I asked my longtime friend and Tourism Pro Larry Cohen if he had some insights to share with us on marketing in 2021. Here are his thoughts on the power of repeat visitors.
The sales and marketing business is full of old maxims:
- “80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers.”
- “Fish Where the Fish Are.”
- “Half of my advertising doesn’t work. I just don’t know which half.”
My favorite is attributed to Willie Sutton, the bank robber in the 1920s and ‘30s. When asked why he robs banks, his answer was simple: “That’s where the money is!”
He understood target marketing perhaps better than most.
As we work to rebuild the tourism industry today, we’re doing so with fewer resources than we had just 12 months ago. As such, it is important that we add a greater focus on the source of business that will form the base of the tourism renewal.
Perhaps the best place to look for future tourism business is in the rear-view mirror. That is where the overwhelming majority of tomorrow’s visitors are to be found.
Prior Visitation Can Be A Predictor of Future Intent
With some local variations, a recent analysis of visitor profile data from 40 destinations in the USA revealed that on average 70% of a destination’s visitors in a given year had traveled to that same destination during the prior 12 months.
And when you add those that have visited in the prior two-five years, the overall incidence of repeat visitation often reached 85-90%.
Here are some examples from around the country:
- 71% of visitors to Maine in 2018 had been there previously
- 88% of visitors to Hilton Head in 2019 had been there previously
- 73% of visitors to San Francisco in 2019 had been there previously
- 82% of visitors to Branson, MO in 2019 had been there previously
- 76% of visitors to Bemidji, MN in 2018 had been their previously
Although the profile of the past visitor is included as a target in many destination marketing plans, few specifically mention a tactic of promotional outreach specifically aimed at actual prior visitors.
The limitations of using data
With all of the algorithm-generated analytics that are now available, the most common effort seems to use that profile data to create “personas”, “audience models” and/or “look-alikes” that are reflective of the geographic, demographic and psychographic profiles of destination visitors.
The challenge of using that methodology is that destinations relying on those audience models are merely reaching out to those who look like visitors rather than reaching out to actual prior visitors, themselves.
That makes promotional efforts much less efficient as in many cases “look-alikes” may outnumber actual prior visitors by six-fold.
Credit Card Data to the Rescue
An analysis of credit card spending can be used to document that…and also provide a means to target those actual travelers.
That focus creates a much greater efficiency than casting a wide, expensive marketing net.
American Express has conducted research on the relative costs of generating business from non-customers v. existing customers. It found that the cost to convert new business is six-times greater than is the cost of generating repeat business.
That is amplified by the use of the purchasing funnel as an illustration. When chasing new customers/visitors, there are all sorts of activities that are required at the top of the funnel. By and large, those activities are unnecessary when seeking repeat business from prior visitors. You’ll find them at the bottom of the funnel where there is much less friction in the process.
Adding to the efficiency is how much more receptive prior visitors are to destination advertising messages.
A 2016 study on behalf of South Dakota found that those with prior visitation experience rated the State’s tourism attributes as much as 80% higher than did non-visitors.
A 2019 study on behalf of Maryland found that those who had visited the State during the prior six months had an ad recall some 2.6x higher than did the non-visitors.
A similar study conducted by Missouri found that prior visitation lifts ad recall by at least 50% and as much as 90% vs. certain attributes.
If you’re seeking to kick-start your tourism marketing efforts, take a good look in the rear-view mirror, find your visitors from the past 18 months, and market to them now to make tomorrow as productive as it can be.
About Larry Cohen
Larry Cohen’s 35-year career in print and digital publishing in the travel and tourism category has included multiple segments…MICE, global business travel, outbound leisure, domestic leisure and inbound leisure…with both trade and consumer products.
His company, Northeast Media began representing Phoenix International Publishing in 1994 with the third issue of its British Magazine, Essentially America. Northeast Media and Cohen have collaborated in the launches of the German, Nordic and Chinese editions as well as in the development of affiliated digital products.
The latest product, Spearfish, harnesses the ability to identify prior visitors to destinations as identified by in-person credit card spend with digital advertising served to those travelers via a curated network of brand-safe websites. This product can be used to generate repeat visitation or as a tactic in a conquest marketing strategy.
Cohen lives with his wife, Jan, in Weston, CT and has been active in many travel industry associations. His current affiliations are with New York Travel Industry Association and SKAL where he serves as Secretary of NY SKAL. Connect with Larry on LinkedIn.