Travel 2.0 How the educational travel industry can profit from Web 2.0 Tim O’Neill, Managing Director www.reactive.com

Web 2.0 can help you… Reach your audience Convert them into customers Providing a better experience Build customer loyalty And it can do this cheaply, and easily.

1. Reaching your audience

Start your own blog great for SEO free blog software: Blogger Typepad Wordpress you need to be committed!

great for SEO

free blog software:

Blogger

Typepad

Wordpress

you need to be committed!

Personalise your blog redesign your blog to match your site commercialise your blog traffic integrate product offers & deals

redesign your blog to match your site

commercialise your blog traffic

integrate product offers & deals

Branded utilities widgets and gadgets can help to create goodwill, and promote your brand can have a ‘viral’ effect but need to stand out from the crowd

widgets and gadgets

can help to create goodwill, and promote your brand

can have a ‘viral’ effect

but need to stand out from the crowd

Customer review sites TripAdvisor, TravelPost, VibeAgent post an accurate listing read what your customers are saying respond to negative comments, when appropriate constantly improve your products!

TripAdvisor, TravelPost, VibeAgent

post an accurate listing

read what your customers are saying

respond to negative comments, when appropriate

constantly improve your products!

2. Converting into customers

Create a Flickr group upload photos of your hostel, happy customers, destinations etc encourage staff and customers to do the same show a real and personal side your business

upload photos of your hostel, happy customers, destinations etc

encourage staff and customers to do the same

show a real and personal side your business

Create a YouTube group encourage your staff, students and travellers to create and submit videos provide incentives or prizes repurpose existing video a very cost-effective way to include video in your site

encourage your staff, students and travellers to create and submit videos

provide incentives or prizes

repurpose existing video

a very cost-effective way to include video in your site

Produce new video content well produced video can act as a great conversion tool www. mgmgrand .com video is more cost-effective than ever

well produced video can act as a great conversion tool

www. mgmgrand .com

video is more cost-effective than ever

Mash-ups mash-ups with Google Maps are popular cost-effective: no need to create your own map functionality normally use an ‘API’ from a 3 rd party Could you offer any APIs from your site?

mash-ups with Google Maps are popular

cost-effective: no need to create your own map functionality

normally use an ‘API’ from a 3 rd party

Could you offer any APIs from your site?

Start Twittering twitter is ‘micro-blogging’ (140 characters or less) tour leaders could twitter while travelling give site visitors a real insight into what a trip is like

twitter is ‘micro-blogging’ (140 characters or less)

tour leaders could twitter while travelling

give site visitors a real insight into what a trip is like

3. Maintaining loyalty & keeping in touch

Offer free tools STA Travel blogs gives travellers free blogging, photo and video tools uses software from Off Exploring great for maintaining loyalty can offer personalised advertising based on habits / content

STA Travel blogs gives travellers free blogging, photo and video tools

uses software from Off Exploring

great for maintaining loyalty

can offer personalised advertising based on habits / content

Create a Facebook Group if you offer group travel, encourage and foster a community this allows your customers to keep in contact, and hopefully repeat-book lead by example, have trip leaders post regularly

if you offer group travel, encourage and foster a community

this allows your customers to keep in contact, and hopefully repeat-book

lead by example, have trip leaders post regularly

Mobile / SMS collect mobile numbers, keep in contact with SMS consider providing a mobile version of your site iPhone and BlackBerry offer Web browsers, customisation can be easy

collect mobile numbers, keep in contact with SMS

consider providing a mobile version of your site

iPhone and BlackBerry offer Web browsers, customisation can be easy

Monitor the blogosphere see what people are blogging about your brand consider engaging with conversations don’t pretend to be someone you’re not!

see what people are blogging about your brand

consider engaging with conversations

don’t pretend to be someone you’re not!

Photo by Jake Wild Web 3.0 and the Symantec Web create web pages that can be read by machines, not just people this allows any content to be ‘mashed-up’ in different ways E.g. doppler.com and hakia.com

create web pages that can be read by machines, not just people

this allows any content to be ‘mashed-up’ in different ways

E.g. doppler.com and hakia.com

[email_address] www.reactive.com Contact us for a free appraisal of how Web 2.0 can benefit your business * * Offer valid to BETA members only, for month of October 2008