The State of Tourism Marketing

+BronwynWhite | @BronwynWhite | @Travelresearch0 | email me: bronwyn@MyTravelResearch.com
www.TourismMarketingBlueprint.com
3Tourism Marketing Plan Blueprint

Changes in the Digital Landscape –
Tourism Marketing Plan Blueprint Repeat

Today
• Example of Marketing Plan Blueprint Group coaching calls
• Marketing, what happened?
• How to connect your business in the world of semantic search
• Create authority, influence and trust
• Role of social media
• A mobile future
• Content Marketing
• Tactical implications
• QUESTIONS?

The Internet Revolution
• Industrial revolution of our time, and we are still at the beginning of it.
– Think of it as like the mid 19th Century – a time of wonder and
opportunity.
• We are in a time where you have the opportunity to strengthen your
business or destination brand in a way that you will never be able to do
again.
• How strong and tight your brand is will determine your success.
• We are on a level playing field for the first time in years and years. So let’s
do this!
Because we are at the beginning,
opportunities are nigh for big and small business.

The Internet Revolution
• When Google switched over to semantic search (contextual search) a
couple of years ago, it changed everything.
• These are the greatest evidenced-based opportunities you are likely to
see for 2016 and in fact…for a very long time.
We are on the cusp of big things.
Never will we be here again.

Semantic Search
Biggest change since the Internet begun
Draws on the personal information it
has collected from the user
The algorithm uses true meaning,
intent and context, to identify and
prioritise pages with relevant
content
And provides real answers to search
queries rather than returning
keyword stuffed pages
+
=
Examples could include:
Past search history, likes, shares
comments on social media,
geographic location, IP address
Content

Implications
What appears on Page 1 of a Google
search result is different for every
search query, every mobile device
and every desktop.

Why should we care?
The traveller path to purchase
Internet search is the one constant tool people turn to for inspiration and travel planning at every point
across the path to purchase. We spend 13 hours online researching before we book!
Google has changed the way our potential customers find us and what
information they will receive, and in doing so, has profoundly changed how
we need to market our businesses and manage our online presence

HOW TO CONNECT YOUR BUSINESS OR
DESTINATION TO YOUR CUSTOMERS IN
THE WORLD OF SEMANTIC SEARCH

FIRST - PLAN FOR A MOBILE FUTURE
The Semantic Web

• The most important trend and biggest shift in search since the Internet
began, its now official
”…more Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10
countries including the US and Japan” Google
http://adwords.blogspot.de/2015/05/building-for-next-moment.html
The semantic future is mobile
To Provide an optimal mobile user experience

• The way we perform searches has evolved
• We may ask our phone a question as we
would a friend
• Search is more conversational
• Users simply ask their phone questions like a
friend
– “What is the weather going to be today?”
• Products like Google Now emerging

• Implications - last year, we
witnessed ‘Mobilegeddon’
• If your site is not mobile
friendly, Google will penalise
you
• You stand to lose business
• Google – Google mobile
friendly tool

Still wondering about mobile?
Stats to get you and your stakeholders over the line
About 84% of users
take their
smartphone
wherever they go.
71 % never have time
out from their device
by turning it off.
68% say they check
their phone within 15
minutes of waking up
in the morning.
87% of millenials
always have their
smartphone at their
side, day, and night.
We check our
phones 150 times a
day.
We spend 177
minutes on our
phones per day.
30% are willing to
admit that they
actually get “anxious”
when they don’t have
their phone on them.
91% of users of them
turn to their phones
for ideas in the
middle of a task.
88% of Australians
research hotels
MORE online than
they do offline.
https://think.storage.googleapis.com/images/micromoments-guide-to-winning-shift-to-mobile-download.pdf
http://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/telstra-smartphone-and-tablet-index-reveals-australians-are-addicted-to-smartphones/story-fn6vihic-1227078120633
The Google Consumer Barometer Survey 2014 / 2015 – Australian base

CONNECT THROUGH BRANDING
AND CONTENT

+BronwynWhite | @BronwynWhite | @Travelresearch0 | email me: bronwyn@MyTravelResearch.com16
To earn trust reputation and authority for the search engines we need to create fresh
content on consistent and regular basis to ensure that the machine learning algorithms of
semantic search can understand the context of the brand and destination so that it meets
customers along the path to purchase.
This means, your web pages are more likely to be presented when travellers are searching

Content – Publish or Perish
The role of content marketing in semantic search
• It’s now time to think about yourself as publishers of compelling content
– become trusted authorities of sound reputation in the eyes of the
search engines
– Recognised as influencers
– Recognised as speaking with authority on your topic
“Content marketing has become so vital to all of search engine opitimisation
in the semantic web that it underpins many activities that a business or
brand needs to engage in”. David Amerland

Case Study
Trust Reputation and Authority
Nowhere is reputation more important perhaps than the tourism, hospitality
industry. Thanks to the widespread prevalence of reviewing systems such
as TripAdvisor and Yelp and the use of social media to share experiences,
the hotel industry can finally begin to win attention and market share by
doing what it does best: focus on providing great service and the best end-
user experience possible” David Amerland, Author of Google Semantic
Search

.
And these are only
the people who
shared…imagine the
thousands who read
this
17,000
followers
360,000
followers

• Recognised as an
authority in travel
research and
marketing by
Google over:
– TRA
– TTRA
– And
competitors
• All done through
our content and
engagement

Branding – “The gap between the online and offline
world is getting smaller”. David Amerland
You have 2 customers – Google and your travellers
Google
• So that it can understand what you
are about
• Give context
• Be consistent and tight with your
online presence
• It’s OK to branch out, but make sure
you show the relevance
• In fact, branching out a little can give
context
– And, be helpful to travellers
along the path to purchase
Travellers

SOCIAL MEDIA AND SEMANTIC
SEARCH
The Semantic Web
22

Social media
The power of social signals in semantic search
• Importance of social sharing and engagement of content
• Verify veracity and quality of website content
• Helps generate:
– A clearer understanding of the meaning behind the
content
– Better indexing of the content
– An assessment of authority and trust
– And assessment of the contextual value
Google Semantic Web, David Amerland
Content, search and social media are now inextricably related

How to connect your business or destination in the
world of semantic search – basic checklist
Your business / destination
• Mobile optimised
• Clear and distinct brand position
• Create compelling and authentic
content (veracity)
• Post often (volume)
• Variety of output
• Link online activities
• Quality and legitimate links that
relate to the travel industry
• Natural language
• Geo-coding / make it local
• Social media engagement and
interaction (velocity)
Potential customer search query
• Previous search history and
interests
• Geographic location (at the
time of search)
• Social media interactions
Match
with

An SEO checklist used to look like this
http://www.slideshare.net/David-Amerland/what-is-hummingbird-and-the-entity-search-revolution
Old SEO Checklist
Keyword optimisation and placement
Website development
Link structure
Backlinks
Domain and Hosting
On-page SEO
Link building
Easily gamed by practices like building artificial links and
stuffing poor content with keywords
“Keywords are
so 2012”

Now looks like this
• Time for businesses
and destinations to
think more like
publishers of
content.
• A whole range of
dynamic entities at
play working
together
• Yes, you do need to
work hard at it!
Source: Eric Enge, Stone Temple Consulting

Volume
•Content length posts
•Freshness
•Mentions / citations
•Quality links
•Website traffic
•User generated
content (comments)
•Social media profiles
•Volume of
followers is
persuasive BUT
only if they are
active
•Engagement
(conversations)
•Interactions – likes,
reshares, retweets
Velocity
•The speed at which
content it is
produced
•Website traffic – the
rate at which a
website grows
•Mentions across the
web
•Links
•User generated
content
•Social media profiles
•The speed at which
it grows
•Interaction
•Engagement
Variety
•In Content
•Formats such as
text, images, videos,
audio, PDF’s
•In social media
•Inbound links –
authoritative and
related
•Web traffic from a
variety of sources
Veracity
•Be authentic and
keep it real!
•Authentic:
•Content
•Links
•Comments
•Quality not quantity
Unlocking the secrets of semantic search
Volume | Velocity | Variety | Veracity

Linking it all together
From
• Keywords
• On-page SEO
• Backlinks
• Publishing frequency
• Link dumping in social
networks
• Content length
• Keyword stuffing
• Keyword placement
• Anchor text
• Link building
To
• Search queries
• Intent
• Trust
• Authority
• Reputation
• Citations / listings
• Social network
footprint
• Comments
• Social proof
• Band equity
• Authenticity
How
• Link your entity
online
• Mobile optimised
• Compelling content
• Ensure a variety of
output
• Connection to your
business and USP’s
• Speak to a persona
• Develop a clear
distinct brand
• Social media signals
• The 4 V’s

Key take-outs
What to do back at the office
• Review current SEO practices
– Do you have them? If you employ a company, ask questions
– Webmaster?
• Review and audit your content
– Don’t forget from a local perspective including lots of links to local
businesses and information in your destination.
• Ensure content is socially engaging , authentic and relevant and
hashtagged
• Be mobile and run your business through the Google Mobile Friendly
Test
• Check out our semantic web checklist

Group coaching calls
(I will send these through)
Date Topic About
29th April
10am
Introduction to Semantic
Search
Are you marketing today the way you were last year? You should be
worried if you are. We take you through why you need to start
creating trust, reputation and authority to rank well in the eyes of
Google and meet your traveller in the path to purchase.
10 May
10am
Branding Blueprint To build a strong brand, you need to build trust, reputation and
authority in the eyes of your customers and Google. In today’s world
of semantic search, if your branding is not clear, you run the risk of
doing damage to your online brand and you are less likely to be
presented in search results on Google.
We take you through the MyTravelResearch.com Tourism Branding
Blueprint and how to apply the principles to your business or
destination
24 May
10am
Your Customers You cannot be all things to everyone. We take you through how to
create a persona unique to your business or destination
1 June-
10am
What trends apply to me How do I choose which trends in the Tourism Marketing Plan Blueprint
to focus on for my business or destination?
22 June
10am
SWOT How do I personalise my SWOT
29 June
10am
Action Plan How do I operationalise these findings? In an information overload
age, we take you through the ultimate DIY marketing toolkit for
Tourism professionals.
Top 5 Evidence-based actions you must include in your tactical action
plan

What’s in Tourism Marketing Plan Blueprint
• The plan addresses:
– The latest trends and travel insight/research
– Branding best practice – we help you build a solid brand from strand or build ‘on’ your
brand
– Tactical execution -how to operationalise the research
– Example campaigns that you can create as a result of the findings
– Examples of imagery, words and communications to appeal to your market personas
• Your job is to personalise the plan to suit your destination or business. You will need to pick
out the bits best suited to your needs and create your strategy.
• We have our coaching calls for you to ask questions and we take you though how to
customise the plan. These calls happen every 2 weeks.
– For the next 12 months on rotation
• Awesome bonus
• And please email us directly with any questions or would like a copy of the slides
– bronwyn@mytravelresearch.com
– carolyn@mytravelresearch.com
• Available at $1497

Bonuses
• Sign up today you will receive our
limited time bonus
• VFR Travel Research
– Hosts and Visitors
• Our foundation MPB members
will also get this bonus

Disclaimer: Please note that the information and data contained in this update has
been prepared for the specific purpose of addressing the items for the research
between MyTravelResearch.com Pty Ltd and Tourism Marketing Plan Blueprint
customers
It may not be suitable for other applications. The use of this data for any other purpose
should be discussed with the lead author. MyTravelResearch.com accepts no
responsibility for unauthorised use of this data by a third party.
© MyTravelResearch.com® 2016

The State of Tourism Marketing

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