Has a high employee churn rate affected your marketing output recently?
If you’ve had 2 or 3 different people sitting within the marketing role within your business over the last 5 years, you’re not alone. With each incumbent having their own ideas about the what, how and why associated with day-to-day marketing, there are several steps you can take to ensure smooth sailing no matter who’s at the helm.
There are a few factors to consider when looking at churn rates amongst your Marketing team. Firstly, hospitality comes with a unique set of challenges that can trip up even the brightest professionals coming in to it from other industries.
In a work environment where the most important priority will always be the bloke standing at the bar waiting to be served, it’s no wonder that planning and preparation are notoriously lax at even the most forward thinking venues.
TIP 1: Induct them into hospitality in general
For a new Marketing Manager coming from an entirely different industry, familiarising them with the ins and outs of hospitality marketing can be a daunting task. It takes them a while to “get it”; to understand the intricacies and challenges associated with venue marketing. If left unchecked, they may simply drop off and find another job because the task was simply too much for them to handle.
Give them a solid hospitality induction. Encourage them to spend time on the floor, talk to the bar staff and get an understanding of the seasonality of your venue. Outline the differences between the industry they’ve come from and make sure they see the benefits of being part of this exciting industry. Take them to trade shows, let them tag along to supplier and stakeholder meetings to see the big picture and understand how it all fits together.
TIP 2: KEEP THE BRANDING CONSISTENT, NOT PERSONAL
Constant changes to the way your graphics look can be confusing enough for management, let alone your patrons. Having a properly structured Brand Style Guide for your Marketing team and Graphic Designer to work from will remove the “personalisation” that can come with different people getting involved.
No matter who your Marketing go-to is, your collateral should not need to change unless some kind of re-brand (and subsequently revised Style Guide) has taken place. Make your expectations clear from the start - you either expect them to facilitate change by coming up with a revised brand plan, or you expect them to follow the one that’s already in place.
TIP 3: Create a set of marketing SOPs
Standard operating procedures are common in hospitality businesses. From how to open and close a venue, to changing a keg or dealing with complaints; many clubs and pubs out there have written procedural notes about how things get done.
But do you have this in place for how you operate your Marketing? A structured framework that clearly outlines how most marketing practices are rolled out will not only help new team members to hit the ground running, but keep a consistent approach in the eyes of your members and patrons.
Marketing SOP’s should include things like:
Frequency of communication via social media, database comms and mail outs
How-to guides to aide the delivery of the above and fast track on-the-job learning
Defined customer avatars, style guides, copy banks and a social media framework
Annual campaign planners that map out lead times, planning times and include enough time for design & print
A process for operational staff to communicate changes to the marketing team. (One small change to your bistro opening hours will mean 5 or 6 places this needs to be changed both online and in print).
A process for external booking agencies to confirm live acts with minimal back & forth
A campaign matrix that rates various promotions and events and defines what level of campaign activation they require
MMD SYSTEM is a process driven marketing framework that acts as a Marketing SOP and includes all your graphic, web and photography needs throughout the year.
SYSTEM provides structure and process to existing in-house teams via a supercharged coaching, planning, operational & reporting framework.
