Ideahatching.com » Hospitality and Tourism

Storytelling and its role of marketing online

awhalen — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:45:57 +0000

Patricia and I were recently asked by a colleague “why the focus on the story?” … “Isn’t what you do really more about Google algorithms, applying online marketing statistics and trends to individual web strategies, and measuring ROI for the client?

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!

Social media for hotel brands – the why not just the how

awhalen — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:46:52 +0000

Great article in HotelNewsNow.com (HNN) this week discussing how the big hotel brands are looking at Social Media – specifically in more of a tactical way which is really quite refreshing to see. The article summarizes Kimpton Hotel’s & Resorts use of the social space for “forging specific relationships with their guests and building brand loyalty.”

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.

The first Digital Olympic Winter Games – thanks Tweeters, Bloggers and Facebook users for the inside look

awhalen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:46:42 +0000

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!

How Social Media is really affecting the electronic distribution of travel

awhalen — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:53:38 +0000

Patricia Brusha, co-founder of www.acoupleofchicks.com, moderated a panel this week at the HEDNA (Hotel Electronic Distribution Association) Conference, held in Las Vegas. The panel discussion was centered around the affects that Social Media has had on the electronic distribution channels for travel.

This article in Hotel News Now summarizes the discussion nicely – but I must also highlight the summary of points that Patricia gave me that nicely puts things into perspective.

The panel, which was titled, “Economy in Transition” with Panelists from Expedia, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Trust International Hotel Reservation Services, and Smith Travel Research, pointed out the following:

1. Watch the Buzz – but Buzz doesn’t always = Buy

2. Go back to basics with your value proposition, an easy booking process and good service. (seems logical)

3. Use Social Media to better understand your customer (Customer relationship management at it’s best – isn’t that a no brainer!? We can now see exactly what our customers are saying – all of the time.)

As Patricia stated “We’ve gone from going online to living online…Consumers, particularly in hospitality and travel, are looking for things relevant and authentic.”

So is Social Media affecting the electronic distribution channels for the travel industry? Sure it is…but we have been through this before and will be down this road again.

Perhaps as this panel pointed out we should get back to basics of listening to our customers (who are living online) and providing an excellent travel experience no matter how they found us.

Twitter for Tourism

awhalen — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:11:23 +0000

Coming off busy few months of speaking to groups about online marketing strategy, I must conclude that this year the big burning question is Why Twitter? The Facebook phenominon has continued to evolve. I remember when there were only one or two people in a room that would admit to being on Facebook. Now audiences happily admit to their addiction to and even share stories about their experiences and successes.

The verdict is still out on Twitter it seems. Although we have run across some great Twitter success stories over the past few months, there are also some very confused marketers who are wondering why they signed up and what they are supposed to be doing there.

Last week in Halifax, we met the tweeting “Hotel Dog” as an example (aka http://twitter.com/thehoteldog or @thehoteldog as she is known as in Twitterland) who is a chocolate lab at the Best Western Chocolate Lake Hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She has been tweeting now for a few months to a loyal following and is even now featured on the home page of the hotel’s main website http://www.ChocolateLakeHotel.com .

She gets fan tweets, fan mail, and has become an attraction unto herself at the hotel. Having a dog like Cocoa (her real life name) as a concierge also allows the hotel to engage with an audience of dog lovers who may also like to travel with their dogs. The Best Western Chocolate Lake is pet friendly of course. Now there is a great use of Tweeting in Tourism to engage a consumer audience!

I too keep hearing the research that reports that only 5% or less of North American’s are actually active on Twitter and that other social media channels like Facebook continue to expand to audiences that now include all demographics etc. etc. (It has now been confirmed though that my 82 year old Grandma Ivy is not the oldest Facebook user in Canada – but she is one active social networker!)

Interestingly I put a call out to my “tweeple” this afternoon asking the question (in 140 characters or less of course so please excuse the grammer)

Tweet: http://www.twitter.com/acoupleofchicks “Looking for feedback…Twitter working for B2C or just a great place for networking and B2B? thoughts?”

This is the beauty of Twitter – one can shout out to their peeps and get some great feedback fast. A second validation for Twitter to consumers came from the http://www.fairmont.com/empress“>Fairmont Empress Hotel Tweeter who responded with the following via Twitter:

www.twitter.com/FairmontEmpress “BOTH…success has to due with part instinct and part response. I get excited when I see RT of special offers & events posted.”
With more than 900 followers I think it is working for Victoria’s Fairmont Empress Hotel.

Specifically I was looking for some comments about measuring the ROI of Twitter for a business to consumer audience. When we are asked in our workshops whether or not someone should be Twittering, the answer is always “it depends.” I can definately attest to the power of the Tweet for building professional credability, business to business networking, and for me and many of my fellow tweeters – fun!

Then we come to the most recent news that Search Engines Google.com and Bing.com will index not only Twitter and Facebook Fan Pages and profiles, but also Tweets and updates in the very near future.

Wow – now there is a game changer!

The implications to this are too much to discuss in one Blog post, but it will definately shake things up in the future for businesses that rely on the web to reach their consumers (are there any that don’t anymore really?) Check out this “Marketing on the smart web” Blog post by Joe Buhler who discusses some of the implications in some more detail.

In summary – at this point I will stick to the mantra that you should not jump into any form of social networking intiative for business (or personal for that matter) without a full understanding of the channel and the people using it.

But I will say that the indexing of real-time results from status updates and tweets is reason enough to take a good look at all social networking vehicles as perhaps a necessary marketing and PR focus in the future.

Frommer’s Travel Intention Survey: Some Highlights

awhalen — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:10:54 +0000

Frommer’s recently commissioned a travel survey to help travel marketers better understand how to optimize their Web strategy. The survey brought out some interesting insights for marketers of tourism and travel.

Frommers Survey sample:
1324 online travel consumers – asking what influenced their travel decisions,
inc. what determined where they go, what content they looked for when planning and booking a trip,
and what would improve their experience.

A Chicks’ Summary:

1. Needs Change depending on place in the buying cycle:
-Pre booking: images and written description of the destination important (DMO’s/Hotels – this is a key point)
-post-booking a map of the destination was the essential item of content, with travel tips,
weather, events and activities information and local dining and attractions. (Think post booking sales opportunities hotels…customers are already sold and looking for more information).

2. Online Research most influential in making Travel decisions in 78% of survey
-Friends Recommendations next most influential factor 74% (note importance of social media as the ultimate word of mouth)
-Travel books 54%
-newspapers 20%
-Travel agencies 4% (ouch! Consider the sample here though)

3. 85% of respondents said Price is a key factor in deciding on a travel Destination
*** 84% of survey looking for destination information during the pre-booking stage (this shows us how important the Destination marketing/VCB website is to the buying decision for a destination)

4. Good information on Destination websites (ie detailed travel guides and content) effect on decision to book:
-56% More likely to book with detailed content (stories/travel guides)
-43% No effect on booking (lower than I would have thought)

5. Important Content to Planning Cycle:
-Images:
-Info on Activities and Events
-Written descriptions of the destination
-Maps
-Weather
-Travel info (currency/border info. etc.)
-Video Content: (lower in importance – only 25% of respondants *note: Video is not considered important to research, but may act to make the website more engaging.)

7. Negative Experiences online include:
Confusing websites: 65% (make sure you are focusing on Website Usability best practices and test your site for ease of use)
Insufficient photos: 51%

**Content not bookable online only 35% felt this was a negative

Conclusions/Summary:

Content is still king: add good content to sites to not only inform and inspire customers but also to attract them through natural search. Content also plays an important role in the user’s experience on websites, which impacts on conversion rates and loyalty.

As users continue to embrace social media to connect with friends, and view friends recommendations as very influential in making travel buying decisions- Social media will have a role to play in how friends can influence each otherâ€™s travel plans. Through Twitter’s “what are you doing?” Facebook’s status updates, Flickr’s photo sharing and beyond, it is getting increasingly easy to share experiences and thereby influence the travel plans of others.

Frommer’s Travel Intention Survey: Some Highlights

awhalen — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:10:44 +0000

Frommer’s recently commissioned a travel survey to help travel marketers better understand how to optimize their Web strategy.Â The survey brought out some interesting insights for marketers of tourism and travel.
Frommers Survey sample:
1324 online travel consumers – asking what influenced their travel decisions,
inc. what determined where they go, what content they looked for when planning and booking a trip,
and what would improve their experience.

A Chicks’ Summary:

2.Â Online Research most influential in making Travel decisions in 78% of survey
-Friends Recommendations next most influential factor 74% (note importance of social media as the ultimate wordÂ of mouth)
-Travel books 54%
-newspapers 20%
-Travel agencies 4% (ouch! Consider the sample here though)

7. Negative Experiences online include:
Confusing websites: 65% (make sure you are focusing on Website Usability best practices and test your site for ease of use)
Insufficient photos: 51%

**Content not bookable online only 35% felt this was a negative

Conclusions/Summary:

â€˜Content is still kingâ€™: add good content to sites to not only inform and inspire customers but also to attract them through natural search. Content also plays an important role in the userâ€™s experience on websites, which impacts on conversion rates and loyalty.

As users continue to embrace social media to connect with friends, and view friends recommendations as very influential in making travel buying decisions-Â Social media will have a role to play in how friends can influence each otherâ€™s travel plans. Through Twitterâ€™s â€˜what are you doing?â€™ Facebookâ€™s status updates, Flickrâ€™s photo sharing and beyond, it is getting increasingly easy to share experiences and thereby influence the travel plans of others.

[tags]frommers travel survey, tourism marketing statistics, travel marketers, tourism marketing, social media marketing,destination marketing, web marketing, website usability[/tags]

Online revealed Niagara Falls 2009 begins!

awhalen — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:08:47 +0000

I have spent the morning thus far updating LinkedIn, Twitter and various Facebook communities welcoming delegates to Niagara Falls (home to the 4^th annual Canadian internet marketing event), posting links to the Conference mobile agenda.

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/orcconferenceÂ - 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]

Just another Social Media Marketing post

awhalen — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 02:57:19 +0000

Travel Weekly recently published an article warning that “as the social-networking phenomenon grows, travel agencies, home-based agents, suppliers and destination marketers who sit on the sidelines may risk missing significant opportunities to engage existing customers, recruit new ones, bolster their brands, undertake market research and drive bookings“.

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).
Â

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]

All Twittered out?

awhalen — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:29:15 +0000

I find lately that I am starting to micro-Blog on forums such as Twitter and Facebook, which allows we to quickly share idea’s or good articles I read, but it is also taking up so much time that I have less time to focus on good content and getting that content to you.

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]