travel - IAB UK
Transcription
travel - IAB UK
Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s travel contents Introduction to the sector and online advertising 1 Just the ticket All your useful travel links 3 Wish you were here The top of the top 10s! 8 Where the land lies The travel market online 11 Have internet, will travel Insights into the online consumer 15 Holiday must reads Diaries of real travel bookings 26 What should travel marketers be doing online? 28 Which brands are flying high with their online activity? 46 The reviews are in! NMA site inspections 56 Do’s and don’ts 58 Introduction to the sector and online advertising Nowadays, the information that travellers seek online goes far beyond a simple A-Z. As millions of customers flock to the internet - or their mobile device - to undertake essential research and make highly specific searches for travel ideas, the industry just gets bigger and better. Travel online is booming, not least because of new products and services offered by marketers and retailers, such as emagazines and personalised videos that continue to make the customer experience just that little bit more convenient and engaging. Indeed, the proliferation of user-generated content like RSS feeds, discussion boards and blogs, enable us to delve even deeper into the holiday experience by sharing information and creating brand advocates. Why do it yourself when your happy customer can do it for you via the word of mouth activity that online facilitates? By instigating conversations with your audiences online via a range of communication tools, you can learn what they like, give them what they want and establish a relationship that could last forever... after all, everyone needs a holiday. 1 Introduction So, changing customer behaviour has meant a change for the travel industry. Today the reliance on high street travel agencies for booking simple or even more complex trips no longer exists. Whether at home or in the office, using the web is often a high-speed, stress-free experience. And as the medium grows we are able to employ rich media and video content, provide useful tools and applications and even carefully target our key audiences, all to drive sales and build a travel brand, in a highly competitive market. Think of this handy IAB guide as essential luggage for making the most of what the medium has to offer. Packed with essential stats, full to the brim with useful internet marketing tips and case studies, and with far more than the ‘regulation allowance’ of insights into consumer behaviour, this is any marketing professional’s holiday must-read. So sit back, put your reading glasses on, and let us take you on an enlightening journey through the world of online travel... 2 Just the ticket – All your useful travel links Brand Sites Lonely Planet www.lonelyplanet.com A globally loved brand, with over five million travellers visiting each month to make use of the abundance of information on destinations worldwide, hotel/hostel booking, and the Thorn Tree Travel Forum. noflights.com www.noflights.com Provides quality travel products and services that exclude flights. The website was born out of a passionate commitment to make greener modes of travel more accessible at a time when flights are accounting for an ever greater proportion of carbon emissions. Opodo www.opodo.co.uk The first truly Pan-European travel service created to address the real needs of today’s traveller. Opodo offer access to over 500 airlines, 65,000 hotel properties and more than 7,000 car rental locations worldwide - as well as travel insurance. STA Travel www.statravel.co.uk Committed to providing low priced travel for students and young people around the world. The site includes price comparison for flights, hotels, tours and insurance, along with tips for travelling and blogs about various locations across the globe. 3 Just the ticket all your useful travel links Forums Aardvark Travel www.aardvarktravel.net This worldwide travel search engine lists more than 20,000 of the very best travel websites from around the world. The site also includes a jam packed forum where discussion is continually created about travel from all over the world. BUG (Backpackers’ Ultimate Guide) www.bug.co.uk No flash hotels and fancy banquets – just the most comprehensive information on backpackers’ hostels and living it up without blowing the budget. BUG has been around since 1997 and was the first website to offer interactive hostel reviews where travellers can submit their own reviews of hostels. FlyerTalk www.flyertalk.com/forum FlyerTalk features discussions and chat boards that cover the most up-to-date traveller information. An interactive community dedicated to your favourite topic: frequent flyer miles! Travellers Point www.travellerspoint.com Creates an international meeting point for travellers worldwide, whether they are planning their travels, currently travelling or have returned from their travels and want to stay in touch with those friends they met while travelling. 4 Blogs Alex Bainbridge www.tourcms.com/blog/alexbainbridge This is a no nonsense global – but with a UK/European perspective – blog that reports about travel ecommerce including trading, marketing, social media, startups and conventional travel companies using the web to good effect. I want to go here www.iwanttogohere.com All about inspiring you to do something different - encouraging you to check out a new experience or destination. It’s simple – they post something new every day, if you like the look of it, send it to a couple of friends. If not, wait and see what tomorrow brings. TravelBlog www.travelblog.org A unique free online travel diary for travellers across the world. It is one of the most popular travel related web 2.0 sites on the internet. TravelBlog.org has over 80,000 members and grows at around 100 new members a day. Travolution www.travolution.co.uk The UK’s leading business magazine, website, blog and events provider for the online travel market. Covering the traditional travel market plus the new breed of online players, Travolution provides essential information and analysis for anyone involved in the online travel business. 5 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Just the ticket all your useful travel links Review and Comparison Car Rentals www.carrentals.co.uk The comparison search engine for luxury and budget car hire. They make searching for car hire convenient and easy. If you need a hire car for business trips or holiday rentals, one search will compare prices of up to 50 car hire companies in seconds. Travelocity www.travelocity.co.uk A leading provider of consumer direct travel services for the leisure and business traveller. Travelocity offers pricing information about airlines, hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines, vacation and lastminute travel packages, and other travel-related services. TravelDodo www.traveldodo.com Collects your do’s and don’ts reviews online and shares these with other interested travellers. By making your own profile you can sort them out and prioritise accordingly. This way you can create your own summary of the most important or unimportant features of your travel destinations. World Reviewer www.worldreviewer.com It’s all about holiday experiences. Taking a completely new look at how travel is presented online – then start with what you want to do, rather than where you want to go, with experiences, rather than the products or services. 6 Social Networking Addicted to Travel www.addictedtotravel.com A website providing a service for people with a passion for travel who explore the most amazing places on planet earth. Travelistic www.travelistic.com A site that lets you explore the world through video. This site hosts all kinds of travel videos, including user uploads, professional content, and tourist board videos. TravelMole www.travelmole.com The most highly acclaimed and largest global online community for the travel and tourism industry with over 450,000 registered subscribers. WAYN (Where Are You Now) www.wayn.com Allows you to find and meet people from anywhere in the world, see where your friends are, meet up with new people abroad and read through travel information guides and reviews. Wikitravel www.wikitravel.org A project to create a free, complete, up-to-date, and reliable worldwide travel guide. So far there are 19,610 destination guides and other articles written and edited by Wikitravellers from around the globe. 7 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Wish you were here The top of the tops tens! Top 10 beaches in Europe Top 10 beginners’ ski resorts 1. Cala d’en Serra, Ibiza 2. The Curonian Spit, Lithuania 3. Caños de Meca, Spain 4. Barleycove, County Cork, Ireland 5. Cap Ferret, France 6. Scopello, Sicily 7. Three Cliffs Bay, Gower, Wales 8. Sopot, Poland 9. Egremni, Lefkada, Greece 10. Warnemünde, Germany 1. Les Arcs, France 2. Bansko, Bulgaria 3. Cortina, Italy 4. Killington, USA 5. Lech, Austria 6. Poiana Brasov, Romania 7. Soldeu, Andorra 8. Tignes, France 9. Wengen, Switzerland 10. Ski, UK Top 10 hostels Top 10 dive sites of the world 1. Flamingo, Krakow 2. Oops!, Paris 3. One Florence Close, Singapore 4. Czech Inn, Prague 5. Youthpalace, Davos 6. Ostinatto, Buenos Aires 7. Base Backpackers, Australasia 8. Hilux, Valencia 9. Hotel QT, New York 10. Ashlee House, London 1. Rocktail Bay, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa 2. Rangiroa, Polynesia 3. Sulawesi, Indonesia 4. The Maldives 5. Little Cayman, British West Indies 6. Cocos and Malpelo, Eastern Pacific 7. The Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea 8. Sipadan Island, Malaysian Borneo 9. Surin and Similan Islands, Thailand 10. Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008 8 The world’s 10 sexiest hotel rooms 1. Playhouse room, Soho House, New York 2. Banda 5, Beho Beho, Tanzania 3. Double Murano, Murano, Paris 4. The Guardroom, The Witchery, Edinburgh 5. Macka Tree, The Caves, Negril 6. Room 19, Riad el Fenn, Marrakesh 7. Villa 205, Maia, Seychelles 8. Room 20, Coeur des Alpes 9. Seigneurs D’albon, Château de Bagnols 10. The Boudoir, Escape, Llandudno www.timesonline.co.uk Top 10 public transport systems 1. Tokyo Metropolitan,Tokyo, Japan 2. The Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia 3. Taipei MRT, Taipei, Taiwan 4. The Tube, London, England 5. Seoul Metropolitan Subway, Seoul, Korea 6. Paris Metropolitan, Paris, France 7. New York Subway System, New York, America 8. Hong Kong MTR, Hong Kong, China 9. U-Bahn, Berlin, Germany 10. Copenhagen Metro, Copenhagen, Denmark www.Askmen.com 9 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Wish you were here – The top of the tops tens! 10 useful websites that should be bookmarked 1. Metro http://nanika.net/Metro Metro is your free guide on PDA (Palm, PocketPC, Smartphone...) to public transport systems in 400 cities worldwide. 2. Tripit www.tripit.com Tripit is a personal travel assistant that automatically organises all your travel plans. 3. VISA ATM locator http://visa.via.infonow.net/locator/global Find your closest cash machine in 170 countries worldwide. 4. Flight Stats www.flightstats.com Check flight arrivals and departure times. This site contains sponsored links. 5. Sleeping in airports http://sleepinginairports.com The best and worst airports around the world and how to get to sleep in one. This site contains sponsored links. 6. Seat Guru www.seatguru.com Ever wondered why someone’s seat looked bigger? Find the definitive places to sit on any airplane. This site contains display ads and an affiliate marketing programme. 7. The Bathroom Diaries www.thebathroomdiaries.com Discover the best places to sit on the throne! This site has an affiliate marketing programme and contains sponsored links. 8. One Bag www.onebag.com This site offers you the art and science of travelling light. This site contains sponsored links. 9. Travel Turtle www.travelturtle.co.uk This site provides you with a wealth of information on travel health. This site contains display ads and a regularly updated travel health news feed. 10. Seat 61 www.seat61.com The man in Seat 61 will tell you how to travel overland comfortably and affordably where you might think that air was now the only option. Also allows you to search for cheap train tickets and contains sponsored links. 10 Where the land lies – The travel market online • In H1 2008, all online advertising was worth £1682.5m • Display was worth £333m • Classified was worth £361.6m • Travel accounted for 4.22% down 1.78% in H1 2007 • Travel marketers marginally use display and classifieds over search • In H2 2004 travel was the 3rd highest spender. However, this market looks to have levelled whilst newer categories are now spending within the medium affecting the % share. The chart below shows how much online ad spend in total has grown, its spend is now settling and therefore its share is decreasing. 12% £1,80 £1,60 10% £1,40 £1,20 8% £1,00 6% £800 £600 4% £400 2% £200 £0 0% H1 2004 H2 2004 H1 2005 H2 2005 H1 2006 H2 2006 H1 2007 H2 2007 H1 2008 Display total All online total 11 Travel & Tourism share I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Where the land lies – The travel market online Is travel maturing? H2 2004 Finance 24.0 Recruitment 21.6 11.2 Travel & Transport Automotive 10.5 Technology 9.3 Entertainment & Media 6.2 Consumer Goods 5.7 4.2 Business & Industrial Retail Property 3.5 1.4 Consumer to consumer classifieds 0.9 Goverment & other organisations 0.7 Leisure Gardening & Agriculture 0.5 0.2 H2 2007 Recruitment 25.7 Automotive 11.9 Technology 10.4 10.0 Finance Property 7.9 Telecoms 6.0 Entertainment & Media 5.6 5.3 Consumer Goods Travel & Transport 5.2 5.0 Retail Business & Industrial Consumer-to-comsumer Classifieds Government & other organisations Leisure Gardening & Agriculture 2.7 2.3 1.5 0.5 0.1 IAB/PwC online adspend study, 2007 12 Insights, Facts and Opportunities from the travel online frontline, by Jon Armitage, Senior Industry Analyst, Google Insight Facts Opportunities & Actions Competitors are becoming increasingly sophisticated and targeted in online investment. • 20% CPC inflation. • Competitor investment in site performance and conversion improvements. • Focus on margin mix. • Shift in focus to late January by smaller players. • Focus bidding on high traffic periods for greatest efficiency. • Target high margin products for most aggressive bidding. • Invest in site experience to improve conversion metrics. • Vary timing and progression of budgets by product type. Travel subsectors are growing at different rates. • Highest YoY growth in bus and rail (+31%) and car rental (+20%). • CPC inflation greatest in cruise (+25%), hotels (+23%) and packages +21%). • Reallocate budgets to high growth and high margin sectors. Activity differs across the week. • Traffic peak on Monday, yet CPC peak on Saturday. • Generics used most heavily at weekends. • Ensure brand bidding “always on” during Monday peak. • Manage brand / generics split across the week. • Consider different ad text for different days of the week. Consumers are increasingly engaging longer and more specific searches. • 3 to 5 worded queries growing twice as fast as shorter terms. • “Tail” category now growing fastest. The journey to purchase is long and complex. • Brand query growth of 19%, destination growth of 15%. • CPC inflation highest in destination terms (+19%). • Build coverage on longer, niche keywords. • Create specific ad texts tailored to niche searches. • Manage generics to be present throughout the purchase process. • Integrate paid and natural search to maximise crossbenefits. 13 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Where the land lies – The travel market online Travel subsectors are growing at different rates Website usability and online booking functionality is now driving growth in the smaller segments that were, in many instances, slower to shift online, relative to the largest product categories. • Bus and rail operator sites grew the fastest YoY at 31% followed by car rental at 20%, vs. the larger product areas of packages (+10%), air travel (+11%), hotels and accommodation (+12%) Query volume +10% +12% +11% 2007 +16% Cruises & Charters +20% Car Rental & Taxi Services Bus & Rail Air Travel Packages Hotels & Accomodation +31% 2008 UK travel daily query volume by sector, January 2008 - 16th February 2008 +18% +23% 2007 +21% 2008 Monthly UK travel CPC change January 2007 vs. January 2008 Google, 2008 14 +7% Bus & Rail Air Travel Hotels & Accomodation Cruises & Charters Car Rental & Taxi Services +9% Packages CPC +25% Have internet, will travel… ...insights into the online consumer “The travel industry provides a wonderful reminder, if anyone still needed one, of how integral the internet has become in the life of today’s consumer. The internet is now officially a mainstream form of media and companies who still believe it can only form a ‘niche’ part of any consumer-focused strategy will soon find themselves marginalised as the 21st century progresses.” - Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst at Nielsen//NetRatings. Are we nearly there yet? - Travel habits of online consumers Harvest Digital conducted research into the travel habits of online consumers in conjunction with Nielsen//NetRatings and Adviva. Findings include: • 55% of internet users book holidays online – only 7% book on the high street. • Two thirds of internet users take two or more holidays a year. • Almost half of internet users book holidays based on recommendations from friends and families while a third of people read the travel articles in magazines and newspapers, 15% use Teletext and one in five respondents watch holiday programmes on TV. • “Silver surfers” enjoy more regular holidays and late bookings online. 15 Have internet, will travel….insights into the online consumer Commenting on the research, Mike Teasdale Planning Director at Harvest Digital explains, ‘as the first truly global medium, the internet has always had a special affinity with the travel industry. Obviously offline media still has a vital role to play in the marketing mix, but once an online consumer is interested in a specific destination or holiday, they use the internet to research and buy.’ He adds, ‘Consumers are telling us that word of mouth is very important in terms of choosing a potential holiday. In the past, that would have been a casual chat over a pint: now it seems that the online equivalent is sites like TripAdvisor.com where an entire community is posting tips and recommendations about good places to go.’ Talkin’ ‘bout my generation - Interaction with travel on the web for different age groups. AGE 16-24 1. 1 6-24s are less than half as likely as the average surfer to search for travel online, according to Target Group Index 2007 figures. 2. T hey are also much less likely than the average web user to buy a travel product online. Specifically, according to TGI 2007, they are 61% less likely than average to purchase flights or a holiday. 3. W hen questioned on online travel agents, 16-24s were 29% more likely than the average internet user to have booked their last holiday with Lastminute.com, followed in order of relative likelihood by Travelocity, Expedia, Holiday Hypermarket, Ebookers and Opodo. (TGI, 2007) 4. S ome 39% of 16-24 year-olds say the advertising on a website has helped them to make better purchasing decisions and 40% say ads on websites have helped them to find the products or services they were searching for. (IAB, 2007) 16 5. Younger adults are less likely than the national average to plan their travel in advance. Some 25% of people aged under 24 booked their holiday a month or less before departure, compared to 18% of internet users overall. (Nielsen//NetRatings/Adviva/Harvest Digital, 2007) 6. 16-24s are the only adult group in which many people believe they make or influence holiday decisions without actually paying for the holiday themselves. (Nielsen//NetRatings/Adviva/Harvest Digital, 2007) AGE 25-34s 1. Online travel booking and research are particularly common among 25-34 year-olds, of whom 68% say they would book directly on the internet (Nielsen//NetRatings/Adviva/Harvest Digital). This age group also shows the greatest dependency on e-mail. (Nasstar, 2007) 2. Two-thirds of online shoppers usually take two or more holidays of one week or more a year, and a quarter take three or more. (Nielsen// NetRatings/Adviva/Harvest Digital, 2008) 3. This age group is the most likely of all adult groups to book a flight directly with an airline, rating as 16% more likely than the average internet user to do so. (TGI, 2007) They are also 14% more likely than average to have booked their last holiday online. (TGI, 2007) 4. When questioned on online travel agents, 25-34s were 73% more likely than the average internet user to have booked their last holiday with Opodo, followed in order of relative likelihood by Lastminute.com, Holiday Hypermarket, Opodo, Expedia and ebookers. (TGI, 2007) 5. Some 20% of British internet-using over-25s spend three or more hours online each day; 19% are online for two to three hours a day; 30% access for one to two hours, and the remaining 31% are online for less than an hour each day. (IAB, 2007) 6. Around 27% of consumers aged 25-34 would be willing to respond to a mobile ad in exchange for free content, though the vast proportion have never done so to date. This was compared to 40% of 16-24 year-olds who said they would be persuaded to engage with mobile advertising in return for content. (eMarketer, 2007) 17 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Have internet, will travel….insights into the online consumer AGE 35-54s 1. According to Lastminute.com research, the average online travel consumer is now to be found squarely in the middle of the adult age group. Aged a few months short of 40, this consumer’s average salary is £39,348, of which £2,390 goes on travel each year. Also, according to Lastminute.com, 62% of all British online travel consumers are ABC1s and 89% have broadband access. 2. Some 26% say they have booked travel as the result of a promotional e-mail, 41% subscribe to an online newsletter offering travel promotions and 24% are members of a loyalty programme. (EyeforTravel, 2007) 3. 35-54s are 7% more likely than the average internet user to have booked their last holiday online. (TGI, 2007) 4. For long-haul destinations, Google is more popular among this age group, taking 68% of initial search volumes, compared to 15% for OTAs, 11% for supplier websites. Just 4.5% of people walk into a high-street travel agent to start their search and only 1% pick up the phone. (EyeforTravel, 2007) 5. Some 12% went direct to the websites of airlines, hotels and other suppliers to research any given trip, suggesting that brand-building efforts online have borne fruit. OTAs, meanwhile took 14% of initial search volumes and traditional high-street travel agents only 2%. (EyeforTravel, 2007) 6. Of the UK’s top five travel sites in July 2007, Expedia was the most-visited among 35-54s, with 3,070,000 unique visitors in total. TUI Group came second with 2,517,000 visitors, followed by Lastminute (2,388,000), British Airways (1,824,000) and First Choice (1,770,000). (comScore, 2007) 18 OVER-55s 1. Across all categories, British over-60s spend £205 billion a year, accounting for 40% of all spending power. (The Millennium Group, 2007) 2. Over-55s are also the internet’s key growth group, increasing their use of the web by 40% in the year to May 2007, while proven heavy surfers such as 35-55 year-olds remained static in their usage. (Hitwise, 2007) 3. Among older generations, the web audience remains resolutely male-dominated. Among over-65s, 79% of internet use is accounted for by men, while among 50-64s, that figure is 59%. Overall, 55% of internet use is attributable to men. (Nielsen// NetRatings, 2007) 4. In common with under-24s, over-55s are fond of booking holidays at the last minute. 28% of them booked to go away a month before departure or later. (Nielsen//NetRatings/Adviva/Harvest Digital, 2007) 5. Over-55s are 19% more likely than the average internet user to search for travel online, making them the age group most inclined to do so. (TGI, 2007) 6. Travel and holidays are the number one online purchase for wired over-55s in Europe, with 47% of them having bought tickets to travel and 32% having splashed out on a holiday via the web. (EIAA, 2007) 19 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Have internet, will travel….insights into the online consumer Visual examples of eye tracking behaviour Foviance asked 51 people to search for a product on a search engine/meta-search engine/online travel operator/agency, airline and hotel site. The images below detail the eye tracking behaviour of four different age groups when browsing the web and interacting with travel brands. 16 – 24 Sites visited in order of popularity: Google, Yahoo!, Ask, EasyJet, Ryanair, Lastminute.com, STA Travel, Thomas Cook, Cheapflights, Travelsupermarket, Expedia and Travelocity. 25 – 34 Sites visited in order of popularity: Google, Ask, EasyJet, BA.com, FlyBMI, Travelocity, Lastminute.com and various package sites. 20 35 – 54 Sites visited in order of popularity: Google, EasyJet, BAA, Ryanair, family holiday sites, sports holiday sites, Holiday Inn and Marriott. 55 + Sites visited in order of popularity: Google, Opodo, Flight Centre, Virgin Holidays, EasyJet, Ryanair, Travelsupermarket, FlyMonach, Travelbag and Kelkoo Travel. 21 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Have internet, will travel….insights into the online consumer The following charts from Travolution explore the different online behaviour of different age groups: Who or what do you normally consult before making a booking? 60 18-24 50 25-34 40 35-54 30 55+ 20 10 s et ex t Ot he r Te l es Pr es s ok ar ch en gi n sit e bo rd e oa id tb Se gu On lin ris To u w sp Ne e s w eb er ap cia so e On sit e k og w or et ln Bl s sit e nd w Fr ie lin Us e rr ev ie nt Fa m Ag e ily 0 Which of80the following have you done since you’ve returned from holiday? 70 60 16-24 50 25-34 40 35-54 30 55+ 20 10 eo Vi d 22 ne No et on ne Re ts co i te m m en d F2 F cia ln et cia ln pi cs on so sit e so on ew Re vi Pi cs on op sit e in d ew on op on vi Re in on ew Re vi Pi cs d sit e 0 How many websites do you check to feel confident enough to finally book a holiday? 40 35 30 16-24 25 25-34 20 35-54 15 55+ 10 5 le ne No ur sib /fo As m an ya sp os tw o st Th re e ea At l e sit e e on am Al w ay ss e tim ha ve On ly On e if fo r ha pp y 0 From the search results that you browse, are they mainly in the....? 35 30 16-24 25 25-34 20 35-54 15 55+ 10 5 0 Top three Top five Top 10 Travolution and Foviance, 2008 23 Top 10 plus next page Don’t know I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Have internet, will travel….insights into the online consumer The Travel Buying cycle from Lewis Lenssen, Managing Director, Netizen Digital “The travel buying cycle is different from other PPC products. The travel buying cycle demonstrates principles which are fundamental to successful travel PPC. In my opinion this is in fact the most important issue and solving it is the key to success. Searchers use more than point of entry; SEO/PPC/banners/email.” Hitwise UK Top 20 searches for overseas destinations, week ending 17 March 2007 1. Disneyland Paris 2. Cheap flights to Tenerife 3. Flights to Tenerife 4. Flights to Cyprus 5. Cheap flights to Malaga 6. Amsterdam 7. Ferries to France 8. New York hotels 9. Car hire Cyprus 10. Cheap flights to Lanzarote 11. Cheap flights to New York 12. Madeira 13. Flights to Australia 14. Ferries to Ireland 15. Cheap flights to Cyprus 16. Flights to Canada 17. Edinburgh 18. Disneyland 19. Cyprus holidays 20. Flights to New York 24 Hitwise UK Top 20 searches for British destinations, week ending 17 March 2007 11. Blackpool 12. London 13. Lake District 14. Centreparcs 15. York Hotels 16. Isle of Wight 17. Warwick Castle 18. Legoland Windsor 19. Cadbury World 20. Jersey 1. Alton Towers 2. Butlins 3. Thorpe Park 4. Centre Parcs 5. Legoland 6. Centre Parks 7. Center Parcs 8. Longleat 9. Centerparcs 10. Blackpool Pleasure Beach Rank Search Term Volume 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Easyjet Ryanair AA route planner Thomas cook Multimap First choice Train times Google maps Google earth Trip advisor 0.81% 0.79% 0.64% 0.54% 0.52% 0.47% 0.46% 0.42% 0.39% 0.37% Hitwise, 2008 25 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Holiday must reads – diaries of real travel bookings Jessica, 26 When booking our trip to St Ives we wanted it to be a bit more than just the standard B&B so we went on to a search engine and searched for ‘luxury B&Bs’ in St Ives. More than expected came up on the results page. We then had to sieve through the search results. We knew exactly what type of accommodation we wanted, it was just finding it in the right location and price range that was the hardest part. Once we had chosen the perfect B&B online we did the actual booking part over the phone. Typing ‘things to do in St Ives’ into the search engine brought up a few options for local activities, www.stives-cornwall. co.uk contained several categories from accommodation, restaurants, to things to do and local transport. Finally we wanted to plan our route there so we typed ‘map to St Ives’ into a search engine and used the first link in the search listings which was ‘Google Maps’. From there we were able to specify our destination and print off directions. Mike, 55 A lot of my family live up north in Leeds so I am often travelling up there to visit them. I often visit the same few websites before booking and I always book online. I am an account member on most of the leading train booking sites such as thetrainline.com and virgintrains.co.uk, so I often receive e-flyers promoting particular discounts or live travel info that helps me when deciding when to go and how to plan my route. These often influence when I travel. I also often use nationalrail.co.uk because it informs you about any service disruptions to my journey. 26 Emma, 18 After much thought I decided I wanted to go travelling around the world, leaving a month after initially making the decision. Being on a budget and short of time I found researching online to be the most efficient way to do this. After searching for a few travel agents I decided to go with STA who I had heard of through an email they sent to my hotmail account. Having booked the actual ticket in store, the rest I had to do online. That included hostels, insurance and internal flights. I did this by typing the ‘destination’ and ‘hostel’ into a search engine. Organising the trip online was very straightforward and convenient considering the time difference, cost of calling the chosen destination and variety of information available instantly at my fingertips. Dan, 44 We fly to Japan to visit family about once a year. We usually book through the same travel agency as they specialise in flights to Japan and nearly always have the cheapest fares. This year we’ve booked to fly out in October. Firstly we checked the general price of flights through a few of the bigger flight comparison sites Cheapflights.co.uk, Opodo.co.uk etc. Having had a look at these we decided that October was the cheapest time to fly and made a note of the prices quoted. We then called the specialist agency who have just set up their new ecommerce site and said that if we booked through their website they could offer a further discount. Checking the same flights through their website, the price was considerably cheaper for a direct flight so we booked there and then. 27 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l What should travel marketers be doing online? With the consistent rise in the popularity of social networking sites – not just among the younger generations – travel agents and brochures are no longer the sole source of information and influence for today’s traveller. Advertisers are jumping on tools that were not intended to be commercial, as a quick look at sites like YouTube and Bebo will illustrate. It is no wonder sites such as Facebook have over 100 travelrelated applications on its site. The popularity of social networking sites is also apparent in people’s activities once home from their holidays; reviews are written on sites such as TripAdvisor and Expedia and holidays snaps are uploaded daily. Social networking sites can offer credibility concerning user generated content and transform a brand. Bearing in mind future consumers and profits, the industry experts on the next page believe that online travel service providers should consider how the next generation are likely to interact with their brand and essentially what social networking means for marketers. 28 • Dr Frank Shaw of the Centre for Future Studies notes that, “in a decade’s time those Digital Natives, who today devote most of their online time to social networking sites like Facebook, will have a disposable income of their own to spend on purchases such as holidays. Established internet companies will need to respond to this generation, but they can’t just change their strategy. This will require an entirely new portfolio of brands. For the time being the majority of online wealth will continue to be controlled by the Baby Boomer generation who, due to retirement, have a great deal of disposable income.” • John Delaney, Principal Analyst at internet research firm Ovum, says “one only needs to look at where young people are spending the majority of their time online today to capture a glimpse of how this generation will want to interact with online service providers in the future. The new battleground for online customers will be fought in the social networking realm. Web 2.0 social models are about communicating and interacting with others in an open environment, often on a collaborative basis and on a scale not seen before.” Future trends of social networks and user-generated content for travel Ovumn predications Ovum predicts user-generated content and social networking will mutate. Some of the future trends will include: • Enhanced user-generated content services that draw more on mapping and location, plus developments around what users can do with photos and how they share them. • More ‘Second Life’-type social networks will appear. • More selective, invitation-only specialist sites will develop alongside the horizontal giants. • The addition of mobile features to social networks. • A shift towards revenue sharing. Talented amateurs in particular will increasingly expect to be paid for what they create, which will introduce new business dynamics and revenue models for usergenerated content. 29 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l What should travel marketers be doing online? Top 10 ‘must do’s’ for a great travel website by Catriona Campbell and Catherine Fox, Foviance – experts in usability. 1. Researching and booking travel online has never been more popular, recent figures suggest that up to 55% of internet users in the UK book their holidays online. However there is still room for improvement when considering the overall customer experience. 2. Get the beginning of the search process right. Most well known travel websites score well for the first step of the booking process, featuring a prominent search engine on the homepage. However, many search engines still can’t respond intelligently when users misspell city or airport names. Ensure that reasonable alternatives are offered. Although we concede it might be unreasonable for search engines to correctly spell names such as Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu (a town in New Zealand!). 3. Customers can now book a holiday at very short notice and even on a whim. Search engines should facilitate both the long-term planner and the ‘whim’ customer; for example, incorporate searches for weekends or long weekends and offer choices either side of their selected date. 4. Travel websites should allow customers to sort search results by a range of categories such as price and star ratings. Poorly presented results pages can be a nightmare for customers to negotiate – too much choice is often no choice at all! 5. Customers will soon migrate to another travel website if they are confronted by a convoluted and painful booking process! In addition, few travel websites offer the facility to save searches from individual sessions - such features will encourage repeat visits. 6. Traditional online channels such as ‘word of mouth’ have an online equivalent in the form of user and peer reviews. It is becoming more common for customers to post pictures, videos and write ups of their travel experiences on travel websites where such facilities are available. These reviews can be important influencers for potential customers. 30 7. A recent Forrester report found that online customers favoured special offers/coupons and customer ratings/reviews at the top of their list of expected content on travel websites. 8. Foviance research has also shown that online customers no longer want a ‘flat’ online experience when using travel websites. They want to be engaged in the process of looking for their holiday and a variety of multi media resources. 9. For example videos (website based and user generated), localised interactive maps (such as Google mash ups), travel widgets (to add to MySpace, Facebook, personal web pages and blogs), and apps (to do lists, planners etc) are important new trends featured on progressive travel websites. One travel website provider is going that one step further and experimenting with creating a virtual travel community within Second Life to promote its brand and to target the student traveller market! 10. Finally, remember that an accessible website is also a usable one! Many travel websites still fail to meet basic accessibility standards. Common accessibility issues found on travel websites include: images without alt text, the reliance on JavaScript for navigation, the use of inappropriate colour palettes offering poor contrasts and confusing navigation. From the search results that you browse, are they mainly in the....? Special offers/coupons 46% User ratings/reviews 45% 42% Product or price comparison tools 34% Customer testimonials 20% Product videos Ability to subscribe to email alerts or ASS alerts 20% Discussion boards/forums 19% Ability to personalize the site or create a personal profile 18% Quizzes or questionnaires 12% Ability to upload or view your own content Entertaining games 9% 6% 31 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l What should travel marketers be doing online? Better Together – The value of combining search and display in a travel campaign by Nick Drew, EMEA Search Research Manager, Microsoft Advertising. “We know consumers don’t restrict themselves to one medium when thinking about making a purchase, but use different media to make a decision. So the ideal campaign shouldn’t be restricted to one medium or channel, but should mirror that consumer journey, presenting the consumer with a relevant message at each stage of the process. Working with comScore and a major travel campaign, we were able to show that an online travel campaign that uses both search and display is more effective than one that makes use of only one of these formats.” The Research start term The research 13.5 11.9 5FTU $POUSPM Exposed to campaign Not exposed to campaign 14.1 %JTQMBZ POMZ $POUSPM 4FBSDI POMZ $POUSPM 4FBSDI"/% EJTQMBZ $POUSPM • Consumers selected from comScore’s online panel • Control samples carefully matched to test groups t$POTVNFSTTFMFDUFEGSPNDPN4DPSFTPOMJOFQBOFM • Behaviour of the groups during and after the campaign compared t$POUSPMTBNQMFTDBSFGVMMZNBUDIFEUPUFTUHSPVQT t#FIBWJPVSPGUIFHSPVQTEVSJOHBOEBGUFSUIFDBNQBJHODPNQBSFE Display and search: driving response The chart shows the increase in site traffic stemming from the different elements of the advertising. 32 The chart on the previous page shows the increase in traffic to the advertiser website generated by the different elements of the campaign; the combination of search and display was much more effective than either the search or the display elements on their own. Display and search: driving engagement The increase in page impressions generated by each element of the advertising campaign was tracked. Display and search: driving purchases? ComScore’s tracking recorded consumers as far as making a purchase on the advertiser’s site. Again, the combination of the search and display elements of the campaign was much more effective in increasing sales than either element on its own. 33 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l What should travel marketers be doing online? • Across measures of response, engagement and (most importantly!) sales, the combined search and display advertising was much more effective than either search or display in isolation. • While the concept of integrating these elements in an online schedule isn’t new, this research reinforces the importance and value of combining search and display formats in an online travel campaign. Microsoft Advertising, 2008 Yahoo! agree that integrating search and display ads significantly increase engagement and purchases: • Online is the starting point of the consumer journey; as such, online advertising is highly influential at every stage of the process • Display stimulates awareness and places your brand top-of-mind • Search is used throughout: • • t the early/mid stages to gather information A At the end stage to assist in the final purchase decision • While individual exposure to search or display advertising is effective in driving lifts in visitation, engagement and purchasing – the advertising is most effective when a user is exposed to both forms: • • tilise display’s strength in reach U Combined with search’s strength in sales lift Search & Display > Filling complimentary roles Search & Display Audience Combining both leads to a greater sales uplift and a wider audience reach mass reach = greater sales volume 34 highly targeted = greater sales se decision based on start term 13.5 1 Search & Display > Better push down the funnel Search & Display > Better push down the funnel 2 11.9 14.1 c 33 m 100 y 0 k 8 Key Stages of the Customer Purchase Funnel c 0 m 3 y 100 k 30 0 m 98.82 y 12.55 k 0 c 0 m 0 y 0 k 61 c 0 m 35 y 85 k 0 c 0 m 61 y 97 k 0 c 60 m 47 y 0 k 30 Online Display Advertising: Helps create brand short-list for in-market shoppers Initial Awareness: ‘First Learn’ Information Gathering: ‘Further Learn’ Purchase Decision: ‘Most Influenced’ Search Engine Marketing: Allows shoppers to obtain more information on short-listed brands Search Engine Marketing & Websites: Aids in final comparison by routing to blogs, consumer reviews and corporate risks oated Yahoo!, 2008 Affiliate marketing and the travel industry – The perfect travelling companion? From Platform-A’s buy.at “Affiliate marketing is particularly effective for the travel sector because of the diversity of publishers, ranging from those who create targeted and relevant content for a campaign, integrating sophisticated tools such as ‘travel wizards’, to those that harvest the long tail through niche sites and blogs. Successful aggregators such as Expedia and Lastminute have made excellent use of this channel.” - Michael Steckler, MD, Platform-A. 35 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l What should travel marketers be doing online? Travel marketers spend an average of 16% of their online budget in the channel to drive 18% of their online sales and revealed the following facts: • 18% of online travel sales are driven through affiliate marketing. • Affiliate marketing delivers good volume for 84% of travel brands. • 56% of travel marketers find affiliate marketing ‘very cost effective’. 84% of marketers in the travel sector say that affiliate marketing drives a high or medium volume and 56% report it is very cost effective for customer acquisition. • 71% of travel companies have increased their spend on affiliate marketing over the past two years and around a quarter of travel firms, have at least doubled their investment in the channel. • Barriers to further growth in this sector include restricted budgets which are considered a ‘major’ or ‘minor’ barrier by more than half the sample. • 68% also see ‘lack of internal resource’ as a barrier compared with 61% of respondents who work in financial services. • More than half the travel marketers surveyed also see difficulty in attracting affiliates as a barrier and a third consider problems with tracking as a barrier. “85% of people have been on both domestic trips and abroad in the past 12 months. That leaves just under 15% who have booked a holiday in the UK or abroad but not yet travelled, dispelling myths that people are staying home because of fears over the credit crunch.” - Linda Fox, Travolution 36 Observations and trends in travel by Five by Five Digital Taking the whole family • Multi-generational holidays are becoming the norm requiring operators to accommodate the needs of children, parents and grandparents in one hit. This is happening because of the aging profile of our nation and more wealthy grandparents taking a more active role in family lives. Eco-friendly • Altruism and eco-friendly holidays will also become increasingly important, especially with the trend to explore new, unseen lands. The holiday must be both sustainable and awe-inspiring. A difficult balance but one that can deliver both stand-out and ability to charge a premium for the operator. Mass premiumisation re-defines luxury • The luxury bar is being raised as the mass market has been able to afford ever more exotic holidays funded either on credit and home equity. • To counter this, inconspicuous consumption has replaced ostentation and garishness in search of unique and authentic experiences, setting true luxury holidays apart. This seeking of new experiences is also re-defining that luxury doesn’t always equate to highly expensive; exclusivity, lesser-travelled paths and differentiated places to capture the imagination and provide social currency as the new commodities. • This is re-enforced by up and coming destinations in China, India, Africa, the Middle East and Southern America competing with the traditional mainstay long-haul destinations. Train travel is discovering it’s own romantic renaissance with Eurostar renewing the interest in France. Traditional luxury cruising is also making a return with two in five luxury holidays. eMarketer, Brand Republic, Luxury Institute, MinTel 37 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l What should travel marketers be doing online? The credit crunch impact • The luxury sector is fairly robust when it comes to the predicted credit crunch because of the wealth of the consumers in the sector. Reductions in city bonuses may have moderate repercussions. The mainstream will no longer be able to afford to trade up so the budget break will return en masse. Catch late bookers – search strategy tips from Google: The highest query volume exists across the travel sector from June through to August to drive customers to your site: 1. Ensure budgets are in place for peak annual traffic. 2. Ensure bidding is most aggressive at the start of the period. 3. Allocate budget for late summer booking opportunity when efficiency is greater. 4. Assign budget for late August bank holiday weekend. 4 key areas of opportunity for 2009: Queries are growing aligned with holiday periods; post- Easter surge in searches coincided with school holidays, peaking in the 7 days up to 12th April in 2008 at 39% y-o-y growth. 1. Anticipate query growth of over 30% over the summer when setting budgets. 2. C laim excess search inventory arising from industry capacity reductions. 3. O ptimise positioning by varying CPCs in cost-effective shoulder periods. 4. A nticipate aggressive CPC bidding at peak times with less industry capacity and consequently higher late prices. Google, ‘Searching for the Sun’, 2008 38 “Most travel companies don’t think about customer relationships; they make the booking, and don’t take it any further….if someone has come to you, you should be building a relationship with them so they come back. The travel industry is slow to realise the potential of each customer; it’s good at bringing in sales, but not good at going after repeat business. It is much cheaper to hold on to existing customers than it is to bring in new ones.” - Phyllis Nsiah, Marketing Manager, KnowledgeWire Systems Channel convergence and customer engagement from Russell Gould, Director of Ecommerce, Thomas Cook. Thomas Cook retains their customer base and builds upon their brand through channel convergence and customer engagement: Customer Contact • By using a defined 4 point strategic plan Thomas Cook are able to retain old and acquire new customers. • Maintaining customer contact through email marketing – from ‘your holiday countdown starts here’ to the post holiday review. • Customer review pages and a ranking facility, putting the customer forward as a ‘brand advocate’. • Building a customer to customer relationship regarding the brand. 39 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l What should travel marketers be doing online? Thomas Cook Engage • Successful customer engagement produces the right results so they keep coming back. • Understanding how the modern consumer thinks and behaves and therefore what they expect from their travel retailer. Social Media • Allowing the customer to create a shortlist and send it to their travelling companions makes it easier and more specific and convenient for the customer, creating a ‘simplified journey around the site’. E-magazine • Merging traditional email communication with video to produce an interactive and engaging e-magazine/flyer. Thomas Cook had a very positive response, 40% clicked through to the website via the e-magazine. 40 It’s all about the customer • Make holiday search easier by remembering key factors about your customer - make them feel valued. • It’s a crowded market so avoid the temptation of a ‘hard sell’ approach with customers. • Reach out to them discretely and sensibly so not to alienate. “Email should never be seen as a standalone medium, but should be one of a number of integrated communication channels used throughout the contact lifecycle. With a lot of competition in the travel sector from both established intermediaries and social media sites, travel companies must focus on improving the relationship with their users by providing relevant, engaging content that will keep the user coming back regularly and delivering this content across whatever channel the user prefers – at the time the user requests it, and in the format the user asks for”. - Stuart Aplin, Account Director, Steak Travolution’s 22 travel must have touch points Pre Booking 1. S earching for inspiration Websites with unique, quirky or interesting content can be optimised for natural search allowing sites to reach users before they have formed their travel plans. Sites can appear against search terms that would be viable in paid search but allow user engagement at a very early stage of the travel planning process. 41 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l What should travel marketers be doing online? 2. C losing the loop through search ICM research suggests that 47% of users watch TV with a laptop connected to the internet at the same time. Tying in offline activity with paid search campaigns maximises the effectiveness of both channels as users go online to find more information. 3. O nline PR Well-managed online PR will have a positive effect on natural search rankings through appearing on sites such as Google news, gaining inbound links and creating extra content to publish on your website. Search engines love sites that regularly publish new, unique content. 4. C ontextual Advertising As well as paying for ‘adwords’ in search results, which promote ‘sponsored links’, travel firms can sponsor them for AdSense, and advertise on websites with content that is contextually linked to their travel or holiday services. 5. E mail Marketing When designed and targeted well, email messages can drive huge numbers to a website or particular promotion – even if the recipient was not looking for a product. Travelzoo, provider of the weekly Top 20 newsletter, pioneered the concept of pushing lists of late deals or distressed stock to consumers. It has since attracted 12 million subscribers in 14 countries. On Holiday 6. S MS alerts Mobile will undoubtedly be the next big thing, but for the time being – when up against the influence of other media channels and touch points – it remains arguably at its most relevant in-resort. 42 Purchase 7. A ffiliate networks Affiliate marketing allows travel firms to invite third-party websites to host links, usually in the form of banner ads, buttons or text ads, and these affiliates are paid according to a cost-per-action model when a click results in a sale. Advertising should be tailored to appropriate partner sites. 8. P rice-comparison site Price comparison is easier on the internet than feature comparisons. Websites such as Cheapflights are able to automate price comparisons from a variety of advertisers. 9. M eta-search engines Travel meta-search is similar to price comparison but with one crucial difference: it doesn’t rely on the source of a product to freely hand over the cost and availability. Allowing sites to grab content throws open the floodgates for consumers to view products on sites the source may never have come across. 10. N avigational Search (brand) According to Hitwise, 88% of searches in the UK are for brand names. A clear and effective strategy for both paid and natural search is vital for every travel website. 11. S earching for the best options Typical searches for ‘flight + destination’ or ‘ hotel + destination’ give travel websites the opportunity to market to consumers who have framed the purchase decision but not decided where they want to purchase their travel. Deep-linking to relevant content is the key to providing a great user experience. 12. S earching for the best price As opposed to the classic sales funnel, the online pipeline often opens back up again as users search for the best deal. Showing accurate prices in the copy is a great way to drive users to your site – beware though – you must deliver on these prices! 43 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l What should travel marketers be doing online? On your way 13. T ext services More travel firms are using SMS or text messages to stay in touch with their customers as they get away. EasyJet and Opodo have launched a SMS service enabling customers to receive a text containing flight details. It is designed to nurture loyalty with the brand. Research 14. E -brochures As well as being cheaper to distribute, electronic brochures are also greener. Ian Champness, founding director of online affiliate marketing firm Travel – where, says e-brochures also offer better conversion rates and return on investment. As for the consumer there’s instant choice and convenience. 15. S ocial networks Social networking is a good way for travel brands to get consumers. For example, Facebook has a group titled “CUBA – for those who love to travel to CUBA!!” which has 200 members. Other specialist social networking sites include WAYN.com. Key marketing on this media is not to ‘spam’ members, but to interact, offering valuable information and services. 16. U ser-Review website Brand exposure is guaranteed on the plethora of user review sites currently streaming into every corner of the online travel experience – but the message is not always positive. The pioneer and current market leader TripAdvisor, brings in around 30 million globally and attracts advertising from hotels, tour operators, online travel agencies and airlines. 17. D estination information search Well-optimised sites with unique content such as city guides, or better still, ideas for activities have a strong likelihood of appearing in the natural search results. 44 18. B rand comparison research The internet makes comparison between brands easy. Just key ‘Thistle’ and ‘Raddison’ into TripAdvisor.com to understand how consumers can find out what people really think about brands. In January Hayes and Jarvis said it experienced an increase in bookings online simply after adding TripAdvisor reviews to its website. 19. R SS Feeds Internet–savvy consumers can set up RSS feeds to their email account or personalised webpage. When they return 20. R eview Sites and User Generated Content Travellers who’ve used review sites to help pick their holiday providers may want to feed back information on to the same site. Likewise, holiday makers often like to give their opinion about a package holiday to the operator or agent they brought from. Making feedback forums easy to find and use can reinforce a positive brand impression. UGC can have significant natural search benefits for your website. 21. P hotosharing websites Standalone image hosting sites such as Flickr (from Yahoo!) and Picaso (Google), alongside the photo capabilities of social networks, offer enormous opportunities to get back in front of customers at the moment when they are at their most ‘soft’ – in other words when the memorable moments of a holiday fuel ideas of taking another trip. 22. P ost Trip Survey The business benefit of producing a ‘Welcome Home’ email is arguably one of the most difficult touch points to pull off. If implemented well the message will go along way in helping firms understand how to retain the customer. 45 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Which brands are flying high with their online activity? “The internet has helped create the ‘empowered’ consumer – travel companies need to be able to offer more than just the best price – a scenario that could see the balance of power shift yet again.” - Martin Cowen, Travolution Targeting the youth of today from STA: • STA Travel uses a mixture of online and traditional media to reach its target student audience. • Marketing Director Celia Pronto says the starting point is to identify what they are consuming, the sites where they are spending time and what they are doing while they are there. • “This audience moves and changes so rapidly and it’s vital to understand their behaviour, identify what strategy would work in those areas and how the STA brand fits into them, then make the commercials work.” 46 • Pronto says search remains a staple marketing ingredient but she detects a notable shift in the development and adoption of new technologies, such as social media. • “We have some annual campaigns that are key for us from a strategic and return-on-investment point of view: a big round-theworld campaign at the start of the year, a gap year campaign for the A-level results season and a big Australia campaign towards the back end of the year. There’s a constant level of experimentation around new campaigns. We build our budgets sensibly, based on all channels including new technology.” Silver Surfers come of age on the internet with Warner Breaks: • Warner Breaks’ integrated online marketing strategy reflects the increasing confidence of the over-50s market in terms of internet use. • Warner’s strategy combines search (paid and natural), banner advertising, affiliate networks paid on a commission basis, and e-mail marketing. • “You can’t sponsor on wildly different search terms. We have to find terms that will appeal to the 50+ market. And our methods tend to be less intrusive, not loud, shouty or gimmicky. But the returns on banner advertising are getting much stronger and the wider opportunities – Teletext, Ancestry sites, Friends Reunited – generate large volumes of reach.” Matthew Finch, Online Sales and Marketing Manager, Warner Breaks. • Finch says this is an increasingly important part of the strategy but the rise of email marketing has been the most significant feature of the past year. • “Our database has trebled in the past 12 months, and we’re now able to segment it into different groups and tailor our messages for each group.” 47 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Which brands are flying high with their online activity? Optimising the National Express checkout process for better returns from Maxymiser: • National Express had identified an opportunity to lower the abandon rate from the third page of the checkout process for their coach booking website. This blockage resulted in visitors who had already indicated some intent to buy leaving the site. • Maxymiser’s team executed a number of subtle alterations to content and calls to action on the page with the aim of stimulating visitor engagement and driving a higher percentage of visitors through to successful conversion. • It was decided that a multivariate test would be the most effective approach to determine the best performing combination of content. The variants jointly developed by Maxymiser and the client were tested with all live site visitors and the conversion rate of each combination monitored. • Hundreds of possible page combinations were tried, during the live test the underperforming combinations were taken out to maximise conversion rates at every stage. At the end of the testing period, after reaching statistical validity, Maxymiser provided National Express with conclusive results showing a push of 14.11% more visitors through to the 4th and final step in the registration process, immediately hitting bottom line revenue for National Express. • “Maxymiser’s technology has allowed us to gain valuable insight into the effect that copy has on visitors during a buying process. The 14% uplift we have gained through this initial engagement has lowered our cost per acquisition and allows us to be more competitive in our traffic acquisition efforts.” Kevin Milnes, Head of E-commerce at National Express. 48 Using viral to engage and build a potential customer database for Cosmos Lapland Christmas Holidays by Cowan Group: • Cowan Group produced a viral game, ‘The Snowbell Prize’, as it was a fun and interactive way to raise awareness of Cosmos Lapland Christmas Holidays. The tone of voice needed to be just right so that it would single out families and bring children into the decision making process. • Participants could only enter the prize draw if the viral email was forwarded on to a friend; this meant a database of names and qualified email addresses was achieved easily. • The viral game received 23,000 plays during a 2-week period on the run up to Christmas and achieved over 2,000 additional opted-in email addresses and comfortably exceeded the number of bookings target. • The game was ‘sticky’ enough to generate interest and competitive enough to encourage the player to pass the game onto others. With email sign-up, the game also helped to build a large database of names and contact details. Combining SEO, PPC and social media to boost awareness of Enjoy England from Steak: • Enjoy England’s mission is to grow the value of tourism throughout England all year round so they got in touch with Steak to build brand awareness online using an integrated campaign of paid search (PPC), search engine optimisation (SEO) and display advertising to target both UK residents and international visitors. • A social search project was also implemented to enable Enjoy England to interact with its UK target. Steak tested the client’s presence on Yahoo! Answers by answering the public’s questions regarding destinations and accommodation in England. The answers and site links posted by Steak received a number of “best answer” awards from Yahoo! users. This substantive use of Web 2.0 websites has allowed Enjoy England to operate as a virtual tourist information centre. 49 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Which brands are flying high with their online activity? • The Enjoy England website has witnessed a 1928% increase in visitor traffic from PPC since the campaign was taken over. This translates to an increased awareness of the brand as per the objectives, as well as greater enjoyment by native and non native visitors alike. Using communication, transparency and innovation to increase your affiliate programme from Disneyland Resort Paris and Tradedoubler: • Affiliate workshops and exclusive cinema screenings were held for top affiliates and prospective affiliates to build relations and encourage engagement with the programme. Securing key promotional slots including featured placements on the TradeDoubler interface and sponsorship of a bi-weekly affiliate newsletter to convey the benefits of the Disneyland Resort Paris programme. • Gave affiliates access to ‘magikit’ (http://magikit.co.uk/register. asp), an extra resource site for partners to download creative, logos, approved copy and additional Disney content. This made it even easier and more attractive for affiliates to promote the Disneyland Resort Paris brand. • When comparing the first quarters of 2007 and 2008, Disneyland Resort Paris increased sales through their affiliate programme by 82%. Online sales in FY07 represented 45% of Disneyland’s consumer direct business and internet sales have grown +80% in FY06 and +23% in FY07. • Disneyland Resort Paris has gone further than any of their closest rivals in building affiliate relationships and investing in the success of their programme. They introduced new incentives and commission levels, as well as access to Magikit, which was traditionally only available to offline partners, and this has demonstrated great results to date. 50 Conquering the skies through online display for BA’s Club World by Agency.com: • Agency.com identified the 2.6million regular business fliers, 1.6million of which have not flown with BA in the previous 12 months as key targets to reach from the campaign. • ‘The Grade’ part of Times Online hosted many different forms of display presenting the new Club World service. MPU’s, banners, rectangles and square in-page units. Please see image below for interaction rates. • 0.3% of users seeing the MPU ad played with one of the features, suggesting that within a contextually relevant page such as The Grade, users are much more inclined to interact. • During September 2007 to February 2008 the drive to page activity delivered 35k+ users to the Club World site, from the Grade section, with on average each user viewing the page for 2 minutes and 4 seconds. 51 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Which brands are flying high with their online activity? Improving Virgin Holidays direct sales through website improvements from Underwire: • Specialist digital eCRM agency, Underwired, has been producing Virgin Holidays’ eCRM programme and tactical email marketing campaigns for the past five years, with impressive results, including: £3 million of direct sales from the first email; average click-through rate of 48%; and an increase in average spend per customer by 6%. • Underwired strategic planner Ellie Beasley says: “Virgin Holidays had tried online advertising, it had a reasonable website, and there was the occasional email newsletter. The team knew that more could be archived, but needed some help to bring it all together under a unified digital strategy based around customer acquisition and retention.” • Underwired redesigned the website to make it easier to use, and to bring bookings to the homepage. It then produced fast-turnaround online campaigns, which were tracked. This culminated in the worlds largest travel industry eCRM programme. Last year five million emails were sent across 40 industry segments. • As well as generating £3 million in direct sales from the first email alone, the Underwired initiative helped move 6% of sales from agents to direct channels, with a direct impact on the bottom line. Some 22% of all holiday bookings are now made online, and the eCRM programmes core campaign generates around £1 for every £26 spent. 52 5 social network applications 1. ’Geckogo!’ on Bebo 4. ‘Cities I’ve Visited’ by Trip Advisor on Facebook 2. ‘TravBuddy’ by TravBuddy on Facebook 3. ‘Trip Countdown’ by STA Travel on Myspace 5. ‘Travel Brain’ by users of Facebook 53 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Which brands are flying high with their online activity? 3 IAB / Microsoft Advertising Creative Showcase Award winning campaigns British Airways Attractive Prices by Agency.com - June 2007 runner up http://portfolio.london. agency.com/clients/ba/ attractive%5Fprices%5Fcs/ Graham Fink, MC Saatchi “Great user interaction” Virgin Trains Nature Speaks by Glue London - October 2007 winner http://www.gluelondon. com/showcase/2007/ creativeshowcaseoctober.html Giles Montgomery, Creative Director Grand Union: “Yes, these are TV spots disguised as banners. But they’re miles more fun and engaging than most of the interactive nonsense out there.” 54 Emirates Non Stop Fernando by Lean Mean Fighting Machine - November 2007 winner http://www.leanmeanfighting machine.co.uk/awards/emirates/ nonstopfernando/ Matt Powell, UK Creative Director Profero: “I predict this campaign to go on to win gold at Cannes. It answers the brief, communicates the message, but has a bit of lunacy about it. I love it, especially the ad where you can enter any timecode.” 55 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l The reviews are in! NMA site inspections Openskies www.flyopenskies.com Nic Howell - 05.05.08 The website is clear and clutter free. The look and feel of the website is effective but the branding is consistently pretentious throughout with quotes such as, ‘every seat exceptional’. Scores: Content Usability Branding Monetisation Total 14/25 17/25 20/25 20/25 71/100 National Express East Coast www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com Suzanne Bearne - 10.01.08 An excellent initiative for frequent travellers who want to grab cheap tickets is the advanced ticket alert. Overall it’s a clear fresh looking site. 56 Scores: Content Usability Branding Monetisation Total 19/25 19/25 14/25 21/25 73/100 Tropical Sky www.tropicalsky.co.uk Greg Brooks - 23.02.06 Other sites will have a more comprehensive range of destinations and hotels, but there are some competitively priced deals on offer here. The site keeps you wanting more, however online booking isn’t available you have to phone. Scores: Content Usability Branding Monetisation Total 57 15/25 21/25 18/25 5/25 59/100 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Dos & Don’ts Dos: Do - expand keyword lists for local attractions and most popular destinations. Do - develop ad creatives and search campaigns tailored to the highest growth destinations. Do - ensure separate budget for peak holiday query periods (June – August) and allocate budget for august bank holiday and late summer bookings. Do - remember customers judge on experience and they can share these with the world via social networking sites. Do - implement technology correctly – carry out ruthless testing to ensure inefficient implementation does not create a bad user experience. 58 Don’t: Don’t - advertise prices in copy which are not actually available. Don’t - always generalise; tailor you message to your audience but don’t alienate other demographics. Don’t - focus on one discipline, there are a variety of tools out there and research shows using different disciplines such as search and display are more effective together. Don’t - use the same approach for all mediums i.e. TV, print and online. What works on one might not work on the other. Tailor your message, focusing on the strengths of each specific meduim. Don’t - generalise eflyers and newsletters, target them properly so as not to alienate customers. 59 I n t e r n e t Ve r t i c a l S e r i e s Tr a v e l Acknowledgements Contributors Chloe Chadwick Marketing Executive, IAB Harriet Clarke Team Assistant, IAB Adam Oldfield Web Assistant, IAB Amy Kean Senior PR and Marketing Manager, IAB Sorcha Proctor Research Manager, IAB With thanks to… Travolution, Guardian, Askmen, Times Online, Travel Supermarket, Hitwise, Google, Nielsen//NetRatings, Harvest Digital, comScore, Foviance, Crescent Communications, Netizen Digital, Ovumn, Microsoft Advertising, Yahoo!, Platform A, Buy.at, Five by Five Digital, Thomas Cook, Steak, STA, Virgin Holidays, Warner Breaks, Maxymiser, Cowan Group, Disney, Tradedoubler, Agency.com, Underwire, NMA. 60 Drawings by Amelie Matthews (Aged 6) travel Travel online is booming, not least because of new products and services offered by marketers and retailers, such as emagazines and personalised videos that continue to make the customer experience just that little bit more convenient, and engaging. Take a trip through the third instalment of the IAB Vertical Series, Travel and explore the latest trends in consumer behaviour, case studies, recent statistics and venture of the beaten track with useful links, tips and other travel essentials. 14 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NF tel: +44 (0)20 7050 6969 • fax: +44 (0)20 7242 9928 • email: [email protected]