One of the things we find very interesting is to work with a new outfitter business, a young outfitter, especially a waterfowl outfitter. As a former head guide at a waterfowl outfitter camp in central Saskatchewan, I have some good insights into the business, into the industry, and into the client base that is most desired long-term. But first a new outfitter needs to put together a plan on how to get over the first few hurdles of establishing their business and building a base of clientele. This requires, among many other activities, a heavy dose of marketing, to generate leads, to position the outfitter in a respected, positive light, and to build on their early successes. This is exactly the opportunity we have with Aurora Skies Outfitting.
Understand the Outfitter
Our plans are never a simple template slapped on the website and marketing of our clients. Everything we do begins with the customer, the outfitter. We have a process, a set of conversation guides, that help us ask the right questions so that the outfitter can tell us about what they want to accomplish and what they have for goals. These are sometimes very similar, but they are always different. This feeds into our development of an overall marketing plan. In this case, based on a desire to attract clients from not only North America but from Europe as well, we had some specifics we knew we needed to accomplish with the execution of the plan.
Step 1: Build the Outfitter Websites
Beyond taking the content they had available, with the goal of attracting international clientele, we needed to make sure we were working towards complying with the privacy laws of the UK and EU. This means implementing GDRP compliant cookie permissions. We also made sure to implement a language translation plug-in on the WordPress site so that clients from various countries across Europe could read the content in their preferred language.
Step 2: Develop the Marketing Campaigns
We are turning on the taps of search traffic growth through both the avenues of free and paid search traffic. SEO efforts are already bringing qualified inquiries and paid Google Ads campaigns will help to supplement the growing list of bookings for the coming season. We have 2 campaigns running, one to target the massive USA waterfowl hunter market and another target the growing number of European hunters looking to come to the #1 waterfowl destination, often as a central component of a larger and longer travel itinerary. Having two campaigns allows us to track and manage these separately, to modify and optimize each as the behaviours of these geographies are distinctly different.
Step 3: Develop Plan to Leverage Success
With the plan to attract clientele to the page, from the USA and from across Europe, we knew we were only part way along the timeline to helping this outfitter build their business. Hunters believe other hunters. When they see waterfowl hunting success, they know there is more involved than just showing up and plopping a few decoys on the ground and watching the birds drop their feet on approach. It takes much more planning, scouting, preparation and experience. Once an outfitter has a proven track record of success, using that success to drive new customer acquisition is an important next step. Our long-term plan for working with this outfitter is to provide on-site content capture, during hunts, at the camp, gathering hunter feedback, and developing the finished content so that we can relate that back to the market to show off that success.