A discussion about how new media and digital marketing channels have changed the way we need to approach marketing.
I sat down at my computer Friday morning and after much resistance, hesitancy and denial, I opened a Twitter account and took the plunge. I have to say I had not really been able to figure out the purpose of tweeting until I attended the Twitter panel last week at the Online Revealed Conference in Niagara Falls. (The other Chick Alicia was actually presenting it which shows you just how much I was initially resisting it!) From the moment someone responded to a tweet to having my first re-tweet (or RT in Twitterspeak), I was hooked and burned up 3 hours of my first day back in the office!
It is becoming overwhelming to keep up with all the social media channels - LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter - especially when you are using them as a business networking tool. Never mind all of the other marketing channels that still need to be managed. As Arlene Dickinson pointed out in her keynote presentation at Online Revealed, Marketing has changed and it is time we all started to accept it.?
Arlene, who is the CEO of Venture Communications Ltd., one of Canada's leading Marketing Communications firms, and star of TV's "The Dragons Den" explained that Marketing must drive your business objectives; it needs be a business enabler and be clearly aligned to your business strategy. If you are going to play in social media for example, you need to understand how it supports your business efforts and most importantly you need to measure it just like any other marketing channel."
The challenge I see for today's tourism marketing professional is the other responsibilities that have been added to the already full time traditional roles. Specifically roles such as Project Manager coordinating between multiple agencies with unique core competencies ?and having them align with one strategy is a job unto itself. The management of a team of people internally, coordinating offline advertising initiatives and managing budgets remains necessary with new roles and skill-sets popping up every day that fit within the new marketing umbrella.
The second major new addition to our role as tourism marketing professionals is the role of digital channel manager. With all of the new social media websites and other online channels, there are so many places now that we need to keep updated to ensure that a consistent brand voice is being communicated. The continual time and energy to update all the channels whether it is done in-house or outsourced, is another full-time role and one that crosses over between departments outside of marketing.
Let's take a look at what a typical hotel might have to do to announce a Mother's Day special as an example. After creating a package and making sure it is compelling to the consumer, the marketer must get it on the website and either update it themselves through a Content Management System (CMS), or send the update out to their webmaster.
Next, they jump on Facebook and create a Facebook event page and invite others to join. They update their Linked In Connections and request them to go visit their Facebook page and become a fan. After all what is a Fan page with no fans?
Then the Tweeting (translation: posting updates to
www.twitter.com in 140 characters or less) begins with a message to all followers (and that is only if they have spent the time necessary to build a group of engaged followers who might actually respond to the message).
Simultaneously, they have asked the Chef to write a blog post on the properties blog, while they craft an optimized press release to post in the hotel's RSS feed. In between all that they send a quick email or text to the Search Engine marketing firm to remind them to create a PPC ad campaign with a proper landing page around Mother's Day, and update the keyword bidding list and SEO efforts to include terms on Mother's Day.
It doesn't stop there a quick call to the ad agency to whip up a collateral piece to put out at the front desk, a request for them to create a banner and a print ad, all the while still tweeting as your message disappeared as fast as you posted it.
Wait ?we forgot the e-blast! Exhausting, overwhelming and then you still have the deep dive into your analytics to calculate the ROI for each of these initiatives for the upcoming owners?meeting.
Arlene is right, marketing has changed. So how does the typical hospitality or tourism marketer keep up with all this? The solution is to add either an e-marketing manager to your team, or to seek out an agency that specialized in Web strategy and online channel management to help guide you through the noise and focus on the best performing channels. This "digital marketing agency" specializes in online marketing and strategy and can work with your current team of resources to help you deploy some of these emerging marketing tactics.
It seems that we have emerged into a new marketing era where you need more than a dedicated individual; perhaps a team of individuals or a specialized agency is mandatory to ensure that there is a clear message across all channels online and that the strategy is consistent with the overall marketing goals, and most importantly to help you make educated decisions about online channels that may just be a passing phase that will burn through your already tight marketing budgets. With new media emerging at a rapid pace, you can't be "super marketer" and you can't be the expert on every channel available out there.
A fully integrated approach to marketing is a must. Perhaps it is time we stop playing catch up with the latest and greatest technologies and go back to focusing on consistent messaging and a good product?
Streamlining the work through a dedicated online marketing person or Digital Agency will allow today's tourism marketers to explore new channels and keep current on technology and social media spaces without blowing the budget on whatever comes along next.
If hiring an internal online marketing role or a digital marketing agency that specializes in Web strategy, here are the first steps to organize your marketing message across all channels:
- Make sure your message is consistent across the channels (it seems simple enough right?)
- When starting with a new online marketing tactic like social media - be authentic in your message and be sure to allocate time to manage it properly.
- Make sure your message is aligned with the business objectives of your company.
- You don't need to play in every channel. Go where your customers are.
- Put in a framework to measure ROI by defining key measurables ?e-marketing is the most measurable form of marketing there has ever been.
- Have a little fun with it and don't be afraid to try something new!
- Make sure any resources allocated to new media initiatives are well planned and you have allocated budget to continue after initial campaign launches.
In summary, new media will continue to emerge at a rapid pace. If you focus on the right message to the right consumer at the right time (and with the resources to help you get that message out there) you will win.
If you are going to dive into the new media landscape on your own, remember to focus on Consistency, Authenticity and Measurement of your ROI as it relates to all of your other marketing initiatives.
Time to go post this article to the Chicks website, Blog, RSS Feed, Facebook page, Twitter accountså¬o wonder I am CMSing!
About the Author:
Patricia Brusha is the co-founder of www.acoupleofchicks.com - an Digital Marketing Agency focused on travel and tourism, and Online Revealed Canada - the leading e-Marketing Conference for travel and tourism. Together, the Chicks?have published over 35 articles, produced a successful online marketing Blog; www.ideahatching.com , and have developed online marketing programs for such notable brands as Marriott International, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and Nova Scotia Tourism. Their popular e-marketing workshops have also lead to the upcoming book focused on the Chicks non-intimidating approach to marketing online set for release this spring 2009. Check out A Couple of Chicks on Facebook and Twitter too! 
