Internet Marketing for Tourism

So you've heard, E-mail newsletters make the phone ring.
So how do you go about growing your email list?

Impliment these simple steps and watch your list grow along with inquiries and sales!

1. Make sign-up ubiquitous. The invitation to join the e-mail list should be part of your primary navigation of your site. Get that small Yes! everywhere so travellers landing on your site, don't have to search to find the opt-in page.

2. Make sign-up easy. The more information you request from potential subscribers, the less likely they will be to sign up. Capture the impulse with a single box for the e-mail address and an "opt-in" button. If you want to gather additional information ask yourself why, then make plans to get it later.

3. Include a request at check-out or check-in. Ask your guests verbally if they would like to be added to your e-mail list. Then save them the trouble by adding them yourself.

4. Include an invitation to opt-in to your newsletter in the footer of your e-mails.

5. Leverage your print, media and other efforts to encourage e-mail sign-up. Describe the benefits of your offerings as part of your media release strategy.

6. Promote your e-mail in others' e-mails. Look at non-competing efforts that reach your audience and include an ad for your e-newsletter.

7. Promote your e-mail via search. Use search engine marketing to promote not just your site, but the unique content you deliver via e-mail as well. "Sign up for our free newsletter" will have you benefiting from those interested in your content long after the paid click!

8. Enlist your friends and existing ideal guests. Always include a Send-to-a-Friend (STAF) promotion and new subscriber invitation to help your friends build your list.

9. Cluster with others: Invite others ot write content for a newsletter and then co-promote it. Associations and cluster marketing organizations can build lists together and provide a significant amount of content with very little effort.

The foundation for success in all efforts is creating e-mails that your customers want to read. If you are truly considering customer needs and desires first and your marketing goals second, you will have an opt-in newsletter program that draws customers to you, is easy to promote, and merits recommendations.

Podcasting is a way for tourism businesses to distribute recorded audio or video on the Internet.

Podcasting is essentaially about creating content (audio or video) for an audience that wants to listen when they want, where they want, and how they want. As part of a customer-relationship management plan for your tourism business, you can create audio files with a small mp3 recorder and upload these files to your Web site, providing a rich media experience for your ideal guests.

By providing an RSS syndication link to the files, people who want to listen to or view your rich media are instantly informed whenever a new file is posted.

Websites may offer direct download of their files, but the subscription feed of automatically delivered new content is what distinguishes a podcast from a simple download.

This informal interview is from Off-the-Grid radio is a podcast. The feed is at: http://www.algonquinparkecolodge.com/offthegrid.xml

Using a feed server like or Juice, subscribers can download files and listen to your rich media any time they want.

Quick,
Before reading on, how many Web visitors do you attract to your Web site by typing in your Web address directly?

Most use search engines, even if they have been to your site before. Are you a .ca or a .com, is your business name your domain, or is it some other assortment of letters? Most people refer to search engines to locate new holiday opportunities or to reconnect with places they've been.

What search engines matter most?
Google's has healthy 49 percent share of all Internet searches, up from 43 percent a year before according to Nielson NetRatings in February/06. During the same period, Yahoo's and Microsoft's share of the search market declined to 21 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

Be sure your site is listed in these big three sites and after optimizing your Web content check to see how well you rank. As your organic ranking improves, so will your sales. Learn more about search engine optimization on the Tourism Keys tutorial pages.

A Recent ClickZ report indicated that in 2006, 72.0% of marketers plan to increase online budgets. Within Internet spending, the specific media that will receive the greatest share of marketers' online budgets in 2006 will be

• Web sites (30.3%)
• e-mail (22.0%)
• search (20.3%)
• sponsorships (10.3%)

In response to one of our customer's suggestions, I have added a forum that will allow our customers access to each other (if they permit it) to 'talk up' Spring Jam. (Hearing from a "Friend" accounts for 45% of our registration ... see demographics below)

By at least one account: $6.40 per e-mail address.

Annual value of an e-mail subscriber goes far beyond the potential sale.

Consider:

• the incremental value that your brand achieves with each email that is received.
  
• the cost savings vs sending out direct mail
• the frequency of contact you can have with your ideal guest

With this in mind, consider that your email messaging is not always a request for purchase of your tourism related service. With repeated email contacts you are building a relationship based on the quality of information you are sharing with your potential or returning ideal guest.

To make the most of your e-mail list, Calls to action that are sales oriented can not be the primary objective in every monthly e-mail newsletter campaign.

The low cost of e-mail doesn't mean that tourism businesses need to e-mail more often! Too much frequency and message irrelevance can quickly drop your subscriber value.
Have a purpose with each mailing and respond to the needs of your subscribers.

Finally, it will be important to consider if those on your email list interact with your messaging. Do they read, click through, or respond to calls to action? Some on your list are more valuable than others, so pay attention to your e-mail statistics.

Learn more about email newsletters by visiting the tutorials on Tourism Keys.

Over 50% of Tourism Keys participants use PayPal to pay for their workshop attendance.
Although only one of many options for online payment available for tourism businesses, PayPal (owned by EBay) is the largest online payment processor.

Paypal Tourism businesses pay transaction fee of less than 2% + .50 per transaction. Providing Web page visitors with an online payment option to reserve space makes sense for Tourism Businesses. Providing tourists with alternative forms of payment, such credit card by phone or cheque are also required.

Tourism Businesses do not need to have a merchant account with credit card companies or banks to make use of Paypal.

To start a tourism business account with Paypal, and begin accepting online payments in minutes click the link below.

For other online payment solutions for your tourism business visit the Tourism Keys tutorials.

Tourism Keys has come to Sault Ste. Marie! We are at Algoma University in a great computer lab, learning about blogging. Blogs give the search engines new and refreshed content - they love it! Don't forget to use key words throughout and build in relevant hyperlinks. Some free blogging tools can be found at Blogger and MSN

Jill

The CanadaTourism.com Web site is an excellent resource for tourism businesses. Updated information relevant to Canadian tourism businesses is available on the site, newsletters and reports. Canadian Tourism Commission news, including the recent US travel study is posted there.

Consider:

• Creating a new account and subscribing to Canadian Tourism Commission daily newsletter for tourism businesses in Canada.
• Write press releases and submit them to the site for wide distribution to all tourism professionals across Canada.

Consider asking your guests to write blog posts about their experience after they return home. If they don't blog, they might visit sites like http://www.tripadvisor.com and post comments and hyperlinks recommending your services.

Many people planning trips to Canada post requests for advice on this site. If you search for some of your keywords on this site, you might be pleasantly surprised that there are potential guests looking for more information about services like yours. Consider replying to posts where it makes sense.

Two innovative Web sites came online this past week. Both by different cruise companies the new sites highlight two of the most important emerging trends in Web content: Rich Media and Collaboration.

For Rich Media you can't get much more interactive than the site for Royal Carribean's newest ship - It doesn't even exist yet. But that didn't stop the company from putting together a rich site full of interactivity. Check it out at http://www.freedomoftheseas.com/

A few days prior to that Web site coming to my attention, I was overwhelmed by the trip planning and collaboration tool offered by Carnival Cruise Lines. Their dedicated site http://www.carnivalconnections.com provides a unique trip planning function that lets family and friends plan a vacation together right on Carnival's site. There are all sorts of other places on the Web where guests share ideas why not provide a way for your guests to interact with one another on your Web site. The easiest way to do this is with a Guest Web log or discussion board.

Nancy, from Liddles Fishing Adventures wrote this week to inquire:

"... we’ve been brainstorming different ideas in the office about generating new leads and I recall at the last Tourism Keys II workshop in North Bay, you mentioned something about targeting unique groups/markets. I think one of the examples you mentioned was a group of women that travel together and quilt (or something like that). There was not enough time during our session to go over this in greater detail but I wondered if you would be so kind as to explain a little further what this was about and direct me as to where I might find more information on such groups – hopefully I can find groups that like to fish!!!"

Good Question Nancy.

We all have at least some idea of how our existing guests find us online. Many tourism businesses are good at being found in the most obvious ways: by people searching for the activity "fishing" or the location "Canada , Ontario , or perhaps even a lake name". However everyone can't sell to those searching for "Fishing in Canada" and there are many more possibilities for generating new visitors with your Web presence.

Narrowcasting can greatly enhance the growth of your tourism business... the key here is not just getting Web searchers to your site, but relevant Web searchers. Nancy wants to showcase fishing to people who might want to fish in Canada, but are searching for something else online. In the example of the travelling quilting club, this is probably not a good fit for a fishing business. But fear not... there are other groups that would likely appreciate a fishing vacation.

• For example, an executive team might appreciate a fly-in fishing retreat.

Brainstorm
Brainstorming can lead you to identifying many potential niche markets. Your knowledge of what each is looking for is critical in being succesful at narrowcasting for these guests and (pardon the pun) luring them to your business.

To identify potential niche markets consider the two most overlooked things people seeking tourism experiences type into search engines to provide part of the solution:
February 14th is Valentine's Day. You can be sure some "couples" are seeking a "Romantic Getaway". Many tourism businesses might be well positioned to meet the needs of those searching for this travel experience. How well do you represent the benefits of your tourism business to appeal to this market?

Research
Your ability to successfully differentiate your offering to appeal to the needs of this niche group is directly related to how much you know about them. It may be easy to put yourself in the shoes of someone seeking a romantic experience, but what do you do, when you identify a potential niche market, and you don't know anything about them?

Go online and learn as much as you can!

"Gay Romantic Getaway" is another unique travel search based on the two overlooked things mentioned above. Celes Davar of Earth Rhythms recently forwarded this link which helps tourism businesses understand how to tap into this market: http://www.communitymarketinginc.com/index.cfm

Other places to learn about niche markets are: online news groups, newsletters, magazines, blogs, Web sites, print media, friends and family, your existing guests.

Repackage
Learn as much as you can about your intended guests and then repackage your experiences to provide benefits the niche market is looking for.

Post New Web content
Having the capacity to make changes to your Web site is an important element to making the most of Narrowcasting. Once you have created new Web content, do what you can to ensure that your customized niche package comes up in organic or paid search results.

Brainstorm, research, repackage and post new Web content and you'll be hosting unique niche market visitors in no time.