Know Your Markets

Marketing and Research - know your markets

To succeed in a competitive environment, it is important to tailor your business to the wants and needs of your customer. It is important to be sensitive to customers, know whom they are, how to reach them and convince them to buy your product or service.

As a tourism operator, it is essential that you research visitor markets in order to:

  • determine who your potential buyers are,
  • establish their needs and how you will go about meeting those needs.

Owners of the Heritage Tea Rooms, Allan and Michelle Sharpe discuss the importance of market research in being able to foresee changes in the market, and adapting to those changes.

Video - Your Business Success Part 5 - Market Research and Change Your Business Success Part 5 - Market Research and Change

Tourism is highly competitive and there are many issues that need to be considered if establishing or seeking to grow your tourism business. A culmination of steps have been identified to help you.

Define your business

  • Your product or service;
  • Your geographic marketing area--neighborhood, regional or national;
  • Your competition;
  • How you differ from the competition--what makes you special;
  • Your price;
  • The competition's promotion methods;
  • Your promotion methods;
  • Your distribution methods or business location

Define your customers

  • Your current customer base: age, sex, income, neighborhood;
  • How your customers learn about your product or service-advertising;
    direct mail, word of mouth, Yellow Pages;
  • Patterns or habits your customers and potential customers share eg what they read, watch, listen to;
  • Qualities your customers value most about your product or service-selection, convenience, service, reliability, availability, affordability;
  • Qualities your customers like least about your product or service-can
    they be adjusted to serve your customers better?
  • Prospective customers like least about your product or service but whom you aren't currently reaching.

Define your plan and budget

  • Previous marketing methods you have used to communicate to your customers;
  • Methods that have been most effective;
  • Cost compared to sales;
  • Cost per customer;
  • Possible future marketing methods to attract new customers;
  • Percentage of profits you can allocate to your marketing campaign;
  • Marketing tools you can implement within your budget
  • Methods of testing your marketing ideas;
  • Methods for measuring results of your marketing campaign;
  • The marketing tool you can implement immediately.