In this Q&A segment, Ryan Dohrn answers a listener, Deborah from Hawaii, who asks how to market advertising services that experience strong seasonal demand tied to tourism. Ryan explains that many business owners mistakenly treat advertising as an instant, on‑demand tool, turning it on only when tourists are present. He argues that most consumers absorb advertising messages over time and later recall them when a need arises, so consistent, steady advertising is essential to build brand recall and become the first choice when a need emerges. He uses personal examples (roofing, flooring, tires, plumbing) to illustrate how repeated exposure keeps a business top‑of‑mind. He also highlights the importance of targeting local residents, who not only may need the service later but can also refer tourists to the business. Ryan warns against “heartbeat” marketing—periodic spikes and shutdowns—and recommends a continuous, mid‑sized campaign that reinforces the brand. He frames marketing as a predictive, quality investment that must be repeated in a world full of distractions, rather than a magical, one‑off effort. The segment also includes a brief humanitarian note, expressing prayers for Maui wildfire victims and mentioning fundraising efforts. Ryan invites more questions via email and offers to visit sales teams for in‑person training.
Questions this video answers
Run steady, consistent advertising year‑round to build brand recall, target locals for future needs and referrals, and avoid relying on on/off campaigns unless you have a strong promotional offer. Emphasize that marketing is a predictive, repeated investment, not an instant magic solution.
Chapters
What's going on, friends and fans? Ryan Dohrn here answering your listener questions sent in to ryan@ryandohrn.com. Love your questions, keep them coming in. We get a lot of them, so we'll do our best to answer them all. All right, next question is going to be coming from Deborah in Hawaii. Hey, Deborah, aloha. My clients are very seasonal. I'm in the advertising business like you, and a lot of times they just don't want to advertise unless tourists are on the island. What should I do? So Deborah in Hawaii, hopefully Um, that, uh, you've— if you've got family and friends that are over on Maui, I hope that they're, uh, hope that they're safe. And our hearts and prayers go out to all those folks. And we're actually doing some fundraising here to try to help the folks that are on Maui as well. So, all right, so let's talk about the marketing side and advertising side of the business. Those of you that are not in that space, I still think a lot of this information is going to apply. Okay, the reason that advertisers, especially in your situation— a lot of folks see this in Arizona, in Florida, where you have a lot of tourist-type seasons that happen. A lot of times business owners think that advertising is instantaneous. So they only run ads when they think that they need business. Now the flaw in that, and a lot of advertisers, business owners, they just don't realize it, is that marketing doesn't work like that unless you've got some type of razzle-dazzle offer like buy one, get one, buy this, get 50% off, Buy 3 tires, get 1 free. I mean, that type of stuff will get some type of reaction from folks. Typically though, it doesn't work like that. Most of the time, citizens, just general citizens like all of us, when we think about goods and services and products and things like that, typically we're not reacting like that. We're absorbing advertising information and advertising messages. We're banking that information for later recall when we have a need for that product or service. Most advertising doesn't work like that. So what I would consider, especially in areas that are tourist-related where businesses say, I'm never going to advertise unless there's a tourist in town, is just really to recognize it takes longer than they actually think to generate business. So for example, me, I've not been in need of flooring for 20 years. I've I haven't been in need of a new roof for 20 years. It doesn't mean though that I don't bank Brighter Side Roofing into my head when I see advertisements here in the greater Augusta, Georgia area where I live. I'm not in need of tires right now, but it doesn't mean that I'm not listening or I'm not seeing or I'm not absorbing ads from National Tire Brokers or from Firestone. I just do. I see those ads. I never know when I'm going to need a plumber. But in the greater Augusta, Georgia area, Universal Plumbing advertises everywhere. So when I have a need for that product or service, that's the person that I'm gonna be thinking of. So the way that I like to sell this to business owners is you never know when someone's gonna need something. So because of that, you wanna prime the pump for success. You wanna put your name, your brand, your business in front of a lot of people so many times that when they have a need for your product or service, they're gonna think of you first, they're gonna Google you first, they're gonna turn to you first. The other thing is, whether it's Hawaii, Arizona, or Florida, or other places that are tourist-related, Cape Cod, or, you know, Mackinac Island in Michigan, is just recognize how influential locals are. So if you're not advertising to people that are in the town at the moment, you're advertising to locals for 2 reasons. One, to make sure they know about your business, and 2, so they can refer your business. So there's ebbs and flows of marketing that tend to happen. It looks a bit like a heartbeat, and that's not effective marketing. Instead of having ups and downs and ups and downs, what you want to do is be quite steady. I'd rather somebody run mid-sized ads or mid-sized radio campaigns steadily than bringing it on, shutting it off, bringing it on, shutting it off. See, a lot of people think of marketing as a water spigot. Where you turn it on when you need it, turn it off when you don't. Marketing does so much more than bring in new customers. It brings back past customers, creates referrals, allows you to thank customers, and it brings in new customers as well. So Deborah, don't give up. Try to educate advertisers and business owners on what they need to do to be successful. Whatever you can do, try to talk them out of this magic. Marketing's not magical. It really isn't. It'd be cool if it was. Marketing is predictive. It's a quality investment, but you have to market over and over again, especially in a world of just all kinds of distractions. Business owners have to market over and over again because you never know when someone's going to have a need for your product or service. So Deborah, good luck out there on the street, and I hope that information is helpful. Friends, keep your questions coming. ryan@ryandorn.com is where you can send them. Love to come to your office, pump up your sales team. Deborah, bring me over to Hawaii, okay? But love to come in and pump up your sales teams and give you all kinds of great success. And God bless, and our thoughts and prayers with all the folks that are over in Maui as they recover from those devastating wildfires. All right, friends, we'll see you next week. More sales tips straight ahead.
