Travel Business is facing disruptive challenges. New consumer trends, different experiences and expectations demand some industry reinvention. This presentation is about understanding this new traveler and to explore how (digital) communication with new tools and better consumer knowledge can bring the competitive advantage to keep ahead of the competition.

1. digital marketing
strategies for travel
pedro tavares

2. From an offline strategy to a digital
“social” one
Let’s start

3. Remember the “Marketing Funnel”?

4. Everything started here
Awareness
Consideration
Conversion
Loyalty
Evaluation
Marketing Funnel

5. Questão

9. View ad Go to Store Compare Choose Buy
And a clear decision-process

10. What - Advertising
Who- Referrals
Where - Available medium
Content producers and consumers clearly identifiable
Offline

11. The web changed things
progressively (at first)

12. But the strategy was not that different

13. Only with a new
model things
changed

14. 1 billion users (End 2012)
Each Facebook user spends on average 15 hours and 33 minutes a month on the
site
More than 250 million people access Facebook through their mobile devices
More than 2.5 million websites have integrated with Facebook
30 billion pieces of content is shared on Facebook each month
25new contributions ever minute.
40 million users every month.
Luxor Las Vegas hotel has 6,100 reviews.
Word count on the site is the same as 9,420
copies of Tolstoy’s War and Peace.
YouTube has 490 million unique users who visit every month
(as of February 2011)
YouTube generates 92 billion page views per month
Let’s start with some stats

15. http://mashable.com/2012/02/21/online-travel-infographic/

18. 35% edit or generate web
contents in Portugal
“A
Utilização
da
Web
em
Portugal”
2010
(LINI/UMIC)
Content creation is evolving into
microblogging
GlobalWebIndex,
2010.
51.000
worldwide
users
“Today’s generation are not content
to remain spectators, they are
tomorrow’s players. Their slogan: we
think, therefore we are”.
“We
Think”
–
Charles
Leadbeater
User Generated Content

19. A new decision-process

20. Watch video
Youtube
Test in retail
Buy online
Read blog
reviews Compare modelsShare interest
Search for brands
Click on banner
View in Timeline
Brand
control
none or
small brand
control
Information both oflline & online

21. A more difficult to predict decision process
- Consumers/content producers at all stages of process
and in different medium
Social
But “social” it’s not the same as online!

22. The new enhanced consumer
experience
COCO-MAT Flagship NYC store let’s consumers nap for a couple
of hours
Some examples to deal with uncertainty

23. Experience-it-before-you-buy
Adidas flasghip store inTokio allows consumers to test
running shoes and provides showers inside the store

24. In-store Engagement
AT&T opened a massive flagship store in Chicago
where customers experience technology oriented to
their daily living

25. More power to consumers
Volga rewards users with discounts based in social
popularity
Combine both online&offline tools for an
enhanced brand perception

26. New consumer experience
Some ways to deal with uncertainty
ZIP Car mixes online and offline tools to create a
customized experience
Smart shopping experience

27. Extra-customized shopping experience
US retailer Neiman Marcus offers an app that provides
customers with information on new products and staff
availability upon check-in, while providing sales
associates with consumer data they can act on in real
time.

28. Social discovery
The Palms resort is pulling in data from Klout as part
of their reservation process, to find customer social
score and provide guests with special treatment, in
hopes that these influencers will want to communicate
their positive experience to their followers.

29. Offline or Online, first stop: strategy
A good strategy and a marketing plan
Media
Audience
How?
Outdoor
Press

30. So...
Fully Blended Experience
More demanding consumers
They combine both offline and online tools
to reach a decision
Brands have less control of the whole
experience
It’s essential to use better tracking tools to
monitor and keep the pace with the new
consumer trends

31. From a full marketing plan to an inbound marketing
strategy
Part 2

32. Let’s start form the beginning: Plan ahead
1.Segmentation
2.Target
3.Goals
4.Positioning

33. A simple SWOT analysis: a place to start

34. Next: Why online?
New Markets:
Geography, segmentation
Differsification:
Related business integration
Integration with suppliers
Market penetration:
market share, Loyalty
Better product:
added value, digital version...

35. Who
How
Where
Different ways
Where and how to reach

36. Find out who really is
your customer
As you know your family

38. How do we know?
Research,
research
research
...research!

39. Which goals and metrics?
1. ROI - It’s essential to measure how
successful the investment was!
2. Sales from marketing (Incremental
Sales, Cost per Lead...)
3. Engagement - Leads from
communication
4. Social Interaction
5. Traffic Sources
6. SEO Ranking
7. Funnels & conversions

40. Establish the positioning
1.Marketing Mix
Who are we?
What do we sell?
Where do we sell?
What differentiate us?
2.What is our value proposal?
3. What is the message that we want to
pass around?

41. This is just the
beginning!

42. Let’s create a value proposal. Online

43. And find out how to sell it. Online

44. New demands,
New skills

45. New demands,
New skills

46. Attract customers with content

47. Attract customers with content

48. Attract customers with content

49. And much more... From person to person

50. “Be authentic and organic. It can’t be forced or it won’t
work. And most importantly, have fun.”
Richard Branson - Founder of Virgin Group

51. “Be authentic and organic. It can’t be forced or it won’t
work. And most importantly, have fun.”
Richard Branson - Founder of Virgin Group

52. Back to basics...

53. Remember the Marketing Funnel?
Awareness
Consideration
Conversion
Loyalty
Evaluation
Marketing Funnel

54. Inbound Marketing

60. We’re all mad
scientists?

61. Video

62. So...
Digital marketing combines different
strategies
Marketing plan and business plan stand side-
by-side and are the first step
An inbound marketing strategy generates a
closer relation with the client
There’s no success to-do list, but just a
combination of different tools

63. The 4 main areas for digital and inbound marketing
Part 3

64. It’s essential to master the model
Paid Search & SEO Blogging Website Social Media Email Mkt
& user content curation

65. SEO & Paid Search 1

66. Paid Search

67. The long tail in paid search

68. The long tail in paid search
Target the investments

69. The long tail in paid search
Test & optimize

70. Basic Concepts
CTR – Click Trough Rate
Percentage of people who click a link
CPC – Cost Per Click
The value paid for each person who clicked a link
Conversion Rate
% of people who take the conversion action
(i.e. trial, downloads...)
Cost/Conversion
The value paid for each conversion action
How to measure
i.e. http://www.clickz.com/website-optimization-roi-calculator

71. Attention:
Google Score!

72. Optimization improves ranking
with better investment control

77. Where?
adwords.google.com
Check:
Google keyword tool

78. Where?
adwords.google.com
Check:
Google keyword tool
& keyword planner

79. And then there’s
SEO

80. 70% of the links search users click on are organic.
70-80% of users ignore the paid ads, focusing on the organic results.
75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results.
GroupM states “when consumers were exposed to both search and
social media influenced by a brand that overall search CTR went up
by 94 percent.”
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/24-eye-popping-seo-statistics/42665/

81. SEO Best practices
Googlers recommendations:
1 Pages are for users, not engines.
No cloacking! Same content for search agents and
users
2 A website needs clear hierarchy and text links.
All pages should be link reachable
3 Your pages should have clear content and
information-rich.
<title> elements and ALT should be descriptive and
accurate.
4 Keywords generate descriptions and human friendly
URLs.
Provide one version of a URL to reach a document,
using 301 redirects or the rel="canonical" element to
address duplicate content.
SEOMoz Blog

82. How the search ranking works

83. So, SEO...
1 Acessibility - What you cannot see has no indexation
2 Content - Good content generates virability. Virability is essential for ranking.
3 Page elements correctly organized (titles, URL, internal links...)
4 User Experience - Good Information Architecture and User experience improves links e from
other websites and conversions
5 Marketing - Says it all!
6 Advanced page optimization - pay attention only after you (start) taking actions to address
1-5 issues.

84. Where?
Google Webmaster Tools
SEOMOz
Read more: http://cyrusshepard.com/20-future-facing-seo-blogs-for-2012/
http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo

85. Blogging 2

86. Blogging improves customer
confidence

87. Why?
Better marketing strategy
Central tool for a successful marketing strategy - improves loyalty and can attract new customers
Better SEO & Rankings
Updated contents improves its relevancy (vs. static website). More regular users.
Create content only once, distribute in social media
You can share the content in the right social media:
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, & content-oriented like Slideshare, Youtube or Instagram.
Improves user conversation and interaction with visitors: a “sneak peak”
It can be a good tool for returning clients, that can generate a recurring hotel visit.

88. Where?
Tumblr
Wordpress
Blogger...
You just need your domain!

89. Website experience 3

90. Architecture
Design
Technology

91. SO... Usability.

93. “We don't just use technology, we
live with it. (...) People who design,
use, and evaluate interactive
systems need to be able to
understand and analyze people's
felt experience with
technology” (McCarthy & Wright,
2004).

94. How about the
Web?

95. Usability is all about the web
If a user cannot find the right information,
there’s another website where he will

96. Wait!
I’m outside!

97. Users can access information from
multiple devices
Adapt to different use-contexts and take
advantage of devices

98. Your web presence
Make sure you know your goals
Different users, different use-types
Standards are everything
Remember mobility
Test, re-test, and test again!

99. Social Media 4

100. The right social media
MicroBlogging/Interaction- Facebook, G+,
Twitter... - (and specific market trends). You
can choose which social media
Content: Youtube, Pinterest, Instagram,
Slideshare, Issu, ....

101. Video killed the text star
“The 2nd largest search engine”

102. Promote interaction with the right content

103. Open up for conversation

104. Tools
Sprout Social
Hootsuite
Hubspot...

105. Mail Marketing 5

106. Mail marketing is still
essential

107. Create a strategy
Step 1 - Targets
Step 2- Goals
why do they want to read about me?
how can i help?
what do i want to achieve?
Step 3- Expected results
Step 4- Frequency
Step 5- Schedule

108. Some best practives
1. Give Your Reader the VIP Treatment
2. Keep it Useful
3. Keep it Short
4. Show Some Personality
mailchimp

109. Tools
Mailchimp
and the rest of email
marketing tools

110. Dont forget to monitor and
act with information

111. Analytics
Also reports from
social media

112. Other User generated content

113. So
Digital Marketing is all about different
dimensions
For the best strategy and results you must
combine them successfully
Analyze based on facts and real-time
information and act fast

114. http://www.aggregage.com/blog/best/long-tail-seo-articles
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4723/6-Ways-to-Leverage-the-Long-
Tail-in-Your-Marketing.aspx
http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo
http://blog.microsecommerce.com/index.php/uncategorized/blogging-101-five-key-
benefits-to-starting-a-hotel-blog/
http://sproutsocial.com/insights
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/#
http://www.clickz.com/
google for more!
More

115. Some strategies for travel
Part 4

116. Travel, at last!

117. But there’s a narrow
road ahead

118. Travel industry is facing great challenges

119. Some stats & trends

120. Visual.ly -
Four Pillars

121. Visual.ly -
Four Pillars

122. Visual.ly -
Four Pillars

123. Travelers are moving moved to online channels
100

124. How about the new traveler profile?

125. The next generation traveler comes
from a new background
but the other travelers
are also adapting fast!

126. The new “social
traveler”

127. Looks for different
lodging experiences

128. Expects new
and different
experiences
(fully
customized)

129. Uses more and more mobile technology
for guides, reviews, maps.... Mobility is everywhere!

130. Sharing experiences with the community
new

131. And is planning ahead and
looking for suggestions
and also the opposite,
when looking to be
surprised!

132. What is the impact of all this changes?

133. For hospitality 1

134. do you track the hotel
descriptions across all booking
platforms? pictures are the same
as your website?
Unified strategy
Define the model, what partner, agents:
it’s essential to mantain coherence between channel
operators and corporate website
Positioning/promotion
Segmentation
Price

135. Track and engage
Track and engage with your customers:
Before they arrive
strong messages, track preferences - reservation channels
and social media
During stay
add experiences, track reviews
After departure
CRM - invitations, promotions, experiences, track reviews
Know what your competition is doing (social media,
reviews, agents, ....)

136. Track and engage
Find the best usage of social media
Storytelling
It’s what makes us different
It’s original
And authentic
Costumers can be participate or can even act as
producers
The secret is to find campaigns with voluntarily customer
participation
And with the right image and positioning
Finally engagement is essential
virability factor

137. Some trends
The gap between “social hotels” and “tradicional hotels is
going to increase in the near future
At the same time, more and more hotels will use the best
campaign practices and re-use strategies
New niche network campaign strategies will appear
More multimedia user generated content
Better mobile strategies (with rewards) The Palms resort is pulling in data from Klout as
part of their reservation process, to find customer
social score and provide guests with special
treatment, in hopes that these influencers will want
to communicate their positive experience to their
followers.

138. Trends: Social CRM
Imagine arriving to your room and instantly start watching
your favorite series and episode where you just had left at
home?
Or if the restaurant had prepared a fully customized menu
based on your favorite ingredients?
Evolving from a simple “social campaign” to a real
knowledge integration in all the business processes
(+ big data)

139. Trends: Social CRM
The process of monitoring conversations and creating a
close relationship with current and future clients through
digital channels
More information about customers coming from different
areas for the sales team
Marketing teams can access real time conversations,
tracking trends, preferences, allowing fast adjustments on
strategies
Better product testing and allowing instant feedback
Better service with more information and complete history
tracking
(+ big data)

140. Trends
Set the difference with new experiences
http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2013/04/hotel-trends-innovations-restaurants-food-hostels-resorts?MBID=twitter_

141. Loyalty & referrals
Responding to customers is essential
It’s the best way to show that you pay attention to their
needs and expectations
Some guidelines
1. Search for the website rules and practices
2. Act fast
3. Customize responses
4. Be polite
5. Keep it simple
3 years later is not ok!

142. Levar a sério o
modelo!
Visual.ly

143. Loyalty & referrals
Set the benchmark
Ask for reviews
Promote random contests and rewards
Customize emails and look for
experiences and stories from your
customers

144. Airbnb could be an
opportunity for hotels
to differentiate
Deal with fast
evolving new
models!
Service,
Service
Service!

145. For transportation 2

146. Track and engage
Again, track and engage with your customers
Be innovative. Everyone is already using social tools.
Need to stay ahead of the competition by identifying key
business goals, such as loyalty.
Close gap between social and real world

147. Track and engage
Engage the traveller in a specific manner (eg mobile).
Offer new services: eg on demand movies
Offer the best customer service: social needs to support
key business functions
SimpliFlying Airline Social Media Outlook 2012 report revealed that the
top business goals of social media are aimed at brand engagement,
customer service and revenue.

148. Track and engage
Be aware of crisis!

149. Central (and local) tourism strategy 3

150. Central (and local) tourism strategy
Positioning
Track new trend behaviour and respond fast
Promote new ways of selling, not only by major operators, to
attract trending experiences (shared online) such as Surf
destination, music events, nature, food...

151. Central (and local) tourism strategy
Engage visitors in central portals and social media:
interaction, social connector, suggestions, customized
experiences,
The user needs to be the main content provider:
Storytelling with videos, photos

152. Central (and local) tourism strategy
How locals (and not tourists)
can share the experience

153. Central (and local) tourism strategy
Aim for a unique experience

154. Central (and local) tourism strategy
Best practices
http://www.slideshare.net/TourismAustralia/the-
worlds-biggest-social-media-team-16545786

155. For travel operators 4

156. For travel operators
New (and challenging) times demand new ideas:
Better CRM - know what your customers are saying
EVERYWHERE
Create new full experiences (leisure+adventure; food
+culture...)
Use online and offline tools: reservations, promotions,
engagement
Engage in social media: create a storytelling by users
(and respond fast to reviews and crisis)
Track data, act fast!

157. So
Digital Marketing (for travel) is not a distinct
area of business of your organization
Assuring that you know your customer and
interact based in all the social knowledge is a
competitive advantage
It is essential to fully fit this “social” strategy in
all the business processes of the travel
company

158. Guestcentric - full hotel management tools & marketing
Springnest - website management
Olery - Online reputation Management for hotels
Viatecla - Travel Software
PHC FX - Cloud Business Software
SalesForce - CRM Tools
Some tools

159. http://www.flightglobal.com
http://www.tnooz.com/
http://www.hospitalitynet.org
http://hotelemarketer.com/
http://www.olery.com/blog/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x69cPuG-WMI
http://www.slideshare.net/martinwalsh/social-crm-definition-by-martin-walsh#btnNex
Google for more!
More

160. digital marketing
strategies for travel
pedro tavares
@ everywhere
pedroltavares@gmail.com
11frames.com
twitter.com/ptavares
linkedin.com/in/pedroltavares
slideshare.net/pedroltavares