10 Years Ago: “Yes We Have a Web Site”

Today: “Yes We Have a Facebook Page”

Ten years ago there were 350 million Internet users worldwide, today there are 350 million users on Facebook

…and there are more than 1.7 Billion Internet users worldwide. Ten years ago my company had already been in the digital business more than 7 years. Back then when I would ask some companies about their online or digital strategy they would remark “oh yes, we have a web site”. Obviously I would launch into a whole volume of reasons why that was not enough. I would talk about why an organization needs to leverage their web site and all other digital assets with online advertising, search marketing and customer relationship marketing. Well that was then and here we are today… sometimes when I ask the digital strategy question I get “Yes we have a Facebook page!” and they are very proud of the fact that they have one. Of course just like ten years ago, many organizations don’t do much with it or beyond that.

What if you could attract more than 20,000 “qualified” brand fans to your Facebook in 30 days? What if you could start a dialog with those brand fans of yours and start to listen to what they like and dislike about your brand, your service, your products, your everything? All this is very doable and actually is just the tip of the iceberg to a Facebook strategy as part of your overall digital strategy. Remember Facebook today has as many users as worldwide users on the Internet ten years ago, and the amazing fact is they doubled in one year!

As I attend Travelcom this week and talk to many amazing colleagues I am already excited about the innovations and the possibilities. Thanks USTA! If you are here catch my discussion on Thursday when we do a wrap of what we have heard this week and how we would take that information and make it actionable!

Till next time

Leah

In the old days of the web we had to be the jack of all trades… there were no subject matter experts. New technologies emerged, eCommerce was refined, search engine marketing became more complex, online media took on multiple avenues, social marketing bloomed and mCommerce emerged. In a very short time it became clear to us that as an agency and media company we had to start developing highly specialized departments and highly skilled subject matter experts within our agency to research, test, innovate and execute on all these specialties.

Without these highly specialized experts an agency or in-house marketing department is “skimming the surface” of their integrated marketing and advertising program. In fact, they don’t even recognize the gaps in a plan because they don’t know what to look for from a specialized vertical perspective.

Agencies who are telling their clients that online media is all about display, or that SEOM is only about buying Paid Keywords are doing their clients a huge injustice. They may not know how to strategize or execute on other elements that are important, so they just don’t. If you don’t, hire a digital firm or subject matter experts behind you.

The case can be made that unless you have a group of subject matter experts on your team you are missing major opportunities and opening yourself up to lackluster results. In the worst case you are not building a sustainable program because competitors are passing you by.

Focus on the highly specialized areas of your plan that will make the difference short term and most importantly long term, and make sure that you have the right people making the right decisions for you as an organization. If you are an agency reading this, and I know many of you follow this blog, take a big step and fill in the gap. You will be executing for the client on all those things you do so well and you will be bringing to the table subject matter experts that can fill in the gaps WITH you.

Till next time,

Leah

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How Long is This Current Economy Going to Last and How Do I Prepare a Strategic Plan for 2010? This is the question we hear most these days. Incoming calls from hotels, resorts, DMOs and many others in the travel industry are planning for next year, but not sure what they should be planning, especially online. While DMOs, airlines, hotels and suppliers in the travel industry are trying to develop a 2010 strategic plan for marketing and advertising the economic uncertainty and the upcoming shoulder season are not making it any easier. Economists forecast that lodging will see a bit of an upturn in the Q3 of this year, but occupancy levels and ADR are expected to remain below last year’s levels, maybe as much as a 16 percent decrease in room revenue per available room. DMOs experience this hit as reduced funding for their destination marketing programs, creating a vicious circle of reduced budgets meaning reduced marketing resulting in reduced business for the destination. So what advice are we giving? 1) Examine all parts of your marketing plan, both offline and online for maximum performance. Is your program truly integrated? We have expertise in both offline and online and that becomes critical when it pays to lead with online marketing but offline tactics must be aligned. 2) Be wary of working with any advertising agency or consulting group who is too small or too inexperienced to do the best job in this crisis economy. If your agency is outsourcing to freelancers, or to other companies who are fulfilling separate parts of the contract behind the scenes, you are paying too much and getting too little. 3) Listen to your team. Those people in your organization who are on the front lines know what it’s like out there…. If you are trying to sell meetings pay attention to front line business developers in your organization. Hear their problems and then ask the marketing experts to solve them for you. 4) Don’t cut marketing and advertising budget. We see vast opportunities to steal market share while your competition is afraid to spend and we have hundreds of examples of our clients spending wisely with the right strategy for great return on investment. They outperformed their competition who held back or had no real strategy. We have fine tuned the art of using online/offline advertising to put heads in beds in this economy… realizing a return measured by hotel clients of a 15 to one in terms of profit realized. Yes, it’s a tough time, but things are getting better. This economy has had some positive effects. It has made everyone work smarter. Till next time, Leah