What is marketing?

Blogging kind of fell to the wayside for a while, but it just takes one good thought to get me thinking and writing again. This week a college student asked me, as part of an assignment, to tell him how I describe marketing. My initial answer was one simple phrase, “Increasing Awareness.”

People will not buy a product or service that they don’t know about, so marketing is getting the product or service in front of them, hopefully in a manner that showcases how the product or service would benefit the customer. I believe that our “product,” our employee owned hotels, and those hotels managed by our employee-owned company, have a lot to offer guests traveling to our markets. If only we could make them aware of who we are and the great hotels we run.

Our company has spent millions of dollars renovating our hotels in this down economy. That strategy has provided jobs for many while taking advantage of a period of declining occupancy to get into our rooms and make improvements. Now we need to work toward a return on our investment and get the word out that we are refreshed and more ready than ever to impress guests.

We have contemporary wall and window coverings, new carpets, refreshed bedding and some sharp looking bathrooms. Many guests found rooms elsewhere when we were under construction, and we need them to return. We have to find ways to make them aware of all of the improvements made in the last few months.

Let’s put our heads together and come up with some great marketing ideas that will help our business bounce back. I know that if guests were aware of all we have to offer, they would choose to stay in a Tharaldson hotel. Let’s get out there and increase awareness!