I just back from San Luis Obispo County and could not help noticing all the public art in the city of San Luis Obispo. It appears that many local businesses are supporting local art. This was on the property of a specific hotel. I saw public art throughout the city in various locations.
Public arts programs give a community that added texture that makes it unique and different. It’s a great way to communicate your destination authenticity.
While this may seem obvious, not all businesses are finding this easy to do due to a host of reasons (legal concerns, staffing, strategic decisions). Whether it’s segmenting your email database to provide customers with relevant content based on preferences (or behavior), or ensuring that social media efforts don’t get bogged down by corporate messaging and legal restrictions, marketing executives need to remember that authentic, honest communication that responds to current concerns and issues can ultimately boost a brand in the long run.
To learn more about email marketing best practices, how to truly engage with your consumers using social media, and much more, register for the SMG Tourism, Technology + Marketing Workshop to be held on March 17, 2010 in South Lake Tahoe, California.
The recent social media drama with director Kevin Smith and Southwest Airlines is just a reminder that no matter how successful and sophisticated a company may be online, underestimating your customers can come back to haunt you.
We’ve seen this before, admittedly with companies that weren’t monitoring the social sphere as carefully. Two examples that come to mind include Dell Hell and the uproar around a Motrin ad, among others.
What makes the Southwest situation different is that the airlines is present and engaged on Twitter, where Smith began posting about the issue. While the details may be murky as to how Southwest staff handled the situation on the flight, how it handled it immediately afterward could have affected Smith’s reaction (maybe it wouldn’t have made the Daily Show?).
That said, I see Southwest as resilient enough to get through this turbulence - eventually. Hopefully this serves as a cautionary tale to businesses engaged in social media. Monitor that space, and communicate with your customers, whether disgruntled or not. It’s surprising what a little bit of two way conversation can do to help assuage a potential complaint.
In talking about social media with a group of local business people last week, I was reminded that many folks don’t recognize the integrated role that social media can play in their overall marketing strategy. While there’s an understanding that they need to be involved in it, to many local businesses social media is perceived as enough of a discontinuous innovation that it’s hard to understand how it can be seamlessly incorporated into an existing marketing strategy. Seen as an add-on, social media’s value is not readily apparent. Instead it’s considered a time-consuming activity whose business value is unclear.
Any business contemplating social media needs to recognize that this is not a program to be kept in a silo. Nor is it something it should dive into without at least considering what its objectives are. This is why developing a strategy, or at the very least considering some strategic questions, is key to determining the value of social media to a business.
If you don’t have any idea of your social media strategic goals, consider the following questions:
While very basic, these questions can help you determine where to focus energy and time – and perhaps budget. There is much more to this equation, including the nuances of how you communicate in a social world, what makes a social brand, and a slew of best practices, but these are good questions to consider if you’re just starting out.
For more information on social media marketing and how technology can help your marketing strategy, register for the SMG Tourism, Technology + Marketing Workshop on March 17, 2010.
These days anything that has to do with Apple requires a few thoughts on its impact. The company has found success with its wide range of iPod products and now it’s time to add the iPad to the list. Some think the iPad will revolutionize travel guides and in-flight entertainment, at least according to a recent article in the Daily Mail.
Maybe. One thing I have learned is that how people actually use technology may be different than what people who designed it originally intended. I know that on many plane flights (mostly short haul) I have enjoyed listening to music, podcasts as well as watching old “Office” episodes on my iPhone. But what I like about the iPhone as opposed to the iPad is the small size. I can put it in my pocket. Will it be worth the extra cost, size and weight for bigger screen?
UPDATE: After exchanging emails with the ‘author, she removed the blog post. She noted that after she wasn’t able to rewrite it well enough, she decided to delete it.
In all honesty, I never thought SMG would ever have to worry about our blog content being poached. We’re not a hugely popular blog, and the topic of tourism isn’t one that is difficult to write about.
So I have to admit I was surprised to see the most recent blog post had been ‘borrowed’. While the author did add a quote and omitted the graph, there’s a plagiarized paragraph or two in there.
I’ve made an effort to contact the site to request it be attributed to SMG, or removed. But outside of that I’m not sure what else is possible. How have you handled plagiarized blog content? Comment and suggestions are welcome, as I’m not sure what more I can do.
Women between the ages of 50-75 are forecast to be one of the fastest growing and highest spending sectors in the travel industry, according to a survey recently conducted by Vibrant Nation. This segment represents a growth opportunity for destinations, as it has more discretionary income than other segments, with survey results indicating that 42% spend more than $2,500 per person per trip. That’s an astounding number when you think about it.
And in a world where the booking window seems to have shrunk to just a few days out, 79% of women boomers already have their 2010 leisure travel planned. As one who has not even begun to contemplate vacation travel for this year, I’m amazed by this statistic.
Combined with the boomers trust in word of mouth recommendations, along with their increased use of social networking, especially sites like Facebook (according to recent eMarketer research), boomer women may be best reached and connected with online. Destination marketers may do well to consider developing online and social media strategies for this potentially lucrative segment.
What say you? Are you already reaching out to boomer women? If so, how?
It’s all going mobile, at least for the online travel industry. According to Internet Retailer, the latest research from Nielsen shows more consumers are turning to travel mobile sites and apps to access information, book flights and hotel rooms, and rent cars anytime, anywhere. The winners in the travel mobile web and travel mobile apps are OTAs, including Travelocity (with 1.263 million monthly unique visitors), Expedia (with 1.258 million), Priceline (with 1.2 million) and Orbitz (with 1.12 million). Airlines fare well too, with United, Southwest, American and Delta rounding out the top 10.
For travelers on the go, access to airline and OTA mobile websites and apps can certainly help during the travel process. But I’d be curious to know how much mobile apps and websites actually influence a purchase decision, or play a critical role in the sales funnel.
In addition to the many strategic marketing plans that I develop for SMG clients, I also provide strategic planning seminars. I’m heading south to sunny Santa Barbara next week to facilitate one such retreat, the annual planning conference for the Central Coast Tourism Council (CCTC).
While I won’t have much free time, if anyone has any recommendations for a can’t-miss restaurant, let me know in the comments.
We’re pretty excited about the upcoming SMG Tourism, Technology + Marketing Workshop that we’re putting together for March 17th in South Lake Tahoe. While we’ve included a technology component in the annual SMG Tourism Conference at Lake Tahoe, over the years we have seen the increased importance and role of technology in destination marketing programs.
With that in mind, we believe that expanding technology and how it impacts marketing into a day-long workshop format will provide local businesses with valuable information and tools to expand their marketing programs online. The event, which will feature both two different tracks for intermediate and advanced users, will provide marketers with the tools they need to reach their audiences.
The agenda is shaping up right now, and there’s a host of interesting presentations from a variety of experts. More will be posted on the workshop website very soon, but if you’re interested in attending the event, note that the early bird registration rates end on February 5th.
