This question has had us thinking.

Why the story? Over the past five years since Patricia and I founded A Couple of Chicks’, we have had the pleasure of not only traveling across Canada and the US, but also of really knowing the places and people we are working with – and more importantly – what makes them unique.

So why are these stories so important to the success of what we do? I guess we could just go back to the marketing 101 textbook, which among other things, teaches us to understand the customer. Yes, we have research for that (and lots of it), and while many businesses don’t have the time or resources to individually know every customer, Patricia and I have been lucky enough to be invited into communities, and to really know the people we work with and are speaking to in the workshops and presentations that we do.

In fact, the “stories” have become so ingrained into our methodology that I am not quite sure that our strategies would be as effective without them.

Yes the latest digital marketing trend is important and relevant, and yes we need to understand the latest shift in Google’s algorithms, the new rules on 301 redirects, and how to add a source code to paid search ads for proper measurement – but we also need the narrative behind each unique web strategy, and the people that are building them. How can we truly roll out a successful and engaging web marketing program without first understanding the nuances of the business and who the customers are?

I will quote a Blogger who recently attended one of our presentations (said Blogger happens to be the “techy” son of the owner/operator of a successful Inn in Eastern Canada, who tagged along with his dad to listen to what the Chicks’ were saying about this whole online marketing thing). (Note the “story” in this paragraph)

He writes, “If every prospective guest to the Carriage House could flip through the pages of the guest book sitting in the lobby, they wouldn’t even consider staying elsewhere. With Facebook and Twitter, this is now entirely possible to do online, and relatively easy to promote.”

I could not have said it better myself! So although the research, the training, efficient process and project management skills are all key to assisting businesses to be successful online – sometimes telling a story does it best.

Hey L.S – we think you are on to something btw. The technology driven “writer’s utopia” may just be in sight, but alas we must make sure it is profitable too. And yes I did just use “btw” in that sentence!

Niki Leondakis, COO of Kimpton also points out in the HNN article that integration of social tools such as Blogs into the main websites is planned for the coming year as well as a continued focus on encouraging “tweetups” and other ways for social communities to connect around Kimpton brands. This approach to integration instead of a web presence over here on facebook, one on Twitter – another on a Blog will be confusing to consumers as we grow more comfortable with true interaction and communication directly with brands.

My guess is that the successful hotel brand website as it is today will look very different in the very near future and will need to be the central gathering place for all brand points online – as well as the place for transaction.

Jim Zito, VP of interactive marketing for New York-based Morgans Hotel Group speaks more about going back to what works offline to assist in strategy for the new online media world. Zito is consulting with groups offline and online to really listen to how consumer behavior has changed in the new social online world. Smart. Not jumping in without understanding why first and making sure you are truly ‘hearing’ what your customers are responding to.

Then there is Fairmont Hotels and Resorts – a brand who has not been shy in adapting to this new marketing medium. David Doucette executive director of Internet marketing for Fairmont speaks about the brand’s use of exsisting social networks where consumers are already living and interacting (Tripadvisor), as well as the launch of a new social networking platform built around Fairmont brand stories for Fairmont brand loyalists.

Brilliant if I may say. Fairmont has a storied brand history, an consumer segment that is passionate about the brand, beautiful historic properties – and ‘stories’ to tell which may just be why building a specific brand social media community will work for them. Fairmont’s www.everyonesanoriginal.com social media community has just recently launched.

fairmont's www.everyonesandoriginal.com social media community recently launches

What I like specifically about this article is that it focussed not on the “What” the big hotel brands are doing but “Why.” It is clear that Kimpton Hotels and Resorts, Morgan’s Hotel Group and Fairmont have clearly laid out strategy, deployed testing, feedback from their customers and have determined their key measurables for both Brand loyalty and ROI. This is clearly not a result of which chains have the largest budgets – and a good lesson to the industry as a whole.

Chris Breikss Super Fan Vancouver Olympics 2010

The newest chick in the coop has inspired me to get back to my Blogging roots as I have moved towards micro-blogging sound-bites on twitter instead of taking time to muse about all things online. Thanks Patti for a fantastic guest Blog entry this week and thanks for the kick in the butt to get blogging again!

I can’t help as a proud Canadian to reflect on Vancouver’s achievement in producing an amazing Winter Olympic Games. We were truly watching the first ever Digital Olympics with this one – and I am happy to say that I think that Canada was well prepared for all of the media channels that were watching this country for the 14 days of the games. It will be interesting to hear now how the traditional media outlets faired.

Although millions were glued to televisions as Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal for Canada in overtime against the US hockey team (could not help but mention that one – that would have been so un-Canadian) – I wonder how many millions also watched events via live streaming video, or through a twitter stream of Olympic athletes tweeting updates live from events, ceremonies and from the general festivities that surrounded the games.

It will be interesting to see also how many downloads there were of the Olympics iPhone Apps, and how many Flickr streams there will be posted by athletes and athletes families from inside the Olympics Village and other “behind the scenes” places.

I must say that viewing photos live from a hockey game such as this one of “a young russian hockey fan” posted by my friend and colleague Chris Breikss after Russia lost to team Canada. Chris enjoyed many an Olympic moment on behalf of 900 of his Facebook friends- and I enjoyed seeing updates live on my mobile facebook app from friends as they experienced some of the winning Olympics moments live.   It allowed me to feel like a participant in the stories like no television broadcast has ever been able to do.

Kudos to the organizers, to the city of Vancouver British Columbia, to the Canadian Tourism Commission, to the media and bloggers, the athletes – and to all of the fans who tweeted, posted, blogged and text messaged your experiences of the games…the first digital Olympics was a great success!

Here is my list of Twitter Tips:

1. Your Website: Before you start tweeting, make sure your company’s website is up to date, optimized for search engines and has a call to action to close the sale. You will also need to install a web monitoring program like Google Analytics; a free program that monitors traffic on your website. This way you will be able to benchmark your success once you have started tweeting. (You can look for Twitter as one of your traffic referrals once it is up and running and you want to determine if Tweeting is worth your time).

2. Put a name on it: When creating a twitter page for your company or brand, make sure you are using a real name in the bio for transparency. Your twitter page should feel like a conversation and followers need to feel as if they are talking to a real person. Using first person in your tweets or the collective ‘we’ also makes your company seem more credible and engaging to potential customers. Ex: “We’re dropping prices tomorrow!”

3. Follow, follow: Following is one of the most important aspects of twitter. A fast and easy way to find potential customers is to visit a competitor’s twitter page and follow their followers. You should also search your company’s name in a “twitter search” to see who’s talking about you and then add them. Other people you should follow include: other employees, people in related companies and industries, related brands, journalists and competitors. Following people related to your company helps get the best followers for your twitter page – and gives you some relevant content to read!

4. Tweet Content: Make sure your tweets are not entirely sales or company related. If you are constantly talking about a sale or a new product that just arrived, people will not see the value in following your company. Talk about things happening in the media, post links to interesting stories related to your industry and upload twitpics. This way, when you talk about the odd sale or new product and post links to your site, your followers will actually be interested.

The points above are the very basic elements to consider when looking at Twitter as a marketing vehicle. I would suggest that more than a marketing vehicle, Twitter is an excellent PR/Communications tool and many successful brand Tweeters are using it as a means to have a “conversation” with their customers.

With this post a renewed commitment to continue Blogging more than 140 characters at a time – this was therapeutic!

[tags]twitter for business, marketing, tweeting, social media, Twitter tips[/tags]

www.QuickMobile.com/online, updating the Online Revealed Twitter page, and reminding those who could not attend to follow (and join!) the Twitter conversation remotely using a twitter tag #orc09.

Chick Note: adding this tag to a Tweet will allow you to post comments to Twitter which will be added to the ORC chat room like discussion that will ensue when conference attendees post updates to Twitter.com, and those that are following comment. You can also do a Twitter search for Online Revealed to find the updates and follow live throughout the 2 day event.

It is amazing that in just four years this Conference, which will bring together tourism professionals from all across Canada and beyond, has evolved to be a true community both online and offline.  Over 300 attendees this year will meet over the next few days in Niagara Falls to share, debate, learn and educate about marketing online while hundreds more may be learning virtually through online channels such as Twitter and Facebook.

Although I will not be posting live updates to ideahatching.com, I invite you to join us in Niagara Falls over the next few days virtually!

Check out the mobile conference agenda here www.QuickMobile.com/online

For those who are not able to be in Niagara – follow us on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/orcconference - or follow my Twitter posts at www.twitter.com/acoupleofchicks

Follow the Twitter conversation here: http://www.tinker.com/event/online_revealed_canada_3
(the conference Hash Tag is #orc09 – join us!)

And if I have totally confused you and this post looks like it was written in Greek – stay tuned for Online Revealed TV (orctv.com) – we will be releasing workshop segments and discussions on our new online TV platform next month!

[tags] linkedin, social media marketing, marketing online, web marketing conference, tourism, online revealed canada conference, internet marketing community, mobile marketing [/tags]

As Gary Hamel points out in his blog post the Facebook Generation vs. The Fortune 500, online expectations have changed the way that executives and managers communicate both within their organization, and through their networks.  No longer can executives ignore this powerful PR tool we call social networking.  Before diving in to Twitter, Facebook or even LinkedIn, I must reference Hamels’ list of 12 work-relevant characteristics of online life which reviews the new rules of online interaction including “Contribution counts more than credentials“,  and “all idea’s compete on an equal footing“,and my favourite…”groups are self defining and self organizing” (no one can force you to connect with anyone online).

So…don’t ban Facebook and Twitter at work. It is a powerful networking and sales tool and it would be a good career mover to understand how social media websites like LinkedIn have changed business and how you can get involved.

[tags]social media networking, managment, social media websites, Gary Hamel blog, generation f, generation facebook

The article also highlighted that JetBlue has 132,000 “followers” on Twitter, while Southwest has 64,300 “fans” on Facebook.  Wow!  So now you are thinking “I don’t have the marketing budgets that Jetblue or Southwest Airlines do so what am I supposed to do now that I have an entire new media channel to manage”?

I have been seeing many articles as of late in media both online and offline that seem to be warning marketers to jump in now or miss the boat. (remember the initial .com bust?) Although many are talking about the social media phenomenon, there is not a great deal of actual step by step guidance about how to build and effectively manage an online community (or a group of communities that may exist on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, You Yube and Linked In), but simply pointing out that it is time to jump in or else.

I did like this article I read online by the Lake Tahoe Daily Tribune (a local print newspaper) that outlined some real world social media marketing examples such as the Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course which has a Web site, but also manages accounts with Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.  Good for the Tribune for highlighting some local real world success stories and good for the Edgewood Golf course for stepping into social media marketing but also pointing out that this new marketing channel is time consuming (and therefore not free or easy).
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In saying all of this, I have been tardy with my Blog updates as of late as  I have been actively tweeting and managing communities for both A Couple of Chicks e-Marketing and Online Revealed on Facebook, Twitter. (Patricia took LinkedIn – this is no job for one chick!)  We are also just finishing up Part Two of our article Series Moving your Social Media Strategy to the Suburbs which will break down our approach to creating a true social media community.

Our 4th annual Online Revealed internet marketing conference is also less than one month away! We are holding this year’s event in Niagara Falls, Canada and will have real people speaking about real case studies and how-to tactics to using social media (and other online marketing strategies) to market your business. We are really excited to have speakers from Google, Tripadvisor, and from real world companies (no offense to our friends at google and tripadvisor!!) like Sequel Hotels and Resorts (a small management company specializing in boutique hotels in Canada), and other operators who will share tips about successful tactics they have used to market themselves online.

[tags]social media marketing, tourism marketing, travel weekly, social networking, twitter, new media, social media community [/tags]

I even made the comment today on my chicks Twitter page that  Social networking was beginning to feel like a never ending cocktail party “ without the cocktails!” (to which I immediately got the response from one of my “followers” that Tweets are more fun over drinks!)

I must say that these social networks have made connecting with people easy and fun, and the speed of which I can learn about all of the latest things going on in the online marketing world has been accelerated like I could never have imagined. I knew today that Facebook would be updating many of their functionalities and profiles today hours before it went live.  I was also able to hear what others were saying about the updates through discussion boards and chat rooms (yes very distracting but interesting non the less!)

I did read a fantastic article today from www.clickz.com about the new consumer revolution and how digital behavioural marketing is the secret to success that I would love to break down for you but I think after about 20 tweets, a few photo uploads to Facebook, a couple of LinkedIn connection updates and some “friend’s” Happy birthday wishes I am all talked out!

So check us out on www.twitter.com/acoupleofchicks , www.twitter.com/orcconference and on Facebook too! Might just have to meet you there more often!

[tags] twitter, social networking, behavioural marketing, clickz.com, facebook social marketing, social media strategy [/tags]

The session was more than 90% full-time bloggers, and they came back for both sessions. This leads me to conclude one of two things; they were looking to connect with their Blogger comrades, or two, they were hoping that we might be the ones to translate what a blogger needs back to the marketing folks.

Strangely enough, there were only about a handful of tourism suppliers (that raised their hands anyway) that were attending the session to learn about how to engage bloggers. (as Bloggers at this conference we are lumped in with traditional media which is interesting) 

Below is a quick re-cap of the discussion for those of you who are wondering how to capitalize on this new media channel. If you are going to “pitch” a blogger in the hopes that they will start to talk about your brand:

1. Make sure you have the right Blogger…there are so many Niche blogs out there that not every story makes sense. (spamming a blogger is not cool)

2. Have a plan and something worth talking about.

3. Don’t try to control the conversation. If you are going to start planting your brand message into social communities, you should go in knowing that this is not an advertising channel – a good blogger is very much like a traditional journalist, and will only talk about what inspires them.

4. I would recommend if you are really going to dive into Social media marketing, first observe it and then jump in. I am sure my fellow bloggers would add to these points, we were a bit of a motley crew! 

[tags] phocuswright conference, blogging, social media marketing, social communities, tourism suppliers, tourism blog[/tags]

What suprises me the most is that non of the other big boys like Orbitz.com, Expedia or Travelocity have jumped into this space. Yes – they have social media apps, but non of them incorporate trip planning, reviews, transaction and itinarary building – using your personal network connections as the “trusted” sources of reviews.  The transaction actually occurs without leaving Facebook (or Linked In, MySpace or whatever social network you are using).

TripJane is officially launching on December 2/08, but the beta is up and ready to go with inventory for flights. (you can even customize your research process filtering out airlines, times etc.) Once fully launched the app will have Hotel inventory, itinarary building, and integration with your regular profile page. (This would be ideal for me as I drive all of my Facebook “friends” crazy with random images of my travels that seem to just appear on my Facebook page without any relevant “story” of where I am and what I am doing!)

Why do I think this will grow? Co-Founder Dani Essindi said it best – just “go where the users are” – sorry if I am giving away any trade secrets Dani! 

[tags]  tripjane, trip jane, social media, travel planning, travel itinarary, travel trends, phocuswright, usergenerated content, online travel agency [/tags]