Bricks and Clicks Graham Carroll
About Me Director at Digitalounge Director at Mad Dog Digital Lecturer with SureSkills and Skillsnet. 14 years delivering digital marketing experiences in web and technology. Specialist in ecommerce. Also Brand Development & Digital Strategy
About Clicks 2013: A mixed year Relevant Practical: Insights, tips and tools Take one good thing I'll be giving a copy of my slides to Jean
Summary Retail vs Online The Digital Traveler Reasons for choosing a Travel Agent Websites Social Maximizing Revenue Q & A
Offline vs Online The story of the high street store.
The Digital Traveler
The modern Digital Traveler Tech savvy Cost-conscious Consume and share content Researchers & Reviewers Impatient
Everything's amazing but nobody's happy.
Hit the lights
Can they really get me the best deal?
Let's answer that
Shout out the Benefits! Why use a Travel Agent - Experience and reputation. - Support if something goes wrong. - Fully bonded / insured. - Special Offers / package deals often cost less than DIY. - Value extras: airport transfers, meals, services. - Convenient, actually saves you time. A Forbes report across all age groups discovered that on average people spend between a staggering 12 and 18 hours daydreaming, checking and booking a destination trip online.
Navigating the Ecosystem
How can we compete more effectively online?
Website
Member Websites Current Situation
Good and bad examples
Good Website design. The Blink of an eye. Web users form first impressions of web pages in as little as 100 milliseconds... (Dr. Gitte Lindgaard, Behaviour and Information Technology). Fast load time. Pingdom: tools.pingdom.com Modern web design, layout and balanced style reflecting your brand colours. Optimal use of user screen size User-friendly navigation Clear concise information Quality images & photography Responsive / device compatible
Usability & Content Simple & Instinctive to use. Place key value information or actions above the page fold. People are cognitive misers. You could have an excellent service but if your website and other channels are poorly designed, you fall at the first hurdle. Talk the same language as your customers and appeal to their needs. As part of their research they want information and inspiration before making a decision to book. Reinforce trust and credibility. Ask for and upload genuine customer feedback. Use the ITAA logo in your website footers and email footers. Use all resources available including your ITAA website! Inbound links to your website.
Technology Website users will expect functionality and technology. Think about how it's presented. Booking engines. Chat service. Social Media feeds for sharing. Website Traffic Statistics & Tracking
Social
The 40/40/20 Rule for Social Media
Maximising Revenue
Existing Customers Existing customers are the easiest to sell to. Email. Email marketing is one of the most effective digital channels for customer retention and ROI. 20% of ITAA members surveyed are using email extensively, 40% occasionally and 25% not at all. Promotions. Target your email subscribers, Facebook fans, and Twitter followers with promotions on a limited number of items. Offer deals on products you know they like and up-sell and cross sell other products with higher margins. Deals. Offer a daily or weekly deal to keep customers looking at your store and keep you front and centre in their minds.
New Customers Referral sales. Set up a referral program to leverage existing customers. Give them an incentive to refer your to their friends through social media and email. Advertise. Pay-per-click ads, remarketing ads, content ads, print ads targeting new customers, keywords, or products. Social Channels. Run a sweepstakes or competition on Facebook to build loyalty and your mailing lists, blogging, Tweet about your specials and new products, expand your followers and fans.
Performance Analysis 62% of ITAA July Survey respondents said they are either not using or checking their website traffic statistics. Google Analytics is free. Heat mapping & mouse tracking Mouseflow.com DEMO
Summary Website. Why should the customer choose you? Your message, content, credibility, customer testimonials, ITAA logo Social Media: Be smarter about how you engage Email: Most cost effective channel for ROI Resources: build inbound links, use the ITAA website Training: Skillsnet Make a Plan: Plan your website and social strategy. Write it down and make someone accountable. Measure and improve
Web Links Skift: www.skift.com. News, info, data on travel and tourism. econsultancy: www.econsultancy.com digital marketing insights. Social Bakers: www.socialbakers.com social media marketing information, Statistics and Monitoring Tools. Velocity The Seven New Laws for a World Gone Digital (Ajaz Ahmed)
Connect with me LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/grayam Twitter: twitter.com/wearedigital Email: graham@dlm.ie Web: www.digit.ie
Thank you