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| For the record this is NOT Queen Elizabeth II's great grandchild. To read more official royal news see http://www.dukeandduchessofcambridge.org/news-and-diary |
Content
that is valued by your target market is an essential component of a sound
inbound marketing strategy. A useful tactic for creating meaningful content is newsjacking,
the process which David
Merman Scott defines as "inject[ing] your ideas or angles into
breaking news, in real-time, in order to generate media coverage for yourself
or your business."
This is
what I have done with this post, making an allusion to the birth of the son of
Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. What does this have to do
with your hotel, DMO or meetings industry business? You should be using newsjacking to create
content and attract attention of meeting and event planners to generate
leads!
Here's how:
- Use a newsworthy event to create a special package, service or theme at your hotel. Hotel marketers sometimes will do this for leisure packages, so why not for meetings? I searched for a royalty-themed meeting package for this post and found none (now here's an opportunity!), though recently there were great examples around The Great Gatsby movie premiere (see 5 Swanky "Great Gatsby" Hotel Packages).
- If you're not ready to venture into current affairs, create your content by leveraging an industry event. Talk about the "top trends" your catering manager observed when he/she attended the ISES Conference or what your takeaways were from the latest meetings industry event your sales team attended. Our own Meagan Rockett does this regularly, reporting "takeaways" from the CSAE events she attends.
- To really gain the attention and respect of meeting and event planners, give them newsworthy material they can relate to in their work. Use an event in your city that has some sort of fame or notoriety, and interview the people who make it happen. If I were at Tourism Toronto, for example, I would want a meeting planner story about the logistics behind the Toronto International Film Festival. It's like having a celebrity spokesperson for a weight loss program; everyone is interested because there is a famous person (in this case an event) behind it!
Creating
content fit to attract the attention normally reserved for royalty might be a
tall order, but a little creativity will go a long way to elevating your
marketing to a greater level of differentiation from your competitors.
