User Content Websites and Online Marketing

Geoff Buckley, General Manager of the Tourism Industry Council NSW and former Tourism Australia Managing Director, says the internet has changed the way tourism businesses have to compete for visitors and community websites have become vital in terms of generating word of mouth. [1]

“As an operator it is basically your guest book gone global,” Buckley says. “From our perspective we can use that communications network to really sell the experiences at a much greater depth than you could ever achieve in TV or other communications channels.” [2]

This tutorial shows you how to participate and regain some control over the messages and branding that is being published online about you, your business and your community.

Your primary objective

Your primary objective is to encourage your guests to share their travel experience about your business, your location and your community with others, online.

This is the new way of asking your customers to ‘sign your guest book’.

Your first step is to gain a general understanding about the kind of websites your customers use and what services they offer a traveller (video, research, reviews, photos, forums, meeting others, discussion, sharing).

Learning how your guests use the internet will make it easier for you to engage others on this subject and will allow you to create a relevant online marketing plan for your business.

Websites to review

Here is a short list of popular websites that offer different services to travellers.

Facebook: Allows users to share travel experiences with their friends.
See Week Two

Twitter: Allows users to keep friends up to date about their travels with short text messages and links to information. People can subscribe to people’s Twitter feeds to stay informed and in touch.

Task: Search Twitter for friends that use Twitter or topics of interest.

Trip Advisor: Allows users to rate and comment on tourism products and services. This site is popular the World over.

Task: Search Trip Advisor for your business and check your reviews.

Youtube: Allows people to share videos of their holidays.

Task: Visit Youtube and type ‘Holidays in Location Australia’ (Holidays in Geelong Australia) in the search field to see how your location is being represented online. If you don’t like what you see, encourage your guests to add something better.

Google Maps: People can add content to maps and write reviews about businesses.

Task: Click here and type in your business name and ensure your business is registered. Take ownership of the listing and add content.

planbooktravel.com.au: Allows users to add photos, write reviews about your business and articles about your location. Content added to planbooktravel.com.au is geographically linked to relevant tourism products and services.

Task: Encourage your guests to write a review about your business.

Flickr: Is a popular photo sharing website. Flickr is used by professional photographers, travellers and hobbyists to store, catalogue and share their images.
See Week Three

Getting the most out of your guests

Here is a check list of things you should include in your marketing plan:

Engage your guests and talk about what kind of websites they use to share their travels.
Offer incentives, be they discounts or gifts to encourage guests to write reviews, add photos, upload video about your location and so on. This is not too far different to the concept of familiarisation or ‘famil’s’ where you support the visiting media.
Collect email addresses and communicate with your guests after they have visited. “Thank you for staying, please write us a review on ABC website”.
Your business will be listed on many travel websites and online directories. Getting people write a review about you on these sites is really valuable. You should include links to these sites in your brochures, your emails and your communications. Make it easy for your customers to find these listings and encourage customers to write reviews.
Create competitions for the best photos or reviews and involve local media.
Identify competitions and promotions that can help your business and your location such as the Tourism Australia ‘nothing like australia’ photo competition. Tell your customers about these promotions in your emails and newsletters.
Make computers and internet available for guests. Provide brochures and instructions with the computer that include links to websites where guests can write reviews and add photos.

Remember they are guests

Please be subtle and selective in the way you approach this form of marketing. You may make your guests feel uncomfortable if you go about asking for content in a direct or inappropriate manner.

References

To share your experiences and talk with other tourism industry members about innovative marketing methods to attract more guests, join theAustralian Tourism Marketing Group