5 W's of Marketing

I once heard that every company that starts in the twenty-first century is a technology company first and a marketing company second - often these two areas are tied closely together.

By Nathan Gawlik
Nathan Gawlik's experience includes being a General Manager of a Hampton Inn and other front line roles such as a Banquet Captain, Front Desk Agent, Housekeeper, Catering Event Manager, and Director of Sales.

The 5 W's of Marketing

I once heard that every company that starts in the twenty-first century is a technology company first and a marketing company second.

By Nathan Gawlik

Selling anything without having an online presence immensely restricts your selling power. You could have the best product in the world, but if no one knows it exists it will perish. Recently, marketers have begun to promote the use and importance of optimizing for voice search given the advent of Google HomeTM, AlexaTM, and other devices. The world changes fast. Failing to understand your potential customers' habits and adapt to best business practices will only see your profits suffer.

Marketing helps you reach your target audience - the people more likely to buy your product or service. And as many professional marketers have said before, marketing is about telling a story. The art of marketing is revealed when the protagonist of your story is the person you are marketing to, inserting your audience into the story you are telling. Make them envision their life with your product or service.

The elements of a good story are the five W's: who, what, when, where, and why. Consider for a moment if this prescribed order is the best course to take when selling your product. To be honest, it leaves the hardest part to the very end. Allowing the why to often be neglected or otherwise overlooked entirely.

The best companies start with why. In fact, Simon Sinek wrote a book about the benefits of starting with why and has talked about this subject for over 10 years.

In Start with Why, he uses Apple, Martin Luthern King Jr, and the Wright Brothers among other examples to express the benefits of starting with why, stating; "Apple doesn't have customers, they have fans."

A person's why speaks to their beliefs and deeper meaning. It asks for what purpose. Why does your organization exist? "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it," says Sinek. Yes, your company needs to make money, and yes you provide accommodations for your guests, but why?

"The goal isn't to do business with everyone that needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people that believe what you believe," Sinek proclaims. Taking this way of thinking will help you discover who your target audience is so you can better sell to them.

Young creative business people meeting in office

Marketing Starts with Why

Armed with this knowledge of human nature, it's easy to see the benefits of changing the marketing prescription to the following order: why, who, what, where, and when.

Why should people travel to your property? As you may have heard, people buy based on emotion. A strong why tends to make for stronger more long-lasting relationships - Trigger buying by invoking the correct emotional response.

According to some marketers the subconscious is the biggest driver of your buying habits. It has been said that while the conscious mind can process the equivalent of a four by four square of information, the subconscious will be processing eleven acres worth of information. These are all the things that don't necessarily come to mind, like the light, smells, touch and other senses.

Who is going to be your market demographic? This should be the type of person you want at your property. If you don't know who this person is, you will end up wasting marketing dollars but also receive less favorable customers. I have heard this numerous times in the lodging industry. There is one deciding factor, more than any other, that determines the type of person you will receive at your inn: price.

Many people learn the hard way that if they drop their prices too low, they attract a different class of people. Too high, and guest expectations increase. Your property better rise to meet them if you are going to demand exorbitant rates.

What your selling tends to be factual. It is often far easier to state what you do, and hopefully, you are good at what you do. What you buy serves as proof for what you believe. They say there are 3 types of buyers: Ideas people, people people, and things people.

Ideas people tend to be your big picture entrepreneur types. These dreamers need to see the big picture. They tend to need facts. How big is the pool, how far is it from the beach, when does breakfast start, and what is the price.

People tend to focus on less tangible things. Their subconscious might likely go to creating memories with family, enjoying the warm sun by the pool, or foregoing the price to have the view they desire.

Things people need the tangible. They are attracted to the items themselves, not necessarily the benefits they provide. They aren't focused on enjoying the sun by the pool, they see the pool and that's enough for them.

The good news is that you can appeal to all three buyer types within the same image or statement encompassing your desired message. For example, imagine a smiling mom laying by the pool, while her smiling son makes a big splash with a cannonball and the message comes across the screen; "heated saltwater pool steps from the bar." Do you see how these three things can speak to three different buyer types?

Tips
Don't focus on how awesome you think the service is. Focus on how awesome they think the service you are selling is. Cater it to your audience and try to speak to each of these buyer types.

Focus on the benefits, not the features. Features are a means to an end. Show that end. Some people just want to know that the bed is exceedingly comfortable. Imagine again a smiling woman falling back with a clean white comforter enveloping her as she sinks into the bed. This is enough for one type of buyer but if you add a caption stating how highly rated your property's sleep quality is or that you have 1500 thread count sheets that will appeal to another type of buyer.

Be vague enough so the customer can easily place themselves into the scene without too much imagination. Think of the story of your property as a choose your own adventure. Here guests see all the opportunities your property provides. Some storylines they will identify with while others their spouse might identify with. Don't spend too much time on any one thing at the detriment of leaving out other features. Give the audience enough to hook them and continue their shopping experience with you.

Where and When
When and where tend to be pretty self-evident. Providing your location is important but also providing where guests can reach you or how they can buy from you is key. Likewise, when tends to be entirely up to the guest. Of course, they will select the dates they need.

Finally, How
It's easy to state how you do something. Explain your secret sauce. The process for which you accomplish your what. What's different or special about the way you do things that might create value for your guests. Do you make pancakes with 15 yummy ingredients? Do you have personal touches in each guest room? How do you wow your guests?

Imagery

Why do pictures and videos sell more than just text? It's because the part of the brain that controls decision making, the Limbic system, has no capacity for language. This is where gut feelings come from. This is where why is generated and then reasoning justifies decision making in the Frontal Cortex.

They say a picture is worth 1000 words. Imagery more easily communicates key things the buyer needs to know. If it looks nice it must be expensive. Steam coming off food has more gravitas and staying power then stating the food is hot and fresh. We discuss how to get the right pictures to showcase your property in our article on photography, here.

By this point, you should have the groundwork for the content you would like in your marketing. The why you do what you do has helped define the who you are marketing to; also known as your target demographic. Now it's time to decide what means you will use to reach them.

Marketing Channels

Marketing channels are numerous. These can be any channel that brings people to your business, including your website. Other examples could be emails, online booking engines, and social media, just to name a few.

Print marketing in its numerous forms is also an option but your return on investment (ROI) tends to be lower. For this reason, we aren't going to focus on that too much here other than to say, it's not a bad idea to have grab and go brochures, flyers or pamphlets at your reception desk. The things people tend to gravitate towards these. But by no means should you spend the majority of your efforts on this.

Summary

You could have the best product in the world, but if no one knows it exists it will perish. Develop a marketing strategy that works for your property. This typically starts with defining your target demographic, or the individual buyer you wish to attract. Then fine where these people spend their time. This will help you determine what marketing channels to use to reach your target market.

Once you know how to reach them, it's time to sell. Help your target customer envision themselves with your product. Tell a story and make them the hero. Work through your five W's to help you develop your customer's story.

"There are two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it, or you can inspire it"

- Simon Sinek

Resources

Ted Talk by Simon Sinek Start with Why
Donald Miller Building a Story Brand
According to Expedia, Consumers Visit 38 Sites Before Booking

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