The Birmingham Ghost Walks sell out more often than not so we asked Michael from the Midlands Discovery Tours to share some of his marketing secrets with us:
Do you have regular customers?
With only two main products up to now, we have had repeat customers and we have been asked what other walks we do, hence our plans for other walking tours from mid January 2012.
Do you keep in touch with your customers? If so how? How often?
We encourage guests to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and state at the end of each walk that we won’t contact people more than 4 times per year if we have their contact details.
What’s your number one tip for attracting new people to your events?
Getting out there, we have distributed approx 7k flyers in 2011, we are never without some in our pocket, and we can regularly be seen in Birmingham in our undertakers costumes.
Do you think your brand is important?
Yes I think people are starting to remember Birmingham Ghost Walks, as we develop our walks our challenge is to get the same success with Midland Discovery Tours.
Do you have a marketing plan or schedule? If so, what’s at the top (other than the title: Marketing Plan!)?
For 2012 our marketing will be more formalised, as we develop other products. We also set aside a percentage of our turnover to pay for marketing.
What’s a good way of getting people to book online?
All our on-line content, Twitter, web site and Facebook, have links to Oxboffice, stating no booking fees.
Anything else you can add for us to share with other promoters?
We have worked in partnership with local pubs where we end our tours, always attracting attention with our attire, and always willing to talk to people about what we do. The pubs enjoy the custom we bring and are willing to promote us within their premises.
We also work with a coffee shop, telling ghost stories before we head off on one of our tours, this brings our clients into their coffee shop, and their clients become aware of what we do, maybe whetting their appetite for a ghost walk.
Tickets for Birmingham Ghost Walks and Midlands Discovery Tours can be booked here.
Follow them on Twitter here.
