By IAN ROSS
Identify your niche audience and know what they're looking for.
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When eco-tourism pioneer Todd Lucier speaks, outfitters listen. His unique, niche-targetted getaway packages set an example for other operators looking to attract and retain clients. |
Making maximum use of the Web is all about knowing your marketplace and your ideal customers, says Todd Lucier, a Northern Ontario eco-tourism pioneer and Internet guru.
Whether appealing to middle income families, snowmobile enthusiasts or couples on a romantic getaway, keep in mind "all expect different things.
"You've got to know what they expect to see when they come to your Website," says Lucier, co-founder of Northern Edge Algonquin, a South River-based outfitter situated on the outskirts of Algonquin Provincial Park.
Lucier was one of the featured speakers at the Tourism Keys workshops held across the North in February and March where participants soaked in best practice Web strategies to enhance their business using the Internet.
The workshops, offered by FedNor, Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corp and the Canadian Tourism Commission, were held in North Bay, Sudbury, Timmins, Hearst and Parry Sound.
"We're teaching people that it takes more than just knowledge of Web design to know how tourism works," says Lucier. "You need to know what people are looking for, to get inside their heads and provide that kind of content."
His company, which offers yoga-based canoe vacations, comprises about five businesses with each Website set up with content to appeal to very distinct niche markets.
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Todd Lucier says unique, targeted getaways should fill Northern outfitters' spectrum of services. Northern tourism should be all about niches, he says. |
He uses the term "narrow casting" to define his marketing approach.
"The way the Internet works, you market to this narrow group without really paying attention to anybody else.
"Spend your (marketing) money on corporate retreats or cross-country skiing females It's a very narrow (market) and it's only going to get narrower."
Find yourself or customers won't
Do what you do best, says Lucier, and define who you are.
"What happens in Northern Ontario is we tend to try the shotgun approach to everything when there's something we have a natural affinity for and we need to be the best at those things.
"You don't have to appeal to everybody to be successful, you just need to appeal to the right people that make you happy and sustainable economically, and go for it."
In defining niche markets, Lucier says there are regional brands, local values and attractions that operators should piggyback onto.
Lucier wanted to tie his business closely to the Algonquin Park brand-name to display their yoga and nature-based offerings on an Internet search engine.
"Create the Web content that matches that need...and the search engine makes the marriage."
Lucier has been taking groups into nature since he was a Windsor elementary and high school teacher in the late '80s and early '90s. He also taught university courses in outdoor recreation and has lectured extensively about eco-appropriate lifestyles.
Well-acquainted with Algonquin Park, Lucier and his wife Martha went looking for property near the park and found it on Kawawaymog Lake near South River, close to one of the 17 access points to the park, where they built their solar-powered home and nature retreat.
The ultimate courtesy shuttle Corporate and executive retreats maintain a core client base through partnerships with the Ontario Northland Railway.
Through the rail company, Lucier delivers a distinct Northern Ontario experience that begins at Toronto's Union Station and ends at Algonquin Park. "No distractions, no Blackberrys, just a focus on what matters."
Lucier realized the Web's vast potential as a promotional tool when the SARS crisis hit in 2003 and Toronto's tourism industry completely shut down.
"We lost a couple of corporate clients that week, $30,000 worth of business gone, and we realized we needed to drive more people to our Web site to make sure we had a season."
Delighted with the electronic response from southern Ontario, the U.S. and internationally, he has learned how to use the net to reach customers -
both to attract them to the site and to make sure they pay.
"We've been totally excited about how the Internet keeps the phone ringing every day," he enthuses. "We're exploring the different tools that might be safe and easy for people to use and understand."
Not everyone is comfortable with online payment, but outfitters risk losing a third of their business if they ignore the option.
In cyberspace, they have to hear you scream
He has learned one common omission on many Web sites is the absence of a headline "that screams you've found the right place. That's the major missing ingredient in most Web pages. It tells your audience you know who they are and you know exactly what they're looking for."
Remote fishing fly-in camps, for example, "need to scream out, looking for the big one?"
Web pages also need a "call to action" asking people to do something physical or solicit a "small yes" by signing up for a free electronic newsletter.
People have to decide what they can give away cheaply, freely, easily without a lot of work, he says. Collecting e-mail addresses for a business data base is a credibility-building exercise that establishes customer relationships.
"Down the line they're going to come for a visit."
