Tags ArchivesEngaging Customers

2 Guides Are Better Than 1: The Advantages of More Frequent Publishing image

Two sets of a stack of magazine covers. Garrett County Visitors guide on the left, Visit Baltimore magazine on the right.

It’s common practice for visitor bureaus and chambers of commerce to print and distribute an annual guide. But there are good arguments for publishing more often! Take a look at just a few of them. Avoid Outdated Content When a publication has a shelf life of a year, content can grow stale — especially if it’s about events, exhibitions or member anniversaries that have already passed. Publishing twice a year instead of once reduces the likelihood that customers or prospects will pick up a book with obviously outdated information. Go With the Seasons This is especially crucial for visitor guides. The sorts of activities visitors may want to pursue are significantly different in the spring/summer and fall/winter seasons (think garden shows in the ...

Continue Reading

Get Better Engagement, More Conversions With Targeted Emails image

Flat design web banner illustration for Targeting online audience with email marketing campaign. Illustration of a laptop computer with an envelope mail emoji over top of it with a target bulls-eye emoji.

You already know that email marketing is key to reaching your customers. But do you have the right targeting system in place to reach the people who are actually most likely to buy from you? Here are just a few targeting filters you should consider implementing to ensure you’re reaching your optimal audience: Location: Do you want to reach only people in your city or county? Or people within a day’s drive? Age: Is your ideal audience young and single, just starting a family or on the verge of retirement? Income: Do you only want to reach people over a certain income threshold? Lifestyle interests: Maybe your product or service is something that mainly appeals to, say, homeowners or hobby ...

Continue Reading

These Instagram Best Practices Will Help Your Business Shine image

Abstract illustration of two smart phones using a social media platform to create photo posts of a scenic background.

As any business owner today likely knows, social media is a powerful tool. Whether that means setting up a strong Google Business Profile or managing a Facebook page, business professionals need to have a pulse on what their online presence looks like. Unsurprisingly, few platforms garner as much attention as Instagram. For business owners, the photo- and video-based platform can serve as a major asset to help promote products and services or get the word out about new offerings. Here are a few tips to make the most of the platform: 1 | Craft strong captions with a consistent voice A picture may be worth a thousand words, but that doesn't mean you should ignore the caption. Instead, use the caption space ...

Continue Reading

You Shouldn’t Let AI Design Your Ads. Here’s Why. image

A series of four ads on a dark background, designed by TodayMedia Custom.

With the much-discussed advent of generative AI — artificial intelligence that can produce various kinds of content based on prompts from a user — it’s become easier than ever to plug your information into an algorithm and let it do the work for you. But should you? It’s true that AI is constantly learning and getting smarter. But the truth of the matter is that, for now, AI tools still struggle with creating certain kinds of imagery — for example of human hands and feet. Then there’s the fact that AI learns by scraping existing information off the internet. What this means in practice is that any kind of design AI creates for you is going to be based on something ...

Continue Reading

Same Places, Different Angle: How to Keep Your Travel Content Fresh image

Charming young people making video blog at the city street

Every visitor and convention bureau faces the same struggle year after year: how do you promote the same sights, restaurants, shops and venues repeatedly, while still making your content seem fresh? Luckily, we can help. Here is a list of expert tips on how to keep your travel content compelling from one year to the next. 1 | Add a multimedia component Even if you publish a print guide (which you should), you can add interest to the guide by linking to videos via QR codes throughout the book. The videos could be behind-the-scenes footage of photo shoots you did for the guide, or a quick, informal tour of a notable local place by one of your staff members. 2 | Tell a ...

Continue Reading

Grow Your Business With Full-Funnel Digital Marketing image

Cartoon Illustration of people using a Funnel of Digital Marketing to find customers and profit by putting profile icons into a funnel shape to produce coins.

I’m sure you’ve heard at least one or two people talk about digital marketing, and maybe you’ve heard mention of a decision-making sales funnel too. But how are the two related and what do they mean for your business? The sales funnel is a way of visualizing a potential customer’s decision process. At the top of the funnel, you have customers researching a vague problem and discovering potential solutions. In the middle of the funnel are customers who have defined their problem and the sort of solution they need. At the bottom are customers who are ready to make an informed purchasing decision. Ideally, you want customers to discover your brand as a potential solution for their problem right at the ...

Continue Reading

How a Magazine Can Help You Reach Prospects image

The covers and opened examples of two magazines. One titled Innovation Delaware the other titled WilMU.

Whether you’re a membership association, a nonprofit or an employer in the education or healthcare space, you have important messages to communicate — and stakeholders who need to hear that message. What better way to keep potential members, donors or alumni engaged with your mission and vision than with a magazine that highlights your needs and accomplishments? For one, the consistent publication schedule of a magazine means your stakeholders are reminded of both your existence and your value on a regular basis, whether it’s monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly. Also remember that a beautiful magazine can be a keepsake, lending your message the kind of staying power that’s difficult to achieve in the digital age. 1 | Consider Print vs. Digital Your magazine could be ...

Continue Reading

5 Ways to Highlight Members in Your Directory image

Five Magazine covers spread out in a row.

Chambers of Commerce, visitor bureaus and other membership-based organizations need member dues to thrive. To recruit more members and keep the ones you already have, you need to offer perks. One great way to highlight existing members and win new ones is your annual print directory. Here are a few strategies to consider: 1 | Feature a prominent member on the cover. If one of your members is a major local employer or a significant supporter of your organization (e.g. via event sponsorships), you may want to consider giving them prime placement on the cover of your directory. The cover photo provides great exposure to the member, especially when paired with an article about the member inside the publication. It also elevates ...

Continue Reading

SEM: What Is It, and How Does It Fit Into Your Digital Marketing Plan? image

Illustration depicting a magnifying glass over a computer browser search window as well as a smart phone with a graph on it and other marketing related symbols.

Search engine marketing, often referred to by its acronym SEM, is a way for businesses to appear higher in search engine results. While search engine optimization (SEO) is an organic digital marketing strategy (meaning it creates traffic to your business over time rather than using paid methods), SEM is a “pay-per-click” (PPC) method of advertising in search engines. PPC means that a business will pay anytime a consumer clicks on their search engine listing. SEM involves identifying keyword phrases and trends in a target market and utilizing those keywords to show your advertisements on search engine results pages via Google Ads, Bing Ads, etc. It’s important to understand your audience and use pertinent keywords so that the most relevant consumers are ...

Continue Reading

Think Visitor Guides Are Dead? Think Again image

Travel Guides

While consumers do turn to the internet for much of their information about travel destinations, printed guides remain relevant in the digital age. For example, a Destination Analysts study has found that more than 50% of U.S. travelers consult printed materials before making travel decisions. That said, you still need to find a way to help your publication (and destination) stand out from the pack. Here are three tips for doing just that. Embrace Magazine-Style Writing While newspapers have been losing readers, magazine readership has held strong, with the total number of magazine readers in the U.S. remaining above 220 million every year between 2016 and 2020. And when it comes to travel, research by the University of Massachusetts Amherst demonstrates that travel ...

Continue Reading

This is a unique website which will require a more modern browser to work!

Please upgrade today!