THE MARKETOUR
A MARKETING GUIDE FROM THE WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM
April - May 2003
In this issue:
- Regional Partnerships - Getting a Bigger Bang for Your Budget
- Travel Tracker: Analyzing Wisconsin's Fall Visitors
- Web Tips: Designing Accessible Web Sites For The Vision And Hearing-Impaired
- PR'S Greatest Hits
- Media Leads
- 10-second Writing Clinic
Regional Partnerships - Getting a Bigger Bang for Your Budget
Forming a partnership with other tourism colleagues is one way of stretching your marketing dollars, and it's one that has proven to be quite effective for various groups around Wisconsin. Putting the customer first makes Wisconsin an easy vacation choice for travelers and far outweighs any issues with competition.
"Get past any political boundaries or other past prejudices," said Mark Kinders, who has been involved in the Scenic St. Croix Valley alliance and has watched it blossom over the past nine years. "Take down the walls and be willing to talk."
Mary Anne Collins Svoboda, who helped forge the Mississippi Valley Partners (MVP), recommends considering a partnership as a way to increase the potential draw of your destination. "We presented it as the pie would be so much bigger, and we'd all get a piece of it."
When considering how to market an area, remember that visitors don't see community border lines as they travel freely from town to town and state to state.
While some groups may have little difficulty coming to agreement about how their newly formed group will function, others may benefit from a neutral, third-party facilitator. Kinders described how local University of Wisconsin marketing experts helped the Scenic St. Croix Valley alliance define itself and the area it sought to promote. UW Extension and Department of Tourism staff are other potential sources of assistance, he noted.
Once a group has decided to form a partnership, the next step is analyzing the members' common interests and how they can best work together. Determining the group's focus and goals is a key first step. Kinders said one of his group's early challenges was sorting through the many ideas that members brought to the table. Defining the group's role and determining its key goals took more than a year, he said.
"Bite off small pieces," advises Lynn Peters, of the Lake Winnebago Road Trip partnership. Kinders agreed. "Set reasonable expectations and recognize that it's going to take time to get there."
"And don't be afraid to change the group's tactics if at first you don't succeed," said Glen Brill, who has been involved in Marsh Melodies, Lake to Lake Arts Connection and other regional partnerships. Brill emphasized the importance of having an open mind, being completely honest when working with partners and realizing that the group will evolve over time.
When working in partnership, Svoboda also emphasized the need to keep all members in mind. When discussing how much time or financial resources each member will contribute, Svoboda recommended agreeing upon a level that's feasible to even the smallest entities. Peters agreed that bringing together a diverse group means recognizing and appreciating members' differences. "We had to be sensitive to the different abilities and resources, and treat everyone on equal footing."
How partnerships are structured varies from group to group. Some consist entirely of volunteers, while others involve contributions of time from paid staff at chambers of commerce and other county and regional tourism organizations. In some cases, a group's budget is primarily made up of member contributions, while in other instances, Joint Effort Marketing grants from the Department of Tourism or grants from other sources help finance a partnership's marketing efforts.
Promoting the partnership within the members' local communities and to other potential partners is important to get "buy-in" from the group's home base. Svoboda pointed out how MVP worked to garner support from local residents, even though the increased traffic generated by tourism promotion was seen by some as an inconvenience. To make it possible for residents to directly reap the benefits, MVP created an event that they publicized as the "85-mile Garage Sale." They invited anyone who was interested to hold a garage sale the first weekend in May, and MVP handled all of the marketing, including issuing news releases, purchasing advertising and organizing a sweepstakes. "The communities loved it," Svoboda said. "We presented a situation where they could profit from the visitors. They became 'tourism businesses' themselves."
One benefit of creating a partnership is that out of the initial collaboration may come others. Kinders noted that a group of bed-and-breakfast owners spun off from the Scenic St. Croix Valley alliance to create their own partnership. Brill described how the Marsh Melodies partnership planted the seed for several other alliances, including Lake to Lake Arts Connection and the Lake Winnebago Road Trip group.
Once a partnership begins to flourish, the benefits can definitely make all of the effort worthwhile. Peters described the Lake Winnebago Road Trip partnership as "icing on the cake."
"We all have limited budgets, and the partnership has added to our individual efforts," she said, noting that the group has developed a four-color brochure, purchased advertising and sponsored a broadcast production, all of which were possible only through their combined efforts.
Brill described how collaboration has enabled partnerships in his area to attend a Chicago motorcoach show and purchase radio time in the Chicago market. "We can do more together than we ever could alone."
Analyzing
Wisconsin's Fall Visitors
The fall portion of the Department of Tourism's latest four-season study of Wisconsin visitors was conducted recently in the Sheboygan County/Manitowoc/Two Rivers area, as well as Vilas/Oneida, Iowa/Green and Sawyer/Washburn/Bayfield counties. In the study, more than 1,300 visitors were queried about demographics, the type of getaways they take and where they look for travel information.
Trip Characteristics
Fall visitors typically came on leisure trips planned less than two months in advance. They primarily traveled in pairs, usually with a spouse or significant other, although friends groups accounted for another 23 percent. Eighty-one percent of these groups did not include kids under 18, and 71 percent were staying overnight in hotels, motels, resorts or with family and friends. On average, these overnight visitors stayed two-and-a-half nights and spent $352.
Fall visitors were asked to list all of their planned trip activities. The top five, by frequency of mentions, were shopping, festival/event, dining, visiting family and friends, and fall color viewing. Among activities noted as "most important," festival/event was most frequently cited, followed by visiting family and friends, shopping and visiting a museum or exhibit. The fifth most important activity noted was split between three activities - fishing, viewing fall color and relaxing with spouse or significant other.
The Wisconsin vacation experience fared very well when fall visitors were asked to rate their overall impression. With 10 being the highest rating, visitors ranked their overall Wisconsin experience 8.7. Area amenities that received ratings higher than 8.3 included scenery, opportunity to relax, service at museums, festivals, attractions, lodging, restaurants and retail, overnight lodging, food, and ease of locating attractions and information centers.
When respondents were asked to describe their Wisconsin vacation experience with a word or phrase, the top 10 by order of mentions were "relaxing," "friendly," "fun," "beautiful scenery," "would like to stay longer," "refreshing," "exciting," "close to home," "would like to return soon" and "a good value for the cost."
Marketing Implications:
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Wisconsin's fall travelers tend to be short-term planners - advertise accordingly.
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Take the "work" out of vacation planning by offering all-inclusive packages, including reduced admission to festivals and events, lodging discounts and dining coupons.
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Ensure that relaxation is a focal point in your marketing materials.
Demographics
As with other seasons studied, the majority of surveyed travelers came from Wisconsin and the surrounding states. Baby Boomers (ages 35-54) were the dominant age group, followed by Empty Nesters (ages 55-64) and Seniors (ages 65+). The majority of fall visitors had $50,000+ household incomes and more than 70 percent had post-high school educations and no children living at home.
Marketing Implications:
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Promotional materials should target adult family and friends groups (rather than families with children).
Information Sources
Visitors were asked which source(s) of information they used when planning their vacation. The top responses were recommendations from family and friends, local Internet sites, magazine articles, State Internet site, newspaper ads and newspaper articles. When asked which informational source was the most useful for planning, word-of-mouth was first again, followed by local Internet sites, State Internet site, newspaper articles, other Internet sites and newspaper ads.
Marketing Implications:
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Even with the popularity of the Internet, word-of-mouth is as important as ever.
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Drive potential visitors to your Web site, and make sure it's up to date.
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Explore use of e-mail newsletters as a marketing tool; consider taking advantage of the Department's Co-op E-Mail marketing program.
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Use the Web to develop partnerships with other area attractions, through coupons or other online promotions.
To obtain a copy of the full Fall In-Market Study, contact Sue Hamilton at 608/266-6792. Sign up to receive the monthly Travel Tracker e-bulletin.
Web Tips
Designing Accessible Web Sites For The Vision And Hearing-Impaired
Internet usage has become common in all sectors of our nation, including communities of people with disabilities, which has enthusiastically embraced it. For this group - nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population - the Internet has become a great equalizer, making it possible for the hearing impaired to communicate without an interpreter, and the visually impaired to read online using speech and Braille software.
Given the fact that this community controls nearly $175 million in discretionary income, it is surprising that more marketers don't consider the needs of people with disabilities when designing their Web sites, particularly since instituting accessible Web design is relatively easy to do.
Here are a few tips to help:
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Most people with disabilities use software that reads the text of a Web site, so make sure design elements are compatible.
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Always provide a plain HTML alternate site when using Flash/Shockwave layouts.
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Don't use frames on your Web site, or offer a version without frames.
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Include transcripts or subtitles for audio elements that contain pertinent information.
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Avoid moving, blinking and large amounts of italicized text. It can be difficult for those with vision impairments to read.
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When using PDF files, be sure they are compatible with Access Adobe, and provide a link http://access.adobe.com.
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Provide a brief description of links instead of just using the words "click here."
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Include ALT text labels for images to provide a description to vision-impaired users.
Once your site is built, take a few minutes to test its accessibility. Unplug the mouse and turn off the graphics in your browser. Then see how easy it is to navigate, and ask a range of people with various abilities to test your page. Also consider using "Bobby," a program designed to evaluate Web site accessibility, which can be used online or downloaded from . Accessibility for all users takes a little work, but opens the doors for spectacular opportunities for both Web surfers and marketers.
PR'S Greatest Hits
From magazines to Web sites, Wisconsin travel has been making a splash across the country.
Wisconsin's ice fishing received coverage from some of the top Web sites in the country, including ABCNews.com, Lycos.com and Excite.com. Meanwhile, the pages of Chicago Tribune's Mature Adult magazine explored Wisconsin's variety of winter travel opportunities. Wisconsin graced the pages of Midwest Express Magazine in a seven-page feature on the state's top eagle-watching destinations. The January article was highlighted by a collection of beautiful full-color spreads, including the cover.
Other Wisconsin coverage included a November article on skiing in the Toronto Sun; a Dallas Morning News feature on Wisconsin's indoor waterparks; Philadelphia Inquirer story about Frank Lloyd Wright; and a collection of AP articles highlighting "A Pioneer Christmas" at Old World Wisconsin.
Media Leads
Two new magazines from the former editor of Rosie are eyeing women. Flash, targeted to women in their 20s, and Wink, geared towards women in their 30s and 40s, are looking for information on new and unique travel destinations. Materials can be sent to G+J Publishing, c/o Susan Toepfer, 375 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10017.
A new travel Web site from the team of Bob and Sandy Nesoff and Jim Kierstead is set to launch in early May. The new site will feature weekly travel articles for families and singles. The writers seek information on travel destinations, hotels, resorts, attractions and events as well as press-trip invitations. Contact Bob Nesoff at 626 McCarthy Drive, New Millford, New Jersey 07646-1029 or via e-mail at bobmetnews@aol.com.
10-second Writing Clinic
Ensure vs. Insure
Use ensure to mean guarantee. Use insure when referring to insurance. Examples:
- I called the agent to ensure that our business was adequately insured.
- To ensure that potential customers weren't deterred by a lack of parking, the owner expanded the lot behind his hotel.
- She was required to insure the property before the loan could be approved.
