Lynn Reynolds, commercial manager of Exmoor Zoo, explains why the business should win the marketing and PR category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition.
As a small rural zoo on the edge of Barnstaple, we needed some form of marketing that would attract new visitors to us.
So, over the years we have developed the Exmoor Zoo Roadshow. Our education department delivers these roadshows and takes along a selection of our animals. This can include meerkats, skunks, yellow mongooses, snakes, spiders and more, for a fun but educational talk lasting approximately one hour. Participants get to meet and talk about the animals.
At the end we hand out discount vouchers and leaflets to encourage more visitors to the zoo, where they can then see some of our more unusual animals in natural surroundings.
This marketing stratergy has worked well for us and has increased visitors in the shoulder seasons as well as bringing us more visitors during the year.
All entries which meet the competition criteria are published and our judging panel select a shortlist of the three for each category. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony in summer 2016.
