MediaPost | Marketing: Travel

The Future Of Virtual Tourism

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:00:05 -0400

About a year ago in this column, I waxed poetic about the potential Google's self-driving car has to revolutionize the rental car industry. Since the car is in the very early stage, proof-of-concept testing, such a revolution is years, if not decades, off; however, there is one revolution that Google is already helping fuel today-virtual tourism.

Boston Strong: Travel Marketers, Not So Much

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:45:02 -0400

Some travel brands kept marketing like nothing had happened.

Travel Like A Native ... Advertiser

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:51:02 -0400

Everyone is talking about native advertising these days as the hot new trend. Since there are so many different flavors of native, I thought I should start with some broad explanations and examples. Native advertising is when an advertiser publishes or sponsors content as part of the user experience. So instead of running banner ads around the editorial content, the brands actually weave their content into the site. Native can be a video, photo, infographics or a text article. An advertorial could be native. Facebook Sponsored Stories and Twitter Sponsored Tweets are also a form of native. When an advertiser adds value and provides interesting, unique or funny content for the user rather than simply shoving marketing messages down their throat, that would be native.

Tracking What Matters: A New Mindset For Evaluating PR

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:46:02 -0400

Numbers don't tell the full story, it turns out. After considering circulation and impressions of media coverage and debating various reporting methodologies, public relations industry leaders believe that relying exclusively on quantitative measures to evaluate results is insufficient. As a result, it's critical to layer on a qualitative element to measure communications effectiveness. With that in mind, here are five tips for reporting meaningful travel PR results.

Selling, Sort Of, On Social Media

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:46:02 -0400

It's a well-accepted truism by now that "you can't sell on social media," but as savvy suppliers have become more sophisticated about the use of social media, it's also become true that social media can be part of a multi-leg -- even multi-directional -- path toward sales.

Whole Foods To Put Travel To The Test

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:02:02 -0400

Non-travel brands look to build customer engagement through travel.

Mash-Up: Mobile, Local and Social Content Come Together

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 07:19:46 -0400

As search engine optimization and marketing evolve to become mobile, local and social, the confluence of search and social is the most exciting tourism marketing trend. That was just one of the many insightful takeaways from the Eye for Travel's Social Media and Mobile Strategies Conference I attended last week.

Daylight Marketing Time

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 07:33:41 -0400

Come major celebrations like Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve, media are inundated with promotional tie-ins: packages, contests - a great deal of it amazingly similar.. When everybody does something, nobody gets noticed.

Mobile & Those Outdoor Banner Ad 'Thingys'

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 06:15:01 -0400

While wading into the waterfall of tweets on "the Twitter" a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon one that I wish to heaven I could properly attribute. But alas, all I can remember is the gist of the message and not the sender. It went a little something like this: At conference & I swear this 20something speaker just referred to billboards as "You know, those outdoor banner ad thingys."WOW."

Rethinking What Hotel Loyalty Means

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 06:40:40 -0500

Can any one brand realistically expect to capture a significant share of wallet?

Destination Branding: Find Your Unique Voice

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:51:45 -0500

Ask most tourism destinations whether or not they have a brand, and most would answer "sure." In some cases, that's very true. Mention Austin, San Francisco, Kansas City, or Portland, Ore., and you have a pretty clear idea of what makes each city distinctly unique (the last one being my hometown, I can say that we've had just a little help in crystallizing the brand characteristics of our fair city from a certain "Portlandia").

Hilton, 'Onion' Create Humorous, Effective Campaign

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 07:07:49 -0500

Whenever the GEICO "gecko" comes on, I quickly mute the TV or leap across the room to turn off the radio. I find that creature incredibly annoying and wouldn't buy insurance from that company even if I could save 100% in one minute. And that demonstrates the potential pitfalls of using humor in marketing. When it's well executed and, well, funny it can be richly rewarding. When it's not, well...

Big Data Says Your Flight Is Delayed Or Whatever

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:06:28 -0500

Flight delays are an inevitable occurrence. Storms roll in. Equipment breaks. Staff oversleeps. We travelers don't like it, but we understand the sometimes unpredictable nature of the business. Still, flight delays are a frustrating experience for all involved, and one that the best airlines in the world work to limit through a mix of staff training, maintenance, and customer communication.

What's On The Minds Of Executives?

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 07:26:30 -0500

ATME Think Tank provides a variety of perspectives.

10 Easy Email Secrets For The New Year

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 07:15:57 -0500

Email marketing yields one of the top returns on investment. According to MarketingProfs, every dollar spent on email returns $40 compared to keyword ads at a $17 ROI and banners way down at $2. Yet, I have seen too many travel RFPs that only focus on display while skipping email. I have also seen too many campaigns that were well funded and somehow could not afford to produce one HTML email creative.

Changing The Way We Think About Change

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 05:44:27 -0500

The year is still new, and change lingers in the air. It's natural to resolve to "change" with the New Year - to eat less, to exercise more, to alter routines. But is change always good when it comes to goals? Isn't it better to sometimes stake out a path and stick to it?

What If CES Was A Hotel?

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 06:54:56 -0500

Clearly, not every hotel room needs to create a lasting impression. After all, we're asleep for most of the time we spend in them. However, imagine if CES operated a hotel chain catering to business travelers. Do you think that hotel would be boring? Not on your life! At the CES Hotel, you could waterproof your iPhone while waiting at reception. And the plants would tell the staff when they needed water. And don't even get me started about the flexible-display phone that they would have in every room-they'd have to tie those things down to keep them from walking out of the hotel.

Remembering. It's All About People

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 08:20:05 -0500

The passing of colleagues reminds us of what's important.

Making The Most Of Your New Media Budget, Part 3

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 10:42:01 -0500

Part Three: Storytelling Through Numbers

Is The Inn Crowd Ready For Digital Marketing?

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 08:21:24 -0500

Breakfast may always be ready, but is the bed & breakfast industry ready to leapfrog into the Technology Age with a high-tech, social media-driven company that eliminated its much-beloved print directories? Well, we're about to find out.

The Social Photo Wars And You

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 03:14:16 -0500

In case you missed it, there's a war a-brewing for control of our photographic lives-a war being waged between Facebook and Twitter. Once half-jokingly dubbed "a photo sharing site with some chat attached" by noted VC Fred Wilson, Facebook stands as the reigning photographic champion, having gobbled up mobile photo champion Instagram in this year's purported billion-dollar acquisition. Standing as the David to Facebook/Instagram's Goliath would appear to be none other than Twitter, who is rumored to be close to launching photo features of its own.

Hotel Rooms Shouldn't Require A Service Manual

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 06:47:06 -0500

Are hotels losing sight of what it takes to make guests comfortable?

Making The Most Of Your New Media Budget, Part 2

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 06:22:00 -0500

Since more than 90% of travel planning is done online, having a compelling online presence is essential for tourism brands. When it comes to identifying priorities for where to advertise, options include pay-per-click, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, e-mails, banner ads and branded content. With limited marketing funds, how do you get the most from your media spend?

A Very Appy Thanksgiving

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 06:34:55 -0500

According to AAA, some 43.6 million Americans will travel this 2012 Thanksgiving season with an average roundtrip distance of some 588 miles. Of those travelers, only 3.14 million are expected to take to the air-a slight decline over 2011. Any way you cut it, it's a lot of time in transit-and a lot of time to kill with the ones you love.

Test Web Sites Often To Ensure Maximum Potential

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 14:41:04 -0500

When it comes to websites - no matter the platform or device - looks count. It shouldn't be forgotten amidst all the wiz bang apps and devices and that the way a web page appears on a computer, tablet or phone remains crucial. In fact, the recent experience of Alitalia, the Italian flag carrier, demonstrates the potential of testing web pages on an ongoing basis to see what works.

Is It Time For The Caribbean To Have An Airline Of Its Own?

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 06:09:57 -0500

The region's continued cry for more airlift calls for an innovative approach

Social Media Generates Bookings And ROI

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 06:16:11 -0400

Everyone agrees that social media is important and on the rise. But I still come across so many skeptics on a weekly basis when it comes to getting support for social media providing a strong return on investment. Maybe some of these impressive stats will help convince those naysayers.

4 Mobile Trends To Watch For In 2013

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 06:27:26 -0400

We've all known about the "power of mobile" for quite some time now. Smartphones already have a big impact on the travel industry, and with the steady increase of mobile adoption, they will continue to heavily influence the way consumers make travel plans.

Making The Most Of Your New Media Budget, Part 1

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 07:22:53 -0400

Part One: Narrowcasting Your Target Audience For Optimum Results: Knowing that much of today's travel planning occurs online, it can feel impossible to sort through myriad available communications channels -- pay-per-click, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, e-mails, banner ads and branded content. With limited marketing funds, what's a travel marketer to do?

Be First But Do It The Right Way

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 10:26:03 -0400

There's a lot of discussion in journalism these days about how important it is to be first -- at a time when getting a "scoop" means breaking a story a few seconds ahead of the next (or next thousand) news outlet. That has led to mistakes and embarrassments.