Kick-Start programme: Initiate a business to consumer promotion campaign
Top Tips
Initiate a B2C promotional campaign highlighting your destination’s accessibility on your owned and earned channels
Ensure this incorporates inclusive imagery
Monitor its impact
Initiate a B2C promotional campaign
Having completed the previous steps in the Kick-Start programme, it’s now time to shout about what you have by promoting your destination’s accessibility to consumers. This can be achieved utilising existing destination PR and marketing communications.
Promotion will help to ensure that both your potential visitors and local communities become more aware of accessible venues in your destination. It will also help to reinforce your messaging to businesses and demonstrate the marketing benefits to them of being part of the programme.
It is envisaged that any B2C campaign branding will be consistent with that used in the B2B campaign outlined in Step 3 of this programme. VisitEngland will publish specific guidance on this for LVEPs as soon as it is available.
Further guidance on marketing to visitors with accessibility requirements can be found in the Marketing section in the Enhanced programme (add link to Step 6: Launch a B2C Marketing Campaign in the Enhanced programme)
Initiate a B2C campaign on your existing channels which:
- promotes the businesses featured in your ‘Accessibility’ section of your website
- explains that this is not a guarantee of business accessibility, but emphasises the commitment of a business to provide a warm welcome to everybody
- indicates that each business participating as a minimum has accessibility information on their website to help them make informed choices and support visit planning.
Principles to follow when providing information and marketing accessibility
Martyn Sibley, Purple Goat
Purple Goat is an inclusive disability-focused marketing agency. CEO and Co-Founder Martyn Sibley provides guidance on providing information and marketing your destination’s accessibility:
“Here are my Three top tips for LVEPs to address disability representation, even with limited budgets and resources:
- Include disability-friendly information on your website and promotional materials: Make sure your website and promotional materials are designed with accessibility in mind. This includes using clear, easy-to-read fonts, providing captions for videos and images, and using descriptive text for links.
- Highlight accessible destinations and activities: Include information about accessible destinations and activities in your marketing materials. This will help disabled people to plan their trips and feel confident that they will be able to participate in the activities they are interested in.
- Work with disability content creators and advocacy groups: Partner with social media and local disability advocacy groups to get feedback on your accessibility efforts and to identify ways to improve. This will help you to ensure that your efforts are inclusive and meaningful to people with disabilities.
By taking these steps, tourism destinations can ensure that their promotional materials are inclusive and accessible to disabled people, and they can attract a wider range of customers. It’s important to remember that promoting accessibility is not only the right thing to do, but it can also be good for business.”
