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We are a service startup and we work with hotels and restaurants helping them create their online presence like their site/blog or presence and spread in social media platforms.

Though some of our clients are tech-savvy and regularly keep them updated with blog and other social sites like linkedin groups, twitter and facebook. But a big chunk of our target customers are not that tech-savvy.

Now we want to reach out to both these segment, so I guess we need to use online and offline technique as well to reach out to them.

Considering we are a young startup it will be great if you can suggest some online and offline marketing techniques that you might have previously employed in your business and have found helpful to reach out to your target audience effectively.

Thank You for your time to read and respond to our query!

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2 Answers

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Local and regional tourism and hospitality groups often maintain membership lists. From the membership lists, you might be able to gain at least cursory indication as to whether the firm in question is active, and lo-fi. Such indicators might be a lack of domain name in email address that reflects the name of their firm, or an explicit lack of indication for a website about the firm.

Convention and event centers may also be a place to get in contact with someone who is aware of local hotel, motel, and B&Bs who use their facilities, that often get good reviews by corresponding patrons, but have otherwise low exposure (hidden gems that maybe shouldn't be).

Another possibility would be to partner with more traditional local marketers to provide your service either on a referral basis, or as a somewhat vested partner for your particular market of interest. Radio, especially, could be a good candidate because they are somewhat complementary to attracting your target market, whereas TV and newspaper might be a bit more competative (as their core business is not in what the web provides, visual and semi-print).

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@ JustinC thanks a lot for your practical advice. Any pointers on how to find the key influencer and the decision makers for these kinf of target market? – beginning_steps Apr 19 '11 at 16:57
If you are approaching individul, non-chain firms for their specific business (a specific resturaunt, diner, caffe, etc; or hotel, motel, bed and breakfast), many times, it will be either the owner themselves, or or some kind of marketing advisor that will make or strongly influence this kind of decision (as often is the case in any small business, there aren't seperate departments or directors for each aspect of business (marketing, finance, logistics, etc). The key influencer, if not the formally the owner, might be friends, family, previous owners, or a CPA/"business advisor". – JustinC Apr 22 '11 at 16:16
If you pursue partnerships with media groups that otherwise lack your capabilities, more than likely there will be a marketing director to present to. They may have more than one role and title, but they will likely be a very specific person, generally well-known and recognized for their role in the media organization. Before I would directly approach them, because they probably get many kinds of somewhat similar requests or proposals, I would get to know some of their sales/ad people to ensure your message is tailored to the director, and that these are people you really want to devote to. – JustinC Apr 22 '11 at 16:23
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  • Have you ever made a search on Facebook for Hotels and Restaurants?
  • Get the Yellow Pages and send out a mailing to your target prospects.
  • Review your regional newspapers about your target prospects and call or write them.
  • Place a small ad in your regional newspaper or magazines, so that your target prospects are curious about to know something off your Service.

Keep an eye on your advertising and mailing costs and on ROI. Hope this helps.

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personally i dont search for restaurant using facebook but if any of my contact praise or leave feedback about a restaurant on sites like yelp or zagat, then i do notice the same and tend to visit these places. – beginning_steps Apr 15 '11 at 21:03

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