BUSINESS EDU
Marketing, Advertising & Promotions For Small Businesses by Terry Cummins , OAM, Ph.D., CEO, Terrence Cummins Intl. Business Coaching
M ANY DIVE OPERATORS, whether they are lo- cated within a thriving tourism destination or their local hometown, can be defined as a small business. While any smart business owner should look closely at the outcome of any promotional investments regardless of their size, typically, a small business does not have the marketing, advertising and promotions (MAP) budgets of their large- scale counterparts. Nevertheless, all businesses must consider developing MAP budgets that work, and any expenditure the
a dive operator usually has multiple products and services worthy of promotion. This means you have multiple audiences each with their own needs, wants and desires. So the big question is: “Can you reach and do justice to them all with a single MAP strategy”? I think not! Unless you are simply trying to build a relatively unknown brand, most effective MAP strategies cater to just one market segment, or in our case, to groups of dive consumers sharing similar, but specific needs at a definable point in time whether
business faces must relate directly to mission statements, business goals and a defined return on in- vestments. Undertaking MAPs in this way provides a rationale for the development of relevant tactics leading to a successful and sustainable business. On the other hand, I have writ- ten many times that I feel our industry is unfortunately full of ‘factoids’ – items of unreliable information that is reported and repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact. For example, and in the context of this article, some in the diving industry think advertising in printed magazines is a total waste of money and
it be the need for a new BCD or where to go on the next dive trip. A MAP strategy that says little more than you are a diving business, is highly likely to be lost in the clutter / digital noise of other similar declarations. That is, you risk the consumer thinking: just another dive store, dive boat, dive destination, etc. Furthermore, these types of MAPs, especially in print media, frequently become a waste of money. Thus the factoid lives. To get the most out of your MAPs, try choosing a specific item within your product and services mix you wish to promote and build effective communica-
that print media is dead now that we have the internet. But is it just another factoid? The fact is the global print media market size reached $327.79 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow to $379.99 billion by 2030 . It seems, therefore, that people are still reading print media, so for some, advertising in, say a dive publication, and other print media, may not be a waste of money if done right. Unfortunately, many small businesses do not have the expertise to do it right. Yes, big businesses can employ an agency to overcome perceived hurdles, but a small business can still do it right on an appropriate scale if they follow a few golden rules. The consideration by a dive operator of the specific audience you want to reach is more than just a no-brainer. For example,
tions specifically around that offering. It could be a short-term special on gear, trips, school starting dates, etc., but to try and effectively promote all your offerings at once to a broad audience has those clutter issues and is likely to be less successful. Again, the factoid lives on. You must choose where you will place your MAPs. Each in- volves using different media and requires different tactics to reach a specific audience. To follow is a discussion of just some apparent possibilities, but there are obviously more we could consider. Since we mentioned print media earlier, let us talk about it first. Commonly when dive operators think about print media, they think dive magazines and the factoid is it is a ‘waste of
PAGE THIRTY | SCUBA DIVING INDUSTRY
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker