Marketing Places, Destinations, and Experiences Requires a Different Skillset

By Amy Colbourn, Managing Director, Business Strategist at MONOGRAM

We often refer to it as “marketing the invisible.” Marketing non-tangibles like places, destinations, and experiences requires a different set of strategies. While products focus more on features and benefits, experiences must evoke emotion, inspire action, and create lasting impressions.

This blog delves into the strategies that make experiences tangible, places come to life, and destinations a reality. Here’s how.

A Lasting Impression, Long After the Trip is Over

For brands, storytelling is about developing a marketing strategy focused on crafting compelling narratives that transport audiences to the destination before they arrive and make lasting impressions after they’ve gone. Storytelling uses history, culture, and unique aspects of the experience to leave a lasting impression. It’s all about providing emotional experiences because emotional, not rational, appeal is what lures guests.

A Feeling of Being There

How do you communicate the feeling of a place from afar? You can do this by showcasing how the experience feels and creating a sense of feeling with experiential marketing: lifestyle imagery and immersive content such as videos, virtual tours, and augmented reality. On property, a place can connect with all of a person’s senses through something called sensory marketing. Sensory marketing gives guests an immersive and memorable experience using visuals, sounds, interactive elements, and other sensory triggers.

Influence from the People You Trust the Most

Social media has become the most searched resource for travel inspiration. Consumers thrive on finding new places and experiences they never imagined and, more specifically, are heavily influenced by user-generated content. Marketers can find opportunities to showcase authentic experiences by encouraging and leveraging influencers, travel bloggers, and even everyday visitors. Influence from real people creates a desire to visit places where other people are having amazing experiences.

Places Brought to Life

The thing about marketing a place is that a place is intangible. In fact, places require a full sensory experience. Brands can achieve this notion by using a strategic approach to developing content. Video tours, live streams, and behind-the-scenes content can create a great sense of anticipation for guests. Furthermore, experience-centric content such as interactive guides, curated itineraries, and personalized recommendations has the magical ability to create tailored experiences brought to life.

Data-driven Insights for Personalization

The best experience is one that is made just for you by taking your personal preferences into account. Marketers can use consumer data and insights to create personalized, targeted campaigns based on interest and history of behaviors. Retargeting is a great way to reach potential visitors with dynamic ads explicitly based on their level of engagement. In so many ways, guests appreciate the relevancy of the content.

These are some of the most effective and overlooked strategies for marketing experiences. And these strategies are distinctly different from marketing products and tangible things because experiences:

live in the moment

are deeply tied to emotions

require customer participation

cannot be transferred

must adapt to individual preferences

rely on word-of-mouth marketing

emphasize a more complex customer journey

If you’re trying to sell experiences in the same way you market products, you may want to reconsider your approach. After all, experiences and products are not the same.

If you need help bringing your experience to life, contact MONOGRAM today to schedule a complimentary brand consultation with our team.