Destination Wedding Marketing—
Engaging the Couple

May 7, 2013
POSTED BY Shawn Kusenko FILED UNDER Uncategorized.

In Part 1 of this series, Destination Wedding Trends 2013, we pondered the important questions regarding who destination wedding couples are, where they come from, where they go to tie the knot and the reasons why they roam. In Part 2 below, we’ll explore more about destination wedding marketing and how best to reach them.

First, can they find you?
With an annual overall spend of $18 billion, destination weddings are booming, and quite a few parties have a stake in each one. Destination wedding marketing applies to everyone involved with the process, from wedding ceremony and reception venues to the tourism destination itself, and from hotels, resorts, restaurants and beyond to local attractions, activities and other vendors. If your business can profit from destination weddings, be sure to be present right where couples are looking.

When planning a wedding, time is of the essence—the betrotheds are busy.

How busy are they?
BUSY. Perhaps that’s one reason why online research is so popular. XO Group Inc. cites that 8 out of 10 brides use their websites, TheKnot.com and WeddingChannel.com. And another portal—Destination Weddings & Honeymoons—claims 1,612,350 average monthly page views and over 20,000 e-blast and e-newsletter subscribers.

But with only 5.5 minutes spent per visit and 10.3 page views per visit, it’s clear they’re stealing snippets of time whenever they can, reading and gathering info as quickly as they can. The search tools, databases, ads and articles provided by major media outlets like these have become valuable, time-saving and trusted resources for finding vendors that fit their criteria.

And many, many brides still adore rifling through stacks of glossy bridal magazines of the printed, rainbow-colored sort. While you can’t tear out the pages, some are also accommodatingly portable in versions formatted for tablets and e-readers.

Furthermore, legions of followers flock to blogs and to social media—Facebook, Twitter and, yes, Pinterest.

This is just the tip of the promotional iceberg. Numerous other places for pushing your destination wedding services are out there. Are you present, with updated, clear and enticing information?

How will they book you?
77% of couples will do so directly, either online or over the phone.

Destination Weddings & Honeymoons says that 87% of destination wedding couples own a smartphone, and 30% own a tablet computer. 38% of them will book online. Once they find you, let’s guarantee they can easily read more about you and engage your business online, whether they’re on the go or hunkered on the sofa.

In many cases, couples are searching and booking over the Internet, sight unseen. So a fabulous, user-friendly website populated with accessible details and an effective booking engine is a must. And given the stats noted, website optimization for mobile devices is increasingly crucial.

The other 39% book by phone, likely for the live answers and personal care afforded by a human voice. Never underestimate the importance of well-trained, knowledgeable reps with top-notch customer service skills.

Remember that destination wedding clients come from far and wide. A real plus would be to speak to international destination wedding couples via multilingual websites, search engine advertising and staff members.

What’s the icing on the wedding cake?
We’re here for you. Email Tracy Stottler at tstottler@danacommunications.com. She’ll walk you down the aisle and make a blushing destination wedding marketing expert of you yet.

Bringing “Life” to Lifestyle Marketing Strategy

May 1, 2013
POSTED BY Tracy Stottler FILED UNDER Marketing.

Over the past 30 years, Dana has specialized in travel and tourism marketing, starting with conference centers, hotels and golf/spa resorts as primary clients. Our mission is to sell the lifestyle behind these purchases, knowing that we are not just selling a physical space, but the many ways in which that space is experienced. Beyond what people traditionally see as “travel and tourism,” we have, in recent years, evolved to include other interesting areas where lifestyle marketing strategies are critical to successfully selling the product.

Retirement marketing

Retirement marketing is entirely about selling a lifestyle. Owners don’t just buy a home—they buy a community, with experiences and relationships that become an important part of their next phase of life. Choosing the right product can be daunting, particularly since many people recognize this will be the last time they move and want to make the best choice to fit their long-term needs.

According to the Pew Research Center, as of January 2011, roughly 10,000 Baby Boomers will have turned 65, and about 10,000 more will cross that threshold every day for the next 19 years. The aging of this huge population of Americans requires thinking about their future living options and discovering the varying types of retirement products available in the market.

One of our clients, The Forest at Duke, offers what is known as a “Continuing Care Retirement Community” or CCRC. CCRCs offer specialized services, support and security. Residents get peace of mind knowing there are three levels of care—all within the same community. They know that if their needs change, the appropriate level of support is available, from independent living to assisted living and nursing care. Residents move in when they are at their healthiest (typically at a young 70 or 80 years) but also looking ahead to future wellness needs. Prospective customers don’t want to think of themselves as “old.” In fact, Pew Research reports the typical Boomer believes that old age does not begin until age 72. Consequently, our lifestyle message to them is all about finding ways to stay young and how this community can support that aspiration.

Higher education marketing

In higher education, students are not just buying a degree, but also all of the supporting programs, events, friendships and lifelong learning memories that come with the total university experience. With a college-bound student in our home, we were interested to see how many university marketing materials look alike. Not just similar, but almost identical in many cases, with happy smiling faces of students and testimonials of how it was the “best choice they ever made.” Between the website searches, college fairs and direct mail received by the bundle, there was a sea of “vanilla” that really made it difficult to distinguish and choose between the available options.

There are nearly 2,500 public and private institutions in the U.S. offering four-year degrees, plus another 1,600 two-year institutions. So how do you make a college or university stand out? Unique brand messaging is lacking in most university marketing materials, and our goal is to identify what makes our educational clients appear different and better than the rest. Broader lifestyle positioning helps students become aware of how the total environment will impact their four-year experience. We want to remove the same-ness by selling the special nature of the lifestyle both on and off campus.

A lifestyle is the way in which a person or group lives. Every client should look at its own products and ask how to best deliver a lifestyle promise to its customers.

The Truth about Customer Retention
and Brand Loyalty

Apr 23, 2013
POSTED BY Lynn Kaniper FILED UNDER Branding.

Let’s face it, the cost of acquiring new customers is rising, and the budgets allocated to doing so are diminishing. In a buttoned-up market where consumers are becoming discerning frugalists, attracting new business is no small task. In fact, simply keeping your existing business has become an increasingly tall order. But as the price tag attached to customer retention is only a fraction of that of new business acquisition, there’s a clear benefit to making brand loyalty your bottom-line booster.

More and more, companies are relying on loyalty and retention programs as a staple in their business-building strategies. Because customer loyalty translates into greater spend for a brand, these types of initiatives are often woven into the fabric of overall marketing plans. But beware, assembling a punch list of perks and points or handing out little plastic cards like candy won’t necessarily garner the long-term loyalty a brand needs to keep customers coming back.

In a recent research survey conducted by SAS and Loyalty 360, the number one priority of customer retention and brand loyalty programs among respondents (executives in B2C and B2B companies from a cross section of industries) was to get customers to spend more (47%). Improving churn (19%) and developing customers into brand evangelists (16%) were a distant second and third. The stats say a lot about how businesses view the role of brand loyalty programs, and this perception may be exactly the reason why the value of programs like these is weakening day by day.

The research shows that greater importance is being placed on eliciting short-term ROI than on building brand ambassadors. With billions of loyalty memberships permeating households nationwide, there is a real desensitization in effect. Rather than making an emotional connection to the brand at hand, consumers are dazzled by bargains, deals and discounts, which makes their loyalty short lived and far from lucrative.

More than ever, it’s imperative to put the brand first. Your brand has something unique to offer, and if you can identify that and make it the focus of your communications, you’re on the way to promoting greater brand loyalty. Just like any successful relationship, fruitful loyalty and retention efforts happen over time, not in the blink of a campaign.

In the end, keeping customers coming back is not about luring them with loot. It’s about making a place for your brand in their hearts. It’s not about “buying” the customer, but knowing the customer’s needs and learning to fulfill them. What does your business stand for? What message does it communicate? These are the elements that will resonate with your target audiences and turn them into not only repeat customers, but also brand champions.

Destination Wedding Trends 2013

Apr 18, 2013
POSTED BY Shawn Kusenko FILED UNDER Red Hot Topics, Trends.

“Will you love, honor and cherish…?” is the most momentous question brides and grooms ask themselves when they marry, but it’s far from the only one. As my new husband and I learned firsthand, slightly more than a million tiny to monumental decisions and demands comprise the entire wedding planning process.

Recently, I shared a personal account of when my husband and I got hitched on Our Whimsical Destination Wedding Adventure in Walt Disney World. Our experience reinforced long-held beliefs I was taught here at Dana, especially about how to speak to spouses-to-be, in general. But it also provided me with priceless insight into what destination wedding couples, in particular, want—and stoked a need to learn even more about 2013 destination wedding trends.
I discovered that in 2012, 25% of US weddings qualified as destination weddings. That’s 332,500 weddings—and $18 billion in spending—in one year! So with that blissful figure floating out there, please join hands and repeat after me: “For better or for worse, before marketing destination weddings to couples any further, we vow to ponder all of the important questions.”

Who are they?
According to Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, couples tying the knot at least 200 miles from where they live are planning the very definition of a destination wedding.

With an average age of 32, let’s say they’re, well, more mature than the average marrying couple. The stats show 19% of them are celebrating their second wedding, so we’ll call them wiser too. Moreover, they hold two-income households with higher income.

They “strive to plan a one-of-a-kind celebration that results in a truly unforgettable travel experience for themselves and their guests. This desirable market plans ahead, rarely cancels and travels in groups.”

For you, let’s cut to the best part: “Your ROI is easily achieved.”

Where do they come from?
Everywhere! Destination wedding couples are typically a jetsetting bunch (91% own valid passports). Unlike hometown sweethearts arranging native nuptials, they tend to meet, marry and dwell around the globe, and their invitees are also far-flung.

Carley Roney, cofounder of XO Group Inc. (whose flagship brand, The Knot, is a leading wedding resource for every bride), says the growing destination wedding trend “goes hand in hand with the fact that most people no longer live where they grew up. When family is spread all over the country, a destination wedding is the perfect way to bring everyone together.”

Where do they go?
Around 70% of destination weddings take place in the continental US. Since 69% of destination weddings are held outdoors, it’s no surprise that warm weather seems to win out. Florida is the #1 domestic wedding location, and other popular destinations include more Southeast states as well as Hawaii, California and Nevada. Also, big-city folks are seeking authentic, meaningful destinations, in their hometowns or elsewhere in the Heartland.

Top international destination wedding locations include the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, spots that tend to be beachy and/or balmy, and where travel is relatively easy.

Why do they do it?
XO Group Inc. notes that 66% of international destination wedding brides and 45% of domestic destination wedding brides cite wanting a “special, fun or exotic locale” as the main factor behind choosing a destination wedding. Other reasons include wishes to host fewer guests at a more intimate occasion (though numbers indicate guest counts are rising) and to celebrate at a location special to the couple.

Quality time in a fabulous place, with their closest loved ones, triumphs over a high-quantity guest count. The vast majority of couples pay for their destination wedding entirely, or they share the cost with parents. That means they’re less likely to list invitees numbering in the hundreds, just to honor an obligation to feed surf ‘n’ turf to the mother-in-law’s ex-boss’ second cousin twice removed and her next-door neighbor’s dogwalker, who she’s bringing as her guest.

Despite popular belief, “for richer, for poorer” does not mean typical couples are squandering the entire cost of their mortgages on over-the-top Fantasy Platinum Destination Weddings. The first thing many (nosey) people say when they hear about our Walt Disney World wedding is, “Wow, I bet that cost a FORTUNE.” Hardly. Like the average destination wedding couple, our overall costs were less than they’d be for that larger wedding we’d feel required to throw in our hometown.

XO Group Inc.’s figures confirm that the average cost of a traditional wedding is higher than (but close to) the average cost of a destination wedding. Destination wedding couples simply spend that money differently. They invite fewer guests and spend more on each individual guest than their traditional wedding counterparts, in order to lavish them with unique activities and experiences, bonus group events and, sometimes, partial expenses.

So what do they want?
Now that we know who they are, let’s explore what these couples want from you. In Part 2, we’ll learn more about where you can find them, what you can do for them and how you should tell them all about it. Until then, email Tracy Stottler at tstottler@danacommunications.com for Dana’s destination wedding marketing expertise.