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Ive stayed in lots of hotels, some more memorable than others but they are largely uninspiring and faceless places. Just another stop on your schedule in another new place. During one particular stay though something stood out, something that will benefit you and your website. This is what happened.
I checked in at yet another hotel and feeling tired from travelling went up to my room. The room was similar to all the other hotel rooms i'd stayed in. I decided a nice soothing bath would be just what i needed and started to run the bath when i noticed three little yellow plastic ducks on the side of the bath. I saw the humour in the situation right away and smiled a much needed smile to myself and continued with my bath and relaxation.
I was struck by this interesting idea. During the bath and over the next day or two those little yellow ducks kept popping up in my mind. I wondered why they were there? Were they for children? Unlikely, as my room didnt have any beds or facilities for children. They must have been for the adults then, my mind reasoned.
What a clever idea i thought. You check into yet another nameless, faceless hotel, tired from travelling, missing home and all its comforts and people and you get these little ducks in your room. They make you smile and provide a symbol of home comfort (even if you you dont have ducks at home). They put you at ease in a foreign environment and suddenly your stay seems a little more homely and comfortable with that personal touch. A personal touch that is all too rare in hotels.
Of course, this is also an excellent marketing tool too. Who could forget something that stood out so much? Something so unique? Just that little personal touch will easily generate lots of word-of-mouth advertising from guests. Ive already told several people about it myself (and you now). Imagine hundreds or thousands of people doing that over the coming months and years and the increase in room sales and frequency of visits. We buy and do things on the strength of recommendations from friends and colleagues and you simply cant buy that kind of powerful, personal recommendation advertising. And the cost of this excellent highly effective marketing campaign? Three plastic ducks and the effort of putting them in the room - next to nothing! This has to be one of the best marketing ideas ive ever seen and the cheapest too. Genius!
What has all this got to do with your online business and success? You too can generate and benefit from powerful word-of-mouth advertising too. If you have the right simple marketing idea too, your business and website could be practically overrun with paying customers as well. You may also be able to get some highly visible press coverage too for such a novel idea which will boost your marketing and sales even further.
Make your business/website memorable in some way. You can either do it from within your company or hire-in a marketer to do it for you. Create a kind of virtual permanent business card in your customers mind. If they can buy from you now or in the future, they will, they just need a reason to do it.
Good luck as always!
Peter Simmons is editor of the DYNAMIQ EZINE. GET MAXIMUM RESULTS FROM YOUR WEBSITE! Increase your traffic, sales, profits, referrals and more... START GETTING RESULTS RIGHT NOW with our FREE WEBSITE EVALUATION at http://www.dynamiq.co.uk/ezine or email me anytime for immediate assistance peter@dynamiq.co.uk
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