Now it’s fair to say that your town is already on a map but are you getting people to actually come and visit it? Any influx of visitors is welcome to a town in terms of income but what if you want to increase it?. In Cheltenham its favour it does have a popular literature, Music, Food and Drink festival and famous racecourse. What you need is a strategy. Here is a short guide to what you need to do:
- Find the audience you want. It may seem harsh but you need to look at the town as a product and what are its benefits. You need to focus on those benefits in a direct way as that is the secret to making people come. They need to know that they will be enriched in some way either culturally or socially.
- Define the USP’s of the town. That’s probably easier said than done but you will need to get a list of 5 and, remembering to keep it fluid and work the marketing strategy around them. As we said before though you do need one solid performer in the USP camp that you can emphasis. We know that some towns selling point is their community spirit, their houses and the aesthetics. This is why a Essex Roofers company do a professional job every time to make sure they rooftops are in tip top condition.
- Keep it fluid. A strategy on marketing a small town does not mean rigidity. It’s very likely that your town will have more than one Unique selling point or USP as they are called, and you need to make room for all of it. You do however need one central message.
- Dream big. It’s very easy to assume that things will not work out. It depends on what your team’s outlook is. Positivity has its place you may say but a degree of negativity is needed for a reality check. You do need to really consider the other side of the coin. What if you have a great success? Imagine that. You then have the issue of how to manage that success and you do need to plan for that. How will visitors be managed? Can the shops and infrastructure handle the increase?
- Link it to the business plan. Both plans should complement each other and run alongside each other in tandem and harmony. Regularly check that you have a consistency between the two.
- Inform people what you are doing, especially to the wider community. You don’t just need the businesses on side you need to have the public on-board and prepared to help and support the vision that you have. Don’t be afraid to ask for volunteers either. Appeal to the civic duty in all of them.
All the best. The road is long but you’ll get there.