Transcript Why are our customers choosing us?

Marketing
Academic
Venues
Paul Bunce
Conference Aston
Aston University
Birmingham
 Two year round venues
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30 Meeting Rooms
163 Hotel bedrooms 3-4 star standard
 Summer Campus Conferences
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50 + Meeting Rooms
800 bedrooms
Business Breakdown
Who are our customers?
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Internal University Business
External Corporate Business
3%
97%
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Repeat Business
Agency Business
New Direct Business
25%
30%
45%
Ownership
 Public Sector
 Private Sector
 Associations
40%
52%
8%
Key Industry Sectors
 Government National
 Education
 Health and Pharmaceutical
 Government Local
 Construction
Conference Aston revenue streams
What do our target markets use us for?
Conferences and Meetings
49%
Summer
Schools
23%
Hotel
Services
17%
Other
11%
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Other Revenue Streams
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Weddings and Functions
Bar, Restaurant and Hospitality Services
Marketing Initiatives
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Marketing Budget 1.3- 1.5% of Turnover
Marketing budget focused on meetings and events, and summer schools
Marketing Initiatives… top three
Memberships
and Affiliations
1:60 ROI
Website and
online
1:39-1:25 ROI
Exhibitions and
Forum Events
1:30 ROI
Memberships, you get out, what you put in…
 Additional marketing
opportunities available
 Access to databases
 Make your budget go further
 Access a national and
international market
 Lift restrictions of being an
independent venue
 Combine with other
marketing activities to
increase effectiveness
 Cross-Industry options
Online marketing, not just the websites…
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Google reigns as leading search engine
Third party partnerships – Generate traffic
Google adwords – Great for specifics, costly for generic!
Increase in tablet and smart phone devices
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Google analytics growth January 2012
 How do people view your website?
 A website isn’t just for buyers
Exhibitions and Forums
 Exhibitions over all major markets
 Set specific targets!
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Show objective ROI
Enquiry levels per day/show
Follow up and conversion targets
 Consistently highest ROI for single activity
 Team ‘Buy-in’ is essential
 People buy People
Additional Marketing Initiatives
A few to consider…
 Conference Booking Agencies
 Hotel Marketing – No ‘Direct’ spend
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Third Party Commission Based Websites
Laterooms, Booking.com, Expedia
Let them do the hard work
 Social Media
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Low to no cost
Brand impact – Who are you?
Extension of CRM
Use it properly, no hard sell!
Make sure it’s targeted
Where are our customers coming from?
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Residential Conferences
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Day Meetings and Weddings
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Local – City
Local – Region
Hotel Business
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National
London/Manchester/Bristol
National
International
Internally
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Academic and Support Departments
Who books what and when?
When are our customers making decisions?
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Lead time analysis
 By event type
 By event size
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Day Meetings: 2 days -12 weeks
Residential Meetings: 6 months+
Campus and Summer: 12 months+
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Weddings and Functions
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Key exhibitions – Timing
March/September/October
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Hotels book every day
Very competitive
Key messages and finding the USPs
Why are our customers choosing us?
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Constant research into our customers’ decision making process
Direct bookers vs Agencies… location vs price
Customers use different venues for different reasons
Location and
Accessibility
Size and Quality
of Meeting
Facilities
Budget and
Value for
Money
It’s all about customer needs and they never stop
changing, use your team to keep on top…
Generation
Marketing
Activity
Customer
needs
Feedback
Sales Team
Event
Management
Delivery
Conversion
Thank you!