John Rust Consulting"Outdoor Recreation & Tourism
Marketing Consulting Services
Targeting and Landing Profitable Customers
Requires that You Know Where They Are,
What They Want, and How To
Convert Their Needs Into You're Cash
John Rust Consulting specializes in marketing consulting services for Maine's outdoor recreation and tourism business owners. Our marketing training is highly refined by a lifetime of experience in tourist motels, lodges, sporting camps, and outdoor activities like fishing, hunting, snowmobiling and canoe tripping.
You need someone who understands you, your business, your customers and your needs. We offer you the most intimate understanding of your business and customers of any consultant in Maine, if not New England or the entire United States.
After all, we've been there too!
John Rust Consulting will help you identify your most profitable target market and what they want that only you can provide. We are closely involved with state and local tourism development initiatives, and always seek to stay on the cutting edge of market developments that might lead to a new service or marketing approach you can profit from.
Know Your Customer
Successful businesses have a sharply targeted marketing plan. In fact, even a basic marketing plan can set you ahead of the competition because so many others don't have any plan at all. A target market is a group of prospective customers who are unique in some way.
You must determine what is unique about your target customers. You also must be able to reach the market segment with your message. Ask yourself what makes one customer different from another. What are they seeking? Where do they live? Do they go to sports shows, or read certain publications? Are they bargain hunters, or will they pay extra for your good for service?
The more you know about your prospective customers the better. When you narrow the field and send your message directly at your selected targets, you can make a sure and sound hit. This will be your most cost effective marketing approach.
Know Your Product
Ask yourself what your customer prospects want you to provide, and what your competitors don't offer. Put this in as few words as possible. When you clearly state who you are and what you offer, your prospective customers will be more likely to remember you, and they will retain an impression that you are better than your competitors.
Today's tourism customer wants things pretty well laid out for them. What they will get from you. What they will do when they come to your establishment. If you provide lodging, for instance, you not only must tell them why you are the best place to stay, you must also tell they why they should even come to your locale. After all, you are competing both with your local competition, and you are competing for the customers' overall travel dollars. Get them interested in coming to your area first, and then you will have an easier time convincing them to come to you.
Know Your Business
Your marketing message requires that you decide exactly what business and market you are in. Once that is understood, you must understand the internal and financial underpinnings of your business.
For example, how you price your service is critical. Almost no business has ever failed because their prices were too high. Just the opposite usually happens. Businesses often fail even though they have the lowest price. Few of us ever make a buying decision purely on price. Competing on price is a no-win plan because there will always be someone who charges less. You must be sure that your price exceeds your costs. What does it really costs to provide your service? You must know this. We will help you identify all your real costs, and to then set profitable prices.
When will you need more cash? Tourism is notoriously seasonal. You must know how much cash to set aside for the slow or off seasons. If you don't know this, you might not make it until next year. We will help you forecast the cash flow of your business, so you are prepared and don't spend your cash when it is really not spend able surplus.
Know Your Message
The written content on your brochures, newsletter and website must meet all the traditional marketing requirements such as getting attention, creating interest, motivating customers to make a decision and to take action (contact you and make a purchase).
These are crucial. Unfortunately, all too often a small business creates a brochure or runs an ad that doesn't do these. As a result, customers won't even take a look let alone buy something.
You need to hit the customer right on the head with your core selling proposition - what you have that he absolutely is looking for. This must always be prominent. No one cares about your name or logo, they want to immediately know what you have of interest to them.
John Rust Consulting will help you decide on what your core selling proposition is, and will review all your marketing materials so you can be certain that your message gets through to customers.
Search Engine Marketing
Websites are now one of the absolute most important marketing tools that you have. Potential customers now use internet search engines, like Google, Yahoo and MSN, over 80% of the time when they are looking for new information - especially travel and recreation information. An effective website lets customers get to know you and your services on a personal level. This gives the customer more confidence in buying from you.
You must have a website. But just having a website is a worthless and possibly expensive exercise if customers don't see it, and if it doesn't convince them to buy from you. If you hope to ever compete in today's tourism and recreation marketplace, then you must somehow make sure that your website is easy to find.
Actually, you want to put it right in front of your potential customers. Today, that requires top placement on search engine listings. Doing this requires search engine marketing techniques.
The ultimate goal of search engine marketing is to get search engine visitors to look at your website, and then to turn them into buyers. This is achieved through a combination of traditional marketing, advertising and search engine marketing techniques.
We provide our clients with a full range of highly effective internet marketing services aimed at getting you the most profitable customers at the least long term costs. Click here for more about our internet and website marketing consulting services.
"Call Now to Arrange a Free Consultation"
Or click here to send me an E-mail, and I will call you. Let's get to know each other, and discuss some of your most pressing problems, during a brief, confidential, visit in your office. I will freely share my ideas with you, even though there is no charge for this meeting, and no obligation.