Driving ROI for Digital Travel

Colin Lewis

Driving ROI in Digital for Travel

How to win in the Era of Paid, Earned and Owned Media

Observation 1

There are over 950 different types of digital marketing software

3

Confused.com? Current marketing software available

Source: Scott Brinker Martec blog

Observation 2

Search has moved beyond search engines

Search beyond Search Engines

Monthly Flight Searches UK Monthly Hotel Searches UK

Sources: Google Keyword Planner, BingAds Keyword Tool,

The Parallel Universe Beyond Search

Observation 3

Has social media

delivered on its

initial promise?

Old idea: Social Media

Build communities of Fans

Old idea Social MediaOrganic reach fuels word of mouth / earned media

Average Organic Reach of Content Published on Branded Facebook Pages

Observation 4

Search has moved beyond search engines

Ads as promoted content

Observation 5

The sharing economy

• Spanish Ministry of Tourism data:

o Visitors choosing not to stay in hotels jumped by 17.6% in June 2013, up over 10% since the start of the year. The number of tourists not taking packaged holidays has also risen by 8% since January.

• AirBnB recent valuation: higher than Hyatt Hotels & Wyndham Group

• San Francisco’s Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation teamed up with Airbnb and GIS software creator Esri to host a hackathon that sought technical innovations that “re-imagine how tourists and residents experience and explore the City of San Francisco.”

• Trademark filing March: ‘software that allows users to search for travel, transportation, vehicle and ride sharing and temporary vehicle parking listings’

•=> Less tax revenue to destinations -> where is ROI?

Air BnB effect: disappearing bednights

Observation 6

The sharing economy

Simple definition

• ‘Paid’ is stuff you pay for like print Adwords, TV advertising

• ‘Owned’ is stuff you create and own

• ‘Earned’ is nice stuff people say you about on Twitter--and anywhere else.)

Even easier definition!

• ‘Paid’ jumpstarts ‘Owned’.

• ‘Owned’ sustains ‘Earned’.

• ‘Earned’ drives cost down and

effectiveness up.

Trick question: what types of media are Facebook & Twitter?????

• Paid:

o Sponsored tweets, posts, engagement ads

• Owned:

o Branded Facebook or Twitter page

o Brand-curated content

o Branded Facebook apps

• Earned:

o Fan/user-generated content posted related to brand

o May be on brand’s page or elsewhere

Observation 7

Converging, paid, earned and owned.

Converging: Paid, Owned, and Earned media

Display, banner ads

Sponsored posts, ads

PPC ads

Pay per post blogging

Corporate website

Microsites

Corporate Blog

Media types may change…

The tools of media may change.

But the categories will still be ‘Paid, Earned or Owned’.

Observation 8

Insights and how-to’s

1. Paid, owned and earned is the present and future structure of media

2. There is still no accepted generally accepted standard for measuring cost-effectiveness or ROI across media channels.

3. Gadgets and devices and media channels will proliferate, so this will only become more complicated

4. To have a great ‘Earned Media’ Strategy, have only one choice: a really well executed ‘Owned Media’ strategy

5. ‘Owned Media’ that it is easily shared and commented on, is the only reliable sustainer of ‘Earned Media’.

6. All this only work together in integrated, content-focused programmes.

7. Executing Integrated programme requires rethinking the marketing function and personal responsibilities.

7 insights convergence

7 Ways to start converging!

1. The starting point is still your audience, your customers.

• Listen to and observe

2. Investigate what’s happening in Paid, Owned, Earned channels

3. Listen to competitors too

4. Content: what messages represents the brand?

5. Understand how content strategy varies:

• Customer segments, product type, geography, channel, screen

6. To execute across channels, brand must define:

• Engagement plan(s), communication, internal collaboration, leadership, tools to support, meetings

7. And remember the rule of converging…

• Use Paid to amplify Earned and Owned

• And Earned to amplify owned and paid…

• And Owned to amplify earned and paid…