advertising advice needed for motorbike touring business

[toad]

Hi there,

I'm in the progress of building a motorbike touring business in the Alps and wanted to tap into your cumulative competence as to where to advertise. Hope this obvious plug and cry for help abides by forum rules. If not feel free to delete

As I spent the last 17 years in Germany I'm pretty out of touch with biking stuff in UK, having put all my energy into the Alps and neighbouring countries.

I've done some work on my website and do internet advertising on google and bing but apart from the odd visitor who does scroll through the whole site there isn't really a lot of customer generation (mind you, only been doing it for a couple of weeks).

Now the question comes to mind whether to advertise in UK mags and if so, in which ones?

I'd also be most interested in any other tips you lot may have.

Many thanks in advance for your advice and your time!

Cheers,

Ingo

[Oasis]

Social media, it's the only way these days. Set it all up and be willing to pay for advertising that will appear in like minded people's feeds.

Check out the competition, see what they are good st in terms of advertising when and where. Also see what products they offer. Is yours as good or better? Could you offer something different/better?

I think a lot of the uk market love the idea of touring but want it as easy as possible with nice places to stay.

[Mr Fro]

If I was advertising, I would also put ads in a few mags that "sell the dream" - adventure rider, some sort of cruiser mag etc.

Probably get a few different mags together and offer them a freebie weekend to get a feature too.

Good luck with the business!

[Oasis]

Talk to adventure bike shop and also see about a plug on adventure bike TV on YouTube.

[toad]

All brilliant stuff! Well get to work right away...

[Oasis]

I'll happily test the touring for you

[toad]

Bring your own bike, write a nice article, get the word out and we can talk about it

[toad]

Hm, nice places to stay... Our idea was two star like stuff with people sharing a room to keep costs down. Also our take was more "roughing it" with perhaps the odd campsite and Alpine hut rather than boring hotels. Adventure stuff like, finding good restaurants/pubs, not everything planned out and boring.

[raesewell]

I was following this thread with interest until you mentioned 2 star, camping and roughing it so in the words of dragons den, I'm out.

[toad]

I was following this thread with interest until you mentioned 2 star, camping and roughing it so in the words of dragons den, I'm out.

Well, we are flexible! Camping would be mobile homes, Alpine huts are basic but dead comfy. But let me ask you, what would you expect/hope for in terms of accomm?

Since our prices are all inclusive and already pretty competitive compared to the rest of the market we'd have to up them for super comfy version...

Edited February 26, 2017 by toad

[Mr Fro]

... what would you expect/hope for in terms of accomm?

Bikini babes.

[Oasis]

Maybe have different degrees of touring. Myself, I like to rough it a bit. But with maybe a comfy bed before the ride home.

[toad]

Got all that - the weekend trip is all top accommodation, the 6 day tour decent with a really nice place at the end.

[Oasis]

I'll have a good scan through your website when the wife has finished with me. Sounds good!

[raesewell]

I was following this thread with interest until you mentioned 2 star, camping and roughing it so in the words of dragons den, I'm out.

Well, we are flexible! Camping would be mobile homes, Alpine huts are basic but dead comfy. But let me ask you, what would you expect/hope for in terms of accomm?

Since our prices are all inclusive and already pretty competitive compared to the rest of the market we'd have to up them for super comfy version...

 

My wife and I travel Europe fairly extensively and I book my own hotels and plan my own routes. I draw my accommodation line at Ibis red or above.

I organise trips as well but not as a business I just do it for friends. I am taking a group of six to France in April for 3 nights.

There may be a market for budget tour trips, however, I think the type of people that are willing to pay for a tour might want a bit more comfort.

[Gerontious]

who exactly are you aiming this business at?

reason i ask is as you are based in Bavaria.. and seem to be specialising in the Alps.. then you are really aiming at experienced travellers because there is the small matter of 'getting there and back' organising all that even before the 'tour' starts properly.

as an example.. someone travelling from Chester to a start point.. eg Fussen. thats a 900+ ride and needs some careful planning.. how to cross to the European mainland.. which ports to use. accommodation en route. 900 miles? thats a 2 day trip at least.

Would someone who has never travelled by bike before be up to that? possibly travelling alone? Im not so sure.

Bike tour operators who offer a similar 'for profit' service from the UK usually take care of everything.... asking only that their customers make their own way to a port.. or the tunnel and be there at a certain time. and then.. they sort everything else. this is what you pay for and what you should expect. No experience required.

[Mawsley]

I'm at a loss to understand how any person with a bike can't just pop a tent on a rack and simply head off around Europe. I'd certainly not be paying someone to lead me to a campsite that I could have Googled myself in 60 seconds.

Maybe if you were offering decent hotels that you'd vetted I could understand the service - but then there are websites for that too.

For those without a sense of adventure, there's the inbuilt routes in sat-navs. So I really don't understand the purpose of tour companies. Sorry.

[raesewell]

I think tour companies have a place in the market. I employed a tour company to book hotels and plan routes for me the very first time I wen to Europe and after that I did it all myself. So maybe aim at First time tourers as a hand holding exercise.

[Copycat73]

I did the tour guide tour the first trip.. but it had been 28 years since I`d been on the wrong side of the road.. a 500 mile trip around france ww1 cemeteries went a long way to sortin that problem out.... the group we went with was a mixed bag of allsorts .. some good , bad , ugly and idiots .. to keep control the trips had to be regimented .. not to my likin.. any group over 4 gets hard work anyway..

now we organise amongst ourselves.. takin turns at leadin & pickin routes .. I book the ferry others sort the accommodation..

most idears come from forum members and recommendations where ,when and how to stay ..

But I don`t do campin cos its grotty and uncomfortable and the weight+ bulk on the bike is unwelcome and irritating..

sorry but any advertising will go straight over my head...

[Ali in Austria]

Some people don't have the confidence to Tour abroad for the first time. Others like someone to do all the leg work for them, others are just seeking company. IMHE most of the people that make up those groups aren't looking for a camping or budget experience but I am sure you have done your homework and found there is a market.

I run a small Biker Friendly Alpine B&B and often sort out the whole trip for those travelling on a budget. Some say I am a fool but I don't charge for the service. Often we are a couple of nights stopover for those who have planned a Camping Tour. I tend to find that most abandon the camping aspect very soon in to their Tour.

Are you planning on meeting your tours at the start or are you expecting them to navigate to a destination in Europe. If the latter, TBQH, once they have done that bit on their own there is no reason why they wouldn't do the rest on their own. So much information can be found on the Internet these days, especially Forums, that planning a trip is actually very easy.

Many of the Tour Companies and Biker Hotels I know say they get the best results from personally attending Bike Shows.

[Six30]

tour companies can get the hotels cheaper than booking yourself .

[Joeman]

I'm lazy. Can't be bothered with research, just want to turn up and be told where to ride and where's good to stay and eat. I'm probably the target audience! Lol

[Westbeef]

Social media as already mentioned, also getting yourself high up on google would help (not 100% sure how you do this, but companies can sort it for you).

[Joeman]

tour companies can get the hotels cheaper than booking yourself .

And also recommend the hotels with secure parking. That's a major factor for many people with expensive bikes - they don't want to to book a place from the internet that looks good only to arrive at 10pm tired from a long days ride and discover the parking is not secure. Need to be able to relax knowing your bike is safe.

[Joeman]

As for online marketing, they way to do it is to become "an authority" on what you are selling.

Take a look at this site:

authorityhacker.com

You don't need to pay them anything they offer lots of stuff for free on how to build yourself up as an "authority" and build traffic to your site.