Web Marketing Success - Tourism 2012 - Part II

Post on 16-Nov-2014

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Part II of II from April 25 presentation at Tourism Victoria.

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Two types of currency on the web: Cash or Content.

The fuel that drives:◦ Search Engine Optimization (SEO).◦ Social Media.◦ Conversion.◦ Advertising (i.e. Adwords Quality Score).

The Power of Content

What works for Tourism?◦ Events.◦ Activities◦ History.◦ The Region.◦ Visitors.◦ Other attractions or operations.◦ Etc, etc, etc...

The Power of Content

Shouting/Broadcasting instead of conversing.

Engaging without measuring.

Focusing on platforms or activities without first considering overall goals.

Social Media – The Sucky Part

Social Media = Networking3

Principles are the same, but...◦ Geography-Independent.◦ Time Efficient.◦ Can be highly leveraged (exposure to

connections’ connections).

Social Media – The Great Part

Stakeholder/Customer Engagement:

Building Engagement - Photos and Video: People doing or

saying something they are proud of will send people to see it.

If tagged, this can happen automatically!

Having 10 photos from an event tagged on your Facebook page can mean 1500+ impressions to the Friends of your tagged subjects.

The Multiplier Effect of Tags:

Typical user has well over 150 friends.

But Does it Work?:

Daily “what’s up in your neighbourhood” posts?

Creative uploading and/or tagging of photos?

Co-operative pages or multi-organization destination strategies? (i.e. multi-site contest?).

Brainstorming Engagement Ideas:

SEO can be likened to a 3 legged stool (we know what happens if one of the legs is missing). These legs are:

1. Site structure and coding.2. Great, relevant content.3. Links from related sites.

While some of the details have changed, this is a formula that’s always held true.

Cont...

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Many see SEO as an awkward, artificial process.

To succeed in having a site that appeals to both users and search engines you need to get beyond that. We advocate that you:1. Use research to find the actual terms (keywords)

people are using to search for your type of product or service.

2. Incorporate these keywords into your site copy.3. Optimize the relevant pages on your site for the

relevant keywords.

Not so hard, but few people do it well!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

At a minimum, get basic Search Engine Optimization in place to get more visitors.

Page Titles, Page Descriptions, sufficient text, SEO-friendly copy.

Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide - Google

Learn at Least a Little About SEO!

Page Title

Page Description

Searchers know way less about your business than you do and may use different language than you do to search for your type of business.

Find what language they use and incorporate it on your site.

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal (see next page...)

Find Out What Terms “Real” People are Using To Search

The SEO Matrix

Super-easy to create (we’ll create one after the presentation, time allowing).

Free opportunity to have one on every poster, flyer or brochure displayed in a public location (i.e. The Airport or Ferry) .

Keep in mind, however,it’s a MOBILE experience.

QR Codes

“Premium” sites operate on a Cost Per Thousand (CPM) model.

The most cost-effective online advertising is based on a Pay Per Click (PPC) model.

Online Advertising

Typically banner ads and rich media.

We recommend you get “good” at PPC advertising and understand your advertising ROI before trying CPM.

Ask CPM ad reps for critical info like Frequency and expected ClickThrough rates (CTR) before advertising. With the expected CTR in hand you can calculate approximate “cost per click” to compare it to your PPC efforts.

CPM (Cost Per Thousand) Advertising

This model means that you ONLY pay if someone clicks on your ad and comes to your site.

Google Adwords is the main PPC ad source but there are many other networks.

This also means that advertisers favour higher performing ads. If you do a better job than your competitors at creating compelling ads, you’ll get better placement at lower cost.

Google/Bing are easy to set up but have many hazards for the casual user (quite challenging for competitive areas).

Facebook/Linkedin ads are both ridiculously easy to set up!

Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising

Google Adwords - Search:

Sponsored Links/Adsfor a rather “broad” search.

“whale watching Victoria BC” will be an expensive keyword to bid on as it’s so competitive.

Note that “premium” top positions are a result of those ads achieving great performance.

Also note that it’s not just the bid but Bid X Quality score that determines your placement.

Google

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“Organ

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Google Adwords - Search:A “narrower” search brings a results page with zero ads on it.

Lack of competition means a relevant ad (targeting at “whale watching sooke bc”) would be very cost effective.

The challenge is that this term will have low search volume

To get traffic you must create a “portfolio” of keywords.

As you learn to convert this less expensive traffic, you’ll learn to tackle more competitive keywords.

But how do I figure out which keywords have traffic?The Google Keyword Tool lets you conduct research on keyword search volumes by month. https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

• Volume of search is shown by region for the keyword you selected as well as similar terms.

• Consider all “match types” (Google “Adwords match types” for more info).

• Bear in mind that figures may not be accurate for low volume keywords.

• You can download the results and see seasonal patterns.

Google Adwords – Display Network:

• Theme-targeted text and banner ads set to display only to visitors in specific geographic regions.

• Can be very low cost.

•Remarketing opportunities!

• Geo-targeting…

Theme/keyword driven text ad (Swimming Pools)

Remarketing Display Ad

Google Targeting (Search and Display):

Can target by:

• Radius around a point.

• Defined Geographic Region.

Picking very specific targets (geographic, demographic or keyword targets) is the way that small companies can beat larger organizations with bigger budgets.

Can make a meaningful, repetitive impression on select targets (get 10 people 100% of the way there instead of getting 100 people 10% of the way there).

Think in terms of a “portfolio” of niches.

Strength in Small Numbers:

Facebook Ads: Fantastic demographic targeting.

Great opportunities for targeted engagement.

Facebook Ads: Think in terms of niches versus blanket

advertising.

Click-through rate (percentage of folks viewing the ad who click on it) is low, but this means you get tons of dirt cheap ad impressions.

Ad Creation - Easier to show than describe:

People in Alberta Who Like BC:

Ad aimed at 50+ Group in Sidney:

People in BC Who Like History:

Just about anything you can think of:

What’s the value of reaching your own portfolio of relevant niches for as little as a few dollars a day vs. paying large sums for a one-time, untargeted print ad?

Up to the Minute: What’s Hot Right Now Google Algorithm Changes.

◦ Fresh, relevant content more important than ever (plus fresh links to it).

◦ Review sites.◦ Links from other Google properties.◦ Links from Social Media, including Google +

(“Social Signal”.

Google Places Optimization Last year just claiming

your Google Places Page was a big help – this year you want to optimize it!

Results in increased exposure in Google Maps, better/more placement in Google Search (for local businesses) and a great source of links for your site.

Get Your Reviews In Order!Get seen by Google: Google is factoring in more 3rd party data than ever. Notice below

how:◦ Google results are pulled from Urban Spoon.com.◦ The restaurant with the most and best reviews is at the top of the page!

Come up with a Review Strategy (but read the fine print).

Online PR – Exposure + Links Another great way that small companies can beat large

companies.

Still tons of value in traditional PR.

A practice we call “online PR” or “niche PR” has emerged which is very accessible to businesses of any size.

Much like picking the right level to compete at in other areas, you simply:◦ Do research to develop a list of relevant bloggers/writers of a size you’re

comfortable approaching.◦ Contact them respectfully, commenting specifically on something they’ve

written and explain why your launch/opening/etc is relevant and worth mention to their readers.

◦ Keep going! Over time you’ll build a great “house list” and grow to be comfortable approaching larger sites, blogs and publications.

“Advanced” Analytics – Source Tracking Google Analytics Source Tracking was updated last year.

Through a simple process you can create custom “hooks” for your posted links that let you know exactly which “campaign” a visitor came from (i.e. Email newsletter, Tweet, Facebook Wall post).

There’s a bit of a learning curve, but it’s well worth diving into.

Mobile! The majority of 25-34 and 18-24

year olds now own smartphones (64% and 53% respectively).

79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help with shopping, from comparing prices, to finding more product info, to locating a retailer.

70% use their smartphones while in a store.

77% have contacted a business via mobile, with 61% calling and 59% visiting the local business.

Mobile! Most importantly, while this shift is

happening before our eyes, few companies are acting on it, creating great opportunities for first-movers!

Important to keep in mind that:◦ Mobile searchers are typically looking to

find or contact your business (so make these things VERY clear on your mobile site.

◦ Mobile searchers take action on their searches at a dramatically higher rate then desktop searchers.

Mobile – Usability Traditional sites simply don’t translate to Mobile.

Mobile – Critical Actions Call. Get Directions. Book. Other?

Multiple Locations? “List view” or custom

display within one click of home page (might actually be on home page).

Ideally, have actions for each location presented right on their listing.

Other Mobile Considerations? Tablets? Not clear yet how long term usage patterns

will unfold. That said, even companies not currently concerned with Mobile (i.e. Traditional tech/software) will have to pay attention to how/where they are being used.

Overall, a best practice is to embrace “light” sites that will display quickly regardless of connection type (3G, 4G, WiFi, Public WiFi).

PPC Advertising already presents a HUGE advertising opportunity for some industries as you can target Mobile explicitly (and yet few people are).

Ad opportunities? e.g.18% of searches related to “car batteries” in Canada are from Mobile. 30% for “tow truck”

Conclusion – Your Path to Success Find a couple areas to experiment in.

Learn enough about them to make sure you’re making a meaningful effort.

Keep costs and effort as low as possible until you’ve established there’s potential in the areas you’re targeting.

Test and grow your efforts while building your own set of best practices.

Try new things.

Measure everything!

Questions? Q&A

Give me a call if you have any questions or are interested in any of the areas we talked about!

Shameless plug: I very strongly encourage you to dig into web marketing. That said, if you need a hand, our team of 6 specialists is standing by!