You can copy a tactic, but not an experience.

If you want to create a promotion rooted in genuine experiences, it means building and nurturing a relationship with your customers. It always has, and it always will. This means connecting across every channel and keeping up a steady line of communication.?

Some time ago, I commented on a LinkedIn post about how every marketing tactic evolves—and why it's always such a challenge for marketers. It always has been.

The evolution of EVERY marketing tactic, ever:

• A creative marketer finds a hack that actually works.
• A small group quietly exploits it while keeping it hush-hush.
• A "thought leader" eventually catches on, claims it as their own, and shares it with their audience.
• [BigCompany] publishes the "Ultimate Guide to The Thing."
• Your CEO thinks: "Why aren’t we doing The Thing? Our competitors are!"
• Your CEO forwards you an email: "FWD: FWD: Article about The Thing. We need this ASAP."
• Everyone starts doing a mediocre version.
• Automation takes the mediocre and makes it worse.
• You can now buy it on Fiverr for 5 EUR.
• ROI plummets from 100x to 1.2x.

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This got me thinking about a story I shared over nine years ago, back when I was wrapping up a sailing season and visiting a small island and a "konoba" that I loved at the time. If you read it, you'll see that the idea I suggested to Ante nearly a decade ago could still work today. It wasn’t just a gimmick—it relied on creating an experience and building a relationship with the customer.

The Story About Ante?

I've been visiting this island for at least 25 years, and this story happened about 10 years ago...

Same harbor, same dock (the only one). Over the years, little has changed for me as a tourist, except, of course, the price going up every year for the same services. ?? But the biggest change came last year when a new restaurant opened on the island. I remember it as a breath of fresh air, mainly because, for the first time, I saw some active marketing targeting the island's nautical visitors.

Unlike the other three restaurant owners, this new guy took half an hour each evening to visit the dock and personally invite every crew to his restaurant. He left a flyer with his menu on each boat. Maybe it was because he was new, or maybe it was his direct approach—but his place was always the busiest. I ended up going too, and I’ll admit, I wouldn't have if he hadn’t approached me. He was good at it, and the whole experience was lovely: good food, great atmosphere, excellent customer service. He even remembered to continue the chat we'd started when he invited us, which gave it all a personal touch. I felt good in his presence.

A year later, before we even arrived at the island, we were talking about going to his place again. We might've even planned our visit partly because of him. Probably at least subconsciously. In any case, we already knew what we'd order a day in advance and what jokes we'd tell him. We were looking forward to it—all thanks to the great experience from last year.

When we docked, it didn't take long to notice how marketing on the island had evolved in just one year. Within an hour, messengers from all three other restaurants, who hadn’t done this before, had visited us with their promotional flyers. Our Ante came last, still with a great pitch and his flyer. I couldn't resist teasing him about the competition copying his approach.

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"Ante, you messed up the channel. You invest in marketing until it stops working."

"I know, Igor. The first one reaps the benefits as long as they're different. Now, we all have extra work, and none of us make as much as I did last year. I'm thinking of investing in TripAdvisor and Facebook—they won't follow me there. They won’t know how."

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It gets to me when I see someone genuinely believe that investing in "digital" alone is enough. I honestly expected him to ask if I knew any good social media gurus or "growth hackers," as these so-called experts call themselves. Thankfully, he spared me that conversation.

That evening, Ante wasn't working. He sat at our table, joined us for dinner, and jotted down notes as I shared how I’d promote his place to the island’s nautical guests. His notes looked something like this:

• Don't bring a menu flyer to the boat. Come with a basket and a greeting from the kitchen—some finger food and a little grappa. Act like you're welcoming them to the island, not just promoting your squid for 82 kuna (I still can't believe how much everything has gone up in the last decade). As part of the welcome, treat them well. Tell them they can try a range of local dishes—a tasting menu is the perfect icebreaker. If they're impressed, offer a deal on the tasting menu right there. If they agree, sweeten it with a bottle of island olive oil (from Marina's eco-store).
• After their visit, give each guest something to take home—something small but memorable. If possible, give each guest something unique so they talk about it among themselves. Include a business card with a serial number. Make the card tearable, with space to write a name—one half for the person they're recommending, the other half for the recommender. Offer a small gift to anyone who comes in with one of these cards—ideally, something from Marina's store. At the end of the season, match the halves by serial number and figure out who your top ambassadors are, then ask them for a positive review on TripAdvisor and Google.
• Ask happy guests if they'd like recipes for the dishes they enjoyed. Offer to email them a recipe every couple of weeks, including Marina's related products. Don’t forget the photos—not just of the food, but of the restaurant and staff too, to help guests relive the experience.

Actually, Ante's list of notes was a lot longer. I can't reveal everything here. After all, we ate and drank at Ante's place all night in exchange for brainstorming these ideas.

Direct Communication: The Key to Promoting Experiences

If there's one takeaway from this story, it's that copying an experience is much harder than copying a marketing tactic. But - if you want to promote the memory of an experience, whether you like it or not, you’re entering into a relationship with your customer. This means regular omnichannel communication, tailored for each individual. Too much work? Not necessarily—times are changing, and technology can help. It just can't guarantee the genuine experience you offer your customers.

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