It has struck me how few business posts there has been on Twitter in the past couple of days and in the week leading up to Christmas. In many ways I’m sure we’d all expect to not see many truly corporate businesses tweeting just now, however I’m surprised to see the complete silence of many of New Zealand’s biggest and usually most active Tweeting companies.

It seems strange to me that a major bank for instance, with its full financial power, would let their Twitter and Facebook accounts stay silent for days – presumably because their Social Media Manager is on holiday! Surely these major companies understand this is a time social networks are busier with so many people enjoying leisure time; not to mention when many want to be able to ask questions about opening hours etc.

Perhaps what has surprised me more than these major companies however is the lack of engagement from businesses that are notably busier at this time of year – retailers, hospitality and tourism businesses. It is a time of year when many of our local audiences are at a loose end, travelling domestically or even actively looking for something to get out and do. As a pro-active tourism operator you could be reaping the reward by joining the conversation and flying the flag for your business.

This leads me back to a point I’m sure I’ve said before. If the reason you’re not posting on social media is because your Marketing Manager is on holiday, your social media strategy is wrong. It is important to get your wider operations team involved in posting to social media to give diversity to your message and tone, as well as to keep it continuous and ‘real.’ Take this opportunity to buy your business a Christmas present in the form of a smart phone or tablet and encourage your team to share engaging encounters whilst they work – whether it be a photo of a dish being plated up in your cafe, a short video of your latest tour group leaving or simply your special offering of the day. By using this kind of technology you can keep the time it takes to a minimum and avoid team members having to leave the operation.

It is important to remember to distinguish between who is posting when there are multiple users, do this by simply using an upward arrow and the persons initials like this ^JH

Whilst the fruits good for the picking, why not give it a go and try Tweeting/Facebooking when you maybe wouldn’t normally – companies engaging outside of standard business hours often get better results!

When in Auckland a few weeks ago, it was interesting to have met with Kevin Francis, the new CEO at Jasons Travel Media and talk a little bit about their online plans, including the recently launched iPhone app; prompted by a 100% increase in visits to their site from a mobile device in the past year, most of which were from iPhones.

Alongside the functionality that users have come to expect like geo-location, maps and reviews, the new app has some nifty features including the ability to register and log-in using Facebook (allowing for quicker processing) and perhaps most impressive the ability to book directly from the app through a secure encrypted connection. A service that few, if any, New Zealand based companies have yet to release.
Whilst the application was launched a few weeks ago, it seems that this week ‘all systems are go’ at Jasons, in an all out effort to start encouraging its use. Alongside new signage with QR codes on Jasons brochure stands nationwide, from tomorrow all web traffic from an iPhone will be welcomed by encouragement to download the new app for better usability.

The application will certainly be of use to the growing number of visitors travelling with mobile devices, but what about the all important question of how much is it going to cost Jasons advertisers? I was happy to hear that Jasons have chosen not to charge advertisers any more for being listed on the app. A decision I welcome, believing that the cost in developing this type of resource is part of their business development, not a cost to be passed directly on to operators, as other well-known tourism promotion companies continue to do.

It is positive to see Jasons, who may have traditionally been associated with print, offering a range of on and offline solutions including mobile applications; to ensure it continues to service the needs of its advertisers and respond to the ever changing expectations of its end-users.

If you’re not already doing so, I’d recommend downloading apps that you are listed on, to familiarise yourself with what your customers are experiencing and to ensure you fully appreciate the ever-changing functionality available on these devices.

You can find the Jasons App by visiting the App Store from your iPhone or iPad.

They’ve been saying it was the year of mobile for a decade; social media is well and truly entrenched, so what’s new?

What changes do we predict might be normal by next Christmas?
To find out, Fossick’s Genevieve Atkinson decided to ask a few movers and shakers what they predict for the coming year.

James Hacon; Speaker, Writer & Entrepreneur in Tourism & Hospitality

Growth of Last Minute Bookings
When coupling the lowering of rates on ‘distressed inventory’ and the ease for travellers to book when on the road with mobile technology, I believe we will see further increases in last minute bookings. In fact with many of the largest OTA’s not supporting destination marketing and the continued undercutting of long-lead trade generated sales, I would suggest that as an industry we are actively encouraging our guests to leave booking their accommodation until the last minute. So don’t be surprised when you see an increase of walk-ins and a decrease in forward bookings.

Back to good old fashioned values
In a society where so many of us are constantly plugged in to technology, so much of our communication is through email and all too often we are just another number. I believe that we will start to see a further turn towards people wanting ‘real experiences,’ personalised service and attention. I believe the time is done for customers who are forced to choose between price and quality, our customers are expecting good service regardless of the price they pay!

Boycotting of establishments not offering free Wi-Fi
This is more of a hope that a prediction. I know many of my friends are no longer staying in hotels or frequenting cafes that don’t offer free Wi-Fi. Let’s hope those charging exorbitant prices for internet bring themselves into the 21st Century and realise that charging for internet is like charging to have a television or telephone in your room!

The growth of Google+ and slow in growth for Facebook
I don’t know whether you’ve noticed, but my friends don’t seem to be nearly as active as they once were on Facebook. Don’t get me wrong, I am certainly not predicting the downfall of Facebook – in fact I think it will continue to have market dominance. I would however be on the watch out for Google+ that has been slowly creeping up in popularity and infiltrating our email accounts one friend at a time. With people being more selective as to which social platforms they spend their time, they will also become more selective on who they will be engaging with. We’ll see smart companies, that understand social media is all about relationships and being social, continue to see great results, with companies seeing it as another PR platform fail dismally.

Veronica Nobbs;  Founder  Get a room – same day hotel bookings.

The growth of location-based services within the activity space.
Like many other sectors the activity industry continues to struggle. Yes coupon sites do provide another channel, however location based last-second ‘deals’ will prove to be more sustainable.

Smaller players getting better at social media
Smaller travel players looking to place smarter strategies around their use of social media, looking to add value to their customers as opposed to simply pushing advertising to them. A great deal of business still do social media terribly, and many in 2012 will look to reevaluate their approach.

Rise of booking travel on the go
Consumer behaviour within the travel space will continue to change with the continued rise of booking travel on the go, with the likes of Hotels.com and Expedia already experiencing notable growth in the mobile space. As a result more and more companies will seek to enter the space as well as established players introducing additional products.

Tony Marks;  Chairman Rotorua Tourism

Year of the Chinese Travel
Looking back from say 2016, 2012 will be seen as the year when the Chinese dominance of inbound tourism to Australia and New Zealand really started. Businesses will either have to adapt rapidly or see their market share of all inbound decline precipitously. Alternatively, we will have the rise of businesses who will unashamedly focus on the dwindling but yield positive USA or European travel

The growth of personal travel managers will accelerate
While some will operate from travel agencies, most will set up independent businesses and use an affiliated agency buying power. They will cater for an aging market prepared to do some research but really wanting someone who genuinely cares about their travel needs. The key issue will be getting sufficiently close to your customer to be able to not ask them the cliched ” where do you want to go ” but to supply great answers to the more critical ” why do you want to go ” ?

Airlines will become even more focused on ancillary revenue
They will continue to be vertically integrated , web based and seek to wrap up as much of the holiday dollar as possible – bit like the old charter operations in the UK. Being squeezed on a $ 2300 fare to London or a $ 200 fare across the ditch will be increasingly unattractive.

Michelle Ackers; New Zealand Tourism Industry Blog

2012 Will Follow Similar Trends as 2010/11

In general I think 2012 will see some keys trends for the NZ tourism industry continue, namely:

• Strengthening of the China and India inbound markets to New Zealand due to the increased marketing presence in these markets by Tourism New Zealand and various airlines’ commitment to increased flight schedules
• Continuing decreases from UK/Europe travellers visiting New Zealand. We can blame the state of their economies which are still in dire straits with exchange rates not in their favour for travel outside of their borders; increased British departure tax; and possible changes to the Air New Zealand flights from London…
• Continued growth of the cruise ship market for visitors to New Zealand. Cruise ship packages are cleverly marketed offering value for money in tough times. People love the inclusive food offer and the ease of planning a cruise holiday. Australians in particular are lapping this up – evens kiwis are jumping onboard in Sydney or Auckland to enjoy short cruise breaks.
• Slow forward bookings. This is still a problem for most tourism businesses, airlines, wholesalers, inbound tour operators and agents…people are just waiting to book anything until closer to their travel dates, making it a nervous wait until peak season hits.

Online Mobile Marketing in Tourism will Hit its Straps
Large tourism organizations have already become adept and clever with the use of mobile technology – smart phones, apps, social media etc but I think 2012 will see more of this coming from smaller businesses and organizations as they become accustomed to the technology and how to use it effectively.

Genevieve Atkinson;  Founder of Fossick. The locals guide to where to stay in Australia, NZ & the South Pacific.

Reviews will cross the divide into normal not new
For many properties reviews are still annoying, like smart phones or social networks, but as the social networks have crossed the line this year. I think the need and desire for guest reviews will cross the line in 2012.

The rise of permission advertising
We have permission marketing, but I think the advertising industry needs to be disrupted. Group buying sites were the tip of ice-berg and highlight the issue the most businesses today are struggling for consumer attention. My predication is that we have attention around the wrong way and we will see the beginning of self -selected advertising.

QR codes getting massive
Everyone else will say mobile will be huge, but my predication is that QR codes will help bypass the need for apps for everything and create ways for consumers to quickly engage with websites. However the websites needs to be more mobile friendly.

Disagree, have your own predication? please leave a comment.

In the past few weeks I have been trawling the web to find attraction and restaurant opening hours over the festive period. I’ve been surprised at the number of businesses that have no information about their opening hours or offerings over the Christmas season present online.

Here in Dunedin for instance, we have two cruise-ships in port on Christmas Day prompting many of our tourism operators to open their doors, yet many have not listed this information on there website. Not only are these operators potentially losing out on the business of the cruise-ship passengers they are opening for, but may also be losing out on the patronage of other tourists or even locals like us, who would be keen to get out of the house for a few hours.

As a rule of thumb, as you get close to a public holiday or special event, be sure to update your website to include all the relevant information. I would suggest to do this in a prominent place on your site and perhaps in a little more detail within a blog post. As well as being a resource for those looking for it, it is likely to optimise your website and drive those searching for these special events to you.

Be sure not to just think about your own website, if you have listings on other prominent sites, it can only help by adding this information to these too!

As per my suggestion of building a content map in my workshop, find a copy of the base I use below. I find using a content map will help you to brainstorm and document creative themes for engaging content on your social media channels. I would suggest using as many of your team as possible to build the map within a workshop style environment, this way everyone feels that they have a say and trust me, you’ll get heaps of great ideas!

Click the image to download a larger version

I’ve worked with a number of businesses of all sizes to help build their social media strategy and used this technique to great effect. Feel free to make use of the idea and base ideas on this map – I’d recommend using a mind-mapping piece of software for the best end result.

Feel free to leave any comments or questions. I look forward to hearing your results.  If you’re looking for someone to help with your strategy or facilitate your content development workshop, feel free to get in touch.

With the majority of the attendees and speakers being US based, it must be said that most of the statistics are relating to the US market, although fundamental movement to mobile devices is a global trend.

I believe this technological shift is the biggest change to the tourism industry that we have seen since the introduction of online travel sites. For the first time ever, travellers can easily book accommodation during their trip, access tourist information from their car and perhaps most eye opening, check reviews about your business whilst standing outside!

Believe me, it happens! In fact throughout my trip to the US our iPad hardly got a rest (and it wasn’t through me tweeting, for a change) my partner was regularly checking Yelp for restaurant reviews, whilst I made the most of the FourSquare specials and booked accommodation for our next destination – at amazing online rates!

We are certainly not alone, throughout the Rugby World Cup it was interesting to see the constant flow of tweets from overseas visitors about Dunedin and so many people wandering the Octagon iPad’s in hand.

Recent US tourism research undertaken by Destination Analysts showed that 26.4% of leisure travellers are using mobile internet to access travel information. If, like me, you thought people were only using mobile internet during their travels, think again, of those using mobile internet, 80.5% were used it during thier trip, but a massive 65.8% used their mobile device to research their trip before departing!

Check-out some of the travellers were doing on their mobile device;
67.7%    Finding restaurant information
64.7%    Check the weather
56.0%    Look at maps
45.1%    Finding hotel information
36.1%    Finding sightseeing or attraction information
9.4%      Buy tickets (to an event, festival, museum etc.)

When you add to this that mobile internet access with surpass PC by 2015, the big question is…what does this mean? Here are my thoughts…

• If you don’t have a mobile site, you need one!
• If you have flash on your site, change it, it doesn’t show up on an iPad (which makes up 97% of tablet traffic) or the iPhone (which could make up to 13% of global smart phone market.)
• Ensure your booking engine and online payment solution is suitable for use on mobile devices, plus think about providing an option where the traveller doesn’t need to print a ticket or confirmation.
• Ensure that you are encouraging reviews on the major mobile based review sites.
• Register and regularly update your business profile on all geo-location and map services, likes Google Maps & FourSquare.
• Consider how easy it is for your clients to access your mobile site from your advertising mediums, perhaps think about QR codes.

An Overview

Before going any further, I must first say what a truly great event this was. It was brilliantly organised by Jake Steinman, Sofia Williamson and team at NAJ, offering a well balanced mix of inspiring key notes addresses, workshops in three tracks and the much needed opportunity to get one-on-one and round table time with speakers.

Perhaps most impressive was the number of high calibre speakers, from a range of companies including TripAdvisor, Facebook, Google, Expedia, Travel Zoo, Linkedin along with some of the major US based destination marketing agencies.

The stand out difference between this and other conferences I’ve attended, being that, speakers were not there to tout for business, nor to sell their product – instead to provide expert support and guidance as industry leaders.

If you get the opportunity to attend next year or in the future, I would most certainly recommend it.

Google Trip

The first day of the conference was a trip to Mountain View and the global Headquarters of Google and home of the Google Travel team.

The opportunity for a tour of the Googleplex was exciting enough, giving an insight into what it’s like to work for this corporate giant. With staff benefits including, but not limited to free meals, free home internet, shared company cars, swimming pools, flexible working hours, transport to and from San Francisco, onsite doctors and hairdressers, to name but a few, the conversation in the group certainly turned to where to email your application! Saying that, when you consider that on those buses to and from work, free wireless internet is provided for your company laptop and Android, it does make you wonder what kind of work-life balance Google employees really enjoy.

Within the tour we were also treated to a look at a super-size Android cell-phone and an awesome 360 Google Earth experience, just a few of the toys on display! Truly – another world.

After enjoying a Google-style lunch, with a choice of 6 restaurants (who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch), we settled for a much anticipated presentation by the Google Travel team. Here are the main points that I took away;

Don’t underestimate the power of search

It’s important to remember that search is still the number one travel planning resource for leisure travellers.  One stand out piece of advice was to target travellers with tailored messaging as they research sending them to specific pages within your site rather than a blanket approach with everyone landing on your homepage.

Travellers aren’t just visiting your website

When considering that travel bookers are visiting an average of 17.4 travel-related sites across the internet within an average of 8.1 research sessions as they plan a trip, it is important that you think beyond your own website. It is vital to build an expansive online brand for your businesses, utilising third party and social media sites.  Throughout the summit, many people questioned the long-term effectiveness of individual operator websites beyond being a reference point.

Remarketing

The idea of being able to re-target travel bookers who have already visited your website was something I hadn’t heard of before, but really excited me. Just consider that someone had visited your website in the early stages of their travel, but hadn’t booked – wouldn’t it be great if you could target them again, particularly as they’ve already shown an interest in your product. With Google Display advertising you can! We were told by putting certain coding in your website, Google can use their display network to ensure that your message is re-delivered in both text and banner format.

YouTube

Google have the world of search a little sown-up by all accounts. Owning both the world’s largest search engine (Google) and second largest. (YouTube) A massive 89% of personal travellers watch online video content when researching their upcoming trip. If you aren’t present, you need to be. A good start is to create a social hub with a free enhanced YouTube brand channel.  Until this visit I had never considered YouTube advertising, but by all accounts it can be good value, often coming in a lot cheaper than other major social media sites and search engines. Take a look at the YouTube Insights functionality and advertising opportunities. It looks like few destinations in New Zealand have paid results…perhaps a lost opportunity?!?

There were 4 topics that are worth revisiting.

1. Flash sites or daily deals.

Nothing seems to polarise opinion like the daily deals and travel, so I really enjoyed this debate. Clearly a large number of people don’t believe that the model is relevant or appropriate for travel – especially in regards to margin. Most daily deal sites take a high margin (often 50%) and require a huge discount on top.

Some of the interesting facts …

• the money is made by the top 4 players (none of which had a specific travel focus)
• the specific travel deal sites were struggling to get an ongoing supply of deals. It appeared that this was a sandbox that the major hotel chains were not playing in.
• the number of travel deals sold was increasing (whilst the number of beauty deals diminished).

Note: to a room full of men this appeared entirely logical, “how many facials could you really purchase” to which I mentally calculated that for many women – far more than holidays.

To me the most interesting thing was that the travel sites were playing by traditional travel rules - travel is sold in a particular way and they conformed and worked within that – namely to be able to get a steady supply of deals. In contrast, Spreets came across, not in an arrogant manner, but free from constraints as to how it was done. Their take – it’s a great advertising and sales opportunity – plenty of people willing to play, so take it or leave it. I guess that’s the luxury of having an audience of 2 million a day.

2. Mobile

Fascinating that the mobile discussion was being run by activities and insurance companies, not your traditional OTA’s, but this is where the innovation was. World Nomads, an insurance company, belief was that to be successful in mobile you needed to do something different and appropriate for the medium. So selling insurance services, boring – running a Q and A between all the customers that have bought insurance, interesting.

I thought these guys were right on the money and have been extremely successful. The irony is that this was, and probably still is, the key opportunity for traditional travel agents. Utilizing the community nature of your existing audience.

The other highlighted company was Viator, that sells activities. Again, no point just replicating their website, instead they created a “last minute” activities app, a platform they didn’t have and created in order to run the app.

Both achieved significant success, being featured by apple the holy grail of app release. However it was highlighted that Viator spent millions, both in creation and launch, taking over Youtube across the world.

3. Airlines

For those Kiwis out there Air NZ did a fine job showing up the Aussies in its significant worldwide success in social media. With classic underdog lines like -for a small airline at the bottom of the world – we achieved amazing reach. Which they have. I’m looking forward to the launch of the new Air NZ site, as well as Rico’s interviews with Lindsay Lohan and David Hasslehoff.

Although the parting question raised significant debate. The trick with this widespread reach was did it then convert?. Did it sell more airlines seats? The debate centered back on the age old, if its’ social – are you supposed to actually sell something too ?

We then had a panel of the three major airlines, which was tense and jovial. At one point a member of the audience queried Justin Montgomery, GM Virgin about their recent letter to her, a Qantas frequent flyer, offering to replicate her points status on Virgin, “Was this a blatant stealing of customers? ” – “yes – very blatant”. Right then.

To be honest the Qantas man John Lonergan, either wasn’t willing to fight in this context or seemed out of his depth, as he was remarkably quiet with Virgin and Air NZ dominating the microphone.

Around the lunch table, the debate was how Virgin got their list of Qantas Frequent Flyers.

4. The future of the GDS.

I’ll be upfront, I don’t know a lot about GDS’s, but if you know less than me, it stands for Global Distribution System and there are basically 3 companies that sit as the middleman in the distribution chain of flights and room nights. GDS’s have been significant players, but due to a number of direct to consumer models, aka low cost carriers and large OTA distribution systems, like Expedia – their relevance has been in question.

Martin pushed and probed but each replied with the same pat answers unwilling to fight their cause. Which made them dull and irrelevant.

Regardless of your position, it was apparent that they still made significant sums of money and billions of travel transactions. However in a Traveltech conference, not a single one could point to a clear point of difference amongst the 3 players – particularly in technology innovation.

5. Social Media & Facebook

Thankfully there was not a solid focus on social media, but interestingly as it should be, it was pervasive as part of the marketing mix throughout the talks.

Social is often touted as the free medium, achieving massive consumer word of mouth, reach etc etc for minimum spend. Although the spend might be less compared to traditional mediums like advertising. It was interesting to note of the successful campaigns talked about, social was still a significant cost. Creating video campaigns and hiring agencies is still not cheap. Air NZ and Tourism Victoria have achieved significant success, sure, but they still have reasonable budgets to begin with. For start-ups like myself it becomes far more apparent you still need money to make money – even with social media.

Last but no least – the Traveltech awards for best website – which went to Vroom, Vroom, Vroom, a beautifully functional site for car rental comparison. The criteria for the awards was being an Australian owned and run company. However, Martin has now agreed to include New Zealand companies next year. So watch this space for Fossick next year.

I then put it on snooze for 1 hour and go on to check my emails. I eventually  get involved in some needless crisis which rolls into the weekly Monday company meetings with the various departments to plan the week.

At noon I return to my desk – my task reminder there again blinking at me “Write Blog.”

Why is it that the most important and effective online marketing tool we can all do for our businesses often gets ‘snoozed’ for other tasks that we prioritize as more important?

As a marketing consultant my mantra to our clients is “Blogging is one of the most cost effective ways to increase your SEO – “a blog every other day helps to keep the creditors away.” But advise can be easy to give…and sometimes hard to follow.

And so it dawned on me – I personally struggle to write sometimes because I feel it is necessary to impart some life changing or business empowering idea each blog.  Makes me wonder if this also causes ‘blog paralysis’ for others?

Reality is, most of us don’t have the time to read a long, life altering blog. We really just want to be interrupted and entertained for a moment during our busy lives and hopefully learn a little something along the way. Some small bite of information that is tasty and easy to swallow.

So, here it is – my small, easy to swallow Monday blog message; don’t’ beat yourself up because every one of your blogs does not bring you a slew of new customers, unveil a new idea for getting more bookings or a new way you can reach number one on Goggle.

Just remember and enjoy the 11th commandment – “thou must blog.”

Keep an eye out for the next webinar coming soon…

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

When I say “local searches” I mean searches that include a town or city name in the search for a business type e.g “Taupo Motels”. The impact of this has both positive and negative effects on small businesses. For businesses that fit the location and business type criteria it may mean you now consistently appear on page 1 of the results now. For others that had put a lot of effort into having a well optimised website with strong online marketing it may mean you have slipped down the list onto a lower ranked page.

So if this is now the case, what can you do now to influence your rankings? Here are some tips to get the most out of “local searches” and Google Places:

• Make sure you have a Google Places business listing AND you have claimed it as the business owner so you can edit the content.
• Once you have access to edit your google places listing, make sure you complete all aspects of the content – including an accurate location on the map and choose all 5 category types (e.g for a motel the categories may be: motel, accommodation, motor inn, family accommodation, conference venue). The categories you enter will determine what results your business will appear in so it’s important to make the most of these and pick them wisely. You should have a 100% completed listing, so add your own business photos and YouTube videos too.
• Google Places pulls in content from other websites too – like business content from finda.co.nz or reviews from Tripadvisor, even pricing and booking links from accommodation booking websites. So having a comprehensive online marketing strategy will pay off here too.
• Use the additional free tools on Google Places like the Offer Coupons to help your listing stand out more and provide a mechanism for deals.

You’re probably also wondering, why bother with SEO on my own website now if Google Places results come up first anyway? Well, don’t give up on SEO! It’s still vitally important to rank as highly as possible in organic results and local searches aren’t the only way people will find your website through google (not to mention Google isn’t the only search engine).

For those new to Google Places, this video below is a useful reference for the key areas to cover in the content.

Originally posted on the Adept Marketing blog.

New sites of this nature seem to be popping up on a regular basis with dozens that are New Zealand based. Some of the big online media companies feature strongly in the line up including APN Media’sGrabOne and Trade Me’s Treat Me. There are so many that there are now websites that aggregate all of the one day deals as a quick way to see them all.

It’s unlikely all of them will survive successfully and you have to wonder how willing businesses will be to continue to discount by such large degrees (typically 49-50%) as the economy improves. It’s likely the deals will get less attractive over time and therefore lose their high traffic volumes or perhaps they will just evolve with less focus on heavy discounting.

There’s no doubt they offer an attractive short term marketing tactic for businesses, but are they really a good strategy to undertake?
Let’s analyze the pro’s and con’s from a business perspective…

Pro’s

• Great exposure to a mass audience
• Little or no upfront cost (typically they take a cut of sales made off their site)
• Can create sales and demand that the business otherwise wouldn’t get
• Provides instant cash flow
• If a service provider delivering the service may well be spread out over a long time so low stress on meeting demand

Con’s

• Could deter sales at the normal price and so may cause slower sales after the deal is no longer available
• To achieve big volumes of sales you generally need to offer a considerable discount which will drop yields and profitability
• Selling at discounted prices doesn’t guarantee ongoing business
• Demand may well be significant and hard to meet if you are a small business

Each business thinking of actively offering these deals needs to consider the pro’s and the con’s – does discounting help or hinder your brand image? Do you really want to be flat out busy at very low margins? How will this affect your regular loyal customer relationships? Can you afford such large discounting?

I’d suggest you try being creative with your offers rather than just straight discounting and include terms and conditions that suit you so you don’t find your business losing out in the long run.

These websites will suit some types of businesses more than others – before you go into it make sure you can deliver good service on what you offer.

Have you tried this for your business already? Got any good tips or stories of success/failure to share? Feel free to leave a comment.

This article was originally posted on the Adept Marketing Blog

How do you create both an emotive and compelling home page?

Here are the four key aspects to flaunt:

1.      High quality photos

One of the best ways to get a message across quickly is pictures. Spend the money on getting professional photos taken. It will make all the difference to your marketing efforts. Think of a website that you like – I would venture to guess that they have clear, crisp and emotive photos that immediately capture you.  Great photos sell your product, mediocre photos do the opposite.

2.      Referrals

Word of mouth is the largest influencer. If your friend tells you a restaurant is fabulous you trust them over any advertisement. WOM or Word of Mouth is what drives many of our decisions so put your Trip Advisor widget with feed on the front page. Yes, adding testimonials to your website is sufficient but we all know that these have been hand-picked. Trip Advisor is straight from the guests’ mouth and a more powerful influencer.

3.      Accreditations & Awards

Love them or hate them – Qualmark and Tourism Awards give a point of reference and confidence to potential guests.  Do you belong to any marketing groups? Put their logos on your front page too.

4.      “Check Availability”

It is 2011, you simply must have an online booking system. You need to offer the ability to book quickly and it needs to be clearly showing on every page, especially your home page.  A clear and easy call to action is what the guest wants, we are all busy.  Having a real-time booking system is also another way to give them confidence that you are a professional business.

Combining these four features will capture a client and give them confidence to book. So if you’ve got it, flaunt it!

Sales Results

• Go through your sales figures and do some analysis and graphs for different measures – e.g. Sources of bookings (direct, inbound agents, visitor booking offices, online websites, campaigns and advertising etc), Direct booking types (e.g phone, email, website, walk-in), Product Type sales (you may offer different tours, room types etc).
• Compare all of these sales results against last year’s figures too so you know where the changes have been.
• It may be that your current booking system doesn’t allow you to categorise your bookings in these ways – if not, is there a better alternative out there?
• Once you have analysed all of the sales measures that are important to your business you are then armed with great information to make better decisions about your what areas of your marketing and sales efforts need attention.

Your Website and Online Marketing

• This is now undoubtedly a key area for tourism businesses to get right. Have you invested the necessary time and money into delivering a quality website and comprehensive online marketing strategy including social media and networking?
• Does your website reflect the quality of your business and the experience you offer to travellers?
• Is it easy to book with you online?
• Are your number of direct bookings via your website increasing?
• What feedback do you get on your website?
• Do you use tools like google analytics to measure the performance of your website in detail so you know it’s performance rather than just gut feel? For example, knowing how many visits you get from external websites you’ve paid to list on is vital information when it comes to the decision on whether to renew for another year.

Customer Feedback

• Comments and feedback from your customers is always a vital way to improve your product and services, provided you seek out the information.
• Don’t be afraid to ask them, provide customer feedback forms or encourage your customers to place online reviews so you know what is working well and what isn’t.

Don’t just blame poor sales on the recession – in realty there are always areas you can control and plan for in marketing and sales to improve your performance.

Classic Case

We were working with a gorgeous “B&B” just north of Auckland that was owned by a lovely German couple. They desperately wanted to tap into the Auckland weekend getaway market and felt that they had done everything possible to get it. They optimised their website, offered a weekend package on their site and did Google AdWords but to no avail.  They were convinced that online marketing didn’t work and came to us for other options.

This is when we say to people – “show us yours and we will show you ours.” So we ask, what is the title on your website, keywords and what words and phrases do you use in the content on each page. Then what terms did you choose for Google AdWords? You show me what you chose and we will show you what your customers would choose.

Everything they did revolved around the phrase “luxury B&B”. Now put your hands up – how many Kiwis do you know that would search for a B&B for a weekend getaway? B&B is not a Kiwi weekend choice. It is relevant for some international markets but totally wrong for their desired market.

A couple of amendments to the product (change communal breakfasts to providing breakfast hampers), re-write of the title, keyword and content of the site and they have been happily rewarded with their ‘country lodge’ ticking over nicely on the weekends now.

So – don’t think like yourself, research and consider the words and phrases based on the nationality, age, spelling and interests of your customers.

Getting out of your own head pays off!

But we have to recognize that  online customer reviews are part of the future of the accommodation industry. Part of your future.  To help you understand the shift change, here is a list of some good articles on research into this user-generated content business. Most of the research is American based so not always directly translatable to our market – however it does give a good indication of where we are headed.

Brand Republic: Online reviews key to purchase decisions.

“..84% of respondents said they were more likely to check online for reviews before making a purchase than compared to 12 months ago.” Read the full article.

Hotel Marketing: Expedia’s Jennifer Davies on user-generated content and booking conversion

“..users look for authentic information that doesn’t appear too skewed towards the positive or negative…” Read the full article.

Bizzare Voice: Power of Word of Mouth.

“Most word of mouth is positive. Across all of Bazaarvoice US clients, 80% of product ratings are 4 or 5 stars out of 5. Across all of Bazaarvoice UK clients, 88% of product ratings are 4 or 5 stars out of 5. (“J Curve,” Bazaarvoice and Keller Fay)…” Read the full article.

Forbes: The upside of Bad Online Customer Reviews.

“eBags is among the only 50% of online retailers that offer online ratings and reviews, according to the latest figures from Forrester research. Meanwhile, 80% of Web buyers troll reviews when shopping online. The lingering fear: Negative reviews will send customers running the other way…” Read the full article.

Biz Report: 84% of Americans influenced by online customer reviews.

“What is more interesting is that half of respondents turned to online customer reviews early on in the decision-making process. “This is critical for companies to understand as they fight to be considered by consumers and look for ways to be ever-present through a variety of channels and media outlets….” Read the full article.

eMarketer.com: Customer Product Reviews – the next Generation.

“Customer product reviews are becoming a fixture on retail and consumer brand websites, with over 80% of retailers planning to feature them by the end of 2010. The accelerated adoption of customer reviews indicates a more enlightened approach to handling negative comments—that is, occasional negative reviews do not hurt sales…” Read the full article.

IT Business Edge: Online Customer Reviews: Take Bad with the Good.

“Taking a more proactive approach to participating in, monitoring and controlling online reviews may very well be one of the many ways organizations can influence both consumer consideration and, ultimately, the buying decision…” Read the full article.

Focus: Using Customer and Peer Reviews Efficiently for Cross-Channel Marketing Purposes.

“If you are brave enough to open your site and other online presences in a professional and “open” manner for honest customer reviews, you will benefit greatly: trust, a better conversion, SEO, links, buzz, cross-channel interaction possibilities, user-generated content, customer satisfaction, sales, important opinions for his business, you name it…” Read the full article.

Conversionation.net: Research confirms importance of opinions of others.

“The fact that consumers are influenced by others, is an opportunity, a threat and at the same time probably an expression of the sociological phenomenon that people seem to form their ideas less than before. However, what else can you expect from a world bulging with information and opinions?…” Read the full article.

So what can you do..

• Encourage reviews – Try to get everyone whose stays to write a review especially people who tell you they had a good time
• Stay informed – No point sticking your head in the sand.
• Find out what ‘s being said about you – Sign up for any free tools… Google Alerts, Fossick.com (we’ll email you when a review is left).

The best way to have a good reputation is to manage it, rather than waiting or reacting . Customize your listing, join in the debates, be active.

Before going any further, as I did with those who opted into my workshop I only feel it fair to make it clear that I don’t consider myself any kind of expert on TripAdvisor or other review sites. What I have done however is researched the subject. What I am not is an employee or paid sales person for these business.  What I hope to do is just give a few simple pointers based on my experience.

Claim Your Listing

When chatting with people about review sites, it quickly became apparent that rather than trying to come to grips with what these sites have to offer, many opt to firmly stick their head in the sand – ostrich style!

For me…its simple, your consumer can and will post reviews of your hotel or service on the internet, whether you like it or not. You have a choice as to whether you check these reviews or not.

Whether deciding to check, or not to check, one clear piece of advise I will ask you take away is make sure you have claimed your listing on these sites!

In essence these listing are like any other on the web, it is a place to promote your business, ensuring the information available to your consumer is correct and up-to-date.  I ran for a few regularly searched terms such as ‘hotel Dunedin’ or ‘what to do in Dunedin’ for the purpose of the workshop. In each case that I tried the top ten results always included at least one listing from TripAdvisor and often other review sites too.  What surprised me was that these rankings were generally higher than many of the sites we would all pay to have our business listed.  To check out how to claim your review on TripAdvisor check out this short YouTube clip:

Replying to reviews

Once you’ve claimed your listing and updated your business it is your option whether you choose to respond to review or not.  Until now I had always decided only to respond to negative reviews, however after undertaking my research I have personally decided that I will endeavor to reply to each review, whether of a positive or negative nature.

If you choose to ignore them it is like ignoring a complaint letter that the world can see.

Check out this YouTube clip on the process of replying to a review on TripAdvisor:

The way I have dealt with reviews on review sites in the past, is to treat them like a complaint letter. Here’s some tips that I find work well for me;

• Always thank the guest for taking the time to review you.  (Whether you agree with them or not, they have still spent time thinking about your business)
• Briefly review what the person has said in there review, making sure you correct any thing that if wrong (factually, not wrong through your opinion)
• At the very least let the guest know that you have taken on board their comments or concerns, by reading the review and replying you are automatically taking this information on – even if you don’t believe it to be right.
• Then go on to explain if you have or will make any changes after reading the review. No matter how small it will help the person feel valued and listened too.
• If you think that the situation warrants it perhaps you should invite them back or give a gesture of goodwill – a voucher perhaps. At times its best to just swallow a little bit of pride in these situations and sometime give a little more than you may think its worth, because ultimately if this person goes away happy (or at least happier) they may remove their negative review and you never know – could be a positive ambassador for your business.

I think that’s probably enough for now! Remember the way to get good reviews on review sites is simple – being market focused, listen to your consumer and act on their needs!  To get a few more reviews its perhaps a little bit harder, be creative and don’t be shy in asking people to review you.

10 Ideas for content:

• Add Photo Albums – try not to put a lot of photos in just 1 album, create different topics to divide them up so it’s easier for people to view what they are interested in
• Link to some of your latest online traveller reviews or media articles and comment about them
• List some recent accomplishments or news e.g. awards, star rating, sustainability efforts, product development etc
• Set up automated feeds with your other social media such as your Twitter account and Blog articles to create regular content
• Offer a special package and provide a link to book it on your website
• Create a Competition that will attract followers and encourage people to share your Facebook page with others
• Add links to websites for some upcoming events or activities in your area – ideally you would write a blog article about it on your website so the traffic goes to your own site
• Add a link to any relevant YouTube or online videos about your business or location – a link to a video on Facebook will embed the video on your wall so it can be easily viewed
• Ask Your recent customers to post their own photos and comments on your wall about their experience with your business
• Get your whole team involved in adding regular content to your Page – you can add as many “admin” people as you like for the page so make it easy and share the load

How to Get Followers for a New Facebook Page:

• Start connecting with others on Facebook and then use the Facebook “Suggest to Friends” function for your page – ask them to suggest it to their friends too
• Promote it prominently on your website and use the Facebook “social media plugins” to show current activity on your Facebook page and encourage Facebook users to follow you.
• Email your customer database telling them about your new page with a link so they can follow it
• Promote it from Twitter and any other social media sites you belong to
• Once you have 25 followers for a page go to http://www.facebook.com/username/ to set a user friendly URL for your page e.g. http://www.facebook.com/yourbusinessname – this makes it easier and more memorable to promote verbally and in print.
• Make it accessible to your customers while they are with you so they can follow it and add content during their experience.

Have you got any other suggestions that has worked for your Business page on Facebook?

The better your website, the more traffic it will receive. And in a win-win deal, the more traffic to your site, ad the more clicks on your site, the higher it will rank in related searches. That’s a visibility advantage over your competitors that you cannot afford to ignore.

Have you looked at your website lately, from a customer point of view? How does it stack up?

Remember that when you come to sell your business in future, a professional and effective website  will be on of the most valuable assets you have to offer.

In our recent travels we have heard the rumbles of approaching spring and increasing traveller numbers. Operators are reporting strong forward bookings.  If that is not your situation, perhaps a good hard look at your website is required?

Time and time again businesses get emailed with some sort of offer to list on a website to promote their themselves with promises of better search engine rankings and increased website traffic.

My mantra when it comes to this decision is to only pay upfront for a listing which meets the following criteria:

• It is a well known and quality website relevant to your industry or target market.
• It provides a link back to your website.
• It can provide you with it’s monthly web statistics (unique browser visits and page visits) to measure it’s effectiveness.
• It ranks highly in search engine results for your business categories.
• It provides good value for money i.e. the upfront cost is not over the top and realistic for the profile it has and the content it allows you to add.

Know Your Stats!

For any listings you already pay for make sure you can track the traffic sources for your website through tools like Google Analytics, that way when it comes to decide whether to renew any listing you can find out how much traffic you’ve received and work out stats like the cost per click.

There’s a lot of value in checking and knowing your web statistics and traffic sources regularly. Free listings are the way to go for the bulk of your online listings, but there will be a selection of sites that are worth the money if they can give you quality website traffic.

Obtaining online bookings for you property is much easier…and cheaper… than you may think. And it can be achieved in days – not weeks or months. This  four pronged approach will ensure your online bookings increase as well as allowing you to maximise revenue from each booking.

So, where do you start? Easy. You can achieve 75 per cent of your online strategy very quickly, cheaply and effectively. The remaining 25 per cent (if you need it) will take more thought and external assistance, but achieving the majority of your objectives instantly allows you to focus on getting the last 25 per cent right.

The first 75 per cent :

The first three  prongs of the approach require you to sign up to an effective channel manager, get yourself a top performing booking engine (a commission free one), and spruce up your website (the last thing you want is a great looking booking engine on a tired old site).

That’s the first 75 per cent of the strategy. Can it really be that simple? Yes, and here is why:

1. Channel Manager

This clever little piece of technology will allow you to list on a multitude of top performing online booking sites worldwide.  The good ones will also link to wholesalers, corporate booking sites and the like. Why is this so important?

Let’s look at a site like Expedia. Expedia invests many millions of dollars on internet search, TV and radio, travel agency relationships, affiliate programs and social media to ensure that your property is put in front of consumers worldwide. Not many accommodation providers can afford to give their property this kind of exposure, so allowing leading booking sites to do it on your behalf is a great way to participate, particularly since it is free to sign up, easy to manage through your channel manager, and you only pay a success fee when a booking occurs.

Have you ever wondered why the property down the road gets more customers from Asia or the UK than you? It could be because they are using their channel manager to update Agoda and Booking.com, the two  leading sites in Asia and the UK respectively.

So what to look for in a channel manager?

• Make sure your channel manager offers a rich selection of major overseas sites; you are limiting your success if you can only update local booking sites
• Make sure you go with a trusted name, that has a significant support team behind them and offers extras like weekend support.
• Ensure your channel manager offers a 2 way, pooled inventory system where inventory is automatically adjusted on all sites when a booking is made on any site. This will maximize your chance of getting bookings while minimizing overbooking risk. Tools that force you to split your inventory across sites and only offer one way updates are yesterday’s news.

2. Online Booking Engine For Your Own Site

This is the one you really want to get right. This determines if people coming to your site with the intent to book, actually end up booking your property or abandoning the booking and going elsewhere. Results from a leading online research company reveal that more than 40 per cent of all bookings on a hotel’s own website are abandoned during the booking cycle due to a complex booking process, as well as sluggish performance by the booking engine on the site (wait time).

So what you are looking for is a booking engine that is:

• Commission free (don’t pay someone else for bookings that are rightfully yours)
• Offers an easy to use, 2 step booking process
• Offers extremely fast response times.

It also won’t hurt if your booking engine looks sexy, allows rich media content like photo libraries of your property, rooms and online maps, and allows you to customise and colour match your website theme to ensure consistency of your brand.

3. Your Own Website

This is the face of your hotel to the entire world. Invest a little to make it appealing. It will pay you back many times. There are companies out there that can provide you with a quality hosted website, at a very reasonable cost.

One golden rule to remember when getting a new website is MAINTAIN OWNERSHIP OF YOUR OWN DOMAIN NAME! If you let your website provider own or take control of the ownership of your domain, you will be tied to them for life and at the mercy of whatever prices they want to charge you.

Owning your domain name means you control the destiny of your own website.

The last 25 per cent:

So, you now have 75 per cent of a solid online booking strategy. The last 25 per cent (the fourth prong of our approach) is a detailed and in depth subject, but is equally important as the first 75 per cent.

Assuming you are not 100 per cent occupied after getting a channel manager, quality booking engine and spruced up website, then you will want to consider: search engine marketing and search engine optimisation strategies (SEO and SEM), social media strategies (if applicable), and other direct marketing strategies to drive business to your own website – where of course your new booking engine will do a fantastic job of converting bookings.

If you do not have the expertise to devise and execute such strategies, then it is advisable to engage an external, independent online marketing expert to assist you.

An important note: If you intend on engaging an SEO expert to assist you in the future, then it is worthwhile engaging them prior to your new website being built. The website content and structure can affect SEO results significantly. The website designer/builder does not need to be the same person, but they should work together on the website to ensure best results.

Do not be scared of this last step. You do not have to spend thousands upon thousands – you can spend as much or as little as you want to achieve varying results. With SEO, you should ensure you establish a pay by the month deal so that you can stop at any time. On average, expect a time period of about six months for an SEO strategy to make a difference to the traffic coming to your website.

Without analysis of these details I would be blind to the affects of all my online activity – and there’s no fun in that – it’s quite a satisfying thing to post a new blog, tweet about it and then watch the traffic activity and blog comments start coming in. You then know that what you do is not just of interest to you – it is adding value to your customers and target market.

So here are a list of some key things any website owner should know about their website:

• unique visits to the site for any given period
• your top traffic sources and search key words used
• when peaks in traffic have occurred and why (correlated with marketing activity)
• what pages (or blog posts) are the most popular
• average time spent on the site and on each page
• trends for all of the above

These are the main things I always look at using Google Analytics but there are many more metrics available through this tool. It’s also good to know the “bounce rate” (what % of people leave the site after just viewing 1 page), and for the sake of understanding how people use your website check out the “site overlay” function to see the percentage of clicks on any link for each page.

Another key area is “Conversions”. You can set goals on the behaviour you want people to take and track the conversion % achieved.  For example if you have a booking system within your site you could have a goal to have 5% of the traffic convert to bookings. Some booking systems will let you add your google analytics user code so you can effectively track the usage of the booking process (The Siteminder Booking button is one example of this).

It’s amazing how many businesses barely look at their website statistics, which is a shame because online marketing is one of the few marketing activities where you can accurately track activity from marketing campaigns – you can and should use this knowledge to monitor and improve you marketing strategy.

Interested to hear about what other metrics people typically monitor for their websites too, share your thoughts!

What does this mean? Basically they will allow anyone to set up and publish content on the website based around what they are calling information “hubs”.  There will be “destination hubs” and “interest hubs” (e.g walking and hiking). They plan to moderate all content added to approve it being published (to check it is appropriate) but don’t intend on actively changing content. If you publish content then you are the owner of that page (forever) and can edit or add to it anytime.

This is quite a bold strategy, one that will no doubt have a lot of RTO’s, iSITEs, travel sellers and tourism operators in a mad rush to create and own content for their key destinations and areas of interest. They seem to be fairly open to the fact that some may misuse this for their own benefit but will no doubt watch on carefully with interest on how it will evolve.

The key strategy with this is to structure the site around topics of interest that will help sell New Zealand to travellers with content that shows rich New Zealand experiences and their vision is to create a “market place” to connect travellers with tourism experiences and products (although they aren’t going as far as providing a booking system).

Currently they have some hubs set up in a pilot test site and it sounds like they will roll this out on the live site within 6-8 weeks. So keep an eye out for it! What do you think about this concept?

Accommodation providers using the Bookit system and on Travelbug will be able to login to Bookit to set up their auction for any of their room products and the commission will be 10% (including credit card fees).

For the winner of the auction they will provided with a link to a normal Travelbug booking page to complete the booking details and make payment online within 24 hours of winning the auction, so the booking confirmation and payments will be handled as normal via Bookit.

As with any type of auction you can set a reserve price and a buy now price.  The key requirement to place an auction on Trade Me for an accommodation booking is that the room availability must be guaranteed by the operator – so be careful about the date range you set for the date of travel and note that the availability is manually allocated, it is not linked with your Bookit availability.

Given operators have to be certain about the room availability to ensure the success of the auction I’d expect only operators with large inventory levels to be confident with using this and can imagine some awkward situations if the room auction dates get sold out through other booking channels prior to the end of an auction, hmmmm.

The set up looks easy enough though so it will be interesting to see how this gets adopted by accommodation providers, they can also develop packages to auction. Trade Me Travel also intends to add flights, event tickets and activities to this auction section on Trade Me.

During the research phase it became very clear to Marc that most small businesses found Facebook a mix of confusing features and poor customer support. The classic mistake made by most small business was creating a business presence using a personal profile instead of the official Facebook Page.

This classic mistake not only risks you being banned from Facebook but also lacks the features you can use to promote your business. Another major mistake is trying to “sell” within Facebook. Direct selling in any social network is a no-no but for Facebook its doubly worse as most people understand Facebook to be a place for connecting with friends and family and having fun.

There is of course a move now from Facebook to welcome business with open arms (mainly due to the income they receive from Facebook ads which businesses use to promote themselves) but still the “community” feel is very much alive. The main reason he wrote the Facebook for Business eBook was to address the two classic mistakes but also help businesses reduce the effort and time within Facebook while at the same time increase their brand awareness and connect with their customers and prospects.

The eBook consists of 12 Chapters:

Chapter 1 – What is Social Media?

This chapter introduces the concepts of “social media” and expel the hype produced by “social media experts” to revel the real benefit’s to businesses.

Chapter 2 – Defining a Facebook Strategy

This chapter focuses on the most important task which is to define your overall strategy for using Facebook and other social networks. Just like building a house you must start with solid foundations.

Chapter 3 – Facebook – The Facts

This chapter provides some important facts and statistics about Facebook

Chapter 4 – Facebook Basics

In this chapter Marc covers the basics of Facebook including creating your personal Facebook profile. This chapter is a must for anyone who has no idea what Facebook is or has never been on Facebook.

Chapter 5 – Setting Up Your Facebook Page

This chapter covers the basics of creating your Facebook Page including an introduction to the “admin” section of your page and applying business branding to your Page.

Chapter 6 – Making Your Page Exciting

This chapter looks at sprucing up your “shop front” window so it looks attractive to your prospects and customers.

Chapter 7 – Advanced Topics for Editing Your Facebook Page

This chapter covers more advanced topics to add more features to your Page including adding an email newsletter subscription form to your Page.

Chapter 8 – Attracting Fans to Your Page for Free

This chapter looks the “no-cost” courses of action you can take to attract people to your Page.

Chapter 9 – Paid Options for Attracting Fans

This chapter looks at Facebook Ads and a third party application to help drive visitors to your Page.

Chapter 10 – Monitoring Your Page

In this chapter it looks at Facebook Insights to measure your Page statistics.

Chapter 11 – Case Studies

In this chapter Marc reviews existing Facebook Pages to see what works and what needs improvement.

Chapter 12 – Resources

This chapter provides some helpful resources including a couple of fantastic sites that you can subscribe to so you are always up-to-date with changes in Facebook.

The eBook took Marc 2 months to research and write, and is an easy to read resource in PDF format purely designed for helping small business. The feedback has been great so far, here’s a sample:

“Hi Marc, Just finished reading your e-book, Facebook For Business, and found it an excellent resource for a relative Facebook novice such as myself. As a business advisor to the owners of independent businesses in Auckland, I can see this book being of great use to me, both in helping my clients make better use of social media in their marketing activity and also for my own business development. It is hard to find the right level of help in better understanding social networking devices for business. Your e-book covered it off better than anything else I have seen recently. Well done.” Andy Burrows Icon Business Solutions Albany

“I thought I had taught myself a reasonable amount about Facebook Pages for businesses. However, not only did Marc’s e-Book on Facebook for Business clarify some points I was not sure about, but also helped me to extend that knowledge. I found the format not only helpful, but also clearly laid out and easy to understand. This is an excellent reference manual, and I would highly recommend it to any business looking at developing a Facebook page to extend the visibility of their business.” Dean Stewart, Christchurch

“A comprehensive guide for business owners who want an easy to follow, step by step guide to using Facebook for their business. Tells you everything you need to know to get started” Sandra Newton, Essentee Web Consulting

Click Here to Buy the Facebook for Business Ultimate Guide eBook

The price of the eBook is $47.00 USD which is considered cheap by many people who have read it. For example some web designers will charge you $100 – $200 USD just to setup a basic Facebook Page!

So if you want to DIY with Facebook for your business to gain the most out of what it can offer and bring clarity to your strategy then this is a great buy.

Simply put, a channel manager is Internet-based software that allows accommodation providers to manage availability and rates across a multitude of online channels from a single easy-to-use web page. The real benefits to the accommodation business are many and significantly outweigh the investment requirements to get up and running on this vital piece of software. As an accommodation provider, the major business benefits accruing to you include:

• More accurate availability and price parity on online booking channels – by making a single change, your staff can update multitudes of websites immediately. This means availability and pricing across sites will be current, accurate and require minimal staff training to maintain.
• The capability to list on many more online booking channels with little or no additional effort for each channel you add. The result is increased distribution without increased cost and you are able to put your rooms in front of millions of consumers around the globe.
• Free and easy marketing for your property – the major booking site players have the money and the will to market your property effectively online, so let them!
• Increased accuracy with your availability and rates, coupled with increased exposure to local and international online booking channels means increased bookings revenue and more dollars on your bottom line.
• Elimination of double bookings. Any channel manager worth its salt will automatically adjust inventory across all sites when a booking occurs on any site. This means you can have all your availability on all sites all the time and feel secure. This is known as the Pooled Inventory Model and it means you can maximise your chance of being booked without being overbooked.

So, we’ve established that a channel manager will increase your online bookings but what should an accommodation provider look for when selecting among the multitude of offerings on the market? Look for:

• A product that is based on the pooled inventory model, where the tool automatically adjusts inventory across all sites as soon as a booking occurs on any site – this will maximise your inventory and reduce double bookings.
• A product with no transaction fees. Channel managers that work on a flat monthly fee are the best value for money
• A product that allows you to manage inventory on your own website’s booking engine as well as on the third party booking sites.
• A product without lock-in contracts. A channel manager with no lock-in contracts has confidence in their ability to service your business and backs their own product – this is a good sign. Rapid changes in technology you could be left behind if you are locked in to a sub par product.
• A product that does all their own product development in-house – they are more likely to be able to respond to the changes your business needs and adapt their product to a changing online distribution landscape.
• Ensure that you select a channel manager that is backed by a significant support team that can ensure all your needs are taken care of under one roof.
• Ensure your channel manager updates all the major international bookings sites. The local sites are not enough and the international majors are spending up big on marketing your property to the world. Remember, you have to be in it to win it!
• Last but not least, it is advisable to pay your channel manager a visit and view their operation first hand. Many accommodation businesses are doing more than 40% of their business online. You cannot afford to put this business with a fly-by-night company. Remember, you are choosing a long term business partner, not just a product.

So what does the future hold for channel management?

Channel managers are rapidly evolving as the one-stop shop for all your online distribution needs, dis-intermediating some of the more traditional electronic distribution channels.

Channel managers are already connecting to online booking sites, wholesalers, traditional travel agents, GDS and inbound tour operators. Many additional channel options will be connected in the future and booking channels not connected to a reputable channel manager risk being left out in the cold.

The future will see the leading channel managers increasingly connected to more property and central reservation systems, providing seamless connectivity between the property management system and the online bookings channels. Facilitation of automatic delivery of all reservations from online channels directly into the property management systems, is an important capability of the future channel manager. Such a solution completely eliminates the need for the property to recapture online booking channel reservation emails into the property system.

With the proliferation of channel managers and similar distribution switch networks of the future, distribution and acquisition costs to accommodation providers will be dramatically reduced. Channel managers are a far more cost effective option than older distribution systems and these systems are already finding their market challenged with the new kids on the block.

The accommodation providers that embrace the right channel management technology today will have reap the benefits of increased online bookings, lower acquisition costs, increased business efficiency and ultimately, higher profit margins.

Can you afford not to?

The solution for most is use of “Channel Management” internet based software that will automatically update pricing and inventory across these key channels by linking the systems together (usually via an API link).

Not only does channel management eliminate the risk of double bookings, it also allows operators to achieve broad exposure for their business internationally and increase their total bookings…a no brainer really.

Increasingly mainstream Property Management System’s (PMS) will link to update the channel manager for you, so keep this in mind when selecting a PMS.

Some channel managers won’t require a link to an automated property management system so these ones can be just as applicable for B&B’s as they are for hotels, motels, and Backpacker accommodation.

Some key Channel Managers relevant for New Zealand accommodation are:

Siteminder

• Australian based with one of the most comprehensive lists of channels that it updates relevant for both NZ and Australian accommodation operators.
• Prices start from $49 per month
• They also offer a booking system for your website called the “Booking Button” from $29 per month
• Can use their channel manager without a PMS
• They have recently implemented a NZ freephone number to improve direct support for NZ operators

Seekom

• A 100% NZ based option with a growing list of key NZ and international booking channels that it updates
• Seekom is primarily an online booking solution but has been expanding it’s software capability and now offer a full PMS, along with channel management and content managed website solutions.
• You can use Seekom Channel Management option on it’s own from $39 per month and is even more cost effective to use it in combination with their online booking system and other solutions.
• Recently been chosen as the preferred channel manager for the HAPNZ group

Staah

• Another NZ owned organisation offering an internet based online booking system for your website and channel management. They also provide website design and SEO services.
• They can link to some the common PMS’s used in NZ
• Set monthly fees, (pricing not published on their website)

RoamFree

• Australian based with links to global channels, they offer channel management and an online booking tool for your own website that can also link to some PMS’s (although at this stage they are not key NZ based ones). Their channels tend to be Australian and Globally focused so exclude some key NZ channels.
• Set monthly fees (not published on their website)
  

Have you got any more information about these channel management options or other options you think are relevant? Leave a comment to let us know.

Few operators will implement all options at once due to budget and resources limitations or their business model.  It’s up to each business to research which elements are the most cost effective, which mix will fill capacity, which will be tasty in the short term and which will last the distance, which options go well together?

Below is a list of options you may have considered (disclaimer: in no particular order of importance!).

What are your top five most cost effective and how did you discover that they work? Is there something missing from list?

Branding

• Brand name – Product names
• Logo
• Tag line, key messages/ byline
• Photography

Marketing Collateral (Banners, brochures, flyers, signs and posters)

• Design (incorporating words, photography, logos etc)
• Printing/production
• Distribution and display costs – Brochure rack fees, Space rental (signage)

Website and E-marketing

• Website design – hosting
• Search engine optimisation
• Integrated /third party booking engine
• E-marketing – Third party directories, Free listings and Paid listings (online advertising), Pay-Per Click (Google Adwords etc), Other web advertising (Banner ads etc), Social Media (i.e. Tripadvisor, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc.), Other link building
• HTML Email newsletter

Public Relations

• Press releases – Consumer Press/ Trade Press, Distribution
• Editorial
• Media monitoring/ clipping service
• Media liaisons and events – Local-International, Samples/giveaways
• Media familiarisations – Travel and hosting costs
• Promotions – Giveaways
• Media resources – Media pack, Image library

Travel Agents and Trade Distribution

• Sales Relationship Management – Wholesale Travel Agent, Inbound Travel Agents, Online Travel Agents, Retail Travel Agents
• Trade Shows – TRENZ, Meetings, Kiwilink
• Trade directories/ brochures
• Sales trips – Local (inbounders), International

Advertising

• TV
• Radio
• Billboards and sign writing
• Print advertising (Newspapers/magazines)
• Advertorial
• Guide books/ directories
• Internet/Online advertising
• Other

Associations/Marketing partnerships

• Local partners
• RTOs/DMOs (Regional Tourism Offices)
• Touring Routes
• Other (Lodge Association, Motel Association, etc.

Waiting for an on-request booking request response from an accommodation operator can be a similar experience. Will my booking be confirmed or declined? Should I wait to hear back before I request somewhere else? In managing Travelbug for the last couple of years, there is one thing that has been a constant thorn in my side. It is the cause of more support requests than anything else and the biggest cause of leakage on our reseller network than any other factor: poorly-managed on-request inventory.

On BookIt (as on Vianet), operators can manage their inventory in a variety of ways. They can be fully realtime and offer instant confirmation inventory managed through a direct link to their PMS, through a channel manager or by using our inventory manager tool. They can also manage their inventory on-request meaning that a traveller making a booking on any of our reseller websites must wait to hear back from the operator to see if their booking is going to be accepted or declined.

If it is accepted then that’s great, but if it gets declined then the traveller is faced with a decision. Do they go back to the website and find another place and try and book again (and possibly go through the same painful process) or do they give up on that website and try something else? Either way, significant damage has been done to their impression of that website and the property concerned.

Let me be clear, I’m not against on-request per se, just poorly-managed on-request. I understand that there are certain high-demand periods where operators may need to take extra care regarding double-bookings, and properties with only a few rooms that want to be distributed widely online may need to protect against that possibility as well.  On-request fills that need and allows a safety net.

Outside those two situations, however, if you are choosing to go on-request on a website then you should be actively managing your inventory and blocking out dates as soon as they become unavailable.  On-request as an availability option should not be treated as a free listing or a set-and-forget way of appearing on websites to drag-net for booking leads. It needs to be updated and managed pro-actively to keep the listing as fresh and accurate as possible.

Here’s four reasons why:

• Your listing is the first experience a traveller has with you. Waiting for a reply for a booking is bad enough, but having a booking declined is even worse. A bad experience in making a reservation means that you are on the back foot already.
• Travellers that have bad experiences spread the word, so declining a booking might not just mean you are unlikely to get that traveller’s booking, you might be unlikely to get their friends’ bookings either.
• A declined booking is lost revenue. Many travellers have flexible dates and if they could clearly see which dates are unavailable, they’ll request the available date. This means you’ll be able to accept the booking and everyone wins.
• The websites don’t like lost revenue or declined bookings either, and will likely have measures in place that will decrease your visibility on their site based on how often you have declined booking requests.

The best way around on this is to offer instant confirmation if you can manage it. Your visibility lifts, you have access to a far wider range of promotional possibilities, you don’t lose bookings and travellers have a great experience right from their first interaction with your property.

If you can’t manage instant confirmation then I’ll leave you with this one thought – don’t leave potential guests in the waiting room wondering if they are going to need a cast. Don’t use the on-request feature as a means of getting a free listing. Give it the attention it deserves and update your inventory as often as you possibly can. Use it as a way to increase your familiarity with managing your inventory online and you may be more comfortable with offering instant confirmation.