Date post: | 10-May-2015 |
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Online Marke+ng in Tourism Digital Des+na+ons: A Fusion of Research,
Educa+on & Professional Prac+ce
Dr Philip Alford Zillertaler Tourismusschulen Friday 18th October 2013 [email protected]
@philipalford
Digital Des+na+ons www.budigitalhub.co.uk
LinkedIn (digital des+na+ons group) www.pinterest.com/digitaldest hIp://www.slideshare.net/DigitalHub
@PhilipAlford | @SchoolofTourism
#DDBU
Economic and Social Research Council
Funding = £55,000
“We are the UK's largest organisaOon for funding research on economic and social issues. We support independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public
sector and the third sector.” More informaOon at: hUp://www.esrc.ac.uk/about-‐esrc/
Aims -‐ summary
To create a knowledge network for the creaOon and sharing of small business digital markeOng
best pracOce and knowledge.
To idenOfy the determinants of small business engagement with digital markeOng.
Importance of small businesses
• In the UK micro enterprises account for around 87 per cent of hospitality businesses
• 91.8% of businesses in the EU are micro (less than 10 employees) (European Small Business Alliance 2013)
Why small businesses need help • Annual turnover rate of nearly a quarter for tourism
businesses • Small businesses in general lag behind with online markeOng • However despite the significance of small businesses in the
visitor economy, “most studies of tourism SMEs have focused on condiOons of entry and paid very limited aUenOon to business development and growth processes” (Pearce and Butler 2010: 83).
Shaw, G., & Williams, A. M. (2010). Tourism SMEs: changing research agendas and missed opportuniOes. In D. Pearce, & Butler. (Eds.), Tourism Research: A 20:20 vision. Oxford: Goodfellow Publishers. Chapter 7.
60 businesses joined program
• AccommodaOon • Arts & Culture • Conference & Events • EducaOon & Outdoor Adventure • AUracOons • Retail • DMO
Criteria for selec+ng applicants
The criteria include: • Current level of online markeOng • AspiraOons • Level of commitment • Geographic locaOon • Size of business • Sector
Applica+on form • Please tell us what parOcularly inspired/moOvated you to
apply for this programme.
“Having recognised the importance in the fast growing nature of digital/ online marke9ng, a key priority to us over the next 12 months is to focus on online marke9ng within our marke9ng strategy -‐ making the most of the various online marke9ng
channels we currently use, as well as effec9vely implemen9ng new ones. This programme has come along at the perfect
9me to help us make the most of the opportunity.”
First seminar – needs analysis
1. Digital Olympians 2. Apps Fab 3. Online Crusaders 4. AppPrenOces 5. Digital Dragons 6. Social Maniacs
Second seminar -‐ planning
• Aim – to start the planning process and work on specific campaigns
Developing the strategy Situa+on: where are we now? Objec+ves: where do we want to be? Strategy: how do we get there? Tac+cs: how exactly do we get there? Ac+on: what is our plan? Control: did we get there?
Student-‐Business
Student-‐Business
Student-‐Business
Par+cipant blogs
Digital Marke+ng ‘unit’
• 60 students at ‘Level H’ (final year undergraduate) • From across the ‘pathways’ in the School of Tourism at Bournemouth University
• Course ran from October 2012 – April 2013 – Term 1: Oct-‐Dec 2012 course content covered on Digital MarkeOng
– Term 2: Jan-‐April students worked with businesses on Digital MarkeOng plan
– Term 3: April-‐May: students submit coursework
Final student reports Paultons Park (Georgi Oliver working with Rob Lee)
@KarlHavard
Measurement in Context
FollowersFriends
SubscribersConnections
“Likes”Referrals
Click-Thru’sOpen Rates
ViewsVisits
VolumeSearch Rankings
Brand Buzz
SentimentRe-TweetsMentions
LinksReviews
Shared comments
SalesDownloads
Paid SubscriptionsSubscriptions
Leads
Feedback on campaign
“To add 400 new followers in 7 days is a great result for us. When celebri9es have men9oned us before we have had added around 100-‐200 new followers depending on
their following. Naturally Paultons Park generate around 20-‐30 new followers per week”
(Rob Lee, Digital MarkeOng Manager, Paultons)
Business digital plans
• All plans uploaded to slideshare.com and being disseminated via social media
• Case example at hUp://www.slideshare.net/DigitalHub/highcliffe-‐castle-‐case-‐study
Results & Analysis
• Rich dataset comprising – ApplicaOon form – Focus groups – Blog posts – MarkeOng plans
• Uploaded and analyzed within Nvivo • Currently exploring the data to invesOgate associaOons and build theory
Results & Analysis
• MarkeOng channel analysis • Channels – before and aser • Database analysis
Conclusion -‐ issues • Lots of informaOon on the ‘why’ but liUle on the ‘how’ • Lack of Ome and human resource (the owner/manager syndrome -‐ doing
everything) • Inadequate IT skills • Lack of markeOng know-‐how -‐ while small businesses have entrepreneurial skills
they lack the formal markeOng knowledge required to plan effecOvely • Lack of measurable goals for their digital markeOng mainly due to being unaware
of the online metrics that can be set – focus on end sales • Lack of awareness of the customer engagement process and channels/KPIs that
apply at different stages of that process • Related to point above, many small businesses not completely convinced of the
ROI on digital markeOng • Outsourcing some or most of their digital markeOng without having a clear plan or
knowledge thereby losing control and insight