ITI Marketing

In 2012, Google will roll out changes that will alter how websites market themselves. These changes are going to make searching for users easier but marketers and websites need to be prepared to handle the new changes and understand how these changes will affect them.

Things to know about the Google changes in 2012:

1. Search results will include more direct information

2. Google is entering new industries and markets

3. The data that Google makes available will be reduced

 Are you prepared for the upcoming Google changes?

Google is poised to completely alter how websites market themselves over the next year. While easing users into changing search results pages, Google has also designed a new method for websites to structure data so that its crawler can better pull information. This is a tremendous strategy. Google doesn't need to own all of the information in the world, but does own the methods of accessing that information — as well as the ability to advertise to people who use that access.

Search results will include more direct information. Early in 2012, Google will expand how it incorporates data into its search results. For search queries that are direct questions, it will no longer be necessary to click through to a website. In Google's parlance, it's like getting both the search results and the immediate result of the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button at once. It's not hard to see how this is better for the average Google user. Questions will be answered faster and more simply. No parsing of information will be required. This change, however, will take value away from marketers who rely on visitors clicking through to deeper pages.

Google is looking to collect more data by providing ways for website owners to structure their information so that it can be easily read by a computer. Google's plans revolve around metadata (literally, special data encoded in the page) that will allow it to access more rich data about a topic, including hours of business, names of products, and virtually anything else that you can think of. Marketers will see better search rankings if they document information using this new format.

Google is entering new industries and markets. The expansion of data into search results pages is also breaking into markets where Google is not yet a force. Google acquired ITA Software in 2010, a software company that created airfare and travel management software for airlines and resellers. Since then, they have worked to become a powerful competitor in the travel industry by promoting their own offers and packages directly on the search results page ahead of other providers. To see this in action, try searching for "BOS to SFO" in Google. This is a tremendous advertising presence that others cannot match.

If you're a marketer working on making sure your site is visible in an area where Google is competitive, remember that you may need to do more than an organic search or paid advertising in order to be successful. Google has created a system where people must pay in order to compete against it. Regardless of whether the information and options available to searchers are free or paid for by marketers, people will continue to use Google in overwhelming numbers as long as Google continues to have the best results for a given search.

The data that Google makes available will be reduced. Google now sees its ownership of data as a competitive advantage to be protected from marketers and other advertising networks. In the latter half of 2011, Google began to roll out changes that have taken data away from marketers, specifically about how and where visitors found their website. Since October, between 10-15% of visits to websites from Google have no longer sent information to webmasters and marketers. It is safe to assume that Google will continue to expand these changes, further limiting the data available to marketers unless they're willing to pay.

Google's activity in the second half of 2011 represents just the beginning of the changes that it will be pushing throughout 2012 as it establishes even stronger relationships with its partners, affiliates, and advertisers. While this happens, every marketer on the web will need to carefully consider and revisit how they are positioned with the search giant and its interests.

Post written by Brian Whalley

Here is a collection of lesser-known travel themes in 2011 that didn’t quite make front page news.

1. Young Indians travel for religion

If you feel desperate for a spiritual revival, your first thought may be India. And you wouldn't be alone.

Some 87 percent of Indian travelers have embarked on pilgrimages or traveled for religious reasons, at least once in their lives, with 57 percent saying they do so annually, according to a poll from TripAdvisor.

And it's not just the old. Almost three-quarters of Indians aged between 20 and 30 go on pilgrimages at least once a year.

Many said they would visit a religious destination even if they didn’t belong to the same faith.

2. Aussie families prefer education vacations

Australian families are opting for adventures that educate, as well as thrill.

Exotic cruises and cycling holidays are among the most popular of Australia’s vacations, with travelers going either cheap and cheerful or big and expensive; not much in between.

"When they go on holiday there are big expectations -- people feel they need to be doing more than the beach thing," said Wendy Buckley, managing director of Travel with Kidz.

Carnival Cruise and Royal Caribbean cruises boast attractions such as a water park, climbing walls and zip lines, so mom and dad can be assured that their little tykes are well-entertained while they sip their mojitos.

3. British men (don't) travel for their sports fix

A British online travel agency claimed it had discovered headline news when it ran a poll and found that 12 percent of British men said that they had chosen a vacation destination based on a sporting event.

We think they got it wrong -- far more interesting is that nine out of 10 therefore claimed they didn't base a holiday on a sporting face-off.

Is the image of a Union-Jacked, sun-burned Brit screaming at his team over a pint of warm beer a thing for the history archives?

Out of the 12 percent who traveled because of sports spectatorship, watching a rugby match was the most popular choice. Another non-surprise in the year of the World Cup.

4. Travelers are tech mad

Never. Ever. Leave your home without your smartphone or iPad. There were 17,000 travel apps buzzing about the market as of February this year, so there's no excuse not to have found one that you need.

5. No such thing as 'a business traveler'

Try and define a business traveler and you'll be left wanting. That was the takeaway message from Accor Asia Pacific Business Travel Research 2011, a report that highlighted the vast differences between business travelers.

Hong Kongers usually burn the midnight oil, with many working between midnight and 6 a.m., while Australians and New Zealanders prefer working 6-9 a.m.

Indian business travelers are the “power users” of hotel gyms, while the most active business travelers were the Chinese, with an average of nearly nine trips taken in the first half of 2011.

According to Ian Carrington, the director of mobile for Google, searches using mobile devices have increased by 4 percent over the past year and now account for 14 percent of Google's traffic.

To read more about the Travel Themes that Didn't make the Headlines in 2011, click here

Everyone who has taken a trip to the supermarket knows what a bar code is — those cryptic black on white zebra-like lines that the cashier uses to scan your purchases and tally your shopping order. Quick Response or QR codes utilize a similar concept, but carry far more information than a traditional bar code.

QR codes are placed on offline materials such as print advertisements, brochures, posters, direct mail pieces, billboards, or even clothing to direct people to online media like mobile landing pages. Due to their nature and the way in which they are used, these codes allow a high level of interactivity with consumers, integrating print media, the web, and mobile communication to enhance marketing campaigns for all types of businesses, products, and services.

How QR Codes Work

Say that your destination is running an online sweepstakes campaign giving away an awesome trip to your awesome destination. You run an advertisement on a sign at your partner restaurant establishment  and include a QR code. Along with the code, you encourage readers to scan the code with their mobile phone for a chance to win. As long as the phone is equipped with a free QR Code Reader application, a smartphone such as an iPhone or Android can read the code using the device’s camera and translate it into information such as a text message or mobile landing page providing more information on the giveaway and a great chance to opt-in to win. The code can also trigger an email, capture contact information, dial a phone number, connect with a social media profile, or perform a variety of other tasks that marketers find valuable.

Benefits of QR Codes

1. Convenient.

QR codes are a convenient, one-step process for directing users to your website, getting their phone number or email address, providing directions to your business, notifying people about promotions, or pushing out other valuable marketing information. Codes are very cost effective to produce, as they are just ink on paper or cloth, and are environmentally friendly.

2. Versatile.

The fact that they can be printed anywhere and included with all of your existing advertising campaign media also makes them versatile. They can be placed on billboards, in magazines, newspapers, on T-shirts, on direct mail, or virtually any other piece of marketing collateral created by your company.

3. Accessible

You don’t need a special device to read them either. Any smart phone or mobile device with a camera and the QR Reader software can be used to take advantage of the codes. With more and more people upgrading to smart mobile devices worldwide, QR codes will become more and more valuable to advertisers.

4. Track-able

Another great benefit of QR codes is in tracking your marketing campaigns. Different codes can be used for print ads, direct mail, or outdoor advertising to track where users are coming from. This data can in turn be used to determine which types of advertising are providing the most benefit or best Return on Investment (ROI).

5. Inexpensive

Lastly, QR Codes are relatively easy and inexpensive to try. Most printers or direct mail firms have the software and equipment necessary to get you started.

Source: Say Cheese Writers; Lillian Okado (http://www.saycheesewriters.com)

Jeff Judge, of Signal. offered the following tips to take some of the guesswork out of SMS marketing.

• Keep it simple and determine what you are trying to drive with this mobile message.
• Consider mobile in combination with other channels and post across mobile, Facebook, Twitter, email and any online communications channel you use.
• Remember that customers pay for text messaging, so don’t send a lot of messages. One or two per month is plenty.
• Use a single marketing platform to obtain reporting across all your marketing channels (e.g. email, social and mobile).
• Make sure your mobile message contains an immediate value (e.g. a promo or contest entry “now”).
• Use a strong call to action (CTA) in mobile marketing messages that is consistent with your customer demographic.
• Make your mobile SMS easy for customers to opt-in (e./g. scan a QR code or text a simple code to a number).
• Enforce a double opt-in for mobile subscribers. After the consumer has opted-in send a confirmation message.
• Advertise your mobile subscription everywhere you do business -- your website, email newsletter, store kiosk -- anywhere you do business.
• Learn about customers (e.g. let customer manage profiles on the web) so you can segment your mobile marketing list for specific communications.

Dan Martell from Flowtown posted an interesting chart regarding Social Advertising. 

As social networks continue to pick up steam, more and more companies are seeking new avenues to get more eyeballs on their advertisements. The truth is that when people are browsing through their social streams they pay little attention to ads placed on sidebars and banners at the top of the page. But the game is changing as social sites are expected to begin placing ads directly in the stream, making sure that viewers don’t skip over them. Thanks to a survey conducted by Pivot between May 18th and May 26th 2011, we get an insider’s look at what companies think of social advertising, how they are utilizing it, and how well they say it’s working.

 

State’s Official Tourism Website Goes Mobile

Revamped and enhanced mobile site provides users access to state-wide tourism information

ATLANTA, September 27, 2011— Georgia Tourism, a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, relaunched a new and improved ExploreGeorgia.org mobile website on August 15. The new mobile site is interactive, engaging and provides real-time trip planning information. The content is pulled directly from the state’s official tourism website.

 

“In order for Georgia to remain competitive in the current marketplace – we believed it was time to upgrade and expand our mobile presence,” said Kevin Langston, deputy commissioner for Tourism for the Georgia Department of Economic Development.  “We wanted to give visitors the ExploreGeorgia.org experience in the palm of their hands, so they can easily and quickly find events, attractions, accommodations, special offers and more on the go.”

 

The newly relaunched travel platform assists travelers in finding destinations, places to stay, events, special offers, local services, maps and navigation tools from their mobile device. Additional features of the site include a brand new look, access to the state’s social media assets, trip planning tools, images, streaming video and an enhanced database to help users quickly plan their trip. Georgia’s tourism entities also have exclusive access to purchase targeted banner ads for their destination via the mobile platform.

 

More than 73.6 million Americans now access information via a smart phone.

 

“The number of searches in the travel category via a mobile device is up 1,200 percent this year,” according to Rob Torres, Google’s managing director of advertising and marketing for the North American travel sector.

 

According to ThinkMobile, “Google saw a 400 percent increase in the number of searches made on a mobile device in the first quarter, and that number is expected to grow by 26 times in the next four years.” Google statistics show that businesses at the local level benefit greatly from mobile device searches with 61 percent calling the business and 59 percent visiting it after they find it via their mobile device.

 

The site was developed in conjunction with ITI Marketing, a full service marketing, consulting and technology company based in Brunswick, Georgia.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a destination for arts events and location for film, music and digital entertainment projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development.

www.georgia.org

QR Codes and Microsoft Tags are square scannable barcodes intended for fast data delivery on a smart phone or other mobile devices.  First and foremost, whichever you choose to utilize -- make sure you link back to a Mobile site, not a web site, these customers are looking for a mobile experience. Whether or not to go with a QR Code (quick response code) or a MS Tag (Microsoft Tag) at this point in time is almost becoming a matter of personal preference.

• As of today, QR Codes are more recognizable and many people already have a free QR Scanner app on their smart phone or tablet.
• QR Codes are hard linked to whatever URL you want people to go to when scanning it. Microsoft Tags are re-programmable and can be easily modified.
• You can use just about any QR Reader to scan a QR Code, whereas you need Microsoft's Tag Reader app to scan a Microsoft Tag.
• QR Codes are becoming more customizable (being able to change the design) and trackable.
• Microsoft Tags are HIGHLY customizable. You can use your own logo, colors, etc.

In terms of real estate on a printed page, MS Tags can be made a bit smaller then QR codes. So something to consider if you are purchasing ¼ pages in print publications and would like to include your QR Codes.

The impact of two technological shifts - the massive adoption rate of the smartphone and the rise of social media - have created a monumental shift in consumer behavior that is rapidly changing the travel marketing landscape.

For years, travel has relied on the 'lead' and the e-mail database to create an ongoing dialogue with the consumer, to date  it has been a effective strategy for the tourism industry. However, email open rates are on the decline and e-mail lists are churned by marketing companies, the effectiveness of this powerful resource has and will continue to diminish. Social media offers a way to create a more regular and sustainable dialogue and relationship with consumers then an e-mail program can.

We have entered the age of the consumer, a consumer who is armed with a mobile device, and is
increasingly more comfortable to use their keyboard and social media platforms such as Facebook and
Twitter and many others to engage, offer advice, air grievances, inspire friends and offer tips to others. In
return, these consumers also expect that they have instantaneous access to information and purchasing no
matter when and where they may be. For DMO's, the role of social marketing in creating a dialogue and
responding to consumers as it relates to customer loyalty and engagement becomes increasingly
important.

Social Media Facts:
The average month unique visitors to social website in the travel category grew more than 35% from
2008 - 2010 - PhoCusWright

According to PhoCusWright, “the number of visitors Facebooks referred to hotel websites last year
jumped fivefold to 5.2 million visitors between 2008 and 2010."

At ITI-Marketing we offer DMO's programming that will help generate and manage an effective social
media program for your destination.

Some of our programming includes:

• Our Social Monitor where we track your destination on 17 different social sites giving you up to the minute reports on posts so that you can respond to each in a timely matter.
• We offer full Facebook Campaigns that just don't generate blanket numbers of 'likes' but engage your consumers and build product loyalty and recognition.
• We also can run 'tweetathons' engaging and creating social buzz for your customers via twitter.
• Run your social marketing programs.

Call or e-mail us and we'll be happy to share with you on how you can develop an effective ongoing social strategy for your destination.