Tips for saying thanks like you mean it.

November 11, 2025

Filed under: Customer Service, Writing Tips, Effective Communication — @ 12:12 pm

Ever notice how often you say the word “thanks?”

Ever notice how often people (and businesses) say it to you?

Ever notice how often the word feels meaningless and completely devoid of grateful sentiment?

That’s because we humans have overused the word “thanks” to death, often in completely inappropriate situations. Such as:

The cashier at the store who says “thanks” as your transaction is completed, without even looking you in the eye once.
The notice from your credit card company decreasing your line of credit while thanking you for your patronage.
The vendor who automatically confirms every purchase you make with “thanks for being such a valued customer.”

Because the word is so overused (and inappropriately applied), it’s become disconnected from its true sentiment. This is fine for many ordinary interactions when a quick “thanks” is all that’s needed. But when you REALLY want someone to especially feel your gratitude, “thanks” just doesn’t pack the appreciation punch you need.

Here’s how you can be more thoughtful in expressing your thanks:

Choose whether the situation calls for words of “gratitude” or words of “appreciation.” There’s a nuanced difference between them. For example, if you’re delivering unwelcome news about a missed deadline, you might say “your patience is much appreciated” instead of “thank you,” which sounds especially hollow and trite in that circumstance.
Add depth to your sentiment by sharing thoughts and/or details relevant to that particular situation. So, not just “thanks for doing a great job” but “thanks for doing such a magnificent job under such challenging circumstances” or “thanks for doing such a fantastic job…I’m so grateful that you caught that issue before it snowballed!” Making your words specifically relevant to the situation puts the meaning back into your gratitude.
Check your laziness: there’s a temptation to just say “THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!” when you know a simple “thanks” won’t cut it, but you don’t feel like putting in the effort to find better words. There are times when the all-caps-multiple-exclamation-point version is appropriate (I mean, toss in a few joyful emojis while you’re at it) and times when it’s not. In some situations, that can come across as immature. And oddly, in others, it can come across as overkill. I once had a colleague who used an all-caps “THANK YOU!” every time she emailed to ask for something, no matter how big or small the request. It became white noise after a while… I could tell that was her default phrase and it felt empty and fake. I definitely did not feel “thanked.”
And on that subject of email, if you’ve got “Thanks,” as the start of your boilerplate email signature…remove it. That just repeatedly drains the word “thanks” of its meaning. You’re not thanking someone for things in every email you send, and then when you DO want to show appreciation for something, people will instinctively be skeptical.

And lastly…change up your wording. A big part of the reason why “thanks” or even “thank you” comes across as so superficial is because it’s so commonly used. If you use words of gratitude or appreciation that are less common, they’ll stand out more and leave the impression you intend. Some ideas here include:

Compliment them:

If you’re thanking someone for something they’ve done, combine your thanks with a compliment. “You’re such a (gem, rock star, stellar human, smart cookie, etc.) and I can’t thank you enough!” Or, “You just keep getting better and better (or smarter and smarter, or more thoughtful, or sweeter and sweeter) every year! You’re the best!”

Make it personal:

If you’re thanking someone because their words/actions/attitudes made a positive difference to you, show it. “You have no idea how much ______ made an impact on me, and I’m so grateful.” Or “I’m just so lucky to have someone as (thoughtful, kind, smart, etc.) as you in my life.”

Use an objective perspective:

Sometimes, you don’t want to make it about “you” or “them.” In such cases, a phrase like “thank you simply doesn’t do it justice” can come in handy.

Bonus: The Super-Secret Tip

All the points above are helpful, but the REAL trick to saying thanks like you mean it is…not doing it the same way every time.

If you usually write it, make a point sometimes to say it. If you usually say it, make a point sometimes to put it in writing – whether email, text, or a handwritten note.

Mix up your words often too, because if you just find one or two new ways to say thank you, and use them repeatedly, those too will lose meaning after a while. You can only call someone a “rock star” so often before it starts to become white noise to them.

Need some inspo? Reach for your thesaurus. In 10 seconds, you can find better phrasing. Here’s a kickstart for you:

Synonyms for GRATITUDE, APPRECIATION, and GRATEFUL.

And while we’re talking about phrases that have lost their meaning, you should stop opening your emails with “I hope you are well.”

How to deliver bad news gracefully.

October 13, 2025

Filed under: Customer Service, Writing Tips, Effective Communication — @ 4:54 pm

Raising your prices? Cutting services? Not giving out staff bonuses this year? Putting an employee on probation? Screwed something up big time, and now need to tell your boss?

No one wants to deliver this kind of unwelcome news. Quite frankly…it sucks, for both the recipient AND the messenger. But sometimes it’s a necessary evil of doing business, and you’re the unfortunate soul who has to bear the burden. Here are six tips to mitigate the drama:

1 – Let your own emotions run their course before you have to share the news with others. You may not like or agree with the news you must deliver, but there is a reason why it must be done. Find a way to come to terms with it in your mind so you don’t bring your own negative emotional energy to the delivery. Your audience will take its cue from your approach, and if you’re defensive, nervous, weepy, or angry…it will only fuel their own negative response.

2 – Restrict your build-up and get to the point. By the time people get through six long paragraphs or five full minutes of posturing and beating around the bush, their BS-radar is on high alert and involuntary butterflies in their stomach are flooding their brain with negative emotion. So, when you finally hit them with the unpleasant punchline, their adverse reaction is intensified by the emotions you yourself have nurtured in them. Often times, the anticipation is worse than the actual news. And drawing out that anticipation is just pouring oil on the flames.

3 – Consider the timing carefully. Procrastinating often makes it worse (especially if there is a rumor mill in the mix), but rushing to break the news just because YOU want to put it behind you comes with great risk. A knee-jerk communication is usually delivered with clouded judgment, high emotion, and a lack of due diligence. Most importantly, think about when this news will best be received. Bad news is never welcome, but you should consider factors like time of day, day of week, and your audience’s state of mind before you decide on the ideal timing. There’s no standard “right time” for how to deliver bad news gracefully…the sweet spot changes based on circumstances.

4 – Avoid misdirection and trickery. It’s tempting to load up bad news communication with a bunch of good news in the hopes of distracting your audience. One common version of this is the “compliment sandwich,” where you sandwich the bad news between two pieces of positive news, like compliments to the recipient. However, this type of approach will only damage their trust in you. You may choose this path because it makes YOU feel better (“Look, see? I’m not that bad…look at all the good things I’m still sharing!”) but to the news recipient, it just looks wishy-washy and weak. And, in many cases, it can give the appearance of trivializing very serious news and not treating it with the respect it deserves.

5 – Remember that nothing is confidential. Emails can be forwarded, and social media is designed to be the world’s fastest grapevine. Whatever you do…whatever you say…before you “go there,” answer this question: how would I feel if 30 million people knew about this tomorrow? Nothing tames you into acting gracefully like the thought of being vilified by an outraged public. In one of the most outrageous examples, United Airlines learned this the hard way more than a decade ago when Dave Carroll wrote the song “United Breaks Guitars” which, to date, has nearly 30 million views on YouTube alone. Even worse for United, Dave leveraged that incident and his subsequent viral fame to become a keynote speaker about poor customer service and the power of social media.

6 – Manage your OWN expectations. You must remember this: no matter how you spin it or when you say it…your audience won’t like it. That’s why it’s called “bad news.” It would be completely irrational for you to tell your customers you’re raising prices and have them respond “Great! Happy to pay more!” So, be realistic with yourself. If you expect to deliver bad news and have people walking away thrilled…this will not work out well for you.

And that brings us to the last point: delivering bad news is not about YOU. The recipient does not want to hear about how you were up all night bellyaching over having this conversation, or that you’re just so upset you can’t eat, or that it gives you no pleasure to do this. Asking for their empathy at a time like this is most likely to result in their wanting to smack you. Let them have their moment of sadness without trying to steal some sympathy for yourself. Otherwise, you are doing the very opposite of “how to deliver bad news gracefully.”

So, remember to keep your audience’s point of view in mind when crafting your approach to delivering bad news. And here’s some additional information that will help you do that

Small touches make a big impact in hospitality.

September 19, 2025

Filed under: Customer Service, Observations From the Field, This is Cool — @ 2:47 pm

Do you remember all the various bars of soap provided in your hotel rooms during your travels? Probably not.

Unless you stayed at Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, WI.

With a focus on the arts infused thoughtfully and creatively throughout the hotel, it’s fitting that their in-room soap resembles a classic eraser. And if that weren’t enough to etch the hotel into your memory, there are also ukeleles, record players, and vinyl albums in every room.

Saint Kate gets it: small touches make a BIG impact in hospitality.

Now, Saint Kate brands itself as “The Arts Hotel,” so it makes sense that they’d be willing to invest money in these kinds of unusual amenities. It makes their branding come alive.

But you don’t need a deep branding proposition to light a memory spark for guests. Any hospitality company can add small, simple, and unexpected touches to its guest experience…often with only a small, or one-time cost.

We recently asked some travel industry friends to tell us what kinds of small touches surprised them at hotels and restaurants around the world. Here are some of our faves.

DELISH LIP BALM

At the Koa Kea in Kauai, HI, the in-room amenities included Sugar Lip Balm, by the brand Fresh. Lip balm isn’t exactly a standard amenity by any means, and this sweetly infused one made such an impression on the guest who told us about it. Apparently, it’s the only kind she has ever used since, and she thinks of the hotel whenever she does.

FISHING RODS

At the Seaside Suites in Woody Point, NL, every room has a pair of fishing rods – and binoculars – to help guests enjoy their jaw-dropping surroundings nestled within Gros Morne National Park. In fact, two of their suites are actually built out over the water, and those guests can fish right off their patio.

LAST CALL COOKIES

Just before last call every night at the Portland, OR, cocktail bar Too Soon, freshly baked salted chocolate chip cookies are brought out on trays and offered to guests, free of charge. Owner Nick Flower started this tradition as way to simultaneously thank patrons who have stayed until closing time…and graciously signal that it’s almost time for them to leave. It’s like a warm gentle goodbye hug, compared to other bars’ ejection strategies, like turning on lights and turning off music.

MANGA READING ROOM

We LOVE this idea. At the Henn na Hotel Kyoto Hachijoguchiekimae in Kyoto, Japan, guests can enjoy any of the 700 issues available in the hotel’s specially created Manga Reading Room. Of course, they may be distracted by the two dinosaur robots manning the front desk at check-in, but hey…it’s Japan.

TREASURE HUNT

Leave it to Lego®. When you check into the Legoland® New York Resort, you find a locked treasure chest in your room. You need to go on a treasure hunt, finding clues and solving puzzles scattered throughout the hotel. Completing the treasure hunt gives you the code needed to unlock that chest…and inside is a cool Lego set for you to keep. It’s a memorable way to combine an activity, hotel exploration, and a parting gift.

LEGENDARY GRANOLA

When leaving the dinner table at NYC’s Eleven Madison Park, each guest is gifted a jar of their homemade granola and repeat diners eagerly anticipate this parting pleasure. (Psst – you can buy it here if you’re not planning to be in NYC any time soon.)

A REALLY – REALLY – GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP

At The Maker hotel in Hudson, NY, nightly turndown service includes hot tea and CBD gummies. It’s edgy…but we’re here for it.

Any hospitality company can use examples like this for inspiration. You don’t need to be Lego to offer a treasure hunt with a locked chest that holds a prize. And you can create any type of themed reading room that fits with the spirit of your business/brand/location (tip for hoteliers: that tiny, dark room that’s always hard for you to sell? Evaluate the marketing value of turning it into a stand-out reading nook…and – second tip – get good photos of it.)

The point is that it’s important to have SOME things that break through the clutter and etch themselves into people’s memories. And since small touches clearly make a big impact in hospitality, you don’t even need to spend a lot of money to do it.

Want more inspo for making a memorable impression on guests?

Hotel amenities can have marketing value.

10 Unexpected (and fabulous) tourism guest service stories.

Clever signage makes a lasting impression on your guests.

Here’s why marketing geeks rule.

October 18, 2024

Filed under: Public Relations, Digital Marketing, Website Strategies, Customer Service, Marketing Strategies, The Power of Persuasion, Observations From the Field, Media Relations, This is Cool, Social Media, Uncategorized — @ 2:07 pm

Effective, memorable, stand-out marketing always starts with a brilliant idea…and this is why marketing geeks rule in the idea department. Are you one? Your reaction to the three examples shared here will help you know.

First, let’s define “marketing geek,” which – in my world (tourism marketing) – is an affectionate compliment.

A marketing geek takes pleasure in the delivery of ANY successful marketing idea. It doesn’t have to be their own. It doesn’t have to be big. It doesn’t have to be revolutionary. It just has to strike you in such a way that you instantly appreciate all the invisible efforts that brought such a thing to life. It’s like a master chef tasting someone else’s delicious dish and immediately appreciating the culinary choices and skill that went into creating it.

And just like that master chef will be curious and ask questions of the dish’s creator, so too does a marketing geek question things.

We see things “out in the wild” and we’re SO curious about why choices (good and bad) were made. Why that font? Why that timing? Why that name? How did they pull that off? Why the bloody hell did they approve that ridiculous idea that tanked their brand? How long did that take? How much did that cost? And especially…did the marketing folks mean to do that or was it a happy accident?

More than that… we learn from everything we see. Every example we encounter gets stored away – in the creativity pantry of our brains, if you will – and we draw from that pantry every time we need seasoning for a new creative idea.

Take this photo:

On October 8^th, 2024, Jessica Campbell made history by debuting as the first female full-time assistant coach in the National Hockey League.

If you looked at this photo from that historic game and applauded whoever it was that suggested she wear an all-white suit…you’re a marketing geek.

In every photo, Coach Campbell “pops” dramatically while surrounded by a sea of black-clad Seattle Kraken players. And dare we mention that all the other coaches are wearing very dark suits as well? Not even a “slightly less dark grey” among them? You’ll never convince me any of these choices were an accident on the night of her first game, when all cameras would be shining a spotlight on this milestone story.

What do marketing geeks take away from seeing such a photo? A memorable reminder that if you want your photo to tell a marketing story, you need to make sure the right thing “pops.”

Need some tips for that? Learn the secret to a great tourism photo.

Here’s another example.

Like everyone, I’ve been in probably thousands of public bathrooms in my lifetime…restaurants, hotels, stores, airports, rest stops, office buildings, medical centers, libraries, museums, and more.

I don’t remember a thing about the toilet paper in any of them, except that it was – without exception – plain white.

So naturally my attention was grabbed instantly when I saw this toilet paper in the bathroom of a hospital recently:

It wasn’t just that the brand name “Scott” was blatantly showcased on the toilet paper. There was also a graphic pattern on it. It was actually kinda pretty.

So now, in my endless sea of white toilet paper memories, I can honestly say that moving forward, I will forever remember that the toilet paper in the bathrooms of NYC’s Mount Sinai Hospital at 98^th & Madison is NOT just plain white. Kudos to the Scott Paper Company (who probably intended this reaction) and to Mount Sinai (who may not have).

What do marketing geeks take away from seeing something like this? A heightened awareness that things get attention when they are unexpected or highly unusual. And this is especially true when it’s for a mundane, everyday product or experience.

Plus, if my reaction is true to form for marketing geeks, then such an encounter immediately inspires the thought, “what could we do with this?” Because right away, I thought of all our hotel PR and marketing clients and how cool it would be if they had unique, pretty, Instagrammable toilet paper for guests.

(Pssst… worried about costs, hoteliers? So put this toilet paper only in special suites or use it only during certain themed weekends. There is always a way, and in this age of social media, the surprise and delight ROI is worth it.)

The View – Lugano in Switzerland gets the whole “cool toilet paper” thing.

And as a final example, a true marketing geek would take great joy out of an email like this landing in their inbox:

As a medical insurance carrier, Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield likely has a lot of dry, seemingly boring, and it’s-for-your-own-good topics in their email content calendar. But that doesn’t mean they need to communicate them in a dry and boring way. I never thought I’d see myself smiling from an email about getting a flu shot, but smile I did. And I quietly gave their marketing team a mental high-five for it.

What do marketing geeks take away from seeing a subject line like this? Inspiration that ANY topic can have an interesting and attention-grabbing subject line if it’s approached the right way.

And come on, people… we’re in TOURISM. Surely if the medical insurance community can do this, we’ve got way more fun fodder in our arsenals to help us deliver on cool subject lines? See here for some tips.

The bottom line is that if you’re not already a marketing geek in this way, it’s not hard to become one…and your ideas will be better for it. Anyone can do it just by looking around, noticing things, and asking yourself “why” and “how” of everything you see. Eventually it becomes a habit and before you know it, you’ll be asking yourself “what could we do with this?” a dozen times a week. And this is why marketing geeks rule.

PS – I collect stellar marketing examples from all industries – not just tourism – to showcase here in this blog and in our newsletter, Tickled Red. So if you see any out in the wild that are worthy of applause by fellow marketers, send me a note/picture about it! I’m totally ready to geek out with you over it and may even use it in a future piece. Reach me at miranda@redpointmarketingpr.com.

Five real-life stories and their marketing morals.

September 7, 2023

Filed under: Public Relations, Customer Service, Marketing Strategies, Observations From the Field, Media Relations, Branding Strategies — @ 10:02 am

While Aesop had his legendary fables and their educational morals (I mean…who doesn’t know The Tortoise & The Hare?), hospitality marketers can learn from these five real-life stories and their marketing morals. Behold: The County & The World Cup, The Surgeon & The Flowers, The Meerkat & The Photographer, The Front Desk & The Dumb Answer, and The Biscuits & The Masking Tape.

The Country & The World Cup

A newspaper ad that shows a young woman with a soccer ball in the foreground and a group of kids playing in the background on a beach, with the headline "England, if we don't knock you out, the views will."

The morning that Australia was playing England in the semifinals of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, these full-page ads appeared in England’s newspapers. BEFORE the match was played. Why is that so cool? Because it’s pretty likely all of football-crazed England was thinking about Australia that morning (and not in a good way), and the message is just cheeky enough to earn the respect of that crowd. Had Tourism Australia placed an ad AFTER the match…what could they really say that would be clever and make people care about them? Win or lose, any post-game messaging would be likely to fall flat. And in fact, if Australia had lost (which they did), the messaging opportunity would really disappear: once that match was over, all England cared about was Spain, their next opponent in the upcoming final match. All thoughts of Australia were in the rear view mirror.

The Moral of this Marketing Story? Timing is everything in marketing. A message can lose its power – or worse, cause harm – if not perfectly timed. For more tips on this, see these four character traits that foster good timing in marketing.

The Surgeon & The Flowers

A vase of pink, purple, and yellow flowers, which is a surgical recovery gift from ModernEyes Opthalmology.

This story may not come from the hospitality industry, but it sure feels like it does. Someone close to me recently had cataract surgery and was referred to ModernEyes Ophthalmology. Every touchpoint with this office was fabulous, from intake and testing to exams and scheduling. It seems like there are hundreds of people working there, and yet we never felt like a number during our visits. Random technicians said hello to us in the hallways, staff remembered our names at every visit, and everyone was ALWAYS cheerful and upbeat. So we loved them from the start…and we got used to it. It was something we appreciated, but it’s not like you walk around telling everyone you know about your eye doctor. Until we arrived at the office for the first post-surgical checkup…and were given flowers to wish the patient a speedy recovery. WTF? What doctor does that? Next thing you know, we’re literally telling everyone we know that that surgeon cares enough to give patients flowers after their surgery.

The Moral of this Marketing Story? Shock even your happiest of guests with something completely unexpected and you will instantly transform them into proactive ambassadors. Whatever investment you make in this arena is worth it and then some. For more inspiration, check out these 10 unexpected (and fabulous) tourism guest service stories.

The Meerkat & The Photographer

The London Zoo recently got fantastic global press coverage for its annual animal weigh-in. Now let’s face it…checking weights of animals is a mundane behind-the-scenes operational process at a zoo. It’s not the kind of hook PR folks would normally reach for, favoring “sexier,” more newsworthy hooks like bold new exhibits, renovations, expansions, and such. Yet, if you stop and think about it, how DO you weigh exotic animals like Squirrel Monkeys, Walking Stick Insects, Sumatran Tigers, and other animals – like Frank the Meerkat above (credit: AP News) – who aren’t likely to cooperate? It’s something non-zoo people have likely never considered. All that was needed to turn this story into media catnip were arresting photos and adorable videos. And take special note: a meerkat on a scale is cute. A meerkat on a scale peering over a clipboard – which implies mischief and is an unexpected action for a meerkat – has news potential.

The Moral of this Marketing Story? There are actually two here. 1) If you have no sexy or big news to share, look at your operational processes and annual checklists. “How we do (this)…” stories, when showcased right, could be made interesting to non-hospitality folks. 2) The right images can turn even the most mundane of happenings into something newsworthy. Invest the time and labor to get it right, whether that means arranging for a high-profile media photographer to come shoot (as the London Zoo did with Associated Press) or hiring your own professionals to secure the shots. For more tips on this, check out what makes a dramatic tourism marketing photo and the secret to a great tourism photo.

The Front Desk & The Dumb Answer

While I have no desire to bash hotels by name, I’d be remiss not to share their mistakes as a learning opportunity for others. When I was checking into a Santa Monica based hotel at 5pm – well after check-in time – there was some sort of issue going on because my room wasn’t ready. And it was clear to me that the front desk staff was all in a tizzy about it. I’m one of the world’s most easygoing travelers, but having just landed on a cross country flight from NYC to CA, I was naturally eager to check into my room and refresh. So I simply (and calmly) asked when my room would be ready. This incident was perhaps a decade ago and yet I will never ever forget the front desk agent’s response: “Ma’am, too many of our guests requested a late checkout so you’re just going to have to understand and be patient. We’ll let you know as soon as housekeeping can get to it.” That is VERBATIM what she said to me. Whether it was true or not, it was truly the dumbest answer possible. Telling one guest she’ll “just have to understand” that due to the hotel’s own poor operational planning, her own standard expectations are being sacrificed so other guests can get special treatment? Not cool. It was just salt in the wound that the room ultimately wasn’t ready until 6pm, and worse that they didn’t even offer me a complimentary snack/drink in the lobby lounge restaurant while I was forced to wait. This was a four-star hotel brand and while such a response may have come just from that one person on that one day, I never stayed in a hotel of that brand again. And while my position in the tourism industry makes me unwilling to bash hotels online publicly by name, I did tell several of my personal friends and family the story (by name). Imagine if I were just a “regular” guest? Tripadvisor, here I come.

The Moral of the Marketing Story? Train your staff to graciously handle curve balls and crises because if you don’t, it will become a marketing problem. Something similar happened with these chocolate chip cookies at a Turks & Caicos resort.

The Biscuits & The Masking Tape

A package of biscuits wrapped in a clear plastic bag with masking tape across the top that has a written message "biscuits May 14, 5.50"

At Anchors Away, a small family-owned restaurant and dairy bar in Clyde River, Nova Scotia, the biscuit packs sold in bags at the front counter are labeled with masking tape and handwritten marker. While I was there helping the owner with a business and marketing strategy as part of a government tourism program, she apologized for the homegrown approach and said she was planning to invest in a label maker so the packages would look more professional. Now, this is a restaurant that doesn’t even have a website and whose entire operation – from staffing and menu choices to processes and marketing – is homegrown. Professional looking labels would be SO out of place here. And in fact, handwritten labels on a package of homemade biscuits are absolutely PERFECT for their branding…and sets them apart from the chain grocery store up the road.

The Moral of the Marketing Story? “Branding” doesn’t mean “fancy” or “formal.” Branding means making sure that every touchpoint a guest has with your operation feels authentically “like you.” Read the whole biscuit story here.

And now that you’ve enjoyed five real-life stories and their marketing morals, go indulge your inner child with a revisit of some of Aesop’s most legendary fables and their morals.

ChatGPT tips for tourism marketers.

February 13, 2023

Filed under: AI in Marketing, Public Relations, Digital Marketing, Website Strategies, Customer Service, Crisis Communications, Effective Presentations, Writing Tips, Marketing Strategies, This is Cool, Social Media, Effective Communication — @ 11:24 am

Here’s why tourism marketers need tips for using ChatGPT, an online program that engages in human-like dialogue based on a prompt: because we’re all too damn busy to waste time. And messing around with a new tool we’re not sure we’d even use feels a lot like wasting time. Is it worth it? Should you invest the time to get familiar with ChatGPT because that investment of time will pay off?

Short answer: yes. You need to know what this tool can REALLY do before you decide to embrace or reject it. It has some uses that may surprise you.

So let’s jumpstart your learning curve with some practical tips for how tourism marketers can explore the benefits of using ChatGPT.

First, let’s get one thing straight. ChatGPT is just a resource and a tool. You’ve got a lot of tools to help you do your job. Google is a tool. Adobe Illustrator is a tool. Semrush is a tool. But the relentless media frenzy around ChatGPT has given it near-mystical properties that make it seem more potent than that. Chill out, y’all. It’s just a tool. It’s one more resource in your toolbox to potentially help you do your job better, smarter, and faster.

And like all tools [she says sheepishly, aware that she barely knows how to use 5% of the available apps on her iPhone], its usefulness is only as powerful as your knowledge of how to harness it. I’ll never forget years ago when an accounting mentor said to me, “If you’re doing any manual calculations whatsoever or taking a long time to manipulate data in an Excel spreadsheet, then there’s a shortcut, command, or function you just don’t know about. Excel is designed to make life easier. If it’s making it harder, go learn more about Excel.”

ChatGPT is the same. When you first try it out, you won’t be savvy at knowing how to coax the most effective results from it. So you’ll plug in a few basic things and the outcomes will be unimpressive. And then, because you’re super busy and there’s no mandate that says you need to use ChatGPT, you’ll dismiss it as unhelpful and go back to the familiar tools in your toolbox.

But what if I told you that…

You could paste a particularly legalese-sounding section of a vendor contract into ChatGPT and say “explain this to me like I’m an 8^th grader”…and it does?

It could produce a style guide for all your team members to follow, after you feed it several samples of a brand’s voice to analyze?

It could take your 400-word bio and make it fit that directory listing’s 100-word requirement in just one click?

It could give you a substantive list of story ideas for your content calendar…and then organize them into a seasonal schedule…and then create first drafts of each piece of content, in different formats for social channels, blog posts, email newsletters…and even website copy that’s optimized for the keywords you require?

It can indeed do all those things and more…if you know how to prompt it effectively.

Janette Roush is Executive Vice President, Marketing and Digital, for NYC & Company, which is the official DMO/CVB for New York City. And she’s one of ChatGPT’s early adopters and passionate champions who is learning to master the “art of the prompt.”

“If you want to get ChatGPT to give you useful answers, the key is in how you formulate your prompt,” Roush told me. “I was once advised to think of it like an omniscient three-year-old. It knows everything under the sun, but it doesn’t know who YOU are, WHY you need to know, and WHO you’re trying to talk to. You need to prompt it with details like that for it to return a result that’s written in the context you need. Otherwise the result will be very generic and way less useful to your purpose.”

Roush has honed her prompting skills through persistent trial and error. In fact, she even documents her journey with ChatGPT on LinkedIn, making regular posts about prompts she’s tried for a wide variety of uses and the results they’ve produced. (Pro tip: Connect with or follow her there. You won’t regret it.)

Inspired by Roush, I took ChatGPT for a three-hour test drive one morning, just giving it prompts for various tourism-marketing-related things. One thing I quickly learned is that a generic prompt yields a generic answer and specific prompt yields a specific answer. Case in point: Look at how it adjusted its responses for social media captions based upon my specificity:

And it did the same thing as I sought its help to generate story ideas for Northern California:

Are those story ideas all perfect with no need for tweaking? Perhaps not. But did it give me threads to follow where before I had none? Absolutely. And some good ones too.

So, in addition to writing copy, one use of ChatGPT is to think of it like you would a sounding board. Or a brainstorming partner. It can’t ideate on its own (it’s not designed to innovate) but it can work with the prompts you give it to hit you back with starter threads.

Roush shared some spectacular direction on how to prompt ChatGPT as a sounding board in one of her recent LinkedIn posts:

You may be thinking “well, why can’t I just Google stuff like that instead of using ChatGPT?” And you can. But Google (“regular” Google, not the emerging Google Bard version that’s trying to infuse AI into its experience but not quite succeeding as of this writing) will give you a slew of different links for you to go explore and assimilate all the information on your own. And ChatGPT will just…answer you. Not with “here are ten sources you can read to find story ideas” or “here are ten sources to see how other destinations are making themselves an attractive esports destination.” It delivers YOUR story ideas, and tells you how YOUR destination can achieve an attractive esports destination profile.

And then – mind blown – you can direct it to actually WRITE that story about ice skating in Northern California or OUTLINE that strategic plan to develop esports tourism in NYC.

Again…will they be final drafts that need no tweaking? Absolutely not. They will be FIRST drafts, but if you’ve prompted with care, they’ll be pretty damn good first drafts.

And THAT saves you time, which is the whole point of using ChatGPT for marketing assistance.

But wait, you say. When I use Google as a resource tool, I can handpick from among sources on the results pages that I feel are legitimate and credible. Without such references, how do I know the information I’m getting from ChatGPT is accurate?

Folks, I remind you again that ChatGPT is not supposed to be a mystical tool that sees all and knows all. You’ll need to check your facts, just like you would using any other source. Do you really think that something is accurate just because you got it from a source on Google that you consider “credible?” News outlets get details wrong, websites have outdated information, and inaccurate stuff has a way of floating around and perpetuating online. So, ChatGPT is no more nor less credible than any other source you use. And you should do your due diligence on its output when necessary.

And while we’re at it, I should also remind you that most of the output you get from ChatGPT will need tweaking and polish. Even with the absolute best of prompting, there will still be nuances and phrasing you’ll need to infuse. So it can’t hurt to brush up on your writing skills, and these tips will help.

If you want to explore how ChatGPT can potentially help you with your tourism marketing needs but you’re not sure how to begin, Roush offers these four tips to get started:

Commit to a finite time period for practice. You won’t learn how to use any new tool unless you devote time to using it. Roush recommends setting a challenge to yourself, with some kind of accountability built into the period. Take two weeks or a month or whatever, during which you commit to prompting ChatGPT on at least one topic every day. “I challenged myself to post a new ChatGPT insight on LinkedIn every day for a month, and it forced me to think of that tool daily,” she says. “It didn’t come naturally to me at first, but after a while, as various needs arose throughout the day at work, I’d automatically say to myself ‘let me see how ChatGPT would handle that.’ And then I’d dive into prompting.”
Don’t think of it just for help with writing. With accurate prompting, ChatGPT is an excellent resource for organization, explanations, curation, and more. Roush says it’s helped her structure her lesson approach for her work as an Assistant Professor at Hunter College, and it’s helped flesh out her vacation itinerary in Montreal by finding cool things to do nearby to her already-planned stops. “I’ve also used it to help it explain things I don’t fully understand,” she says, “like when I understand 80% of a technical proposal and I want to understand 100% of it. I can ask ChatGPT to explain it to me in layman’s terms.”
Learn to become specific in how you prompt. You won’t be good at this right out of the gate. It takes time and practice to master the art of prompting. When Roush first dabbled in using ChatGPT, she – like most folks – prompted it with “silly things,” just trying out generic questions and commands, and receiving lackluster responses. “It wasn’t until I stumbled upon how to start being more specific that I began to see the possible uses of ChatGPT,” she says. “I had asked it to create an itinerary for my vacation in Montreal and it was pretty vanilla, just hitting all the major tourist sites. But when I fed it my existing itinerary and asked it to suggest enhancement additions using the right prompts for specificity, it really impressed me.”
Let ChatGPT create a style guide for you, so it learns to deliver responses in your own voice. Roush fed it around 40 of her previous LinkedIn posts and asked it to create a writing style guide for her… which it did shockingly well. Now she can instruct ChatGPT to use that guide when asking it to write stuff on her behalf. “It was surprising how well the style guide captured my voice,” she said. “If I had tried to analyze my own work and write up my own style guide, it would have taken forever and probably been less accurate.”

The bottom line is that the more you use it, the more uses you’ll discover for it. And with practice at the art of prompting, you can make ChatGPT something akin to a full-service virtual assistant who brainstorms, writes, organizes, and educates.

Or… not. You may end up hating it, but until you REALLY take it for a lengthy and diverse test drive, how will you ever know?

Related reading: Issac Asimov’s I, Robot. It was written in 1950 and well…here we are, folks.

Hotel amenities can have marketing value.

January 13, 2023

Filed under: Customer Service, Marketing Strategies, This is Cool — @ 11:55 am

Travelers expect a lodging property to have a bed and a shower, but hoteliers should look beyond that to offer hotel amenities that also have marketing value. What do I mean by that? I mean the type of things that make a lasting impression. The kind that guests want to photograph and share on social media, and text to friends with an “OMG ISN’T THIS THE COOLEST THING EVER?”

The type of things that transforms guests into ambassadors.

Let’s face it. Travelers in 2023 will STILL be itching to make up for their pandemic travel pause. Call it revenge travel, rebound travel, or restorative travel…no matter the name, it means they’re seeking experiences memorable enough to feel like several vacations in one.

And extraordinary, unexpected amenities are one small yet meaningful way for hotels to deliver such standout memories. Better yet, they don’t have to be expensive or extravagant for either the hotel or the guest. They just need to be unusual enough to make an impression.

Here are five spectacular examples from around the world of hotel amenities that have marketing value:

The Toilet Paper at The View – Lugano, Switzerland

A roll of pink toilet paper sitting on a wood ledge that shows hotel amenities can have marketing value.

Credit: The View Lugano

With its breathtaking setting up on a hill overlooking the Lake of Lugano in Switzerland, The View Lugano already offers a lot in the “making memories” department. But with the hotel’s “Tailor Made Services” program, guests can customize nearly every aspect of their stay prior to arrival. And while there are plenty of the usual customizable amenities on the list of options – pillows, champagne in the room, breakfast choices, etc. – one thing is SO unusual, it’s likely a guest will never forget it: you can choose from among five different colors of toilet paper to have in your bathroom. It’s a small detail that makes a huge impact.

The Bookmarks at The Betsy – Miami Beach, Florida

A white colored bookmark (embedded with flower seeds) with a poem written in black sits on a white background, showing that hotel amenities can have marketing value.

Credit: The Betsy

It’s pretty cool (so says this bookworm) that each room at The Betsy in South Beach has its own library, but then there’s the bookmark at turndown. Each night, guests receive a bookmark on their pillow made from recycled paper and wildflowers. Take ‘em home and plant them in your garden, and voila: you now have a tangible and lasting memory of your visit.

The Podcast Booth at The Sinclair – Fort Worth, Texas

The interior of a podcast booth with two chairs, a microphone and other recording equipment, showing that hotel amenities can have marketing value.

Credit: The Sinclair Hotel

Every hotel is looking for ways to make it easier for guests to share their experiences with others. The Sinclair takes it to the next level with a fully-equipped podcast booth for rent during a stay. Open to both guests and the public, this quirky (but brilliant) amenity rents for $50 per session. So, from the hotel’s perspective, over time the investment they made pays for itself. But even if it didn’t…the press coverage alone upon opening earned them a worthy ROI. This is DEFINITELY a hotel amenity that has marketing value, on multiple levels.

The Coffee Maker at the Marriott Hacienda Belen – San Jose, Costa Rica

A traditional coffee maker with a wooden arm and white mesh strainer, showing that hotel amenities can have marketing value.

Credit: Marriott Hacienda Belen

Paying homage to the glorious thing that is Costa Rican coffee, the Marriott Hacienda Belen provides some elite guests with a traditional drip coffee maker to use during their stay…and then gifts it to them to take home. It’s such a startling difference from the “tech-ification” of the typical in-room coffee amenity at hotels that it stands out in a lasting way. Not only is it highly Instagrammable and TikTokable, it also taps into the extreme passion of serious coffee enthusiasts. A win-win.

The 3D Cocktails at Fairmont Le Château Frontenac – Quebec City, Canada

A cocktail in an opaque black glass with a 3D model of sugar in the shape of a building sits next to a cocktail glass filled with ice and lemon. This shows that hotel amenities can have marketing value.

Credit: The Fairmont le Chateau Frontenac

Heaven knows that people LOVE snapping and sharing pictures of beautiful cocktails. Indeed, at the time of this writing, the hashtag #cocktails on Instagram had 36 million posts. The Fairmont Le Château Frontenac takes it one step further by making some of their cocktails video-worthy as well. The 3D cocktails feature a small model made of sugar and natural flavors (the one above is a miniature of the hotel itself). Once the liquor is added, the model slowly dissolves to create a perfectly blended cocktail. Delicious drink…delicious marketing.

The point is…not EVERY touchpoint of a guest’s stay needs to provide a snap-to-attention, memorable “wow.” Too many of them would just be desensitizing anyway. But strategic pops of surprise can capture a guest’s heart and make a lasting impression. Hotel amenities that have marketing value can be a low-cost way to do that. I mean, you have to give them toilet paper… why not offer it to them in pink?

For other ideas on how to make a lasting impression on guests, check out these two other resources:

Tiny design details can make big memories in hospitality.

10 Unexpected and fabulous guest service stories.

Six surprising things you can rent by the hour.

October 13, 2022

Filed under: Customer Service, Observations From the Field, This is Cool, Branding Strategies — @ 8:40 am

The tourism industry changed dramatically when platforms like VRBO and Airbnb enabled travelers to forgo hotels for a vacation home rental. But not only did this change traditional tourism lodging models…it gave “regular people” a thirst for renting their stuff to tourists, thrill seekers, and folks looking to relax. I mean…why stop at lodging?

And suddenly, the apps and online matching platforms were born. Here are six surprising things you can rent by the hour, from regular people who have something you want and don’t/can’t own yourself.

A Garden

Love gardening or want to try growing some veggies, and don’t have your own patch of land for the pleasure? The platform Shared Earth matches people who have plots of unused land with aspiring gardeners in their area. Through the in-app messaging system, you can get information about the sunlight, soil quality, and other pertinent facts to help you determine if that particular land is suitable for the types of things you want to grow. Tourism professionals…take note here. Got some land you could share with the community this way? Worth considering.

A Swimming Pool

Want an escape but can’t afford the time/money for a vacation? Rent someone’s swimming pool and yard by the hour through Swimply (which might be the most perfect brand name on the planet). You plug in your desired location and time and voila…a list of pools for rent and their photos are shown. Then you just book and go. One gent raked in nearly $200,000 just renting out his pool over the course of two years. The only downside to such a perfect brand name comes when you want to develop new revenue streams: Swimply is beta testing Swimply Spaces, through which you can rent people’s tennis courts, private gyms, and more. Cool idea but it dilutes the power of the name.

An aqua blue swimming pool with a stone waterfall feature is just one of the six surprising things you can rent by the hour.

A Boat

Why buy a ticket for a boating experience with lots of other tourists? Rent your own for an hour or two – even with a private captain and/or crew – from someone who has a boat to rent out as a side hustle. The Boatsetter app will match you with your perfect boating experience in your preferred location. Yachts, fishing boats, party boats, pontoon boats, sailboats…even jet skis are available. And the locations are pretty diverse, with both ocean and lake options across the US.

Outdoor Sporting Gear

In another example of a perfect brand name getting diluted through expansion, Spinlister began as a way for folks to rent bikes of all kinds, from touring to mountain and everything in between. Over time, it grew to feature a wide range of outdoor gear like surfboards, stand-up paddle boards, skis, and more. This makes total sense for folks who are casual outdoor enthusiasts that have neither the inclination nor the storage space to own their own gear. Tourism professionals…take note here: there’s a Spinlister Pro version available for businesses, so if you want to lure in all those folks staying in Airbnb’s around your community, this might be a gateway.

A Yard for Your Dog

The brilliantly named Sniffspot – and please for the love of branding, Sniffspot…don’t you too start renting out other things that make no sense for your name – will allow you to rent someone’s backyard for your dog to play in by the hour. And not just a backyard…the listing options include private hiking trails, fenced in/roam free areas, yards with pools the dogs can use, yards for private use, yards for playing with other dogs, yards with doggie agility courses, and more. At prices that range from $5 – $20 (ish) per hour, it’s an incredible value…even if you have your own yard for your dog, but occasionally want to rent one with a pool or agility course to give your pup its own mini-vacation.

A black dog and a brown dog running fast in a large yard, one of the six surprising things you can rent by the hour.

Your Driveway

If you’re fortunate enough to have a driveway, garage, or any kind of owned area that could be a parking spot in a densely populated area (where scoring a parking space is like winning the lottery), you can rent it out through SpotHero. At first glance, the website looks like it’s only used by big companies and parking garages, but regular folks can rent out their home spot here too…by the hour, day, week, or month. It’s a super helpful service for people who don’t have time to waste looking for a parking spot, but don’t want to pay the exorbitant fees often charged by garages, stadiums, and (sorry tourism industry) urban hotels.

And in addition to these six surprising things you can rent by the hour, here’s a bonus: Fat Llama. Want to rent a painting? A photography lighting umbrella? A scooter? A sewing machine? A ukulele? A drone? A power drill? You can find it all (and more) at Fat Llama.

Now THERE’S a brand name that can handle expansion into any category. Because…random.

For some memorable examples of when tourism businesses treated me with the same kind of personal relationship vibe you get from these “regular person” rentals, check out these 10 unexpected (and fabulous) tourism guest service stories.

How an understaffed tourism operation can avoid disappointing guests.

May 23, 2022

Filed under: Customer Service, Effective Communication — @ 9:18 am

A picture that shows the legs of people waiting in a long line, which is something understaffed tourism operations need to avoid to prevent disappointing guests.

Is this going to be the line at your check-in desk this summer?

How can an understaffed tourism operation avoid disappointing its guests? This is the challenge facing the tourism industry right now, especially with the busy summer season approaching. Hotels, airlines, attractions, tour companies, destinations, restaurants and more… all are bracing for a hot mess of substandard guest service this summer.

This timing is unfortunate, though. It’s a cruel joke by the travel gods to plague the industry with unprecedented staffing issues just when travelers are coming back in droves. They’re eager to shed the restrictive chains that have bound them for the past two years. They want MORE – freedom, choices, amenities, pampering – while you’re trying to figure out how to even deliver your bare minimum experience with LESS.

Sadly, this is a recipe for disappointment. And negative reviews. And social media complaints that need to be managed.

There’s no magic bullet to solve this. Sure you can offer pay that’s double (or more) what everyone else is paying. But that will obliterate your bottom line (and set a risky precedent), so it’s not a reasonable solution.

But you can’t just pull the covers over your head and let chaos take its course. Be proactive with these three tips that will help an understaffed tourism operation avoid disappointing its guests:

Training & Communication

I was in line at the pharmacy recently and the line behind me was growing at an alarming rate while the sole staff person worked with a customer on a tangled issue. She never looked at the line and never said a word to us. I could feel the fuming and resentment building behind me and hear the muttered complaints and huffy breaths. After 20 minutes, it felt like there was going to be a mutiny.

All she had to do was look up and smile every once in a while and say “Folks, I’m so sorry for the wait but I’m the only one here today and I need to give each one of you the attention you deserve when it’s your turn. Thanks for your patience.” That would have diffused 90% of the frustration.

The moral here is… train your people to diffuse frustration. Don’t leave them unprepared to handle difficult guests or situations. Your team should be fully aware of how challenging this summer is likely to be, and you can’t send them into this battle unarmed. They need clear and practical training for handling complaints, lack of service/amenity availability, slow service, supply chain issues, and more. Help them to not fear it and not ignore it. Give them the communication tools they need to address these situations before they become irreversible nightmares for you. And reward them when they deliver.

Sweeten Pain Points

Ski resorts plagued with unavoidably long lift times on peak days often provide entertainment, hot cocoa, and other fun distractions to make the wait more bearable for skiers. This is precisely the concept you need to deploy this summer.

Based on your staffing shortages, you’re likely able to predict where the trouble spots will be and when they’ll occur. Have a plan ready. True, in some cases (like the ski resort example) you might need to devote a staffer (from the already depleted team) to implement the plan, but focusing that precious resource to the challenge is a smart strategy. Stunting frustration before it can build will enable guests to be forgiving in other areas where you have less control. Otherwise frustrations just keep mounting until diffusing them is impossible.

So whether it’s surprising guests with a refreshment cart during long lines, giving a discount or complimentary item for slow room or table service, or providing entertainment where none was expected, be proactive. Have solutions and plans ready to go. And empower your staff – with training and guidelines – to address such problems on the spot.

Choose Where to Make an Impression

I vividly remember the time (pre-COVID) when I was at the Wequassett Resort & Golf Club on Cape Cod two weeks after Labor Day. Knowing that such resorts often employ high school and college kids during the summer – and now they were back at school – I was prepared for moderate service levels. Imagine my surprise when a staffer made the rounds at the pool to polish guests’ sunglasses! That was completely unexpected and impressed the hell out of me.

This season, hospitality operations need to apply a critical lens to the services and amenities they usually offer and say, “What guest touchpoints make the biggest impression and how can we protect them at all costs? Or at the very least, modify them so they STILL make an impression without fumbling?” If you can’t do everything, don’t bother trying or you’ll just do everything poorly. Better to choose some things that get your full attention and do them flawlessly.

This means your entire staff needs to understand where the priorities are, so everyone knows where corners can’t be cut. So once again, clear and direct communication with your staff is essential.

The bottom line is that there’s no simple way to solve this problem. It’s not easy for understaffed tourism operations to avoid disappointing guests. But proactively addressing the situation with a plan and training your staff to be prepared will help mitigate the damage. It might even win you some loyal guest ambassadors.

And by the way, the solutions don’t always have to cost money or require a full staff. These 10 Unexpected (and Fabulous) Tourism Guest Service Stories will give you some inspiration.

20 Tips for Tourism PR and Marketing Agency Clients

March 22, 2022

Filed under: Marketing & Mental Health, Public Relations, Digital Marketing, Website Strategies, Customer Service, Marketing Strategies, Media Relations, Spending Budgets Wisely, Branding Strategies — @ 2:32 pm

a red colored lightbulb with illumination marks signifying 20 tips to help tourism PR and marketing clients get the most out of their agency.

We’ve been serving PR and marketing clients in the tourism industry for 20 years. Big global brands. Tiny obscure companies. Obscenely huge budgets. Shoestring budgets. Individuals with personalities that range from Type A to Zen. Doers. Procrastinators. Screamers. Huggers. Savvy marketers. Marketing agnostics. Marketing skeptics. No two clients are the same…and there have been thousands of them in our history.

So, we’ve learned a LOT about what it takes for a client to get the most out of both marketing and its agency. Here, drawn from our extensive experience, are 20 tips to help tourism clients succeed in public relations and marketing:

Changing marketing goals too frequently, or lacking them completely, can only achieve short term results for your efforts. Either be ok with that or make a solid plan and stick to it.
If you water down a BIG BOLD idea, adjust your expectations down from BIG BOLD results. All too often, circumstances cause a client to dilute an idea’s execution…but then expect the same powerful results associated with the original concept. That just ain’t how it works.
If you feel you have to micromanage your agency, they’re not the right match for you. Let ‘em go, even if it’s us.
Positivity works magic in PR. If you have faith it will produce…it will. If you don’t…it won’t.
It helps results tremendously if your entire organization is aware of your marketing plans. Devote resources to educating and engaging them, and you’ll see a greater ROI in marketing.
Make the time to collaborate with your agency. If you skip meetings, miss deadlines, and sit indefinitely on things awaiting approval, you’re only tapping around 50% of their potential.
If your boss doesn’t understand marketing, won’t leave, and remains skeptical about every campaign… dude, find a new job. We’ve seen it. It never ends well.
Tourists want visuals. Invest continually in photos and videos…every itinerary, every package, every story angle. Without them, you’re losing marketing opportunities…which means you’re losing money.
If you have “marketing envy” and always wish your organization could do things as cool as your competitors (or your agency’s other clients), learn what it takes operationally to execute such things. Then decide if your organization can make it happen. You may not be nimble enough, your pockets may not be deep enough, or the concepts may be the complete wrong match for your brand. If your organization is not equipped for it, stop being wistful. Invest your energy in what will work best for YOU.
It’s totally OK to put some marketing initiatives on a steady low flame temporarily (or even permanently) while you focus your resources elsewhere. Just make peace with it and don’t expect them to yield big results.
It is totally NOT OK to turn PR on and off completely. It’s the one marketing medium that doesn’t respond well to fits and starts. Either do it consistently (at any flame level) or just don’t do it.
Use tailored landing pages for your digital campaigns. Without them, you’re losing a ton of business. For some organizations, this is a no brainer. For others, it’s like pulling teeth. Every. Single. Time.
If your guest service and/or guest experience is inconsistent or subpar in any way, marketing will not help change that. In fact, the more guests we drive to your door, the more money you’re going to waste. The damage those guests will do through social media, review sites, and lack of referrals/return quietly sabotages the positive benefits that marketing brings. And a business can’t survive on new guests alone, who are more costly to acquire than referrals/repeats. Fix the foundation, and you’ll see marketing pay off in spades.
You can’t find love on a spreadsheet.
A website should be both beautiful and functional, but if you had to choose where to put more resources…choose functionality every time.
Forget what we said in #15 entirely. Stop thinking of “beauty” and “functionality” as two different things. Together they comprise “user experience,” and if your website doesn’t deliver equally in both areas, you’re losing money. Period.
Social media is more demanding than any other marketing medium. If you want to deeply succeed here, be prepared to staff it fully and keep up with the breakneck pace of ever-evolving rules, features, and channels. Doing set-and-forget style marketing only taps around 20% of social media’s potential. It’s fine if you choose to do it that way in the context of your overall marketing plan. Just expect your notable results to come from other sources.
If your risk tolerance is low, then PR is not for you. Often in PR, the greatest risks yield the highest rewards, but there are no guarantees. That’s what makes it so exciting!
There’s a reason creative, clever tourism packages and programs get a ton of press and social media love. Boring things just don’t command attention.
Consistent indecision will tank your marketing ROI more than making a definitive poor choice ever will. That sounds dramatic, but history generally proves it to be true.

And here’s a bonus item, since we kinda negated #15. Be candid with your agency at all times. Issues and concerns can be overcome easily with open communication. A good partner – as all agencies should be – will welcome the candor.

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed the client experiences we’ve had, and every relationship has helped us grow. And it’s enabled us to help brands of all sizes achieve their marketing and business objectives. Big shout-out to all our clients for putting their trust in us, and here’s to the next 20 years!