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Online Toolbox Session
This document provides guidance on developing an effective online marketing strategy for businesses in the tourism industry. It emphasizes the importance of having an online presence and using it for both marketing and management. It offers tips for defining products and services, identifying target audiences, creating engaging website and social media content, optimizing for search engines, and monitoring analytics. The overall recommendation is to develop an online strategy, allocate budgets to it, focus on engaging content, interact with customers, and continually adapt to trends.
Online Toolbox Session
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- 4. Take it Seriously • Online has ceased to be an interesting extra activity for a business • It needs to be a central strategic tool for your business on two fronts: • Marketing • Management • These two need to work together
- 5. Know what youare selling • How do your define your product? • What is the experience you offer? • What choice do you offer? • What makes you unique? • What is your value?
- 6. Key Messages •These definitions will help you: • Structure your content • Create messages to communicate • Identify terms your potential customers will be searching for online • Identify conversation about similar content in social media groups that you can join and engage with
- 7. REMOTE wilderness luxury FAMILY FRIENDLY spa extreme RELAXING ROMANTIC health ADVENTURE active all inclusive
- 8. Know who youare selling to... • Can you describe and profile your typical client- or the one you’d like to have? • Are you selling to more than one type of client? • Are you using a single marketing technique to sell to all types of clients?
- 9. Profiling • Wheredo they live? • What is their family like? • Where do they work? • How do they have fun? • What media do they consume? • What are they likely to be searching for or talking about and how do they express it?
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- 12. 3 Means ofConversion
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- 16. Sample Strategy •We are a family friendly safari camp in our area with luxury tented accommodation and frequent wild dog sightings and we will target families from Europe before their school vacation period by promoting a special family offer that includes free kids ranger activities and a camp spa package, which we will be promoting through a video testimonial from a family who recently stayed with us. This will be posted on our YouTube channel, Tweeted and embedded on affiliate websites and Facebook, combined with Facebook ads and some key word ads for family breaks in our region, all of which will drive traffic to a special landing page we have created for bookings.
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- 19. Tourism Websites have6 seconds to capture their customers or risk them getting bored and going elsewhere -Travelmole 2013
- 20. A Site thatWorks • Gives the user what they want • Doesn’t send them to a dead end • Never frustrates the user • Converts to sales • Socially Integrated
- 21. Content Management •Dynamic Websites are driven by Content Management Systems (CMS) which run on top of database repositories • They provide easy to use and intuitive tools to help you manage your own website • CMS systems let you update your website reliably and quickly • They provide ‘Room for Growth’ – as your organization grows, your website can be easily expanded to cater to new requirements, services and needs • Most use a simple WYSIWYG system
- 22. Word Press •WordPress has gone from a blogging system to the most popular Web CMS in use now • Estimated 60% of working websites • Extremely easy to use • Template driven with thousands of themes • Responsive designs for mobile • Cost per widget and feature from a free base • Easily transferrable to new developers
- 23. Management • TraditionallyIT departments managed websites – but they don’t know your product or have business, marketing or PR skills- why are they managing it? • A CMS can involve marketing personnel in the whole website management loop • A CMS can delegate and manage responsibility
- 25. Sourcing Content •Outsource Professionally • Gather from trade partners • Use the Media • Use Syndicated content • Use content from your clients • Product knowledge is essential
- 27. Live Content •Incorporate a blog into your site • Create and seed fresh dynamic content • Share across platforms • Host the blog externally (depending on your CMS)
- 28. Visitor Experience HELPINGTO GUIDE THEM EASY TO UNDERSTAND OPTIONS CHANGING THEIR MIND EDUCATION THROUGH OPTIONS ASKING FOR HELP
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- 30. Copy Writing •People read differently online • Make the key message for each page very clear • Use Bold to highlight those messages • Break the Blocks • Bulleted Lists • Hyperlink to more info to cut the waffle
- 31. Accuracy • Checkyour content for spelling, grammar and appropriate language • Make sure you check every part of the page
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- 37. Test Drive •Never Edit your own work • Find a native speaker • Ask someone to ‘test drive’ • Don’t rely on automation • Never automate Translations
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- 44. SEO- Popular Myths& Unpopular Realities
- 45. Search Matters •Search drives the internet • Search drives commerce • 50% of all online purchases originate from Search and 99% from a search process • BOBOs still search • SEO is vital
- 46. SEARCH IS COMPLEX AND EVER CHANGING
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- 48. Meet the Spider • He’s looking for: • Text Matches • Relevance • Recent Updates • Popularity • Inbound Links
- 50. URLs are Important • The Spider has no idea what this is: • www.acmehotels.com/667hyt.htm • But he likes this: • www.acmehotels.com/luxury_rooms
- 51. Spider Can’t Read Pictures IMG_345.jpg elephants.jpg
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- 53. Key Messages •Remember Your Key words and Key messages • Blend 2 or 3 carefully chosen key phrases into a minimum of 250 words on each page • Meta tags • Title tag • Headings • Alt tags • Internal and inbound links • Include the words inside the link
- 54. Inbound Links are Critical
- 56. You need agood website that people visit and link to...
- 57. Building Links •Reciprocal link requests • Directory/Portal Submissions • Article writing • WebPR Submissions • Blog Links • Social Media Links
- 58. Be Worth Linking to • Have great social media content • Embed Social Content into your site • Have Repositories of Content • Downloads, E-Books, Media • Videos to Watch
- 59. Worthy Content •Try to keep the link building activity related to your business and target audience • “name” the activity around your targeted keywords • Ensure that the copy is communicating your targeted keywords
- 60. there are excellentfishing charter services in Mozambique
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- 63. What are yourclients searching for?
- 64. How Do TheyExpress It?
- 65. Organising our Holiday Organizing our Vacation
- 66. victoria falls zimbabwe zambia south africa
- 67. If Key wordsare of sufficient value to you in a competitive market then you may consider paying for them
- 68. Cost per Click-you pay for Conversions
- 69. Send Them tothe Right Place • Don’t send them to your home pages • Create Promotion specific landing pages • Match the call to action in the ad to the product page you deliver them to
- 71. Paid can strengthenyour presence but natural will sustain and build your business
- 72. Social Media- Links, Content & Traffic
- 73. A Social MediaToolbox
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- 76. Face Book &Tourism
- 77. Would You MarketYour Destination to a Country with a population of over One Billion?
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- 79. A Fan Pageis now an essential business resource
- 86. LIKE OBESSION ANAVERAGE NUMBER OF ENGAGED FANS IS BETTER THAN A MASSIVE NUMBER OF UNENGAGED FANS
- 87. HOW PEOPLE USE FACEBOOK
- 88. WHO SEES YOUR STUFF
- 89. YOU HAVE TO ENCOURAGE ENGAGEMENT
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- 93. NOT JUST THELIKE
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- 97. (1) Short andto the Point
- 98. (2) Show yourKnowledge
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- 104. HOW OFTEN? Butdo not overdo it...
- 105. WHEN? • Consideryour target audience • Look at overlapping time zones • Consider lifestyles • Find your optimum times
- 107. Have conversations-don’t givelectures
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- 112. Create Interest beyond the Usual...
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- 118. Thanks Matilda foryour kind words, rest assured we will pass on our compliments to the chef... Answer Comments with their NAME so they are notified of your reply...
- 119. Ask Questions toget answers...
- 120. Thinking of changingour menu- what would you like to see?
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- 124. Don’t Like yourown posts...
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- 133. BEWARE OF NEGATIVE ENGAGEMENT
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- 139. The Value ofa Checkin
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- 149. # • Hashtagsare a means of categorizing subjects and speeding up search • They create more realtime access to multiple sources of information • #Country #Topic #Content
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- 165. A Media Tool • Twitter is unlikely to win you a first time customer • More than anything it is amedia channel • Keep past customers loyal • Use it as a Press Release Tool • Often used a ‘wire service’ • Great for B2B networking
- 166. #spiritualsunday #musicmonday #traveltuesday #weddingwednesday #throwbackthursday #followfriday #socialsaturday
- 167. MAKE FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE
- 168. Get Tweeting •It’s easy to do and very addictive • Excellent realtime promotional tool • Get direct realtime feedback • Get new ideas, products and meet new people
- 169. Ensure You Follow • Your local/regional tourism office • Travel Media • Complimentary tourism products in your destination or region • Travel publications or blogs • Local Media
- 170. Post: • Photosand Video • Links to new content and blog posts • Latest Reviews • Commentary of Current Events • Appropriate #hashtags
- 171. Don’t Post: •Politics, Religion, Sex • Negative content about your competition • Uncredited Retweets or links • Excessive #hashtags • DMs to new followers
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- 173. Too Many toFollow? • Use HootSuite • Tweet from multiple accounts • Schedule your tweets • Keep a tally of questions answered, customer problems resolved and positive exchanges held • Embed twitter widgets in your website • Track your tweet statistics • …and much more… for free!
- 177. How can abusiness use Instagram?
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- 198. Your Site onMobile • A mobile version of your website as a separate entity can confuse and stratify your search results • A responsive designed website will reformat itself regardless of platform • Keeps a professional look across mobile and tablet
- 200. Mobile Ready •Ensure your own site is mobile accessible and ready • Take advantage of local layers and mapping • Work with intermediaries to ensure your inventory is available via apps
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- 202. WhatsApp • Management • Group Communication • Event coordination • Live Chat & Service
- 203. Social Media Management • Who is going to manage it all? • Try and have everyone contribute • Create a basic social media policy- sticking to key messages, who says what etc • Bring in some young people- students, interns etc
- 205. Make the Change • Begin to shift business online- increasing allocations to online bookings • Begin a progressive marketing shift with 25% of budgets, human resource and time • As you grow- appoint a social media and marketing manager
- 206. 10 Steps toSuccess
- 207. 1. Strategize forChange: -Develop an eMarketing strategy -Start reallocating traditional budgets -Reinvest 25% in online at first -Set realistic time goals
- 208. 2. Build InternalResources -Read, learn and join communities -Don’t be scared off by geeks and gurus -Bring in some Interns or hire some students
- 209. 3. Re-Develop yourwebsite -Plan it strategically -Focus on room for growth -Make it social driven
- 210. 4. Go Social -Use Social Media in all you do -Make it part of standard procedure -Update, Update, Update -Build relationships and links
- 211. 5. Be ContentDriven -Focus on Content -Your own and users -Publish, gather and share -Strive for Quality and Quantity
- 212. 6. Engage -Talkto your users -Interact, ask and discuss -Don’t deny, challenge or fight them -Ask them to collaborate as you grow
- 213. 7. Have Fun -Social Media is still “infotainment” -Be yourself -Be personal and personable -Encourage sharing
- 214. 8. Don’t Forgetto make Money -Don’t get carried away with the fun -Focus on conversion -Invest in promotions/ SEO where needed
- 215. 9. Keep Changing -Use new technology and innovation -Be visual and use multimedia -React and respond to trends, feedback and data
- 216. 10. Keep anOpen Mind -The Future may not be what you or I think -Keep retraining, studying and engaging -Stay social and keep talking
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- 218. Presentations at www.slideshare.net/ DCookEFT/
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- 220. SEE YOU ATOUR NEXT #ETEA