POOL & SPA INDUSTRY Wet Leisure Marketing
Maximising PR coverage opportunities can be a challenge but help is at hand for SPATA and BISHTA members plus the wider industry, as Sallie Golding, PR & Marketing Manager at the BSPF, explains
sure your achievements and specialisms are promoted to the masses can be the difference between a ‘Good’ and a ‘Great’ sales year, however, keeping on top of this task takes up precious time, effort and money. SPATA and BISHTA have a helping hand for its members, through a dedicated marketing function which serves to promote both members and the wider industry to the trade and consumer press and media. The Pool Industry Promotions (PIP) committee works alongside myself, (Sallie Golding – PR & Marketing Manager) and the BSPF Managing Director, Chris Hayes. With a focus on maximising PR coverage throughout the UK and Ireland, there are also some opportunities in Europe and further afield! This year, PIP have commented positively on one of the best years in terms of PR coverage for the industry. I joined the BSPF in September 2013, and with the support of PIP our joint efforts have worked extremely well to accomplish some great achievements. My first task was to redesign and re-launch
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the SPATA and BISHTA websites. Both websites were successfully re-launched at the end of January 2014, ahead of SPATEX and the British Pool & Hot Tub Awards presented by SPATA and BISHTA. These new websites are enhanced by being 100% responsive and we have seen the performance improving month-on-month. This year, members will see the next phase of improvements set for launch in the spring.
Each year the prestigious British Pool & Hot Tub Awards presented by SPATA and BISHTA provide the perfect vehicle to
arketing and PR can be a challenging subject as a business owner (with so much to do and so little time to do it)! Making
Birmingham. We have exhibitions planned for 2015, with some brand new marketing initiatives set to bring members even more recognition.
get positive PR in front of consumer and commercial audiences. These awards hold high consumer recognition, which in return helps to drive sales for our winning members. These awards are judged not only on the design and aesthetics of the installation, but the judges are looking for compliance with SPATA and BISHTA standards. They must also receive a positive client review! We feel that only by judging in this manner can we truly recognise the work of our members. Last year, every one of the SPATA and
BISHTA award winners received press coverage of their award win, and these included national titles such as La Dolce Vita, SelfBuild Homes, Swimming Pool News, What Pool & Hot Tub and The Self Builder, to name but a few, as well as coverage in their local areas.
A great way of getting our message out to a wider captive audience is to communicate with consumers on a face-to-face basis, promoting ourselves at exhibitions and events. In 2014, SPATA and BISHTA were at SPATEX, SPATA exhibited at Grand Designs Live along with supporting SPATA members in both London and Birmingham. And at the end of September SPATA were at Leisure Industry Week (LIW) at the NEC in
As the digital world grows ever more important to our industry marketing, we need to stake our claim online. Our main social media platforms are Twitter and Facebook and we use these on a daily basis to build on our consumer message. To enhance our online presence, we are in the process of setting up a range of promotional videos. Producing these videos and using them online provides us with a range of opportunities, which not only benefit SPATA and BISHTA in raising awareness for the UK pool and hot tub markets, but also supports our members. Firstly, we are improving web traffic to get more leads to the website to drive through to members, and secondly members will be able to use the videos on their websites and for sales packs and events. Over this past year we’ve made some significant steps to move forward with our PR functions, so keeping up the momentum, our plans for 2015 are more of the same! We have a great team of people in the PIP committee headed by Jamie Adams (Golden Coast), who bring with them a range of specialisms and bags of enthusiasm, making for the perfect ‘Blue Sky Thinking’ group. I hope this provides you with a taste of what my role with BSPF brings to SPATA and BISHTA – as always with any current members, I am on hand to discuss your marketing plans and look at ways that we can support and enhance your PR and marketing initiatives and for any prospective members, I welcome you to give me a call and I can talk you through the benefits that await you.
42 February 2015 SPN
www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk
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