After an entire season where not one client came to me with a Maine Outdoors brochure in hand I am wondering if they have simply outlived their usefulness. Each season I have around 2000 printed, pay to have them at visitor’s centers around the state, put out by a distribution service and personally make visits to a number of places to distribute myself. This year for the first time most of my reservations came via e-mail and I was found by some sort of a web search for fishing or another outdoor activity. In fact even the telephone does not get much use these days; mostly when I get a referral.
With a new partnership to be announced soon, a web page upgrade scheduled before the end of the year and a presence on Twitter and Facebook. Is there any need for a print brochure? Or should I simply reduce the print volume and be more careful about where I put them out?
Your thoughts?
Comments
Brochures
I haven't used them for years. Much like you, I would say 90% of my engagements come to me from referrals or individuals who have visited my web site or the one I maintain on Face Book. Paper seems to be on the way out.
See you on the water some time!
Best regards,
Bill Stevens
Master Maine Guide-Fishing
Much More than a Brochure
Don,
I live in a tourist area (Asheville, NC) and we see a LOT of brochures around here. Paper use is hard to track, as you know, but the spaces in the racks is hard to come by. Some businesses live and die by the rack.
If you are asking your guests about brochures, then that may be the best tracking you can do, unless you added a special web address to a brochure, so you would know folks used that link to look up your website. That may help a bit.
Your existing site is better than most guide sites, so I'm curious to know what you plan to upgrade. So many guides have a 'digital brochure" as their website, and you have gone past that.
Content marketing is what I'd like to see more guides doing. I believe that Nature's stories are very powerful and that outdoor guides are the best sources for a connection to the the wild that we increasing need.
Our culture is nature starved compared to even my Dad's generation. I would love to follow a steady stream of stories about the wild you encounter on a daily basis.
"Content is King" on the web right now, but building relationships and authority over time really matters. The content keeps the audience coming but it's the call to action and the built up trust that make us want to meet you in person and use your services.
How does your ideal client find you? Do they "know you" already from your site, newsletter or another social media connection? What does that connection mean to your experience with them on the trip?
These are the type of questions I ask myself everyday.
Good luck with it!
David
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