Everything about Advertising -- in no particular order

Marketing Partnerships -- by Lisa Ann Schreier Timeshare is, when all is said and done, vacation. Plain and simple. So, why not use ALL that vacation means to your advantage? Why not use other products that have to do with vacation to increase timeshare visibility? One of the challenges that timeshare offers is that until your front line prospect is sitting at the sales table, they have not even thought of timeshare. And although they know it's a timeshare presentation when they book the tour that's the last they hear of timeshare until they sit in front of the salesperson. Many other people have spoken about making timeshare more accessible to the public by keeping it "out there" and in the consumer's mind before the sales presentation. While most people in the business agree on principle with this idea, very few, if any resorts have given serious consideration to co branding or marketing partnerships. I'm only offering a few ideas here for you to consider. This is by no means a comprehensive list. Write me with your ideas after reading these: PLEASE NOTE: IT IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO CHECK THE SPECIFIC LEGALITIES OF WHAT "MUST BE DISCLOSED" BEFORE YOU EMBARK ON ANY OF THESE. Partner With A Sporting Goods Store- For many of your clients, a ski vacation in Aspen is their idea of a great vacation. So, go out and talk with a sporting goods store and work out an agreement that with the purchase of any pair of skis, the consumer gets either a discounted stay at your resort (if you are fortunate enough to have a resort in ski country), or a voucher of some sort to attend a timeshare presentation and find out how to get the most out of their ski purchase. Partner With A Luggage Store- I'll keep my comments here to a minimum. People are purchasing luggage because they use it, correct? Enough said… luggage generally means travel, which generally indicates vacation. Partner With A Radio Station- This happens to be one of my all time favorites. Radio stations in every major market will give away trips to locations (including yours) to see a concert, play or other event. These contest winners need a place to stay in your city, right? And where do all these contest winners currently stay? AT HOTELS. When they could be staying at your resort and invited to see what timeshare is all about. Partner With A Travel Agency- WHY NOT? Travel agencies send people all the time to locations around the world and book millions of hotel rooms. Again, ask yourself why should the hotel room have your potential client when you could have them from the start? Would you rather have your potential owners staying at your property and seeing for themselves what timeshare is all about or be approached by on OPC? Before the nasty e-mails come my way, let me say that I am NOT advocating eliminating your current form(s) of marketing and switching to mine. Just like timeshare does not exclude other forms of vacation, or a week at your resort makes a nice addition to the week that the client already has. I'm merely suggesting that we, as a group of professionals open our minds to the possibilities that there are other forms of marketing out there. Co-branding or marketing partnerships allow your resort to make use of tried and true companies who are spending the big advertising dollars. Use them… you'll be pleasantly surprised at the results and will, in all likelihood, come up with a dozen more ideas that are more suited to your individual resort than I've listed here. Let me know what you come up with and what works.

Lisa Ann Schreier is a dynamic, outspoken, devout believer in the power of advertising done correctly. Lisa brings a wealth of advertising, marketing and promotional knowledge to her many business interests. She is the director of her own marketing/advertising agency, a full-time timeshare salesperson, a contributing writer and a part time Cast Member of the Walt Disney World Resort. After one too many long cold winters in Chicago, she now happily lives in the Orlando area where she is known for her consumer insights and "back to basics" style of business. Lisa writes a bi-weekly column on the basics of effective advertising. She be reached at GRQ1@aol.com , or read her ad here.

Archive | Home To report broken links or other problems with this site please contact: webmaster@thetimesharebeat.com © The Timeshare Beat all rights reserved