Grilling Makes You A Better Marketer

Fire up your grill AND computer this July! With cookout season in full swing and marketers itching to leave the office, it’s hard to believe that grilling and marketing could have anything in common. Well here are three concepts that are just as important for good marketing as they are for good grilling. WARNING: Don’t read this article if you haven’t eaten recently, it’ll probably make you pretty hungry!

High Quality Ingredients

As you prepare for your summer cookouts it’s important to find the best steaks, burgers and buns. While you might not be buying 10oz sirloins for your clients, quality “ingredients” should still apply to your marketing strategy. A marketing campaign is only as strong as its weakest link. If you have a killer website but a lame Facebook presence or put together an awesome ad but have a website from the 90s, your overall marketing will suffer.

Marketing Tip: With the growth of technology, an online marketing presence is crucial at every point on your audiences path. Take time in creating your website and social media accounts so that they effectively communicate your brand. Black Negative is a great example of a high quality website that displays several modern features and concepts any business could implement into their own digital platform.

Grilling Tip: When choosing a protein to grill, it’s important to consider its level of tenderness- even the best chef in the world cannot successfully cook a juicy chuck roast using a hot grill (it needs to be cooked slowly at a low temp). Check out this infographic to determine which ingredients will produce the highest quality result for your next cookout.

Just the Right Amount of Seasoning

As cookout and grilling natives, we all know that the amount of seasoning can make or break a good piece of meat. Too little seasoning results in a tasteless burger and too much results in your guests gulping water. The same problems can happen in marketing. Underutilizing your social media can result in outdated pages and uninformed clients, but sending an email four times a day can be equally detrimental. It’s important to find a good balance and “season” your clients with just the right amount of content.

Marketing Tip: According to CoSchedule, it is recommended that businesses post once per day to Facebook and LinkedIn, and tweet an average of 15 times per day!

Grilling Tip: Avoid harmful MSG this summer and instead make your own grill seasoning with this great recipe!

It’s All About the Experience

While food is definitely a major player in grilling, a true cookout wouldn’t be enjoyable without the music, people, swimming, etc. The surrounding atmosphere is what makes a cookout such a great experience. In the same way, marketers must create an experience and relationship with their clients- sending small gifts, follow-up emails and providing above-and-beyond customer service.

Marketing Tip: Every year, McConnell Marketing sends creative gifts to clients as a way to say thank you and to maintain positive relationships. This past year, clients received MM travel tumblers. Remember, even if you have the most slick marketing presentation in the world clients won’t remain clients if they don’t like the experience of working with you.

Grilling Tip: When planning your next cookout, use some of these great ideas for crafty invitations and decorations. 

Think about some of our tips next time you go to flip a burger or post a tweet this summer! Until next time, be well.

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Inspiring Outdoor Marketing Campaigns

“Go Outside and Play!” In honor of summer here are some interesting outdoor marketing campaigns sure to inspire you to shut down the desktop and get some fresh air!

Courtyard Canfield – Hot Air Balloon 

Our first entry is from a hotel right in our backyard. For their grand opening a few years ago the Courtyard in Canfield hired a hot air balloon to give guests a great view of the hotel and adjacent golf course.

Reebok – Are you Fast Enough? 

Reebok used pressure sensors and a display in the busiest street in Stockholm to promote their new ZPump 2.0 shoes. The campaign challenged users to see if they were fast enough for the shoes. People who achieved a certain speed would be able to unlock the display case and grab their free ZPumps!

The Economist – Idea 

Simple but effective, this billboard for the economist magazine was a bright idea (pun intended)! The light bulb turns on every time someone walks underneath it.

JetBlue- Steal This Poster

JetBlue’s personality shined through with this clever campaign that encouraged people to steal the airline’s  bus stop posters and then redeem them for prizes.

Burger King- The Scariest BK 

A New York Burger King dressing up as the ghost of their main competitor is flat out brilliant!  With an idea this cute we think even McDonald’s probably enjoyed it.

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Marketing for the Summer Holidays

The phrase “holiday marketing”, probably fills your mind with visions of snow, twinkling lights and piles of gifts. But what about the warm-weather holidays that make summer so much fun? Think fireflies, bonfires, and the holidays that conjure up childhood memories. Opportunities to piggy-back onto already existing feelings that are associated with summer can freshen up your marketing.

Find the Emotional Connection

Every holiday has an emotional component, but nothing can compare to the memories of running free for three whole months, riding bikes, drawing with sidewalk chalk, and not answering to any teachers. Harnessing this spirit of summer is important for marketing to parents as well as children. So remember…  be fun, think like a kid and use nostalgia to your advantage!

Memorial Day

Often heralded as the beginning of summer, Memorial Day is a time for celebrating the warm-weather season. However, it’s also important to recognize the true reason for the holiday, which is to honors those who have served in our military. But being respectful doesn’t mean you can’t have fun! There are also many marketing opportunities outside of traditional Memorial Day sales.

  • Offering special promotions to active service members is an easy way to say ‘thank you’!
  • Has your business ever considered giving back to the community? Memorial Day is a great time to start.
  • Asking customers to donate small personal hygiene items or thank-you cards to soldiers in exchange for an in-store discount helps drive business as well as acts as its own “feel good” mini-marketing campaign.

Father’s Day

Make June 18 all about Dad! Involving the kids in gift giving is just one way way to bring families to your business. Here are a few other great ideas for using Father’s Day as a marketing opportunity!

  • Small discounts for kids who pick out gifts themselves not only makes them feel like they’re part of Dad’s big day, but helps to make repeat customers.
  • If you’re a brick & mortar store, offering dads a free drink, sample, or discount is one way to increase engagement.
  • Involving dads and families on social media with contests and giveaways is another fun way to say ‘thanks’!

 

The Fourth of July

Rising above the noise of countless Fourth of July sales efforts (and fireworks!) isn’t easy. Distinguishing yourself from the competition can be tricky, but using major holidays like this as a springboard for your business’ normal marketing can be a huge help. Just like those fireworks, doing a little extra during this season is a must. Try any of these ideas to spark renewed interest in your business:

  • Sidewalk sales
  • Community cookouts & live music
  • Free or discounted samples of USA-themed items- if you can think it, you can do it.

How are you using the summer holidays as a marketing springboard? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below and until next time, be well.

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Marketing Lessons from the NBA Playoffs

Since we’re pretty much thinking of marketing 24/7 (seriously we’re nerds like that) watching the Cavaliers beat the Raptors in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals last weekend made us realize that there are some takeaways from the NBA Playoffs that every marketer should take to heart.

Storytelling is Key

Which of these two descriptions of the NBA Finals is more interesting? 

Version 1:

“Last year the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors in a 7 game series to win their first NBA title.”

Version 2:

“Last year Cleveland’s prodigal son, LeBron James, delivered the city its first NBA championship while defying overwhelming odds by defeating the heavily favored Golden State Warriors.”

Obviously the second version is better. It’s more colorful, descriptive and dramatic. Storytelling is a powerful thing and the way we feel about a certain set of facts can be completely changed just based on how they are presented.

If you listen to an NBA broadcast for more than 5 minutes you’ll hear some type of reference to a storyline. “What’s wrong with Houston?” “What would another championship mean for LeBron’s legacy?” “Are the Golden State Warriors an unbeatable super team?” Are just a few of the countless examples of narratives surrounding the playoffs.

Marketing Lesson: 

The takeaway here is that sports are built on stories and we as marketers should take note. Look for narrative opportunities in all your marketing projects. What is the brand story? How can you take dry facts and make them into something fascinating?

Think Big Picture

The NBA is about a lot more than basketball. It’s about city pride, tradition, legacy and memories. Most sports leagues in the U.S. stand for more than just the product they put on the field or court. For example, the NFL uses the slogan “Family is Football” which resonates well with anyone who remembers growing up with their favorite team, or recalls time spent with loved ones watching the big game.

The NFL knows it’s selling entertaining memories and fun experiences that fans will remember throughout their lives. The NBA knows that it’s not just selling basketball, it’s selling city pride. Winning a championship isn’t about LeBron James or Kyrie Irving it’s about the city of Cleveland.

Cleveland’s “Defend the Land” playoff slogan is a great example of the element of city pride in the NBA.

Marketing Lesson: 

So what’s the bigger picture with the brand you’re trying to establish or promote? Do people visit your hotel because it has a pool or because they expect to have a certain experience? Are people buying your car because it has the best fuel efficiency or because they identify as a Ford person or a Chevy person? While your customer’s motivations are often obvious, don’t be afraid to step back and look at the bigger picture now and then.

Do you learn anything about marketing from watching sports? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below and until next time, be well.

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The Power of Podcasting in Hotel Marketing

The Next Big Thing…

It’s nearly impossible to predict but it’s sure fun to try. Well, we recently came across an article from Skift claiming that podcasting could be the next big thing in content marketing and we can’t help but agree, especially in the context of hospitality marketing!

What’s a Podcast?

Wikipedia defines a podcast as: “an episodic series of digital media files which a user can set up so that new episodes are automatically downloaded via web syndication…” But a simpler way to think of it  is a radio program you can download at any time and listen to on a mobile device.

Podcast programming covers a wide range of content, from music based shows, to long form narratives like the recently popular “serial” podcast. Some are even just re-published versions of actual live radio shows, like the Dan Patrick Show podcast.

Audio > Video

There are a million stats out there about the incredible popularity of video in today’s digital marketing world. We even did a blog article recently specifically focusing on Facebook Live, but audio content like podcasts has some unique value that video can’t match.

#1) It’s easier to consume–  the biggest advantage of pure audio content like podcasts are the ability to multi-task. You can listen to a podcast while doing other things like exercising, doing yard work or driving. It’s a very convenient way to consume information.

#2) It’s easier to produce – While video requires lighting, shot selection and good audio, podcasting requires much less moving pieces. All you need is a decent microphone and some know-how.

And sure, the podcasting audience pales in comparison when put up against video but it isn’t exactly small either. Over 35 million people listened to podcasts weekly in 2016!

How to start a podcast at your hotel

Adding a podcast to your content mix can be pretty simple. It mostly involves buying a decent microphone, learning to use audio editing software (which there are plenty of free options for) and creating compelling content for your audience.

For the more technical side of recording,  editing and publishing your podcast, this article from Lifehacker is a great resource to start. However, for advice on  developing content keep reading!

Treat it as part of your overall strategy

If you’re at all familiar with the rules of content marketing, you can apply the same concepts and strategy to podcasting that you’d use for any other piece of content. If you’re not familiar with the ideas behind content marketing  be sure to check out our earlier posts about the topic.

Basically, don’t view podcasting as a separate entity, view it as another tool for implementing your overall content marketing strategy! That being said, here are some hotel specific content ideas to get you started in podcasting:

Content Ideas

Interviews

Interviews take the pressure off of needing to be a compelling speaker for an extended period of time. Find some interesting people in your hotel and just have a conversation. For example you can ask your chef about his favorite dish or  you can ask your group sales director what makes your hotel such a great destination for groups and meetings.

Be an audio concierge

Having local expertise is valuable, talking about the best places to eat, local attractions and the most interesting nightlife locations can be great content for a first time visitor.

Repurpose other content

Use old blogs, infographics or videos as outlines for your podcast. You can translate a blog into a podcast script by using the main points as topics to elaborate on. You can do the same thing with an infographic!

Tell your story 

If you’re a boutique or historic hotel explaining your history could be a compelling podcast episode. Think about the fascinating tidbits that you’d tell guests about on a tour and use that to form a podcast.

Even if podcasting isn’t “The Next Big Thing” It’s still an exciting content format that’s worth looking in to!

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