Innovative Practices - Research and Tracking
- BC Jade and Gifts - tracking marketing returns
BC Jade and Gifts has instituted an innovative program for tracking the effectiveness of the brochures they place in Visitor Centres around BC. To attract people into their store they staple a coupon for a free piece of jade cut on the premises. When these coupons are distributed, the location of each one is written on the coupon. When the coupons come back to the store and people claim their free piece of jade Ben knows exactly which VC they picked up the brochure at. By keeping all of the coupons that come in over time, Ben can tell exactly which VC’s are effective in bringing in customers and which aren’t. He is then able to rack his brochures where they bring in the most customers. He also keeps track of how much each visitor spent in the store by writing it on the coupon. This is a very simple way to see the return on investment for racking his brochures in the VC’s.
- Halfmoon Hostel
When the decision was made to open a business, the Hofers (owners of Halfmoon), knew they wanted to open a hostel. In designing their hostel the owners decided to target independent travellers, those driving themselves and looking for somewhere they can sleep in a bed cheaper than a hotel. They also identified the fact that Clearwater is a natural halfway point for people coming from Vancouver to Jasper or vice versa.
But how does one identify a target market? And even if one does, how does one know what they want? The answer is research. The owners of Halfmoon identified their target market before ever coming to Clearwater. They had the idea of running a hostel and they recognized that where they lived wasn’t ideal for that type of business.
