• by Greg Robeson , May 28, 2013

Before I launch into this piece I have a confession: I graduated from the old school. Not the old-old school, as in “how do you turn this thing on?” I have seen my share of change in the world of marketing, though, with a career arc that began in the era of White Out and Selectrics (those under 35 may have to Google those references). I’ve passed through the clunky word processor to the early Macintosh to a peaceful coexistence with all of my iStuff.

One thing that hasn’t really changed during that time is my belief in the power that a well-crafted promotion can add to the marketing mix. Here are five steps I use when helping a client build a better promo.

Toss the rate sheet

If you’re a destination or community marketing organization, you get hit all of the time: the travel publication or media outlet that has the perfect audience with credit cards at the ready, just waiting for your ad to convince them to change their vacation plans your way. I know because I buy media for a few tourism clients. The first mistake lots of folks make is assuming that the rate on the sheet is the value of the ad; instead it should be considered the starting point for negotiating what else you want to go with it. It’s called value-added; I often ask media to include a contest or promotion in my ad buy, and am rarely turned down.

Use traditional media non-traditionally

Recently, I approached a radio station for a tourism client and told them that I had a budget, but didn’t want to buy any ads. Instead, we built a travel promotion around all of their other consumer touch points like social media, online, e-blasts, etc. We did have an on-air presence, but it was through live “jock talk” chatting up our destination, the promotion, etc. This brought more perceived value to our message than straight :30 or :60 ads might have, and we had multiple ways to reach the audience’s eyes and ears.

Find your partner(s)

Too often destinations try to go it alone when creating a promotion. I say the more the merrier. If you’re a lodging property, pull in every other component in a consumer’s trip: restaurants, attractions, retailers, and airline or ground transportation. Getting everyone to pitch in a little (be it with prizes, cash, or both) will not only build an attractive promotion, it can boost the budget as well.

Out with the new, in with the old

In the race to build the next viral Facebook-based promotion or Pinterest contest, what often gets overlooked are some basic marketing tactics that seem a bit passé to the mobile-only set. With everyone now focused on the “right now,” there can be power in dinosaur-ish tactics like a well-designed poster in coffee shops, a really creative on-hold greeting, or – gasp – a hand-written note.

But don’t forget the new, too

Certainly, you want to reach people in the worlds (read: smartphone) they inhabit, but just realize how competitive it is. In the end, what you want is engagement, an ongoing conversation. In order to do that today – unless you have a couple of million to, say, build and secretly film a talking soda vending machine -- your promotion needs to break through. Consumers are getting savvy, and if you want to have that conversation with them, your promotion will need to be just as savvy.