an opportunity to build partnerships and find customers and suppliers for your route (or your members along your route).

After the exhibition you will want to evaluate your business’ performance and balance the achievement of objectives against the cost of attendance. Therefore during the event you should record the following:

• Number of visitors and enquiries taken.
• Number of samples and leaflets taken.
• Number of hits on your website.
• Positive comments.
• Negative comments, including complaints and criticisms.
• Any issues raised by visitors.
• Details of any press or media interest.

Who is involved with trade shows?

The Route Forum can research the available travel shows that members would find useful, and discuss these options with members before a decision is made on which ones to attend. They can also use the links with Open Africa to explore which shows have been most useful in the past, and perhaps even where there might be funding to cover some of the costs of attending certain shows.

Trade associations (or chambers of commerce) in the route’s nearest towns – as well as the local and district municipalities – may also be involved in trade shows. They may be organising their own shows or may be instrumental in getting delegations from their area to attend a show elsewhere. The route and its members could take advantage of these links by talking to chambers and municipalities before making your own plans.

How could the route deal with trade shows?

In the experience of Open Africa, the best way to make use of travel shows is for the route itself to take the exhibition space on behalf of members – and then all members can be promoted at the show. This does not necessarily mean that all members must attend – many do not have the time or resources. Those who can exhibit on the stand must do so, and those members who can’t be there can send their brochures and other promotional material.

It might be necessary to set up a small committee of members to assist with all the planning for such an event – including the preparation of marketing material like banners, brochures, business cards, price lists, etc if these do not already exist.

Practical tips

• If you are unsure whether to exhibit at a particular exhibition or venue, you could visit your chosen exhibition first before committing to booking a stand at the next one.
• Try to choose the best position for your stand that your budget will allow. A central position in the exhibition hall, corner sites and sites at the ends of walkways are best.
• Printing can be expensive, so have detailed brochures available for serious enquirers and leaflets for casual visitors.
• Don’t let people linger around the walkways outside your stand – invite them in!
• Consider hiring a professional photographer because you can use pictures of your stand in future sales literature.
• Remember that exhibitions are news – don’t be afraid to contact local or trade press.
• Don’t forget to follow up all leads with a telephone call, e-mail or letter after the exhibition has closed.
• Take advantage of the fact that some exhibition organisers provide lists of visitors after the show for direct marketing purposes.
• Analyse and review the effectiveness of your attendance at the exhibition in terms of leads generated, sales achieved and objectives met, quantified against costs and investment of time.
• Check with the organiser whether there are special requirements for playing music or serving alcohol on your stand.

Use of this Guide

The route functionaries can use this guide to help research, select and plan the next travel show where you want to exhibit; it can also be used to brief members on what is involved in getting ready for such an event. It is the members who must mainly man the exhibition stand, so they all need to know what is expected.

Someone from the route who is good at exhibitions could also use this guide as part of a training session for members before going to a travel show; the training can be quite informal and only needs to take a couple of hours.

Other Factsheets

There are other factsheets available on the topic of marketing your route. These include:

• Guide: How To Develop A Marketing Plan
• Resource: Video – How To Do An Elevator Pitch
• Resource: Video – How To Set Up A Facebook Fanpage
• Example: How To Attend Travel Shows

Contacts

The Exhibition Association of South Africa has a list of upcoming exhibitions at: http://www.exsa.co.za/events

There are also a range of provincial tourism portals that advertise trade shows:

• Gauteng Tourism: www.gauteng.net
• Western Cape Tourism: www.tourismcapetown.co.za
• Eastern Cape Tourism Board: www.ectourism.co.za
• Northern Cape: www.northerncape.org.za
• Northwest Province: www.tourismnorthwest.co.za
• Free State Tourism: www.freestatetourism.org
• Limpopo Tourism: www.limpopotourism.org.za

Want to know why it’s important your business has a Facebook page? Read 7 Reasons Why Having a Facebook Page is Important for Your Business.

How to set up a Facebook page:

1. Go to www.facebook.com/pages/create
2. Click to choose a Page category.
3. Select a more specific category from the dropdown menu and fill out the required information.
4. Click ‘Get Started’ and follow the on-screen instructions.

Here’s a quick and easy video tutorial to illustrate the above steps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4N0yyB6hE8