Feeding the beast: keeping your website up to date

Slide 1: Feeding the beast How to keep your website up to date Rogier Gruys, Canadian Tourism Commission

Slide 2: topics • Why is content important? • Knowing and talking to your customers • Delivering your content

Slide 3: Product vs experience Product is what you buy Experience is what you remember

Slide 4: communicating experiences Brand + unique selling proposition + target audience = Experience The experience brings your brand and product to life Communicate the experience to visitors through content

Slide 5: Content is Types of Content • Experiences • Supporting destination content • User-generated content Translate into Words + images + video + maps + sounds Push to potential visitors

Slide 6: Content channels - traditional • Hard copy: brochures, posters, pamphlets, etc. • Traditional media (magazines, newspapers, etc.) • Website: brochure site, aimed at consumers

Slide 7: But… Consumers are inundated with advertising messages Don’t respond to traditional marketing lingo Need to change our tone and channels Know your customers

Slide 8: Content – new channels • Your website: • Photo gallery • Videos • Blog • media resources • Social media: travel review sites, forums, Flickr, Youtube, etc.

Slide 9: your customer

Slide 10: Psychographics Traditional marketing: demographics Age, income, education, etc But, Travel decisions based on social values • Do I like culture • Do I love nature • Do I want to get away from it all • Or, do I hate travelling?

Slide 11: Who is our customer People who: • Participate in life • Inquisitive • Want to learn about themselves and the world Curious travellers.

Slide 12: How do I sound? Informal Personal Intimate Straightforward Concise Tell a story to a friend – traveller to traveller

Slide 13: It’s about feeling NO activities, events and places Other places can also offer mountains, oceans and forests Focus on the experiences

Slide 14: Take readers with you What does the • ocean sound like? • forest smell like after a rainstorm? • wind in the mountains sound like? Let them feel as if they are there

Slide 15: Keep it simple We’re straightforward; reflect it in the writing Don’t try to make a hard sell Bring the experience to life The traveller is the star of the story

Slide 16: cycling vacation on PEI 3 night package, includes bicycle rentals, luggage transfer, accommodation at heritage B&Bs, and all meals. $450 per person.

Slide 17: the ultimate Canadian cycling vacation Every morning, you’ll step outside your B&B, look out and be awed by the tranquil pastoral landscape surrounding you. You’ll smile, breathe deeply…and gasp, as the crisp sea air quickly reminds you why they call this place “breathtaking”. 3 nights/4 days, $450 per person

Slide 18: But Do provide details • How to get there • What to expect • What’s included

Slide 19: Photography

Slide 20: old Photo credits: Tourism PEI

Slide 21: Tourism PEI /Russel Monk

Slide 22: Tourism PEI

Slide 23: Add photo from BC brand Tourism BC/Tom Rya

Slide 24: But Do have a gallery with detailed photos • Your rooms • People on your ski trails • People on your trips Can be user-generated But keep quality high

Slide 26: Video Short videos of experience Tell a story Keep them engaging, funny, decent quality Keep it short! (2-4 min)

Slide 27: Sounds Can add to experience • Song from your festival • Call of migrating geese over your resort but don’t over do it

Slide 28: Maps Very important for orientation Thematic map: • Distances • Directions - printable Topo map: Google map • Keep standard interface

Slide 29: Channels

Slide 30: Website Update your website Fresh content Fresh way of talking to customers

Slide 31: Channels But get content out to consumer too • Set up a photo group on Flickr • Post some videos on YouTube • Look at travel review sites: • What do people say about you?

Slide 32: Travel forums What do people say about you? Respond too! Lonely Planet Thorntree Trip Advisor Realtravel IGoUGo Wiki Travel

Slide 33: Travel guides Check out what the guides say about you: Lonely Planet Rough Guides Moon Handbooks Fodor and Frommers

Slide 34: Become a blogger • Get a blog, be an expert in your area • Post about any relevant topic from your area Why blog? • Customers learn more about you • You’re more trusted • Search engines love fresh content More ways for people to find you

Slide 35: http://Bayoffundy.blogspot.com

Slide 36: How to blog Keep it relevant to your experiences Short entries, often Spread out postings Choose titles for entries carefully Link back to your main website

Slide 37: Example You offer snowshoe trips near Vancouver Blog topics • Snow conditions in your area • Why snowshoeing is easy to learn – video! • Types of snowshoes (old vs new) – photos! • Wildlife sightings on your last trip • Links to cool snowshoe videos on YouTube • Info on a local snowshoe race

Slide 38: Blogging platforms Instant blog: Set up your blog at www.blogger.com (no technical knowledge required). Ask your web designer to redirect the blog to blog.yourdomain.com. Optional fancier and more expensive solution: Take advantage of more advanced features by asking your web designer to set up Wordpress on the server where your website is hosted, and set up the blog as blog.yourdomain.com

Slide 39: Advice on blogging for small operators Experts provide advice for a small Vancouver travel operator Challenge: attract new, younger customers Plan: become an industry expert through media outreach Payoff: new generation of customers ready to travel http://tinyurl.com/32b5u4

Slide 40: Experience toolkit Download copy from www.canada.travel/experiences

Slide 41: Thank you Questions?