Internet
Marketing
Now
almost everyone has a website and acknowledge the power of
the world's fastest growing marketing medium. But many still
don't really understand (and use) the advantages
of the internet.
The internet has changed the way we do
business but have
you adapted accordingly? It's worth thinking through exactly
how you can use the internet's full
potential.
You can learn
more about how to spring clean, improve and promote your
website by coming on
our next practical and entertaining
training workshop.
Let's start now though by considering some of the advantages
of marketing on the internet?
• Traditional print material is viewed sequentially – readers
flick through brochures to find details which are relevant to
them. Information on the internet is presented according to demand
so relevant information can be directly requested, making it
seem more like a one-to-one marketing method;
• Internet marketing allows web site developers to react
very quickly to changing market conditions – you can change
prices, offers, information etc according to demand;
• It
is easier to target different market segments within a web
site, offering different types of information or services
according to the profile of users;
• Once a web site is established, internet marketing is
cheap and fast – direct marketing can be particularly effective,
using “permission marketing” (see below);
• The
interactive nature of the internet means there is potential
to make a much greater impact than with traditional
print media - we remember 10% of what we read, 30% of what we
see, 50% of what we see and hear, 90% of what we see, hear and
do.
Ways in which the internet is changing the way we do business
Price competition
Sites such as www.kelkoo.com have been developed specifically
to make price comparisons easier for consumers. At present
most of these deal with tangible, homogenous products but they
will soon expand to cover a wider variety of services. Even
without sites dedicated to making price comparisons, surfers
can easily compare prices and buy products from different suppliers
in different countries, leading to ever greater price competition.
Reduced costs
The internet enables faster communication at a fraction of the
price of traditional media. Hotels and tourist information
centres are increasingly finding that when some-one telephones
to request a brochure they can simply refer the enquirer to
their web site, removing the need to send out brochures. This
not only saves costs but offers a more instant response.
The range of suppliers with whom one can work is more varied,
which also reduces costs. One web site designer I work with designs
sites and then sends them to a colleague in Russia for technical
developments, at a fraction of the cost of a London-based technical
officer.
Email offers the opportunity to send out mailshots directly
to a carefully targeted list of people at a very low cost, and
has the added advantage that the emails will arrive right in
front of the recipient's eyes on their PCs.
Better informed customers and the changing role of sales people
Consumers are now able to undertake extensive product and destination
research on the internet before gong to the shops to make a
purchase. Sales people are increasingly seen as purchase facilitators
rather than advisors and consumers may now feel they are better
informed than ever before so in a more powerful buying position.
Changing
perceptions of "service"
Email in particular has changed the speed at which we do business.
Some-one sends you a question by email in the morning, and
because it is so easy and quick to respond, expects to have
an answer by the afternoon. As consumers we also expect the
pace of service to be faster than before.
We increasingly want to deal direct with suppliers. In 1992
1% of all TV advertisements offered an 0800 number, now it's
20%, making it easier for consumers to respond. The internet
offers a similar opportunity.
Just a few years ago if you booked a hotel room you would probably
have requested a brochure then either telephoned or written to
the hotel to make a booking and then awaited a written confirmation.
Now you can look for a hotel on the internet and confirm a booking
immediately by email, possibly even paying for it at the same
time with a credit card.
Service is becoming more integrated. The internet can offer
layered information according to the needs of the consumer, so
they read only aspects which are relevant to them. Some consumers
need further information or interaction before they make a purchase
or booking, and often prefer this to come directly from a human
being.
You
may have seen a “Call Me” button on web sites
which sell slightly more complicated products such as business
flights or mortgage sales. The consumer surfs for initial information
and then at the point when they have questions they can click
on the “call me” button. They are asked for their
telephone number and when they would like to be called, including
immediately. A few seconds later the phone rings and a human
voice answers any questions or concerns, guiding the consumer
to a sale.
Changing distribution channels - no middlemen
Although some people still prefer to speak to a human voice,
many know exactly what they want and are content to make bookings
and purchases on-line without any additional intervention, and
without dealing with sales agents and middlemen.
The
low-cost, no-frills airline, EasyJet has been particularly
successful
in exploiting this development, encouraging consumers
to book on-line for a small discount. On-line bookings have developed
rapidly and currently account for 50% of all EasyJet bookings – they
expect this figure to be nearer 70% by the end of this year.
Using the internet to its full potential
So far we have looked at some of the advantages of the internet
and how the way we do business is changing. But how many tourism
organizations take advantage of these opportunities? Recent research
I have undertaken looking for examples of best practice revealed
surprisingly few truly good web sites and many which simply miss
the opportunity to take advantage of the benefits of marketing
on the internet.
The following are some of the ways in which opportunities are
currently missed.
• Many
web sites provide exactly the same content for all users. Just
a fraction of them change their slant and information
for different types of user. This is interesting since there
is increased awareness in the tourism industry of the need to
segment markets.
• Tourism organizations who are aware of this need often
bemoan the fact that they can’t afford to print different
brochures for different markets. But they can create a menu which
targets different markets with tailored information.
• The
internet offers a great opportunity to build a profile of users
but few people uses this function. At present user profiles
seem to be built according to demographic details (location,
age, socio-economics etc) rather than their behaviour on the
web. For example, if a user has visited a general site about
Spain and then checked out flights to Spain on British Airways,
they may also be interested in knowing about accommodation in
Spain as well. This sort of collaborative approach is just beginning
to develop.
• Another
key benefit of marketing on the internet is that unlike brochures
or advertising, it is quite easy to measure
the number of visitors to your site and find out a little more
about them. This can then give a better understanding of how
people use your web site and what you might need to do to improve
it.
Great possibilities
One
of the current buzz terms in internet marketing is “permission
marketing”, used most extensively by internet marketing “guru”,
Seth Godin. Marketers need to know as much as possible about
their existing and potential clients so how can they find out
about them? The internet enables you to ask them directly. Internet
users have shown that they are prepared to give details about
their needs, interest and profiles - but only if they receive
useful and relevant information in return. We all want to benefit
from better information and services and can understand that
if provide more details about ourselves, this is more likely.
Some
consumers will need an incentive – it might be as
straight-forward as the promise of improved service but could
equally be more tangible in terms of a discount, some form of
voucher or added value deal. One of the results of “permission
marketing” is increased trust in certain services and products,
and the beginning of a relationship between the consumer and
supplier.
There
is a condition to asking for such data – if you
do request it, you must ensure that you use it and that consumers
do see some improvements otherwise you have broken their trust
and disappointed them.
Developing
a longer term relationship with your clients so they come back
to you may not seem so appropriate if you’re
an individual hotel in a remote location which guests visit only
occasionally. But think of the wider implications of that visit
if it is successful – it’s not only the original
guests who will come back to you if either the stay or sales
process was positive and memorable in some way but also their
friends and relatives.
This approach can also be particularly appropriate for clusters
of similar-minded organisations such as a tourist board covering
a wider area. The effort of gathering data on visitors and their
needs is usually rewarded because the costs, time and benefits
can be shared between several organizations.
Collaborative or consortia marketing is popular among tourism
businesses. It offers an opportunity to share costs and build
a destination identity. However, when brochures and traditional
print material is used, there is rarely space for each individual
business to have more than a small presence. Collaborative marketing
works particularly well on the internet because a web site can
act as an umbrella, portraying an overall identity for an area
or group of businesses but still allow individual businesses
to have a strong identity by offering a link to their own site,
or a micro-site.
Adapted
from "Successful
Web Marketing for the Tourism & Leisure Sectors" by Susan
Briggs, published by Kogan Page
On
3rd November, we'll be running a half day marketing workshop: Spring
clean, improve & promote
your website
Ideal for: for
anyone who already has a moderately successful web site which
might benefit from a re-vamp. Does your web site look a little
dreary? Could it be made more effective with better content?
No technical expertise needed!
How
you will benefit: by
taking a step back and looking at your website with fresh
eyes, you'll be able to see easy ways to make it more inspiring
at a fraction of the cost of commissioning a whole new site.
What you will learn: We'll
consider what makes a good website, looking at examples of
good & bad practice.You'll understand more about core
and inspirational content and what web users now expect.
Another important consideration is how to ensure usability
for different types of markets. We'll tell you, in simple
non-technical terms, about some important trends and technology
so you'll feel confident and well-informed.
Finally we'll help you to understand how search engines work and what you need
to do to promote your website. Don't let internet marketing be a mystery -
come along and learn how to benefit from this powerful medium. Book
now! This half day workshop costs just £59 + VAT.
Trainer for this workshop: Susan Briggs |
