The New Rules of Online Marketing for Tourism

If you are a tourism operator take a few minutes to read this web page because you need to know how the rules of marketing have changed.

You’ll know if we are talking sense or not. And it will be worth your time.

Where you are now

Our experience with small tourism operators tells us that you are passionate about what you do.

But many of you are frustrated because you are time poor and unable to market effectively due to budget constraints. Staff shortages and limited cash flow mean you’re struggling to keep the business ticking over, with little left over for marketing.

Right now, in 2008, its important that you think differently about marketing your business. Why? Read this page to find out.

The problem with traditional marketing methods

Traditional marketing for small tourism operators is very expensive and time-consuming. Being in travel directories and wholesale brochures can help. A static website looks good. And advertising can sometimes work.

But when you get down to it, if the percentage increase in bookings doesn’t stack up against the cost, it’s just not worth doing. Everyone seems to want you to spend a lot of money to try their way of doing things, and they want you to take all the risk.

What’s the alternative?

Increasingly, tourism operators are discovering the benefits of online marketing as a cost-effective alternative – and we don’t just mean having a specky website. We’re talking smart online marketing.

Online marketing means you can now interact with your target clientele directly in a very personal way.

If you had the chance to talk directly to every potential customer both in Australia and overseas, your sheer enthusiasm would lead to bookings nearly every time.

This is why OM4Tourism has been developed – to enable you to do just that.

We are betting OUR business that we can help you market YOUR business online - locally, nationally and internationally. With a much lower investment of time, cash and staff. And in a way that allows you to start small and test the results quickly.

You’ll notice that we are offering to share the risk with you, not asking you to shoulder it all.

How the new rules of marketing benefit you

If you want to know more about how the marketing rules have changed, we recommend David Meerman Scott’s The New Rules of Marketing & PR. This explains clearly and in great detail why you need to be marketing online right now.

Briefly, the benefits to you as a small tourism operator are:

• You can directly reach the large proportion of travellers who are researching their holidays online.
• You can attract direct bookings at any hour of the day or week, from anywhere in the world.

Consider the following two important changes in the way travellers research and book their holidays - and in the way tourism operators communicate with travellers:

1. Your prospective customers are online now

According to Tourism Australia:

Almost 60% of inbound visitors researched their holidays online in 2006. Among travellers in Germany and the USA, that figure approached 70%.
Of those, almost half made online bookings too.

The figures are similar for Australians. According to an AC Nielsen report, also from 2006:

5.9 million Australians were making purchases on the Internet, and 47% of them had not only researched but booked accommodation online.

Even more importantly, all these figures are on the increase. Internet World Stats tells us that Internet usage in Australia grew by 129% between 2000 and 2007. In Europe it was 206%, and in New Zealand an amazing 286%.

Why? Simply because online communication and transaction is so much easier and more efficient than any other method.

2. The control exercised by traditional wholesalers and media is easing

Independent tourism businesses are using the Internet to reach travellers directly.

If you are an independent tourism operator and you offer a unique experience - the kind of experience we know visitors are looking for when they travel to and around Australia - you have a great deal to gain from this new rule.

You can now:

• have a sales office anywhere in the world with your online presence,
• reach qualified prospects (people looking for exactly the kind of experience you offer) at the right time and in the right place, and
• get them to book, either directly or via an agent, without running a single print advertisement.

What exactly IS online marketing?

Online marketing means having a website. Right? Well, no.

What you need to consider is how to market your tourism business online, not how to produce an online brochure. There’s a vast difference.

Online marketing is very different from traditional marketing. You probably understand how advertising works in newspapers and magazines, and on TV or radio. You also know about marketing through wholesalers and trade shows.

But can you put your hands on the levers of Search Marketing (paid search and organic search)? Or Content Marketing? Or Email Marketing? And why should you care?

Because, by combining a range of tools, you now have a marketing structure that targets and reaches your prospective customers right where they are now. A structure that gets your message in front of them just as they are researching their next trip – and persuades them to book.

The playing field has been levelled, allowing you to succeed in niche areas that are unprofitable for big business.

The tools of online marketing

The tools and options available through online marketing are multi-faceted, and OM4Tourism can tailor them to suit every goal and tourism type.

We start from a foundation (Keyword Analysis), build a structure (Blog-enabled Website) and support the structure with four pillars (Content Marketing, Search Marketing, Email Marketing and Affiliate Marketing).

• Keyword Analysis means researching and establishing the words and phrases your customers key into search engines such as Google when they are looking for the travel experiences you offer.
• An Online Marketing Website takes Word of Mouth advertising to the next level. The essential, core infrastructure needed in any online marketing campaign.
• Search Marketing – also known as Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation - ensures you stand out in the crowded marketplace so that your prospects find you when they are searching online.
• Content Marketing ensures the information you provide throughout your site and elsewhere on the web conveys the right message to your prospective customers, in the right place, at the right time.
• Email Marketing can be one of the most cost-effective and influential methods of communicating directly with your prospective and current customers.
• Affiliate Marketing helps you to increase your audience exponentially by collaborating and linking with other businesses.

Questions

Got any questions about any of this? Send an email to Jane using the form below: