Posts Tagged ‘e-marketing’

Rich Media Attracts Consumer Appeal

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

We came across an interesting article on the internet highlighting the importance of content – herewith is an extract from it….

The survey suggests that consumers are showing an appetite for more interactive visuals in their shopping and purchase paths. Nearly three in five online travelers (59 percent) say 360 degree virtual tours would be “useful” or “very useful” in helping them select a hotel that matches their preferences and expectations, while nearly half (48%) believe a short video showing a property’s features and amenities would be “useful” or “very useful.”

“We know price and location play the most important role in consumer shopping behavior and decision making, but we were particularly intrigued to see that factors such as loyalty programs and hotel brand were rated so far behind visuals in importance by online travelers,” said Paolo Boni, president and CEO of VFM Interactive, which commissioned the study. “With still image and rich media visuals rated so highly on consumers’ importance and usefulness scales for influencing their selection of one hotel over another online, hoteliers should re-evaluate their online presence – particularly how they are being represented through online travel agency sites — to address the lower consumer satisfaction visuals found online today.

Please click here to view the whole article.

Click on the following link to view some of our 360 degree virtual tours that we embedded into Facebook: www.facebook.com/smartguide

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E-Marketing in the Tourism Sector

Monday, February 15th, 2010

To successfully market on the Internet you must have good content and then distribute it effectively – this is the essence of e-Marketing.

Importance of the Internet
The internet is the most important marketing channel in tourism; it is flexible, quick, engaging and allows your content to be distributed cheaply and widely to a massive audience.

Facts:

-          Tourism is the largest selling commodity on the Internet
-          more than 50% of the tourism spend in Europe is done over the Internet
-          More than 70% of travelers start their travel plans on the Internet
-          The Internet is becoming a more visual medium (Show, don’t Tell)

The Internet is continually becoming a more important business channel – if you do not have a plan to market to this channel then you need to develop one quickly.


Importance of Rich Media

The old saying ‘ Content is King ‘ is even more appropriate on the Internet. With a massive selection available on the Internet, content must be interesting, engaging and preferably interactive otherwise the visitor will simply move on.

Tourism organizations / businesses should invest the following forms of multimedia or content:-

  • Text – good at relaying basic info
  • Audio – excellent for stories, interviews , etc
  • Images – attract attention, emotive & provide credibility
  • Video – powerful as it conveys images and info quickly and effectively
  • Virtual Tours – brilliant at providing detailed information and credibility
  • Interactive Maps – provides spatial understanding of location/ destination

”Content is not just king, it is the emperor of all things digital.” Rupert Murdoch


Importance of Distribution

You can have the best content however if it is not well distributed then it only has limited use and will not generate business. You should develop a comprehensive plan for distributing you content that involves the following channels:-

-          Website
-          Blogs (yours and other peoples)
-          E-Newsletters
-          Social Media
-          Emails
-          Documents
-          Via Agents

So to successfully market on the Internet you need to accept the growing importance of this channel and adapt your marketing strategy accordingly. Most importantly develop great content and have a plan to distribute it – this way you will get a great return on investment on the development of your content.

Good luck and go for it – the longer you wait the further you get left behind!!

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