Hello everyone I m Quie Ying, my team and I head up the digital marketing for Tourism WA and I am here to let you know what the online s going on. 1
In the last 30 years, mankind has produced more information than in the previous 5000. At the same time attention spans are down to 8 seconds and falling. On that note, I hope you can all bear with me as I race through the next 20 to tell you about (go to next slide) 2
Who we are What we do How to get involved Tips and trends 3
So who are we? 4
We re a team of 4 We sit alongside our colleagues in campaigns and brand marketing, destination PR and the famils team. Collectively we re known as the marketing services team. Marketing services, domestic and international marketing make up the marketing division. And of course, marketing is one of the divisions at Tourism WA. The other divisions include Events (Daisy presented earlier), Investment & Infrastructure (Claire who talked about all things aviation is from this division) and corporate business services (the guys who literally keep the lights on and pay the invoices). 5
What do we do in digital marketing? 6
In a nutshell, we are responsible for managing our owned, earned and some of our paid channels. Our consumer facing website and our email marketing falls under owned. Social media both community management and social advertising falls under earned. And we are active in Google and Baid search under paid. Online advertising such as leaderboards etc falls under our campaigns team as part of a campaign media buy. Which already goes to show that digital is not an exclusive activity. 7
WACOM is our consumer facing website. Year on year it attracts from 2.5m 3m visits a year. It is our key call to action for all our marketing and is a source of high level information for potential travelers. 8
It is available in 5 different languages. Geo targeted to our key markets. 9
In Sep / Aug last year (2014) we released a redeveloped version and made our site responsive. 10
With full bleed imagery to inspire our audience 11
And 100 s of Destinations, attractions, accommodation and events listings to provide potential travelers with information about WA (A lot of these come from the national tourism database but more about this a little later) 12
On our website, we also have around 70 itineraries. We know that this is popular amongst consumers both qualitative research and our stats tell us so. We work with our RTO partners to establish what these should be so that potential travelers can be inspired and better informed on how they can holiday in Western Australia. Our itineraries, include key highlights, breaks down day to day journeys and provides useful information such as distances between places alongside beautiful images of our beautiful State. Key calls to action on these pages include links to the relevant RTO partner and Visitor Centre. 13
Staying in the owned category. 14
Our monthly email newsletter is called The Westerly We also send out ad hoc edms as part of our tactical campaigns with cooperative partners. Toni who is talking after me will tell you more about our cooperative partners. 15
We have a database of 120,000 Although a small list, we have fairly healthy open rates (around 25%) and click rates (8-11%). n 16
Our newsletters predominantly focus on destinations, attractions and experiences. We also include key events and tactical partner deals to align with our co-operative campaigns. 17
In the earned space... We re active in Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more recently on Instagram. This space is constantly changing and how we use these channels in the future is likely to change too as we incorporate learnings into our daily operational activities. 18
But for now For Facebook - We have over 300,000 likes - As at 30 Jun our monthly paid reach was 122k - As at 30 Jun our monthly organic reach 61k - Top 5 countries by way of community size is: AU (142k), UK (29k), Singapore (28k), USA (25k), MY (15k) For Instagram - 153 grams posted - 185k+ likes received - 5k+ comments On Twitter - 1.45m impressions in last 28 days (as at 13.08.15) - Ave number of tweets is 5 - Ave daily mentions is 30 Over to YouTube - 262 videos in total - 2600 subscribers to channel - Ave view duration is 37 - Top videos are: sunset bar perth @385k, Cottesloe @339k, Karijini national park @290k 19
We ve found that to have a presence on social media we need to advertise. Our media strategy for Facebook and Twitter can be divided into acquisition and engagement. What this means is that we split our budget to growing new likes and at the same time investing in ensuring that we get comments, likes and shares on Facebook or retweets and favourites for Twitter. Engagement tactics are important for us because we can have a large community but if they are not engaged they simply will not see our posts thanks to Facebooks Edgeranking system. 20
Our approach to content follows the following basic rules Themes Image led Test, test, test and test 21
We adhere to the following brand framework and ensure our content is fit for purpose. 22
Paid search is an effective means for us to gain traffic to our site and its content. We are active in AU, UK, NZ, US, SN + MY as well as DE and China. We made one key change in the last 12 18 months: we changed our KPI from CPC to Engagement on site. So, although we re paying more per click we re confident that we re reaching a more optimal audience. 23
So that s a quick snapshot of our owned, earned and paid channels. 24
This is a simple visual to demonstrate that allow I ve talked about them as owned, earned and paid they are actually all interconnected. Our social content feeds into our website, our website is the key call to action for our email marketing, we grow our email database through social channels and our search activity spans across our site and our social activity. Keep this interconnectedness in mind as I talk about how you can get involved in our digital marketing activities. 25
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In one simple answer: content. 27
Really I hear you say? 28
Yes, you heard me right. 29
Let s start with social media (everyone s favourite!) 1. Use our hashtag #thisiswa on Instagram in your caption so that we can see what you are posting. 2. This means we can pick it up and either repost or select it for our social stack on WACOM. 3. Like / Follow us so you can see what we are doing and join in the conversation 4. @mention us on Twitter / Facebook 30
To something a little less everyday. 1. Our consumer website is our key call to action for all our marketing activities 2. So, it s important that we have accurate and up to date content What can you do? 1. Update your ATDW listing (more information on how can be found on our corporate website) 2. Use a great image for your listing and share any great images with us so we can show case them for you 3. You re living and breathing the very product we sell. If you spot something outdated or inaccurate on our site tell us. 31
What is ATDW? It s the national database of tourism product. Supported by all the STOs it s a dynamic source of content for our websites and 100s of distributors including Tourism Australia. ========================== Total page views for FY1415 By national distributors 367,263 By Experience Extraordinary App 1,426,805 By westernaustralia.com 1,198,029 32
This categories of content in the database are: Destinations Attractions free and paid Accommodation Events Tours Information services Hire Transport Restaurants (De Groots) Most of these categories have been translated into Simple and Traditional Chinese (exceptions are restaurants and events). Total page views for FY1415 By national distributors 367,263 By Experience Extraordinary App 1,426,805 By westernaustralia.com 1,198,029 33
So if you are an accommodation provider, tour operator, transport, hire, information service or event organizer and accredited we d love you to list on the database. It s free. 34
We are heavily dependent on great imagery for our site. We draw these off our image library as a reliable source as well as from social media. 35
It s important that we have up to date and accurate information. If you spot something that is not quite right then do let us know. Stay tuned for our articles functionality. 36
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As you will hear from Toni TWA works with a variety of cooperative partners to promote WA. If you are not online bookable then do seriously consider it, if you are online bookable then do make sure that your products are distributed. 38
A quick summary on how to get involved: - Social media feeds our social activity and our website - ATDW a dynamic source of tourism product for our site - Online distribution to get your product out there with our key partners 39
I d love to hear from you on how else we can possibly work together. Come and chat to me later. 40
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Three key trends in 2015 Mobile Seamless Experiential No longer a headline but a trendline, mobile is indeed making booking ubiquitous especially bookings become more nimble and social. The consumer s experience playing a determining factor in decision making. By 2020 the travel world and digital will be Unbundled On demand Truly mobile Giving rise to the silent traveler. Fully independent and enabled through connectivity this traveler does not want to be sold to. Instead they are seeking a deeper connection and for authenticity in their experiences. 42
Skift 2020 Future of travel is at the intersection of technology + marketing and user experience + design Forward thinking travel brands are delivering deeper experiences to travelers by focusing on inspiration, personalization and a path towards self discovery Rise of the silent traveler (because they don t want to be sold anymore) The on demand economy and its impacts on unbundling travel services (ubiquity, efficiency, ease of use, connection and conversation) Ubiquitous booking 2020 = the unbundling of everything, the on-demandification of everything, the mobility of everything. Adobe / econsultancy Top trends for 2015 Customer experience, content marketing, data driven business, personalization, mobile and cross channel marketing Hotwire digital trends 2015 Unified digital experiences. Multiple screens, multiple methods, one story. The content car. Making advertising routine. Dr Data is around the corner. No such thing as a digital free lunch. Tech is not so darling. Talk to the hand cos the phone ain t listening. Movings fashion forward. Going digital: the road to general election. econsultancy. Where to best spend your money research paper. 42
Marketing budgets 2015 from econsultancy 38% of total budget is on digital marketing (same as LY) more companies spending more in digital than before, this trend is on the rise Where are they spending it on? - Content marketing (including customer experience) - Lead generation - SEO - Digital marketing technology (e.g. multivariate testing, CRM, analytics, conversion and optimization tools, etc) Where are they not spending it on? - Display advertising - Affiliate marketing - Paid search - Digital marketing technology (e.g. multivariate testing, CRM, analytics, conversion and optimization tools, etc) Owned, earned and paid - Paid media still takes large share of pie (39%), but plans are to decrease share - Owned media next (35%), but 67% plan to increase spend here - Earned (26%), but 71% plan to increase budgets 43
Why don t people spend more in digital? - Decrease in overall budgets - Company culture as a barrier is lessening - Other reasons are lack of understanding, reliance on traditional marketing and lack of staff 43
Marketing budgets 2015 from econsultancy Where are they not spending it on? - Display advertising - Affiliate marketing - Paid search Owned, earned and paid - Paid media still takes large share of pie (39%), but plans are to decrease share - Owned media next (35%), but 67% plan to increase spend here - Earned (26%), but 71% plan to increase budgets Why don t people spend more in digital? - Decrease in overall budgets - Company culture as a barrier is lessening - Other reasons are lack of understanding, reliance on traditional marketing and lack of staff 44
So, that s all well and good to know what the key trends are and where marketers are investing their budget but how do you know which path to follow? ================ 45
There is no magical answer, no Wizard of Oz. But you can find your own way through this digital spaghetti by: 1. Putting your thoughts down on paper but in a structured way. A widely used template is the maturity model. This simple grid can help you map out what it is that you need to do and can provide a pathway to your goals. 2. Become a modern marketer. Adopt a culture and approach to modern marketing and take things one step at a time down the right path for you, your yellow brick road. ==================== 46
Maturity model Simple grid to plot things out as you develop your (digital) marketing plan. 1. Strategy, change management, KPIs 2. Data and technology 3. People, teams and culture 4. Working practices, processes and tools 47
- Soft skills: ability to embrace change, spot opportunities, passionate to learn and curious It is essential for those with more digitally-focused skills to have an appreciation at least, and ideally good knowledge of, traditional marketing and brand skills (and vice versa). Whilst digital is changing marketing forever, classic marketing skills are still essential and those that can combine the two are well positioned within the broader organisation. - T-shaped / Pi Shaped people Those who have a strong vertical expertise but also wider knowledge or empathy for other digital disciplines This is not to say that vertical expertise is less important, but more that when this is combined with that wider understanding it is increasingly valuable in appreciating the wider context of specialist work, identifying opportunities for greater collaboration or efficiencies, and seeing the bigger picture. - Checklist: collaboration, articulation, empathy, data/ insight driven, adaptability, creativity/ lateral thinking, action-oriented, passionate, curiosity, technophiles, project / campaign management skills 48
How do you take these trends and make them real? - Invest in digital: you have to do digital marketing to a) get to know it and b) get better at it - Start small: empirical learning curve, baby steps, or file bullets not canons - Never stop learning, there is always something new around the corner 49
TCWA have range of etourism Workshops: Getting Started Online Websites, SEO/SEM & Analytics Facebook Insights Building your brand through reputation management and influencers Twitter, Instagram, Hashtags and more! Plus they offer etourism Coaching (one on one) and Detailed Digital Reviews. Find out more on their website. http://www.tourismcouncilwa.com.au/etourism-coaching-and-digital-reviews 50
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