If it’s true that you can’t please all of the people all of the time, the key to successful marketing is knowing how to connect with the right people, and in a relevant way.
As the Australian domestic tourist industry steps groggily off the ropes, having barely survived the onslaught of bushfires and COVID-19, the path back to prosperity starts with the people who you already know are keen on your offering.
Understand them, and you are a long way towards understanding the millions of Australians who would have holidayed overseas this year but now are turning their attentions to the local experiences. As restrictions are eased, and government stimulus cash keeps the economy moving, the data is there to understand what might bring them to you.
It’s data from people who have already visited a destination, and can be invaluable in helping to tailor your recovery marketing. In this case we analysed mobile phone data for the South Coast of NSW, a region that even before the coronavirus had recorded a bushfire-driven drop in population of more than 60% across the peak holiday period of December 15 to January 15 when compared with the previous year.
By analysing data from the 2018/19 summer season we can start to understand the main areas where people visiting the South Coast come from. It’s data that is built on actual behaviour rather than assumptions, and opens the prospect of luring back not just those customers but many more like them.
The sheer breadth of areas where those visitors comes from is the first point. Not surprisingly, Sydney is the largest single source of visitors, but areas such as Melbourne and Brisbane jump out as delivering unexpected volumes of visitors to the NSW South Coast over Christmas.
We can go deeper though. It is one thing to know where visitors to an area come from, but another to know who they are. Regardless of industry – retail, finance, automotive and travel – the better you know your customer, the more effective you will be at winning business. Travel brands who can tailor what they offer to prospects enjoy improvements in effectiveness of up to 60%*.
In our example, magnifying the focus closer to Sydney shows that visiting the NSW South Coast is popular across a wide range of suburbs, each of which is home to a variety of socio-economic demographics. In the graphic below we have marked three areas in Inner Sydney which are hot spots for visiting the NSW South Coast.
The sheer diversity of consumers in each proves how a homogenous approach to marketing the NSW South Coast to Sydney would be a very blunt weapon. The Eastern Suburbs, for instance, is an obvious target area when seeking prosperous families – but graduates also represent great potential in this area.
The inner west is known for its Middle Australia families but has a relatively higher proportion of prosperous families. Finally, a focus only on families in the inner city would ignore the potential of attracting a significant proportion of wealthy retirees.
In this example it’s the South Coast of NSW, but Australia has a vast array of fantastic experiences to promote. The key is ensuring you are promoting the right experience to the right person, proven to improve return on investment.
If you would like help in understanding your current visitors and help finding new ones or for more information on this study, contact us for more information.