Ah, the new year. Parties, football, vacation…good times. Oh, and resolutions. No, we are not talking about your personal, ‘stop spending so much time on my Blackberry’ resolution, but your interactive, business and professional resolutions.
As the economy continues to slow and the constant stream of negative news does nothing to boost our hopes of a quick turnaround, how can you protect and even grow your brand, reputation and marketing platform in 2009?
Our 7 interactive resolutions should help to answer that question. Save them, email them to your peers or print them out and hang them on your wall.
- I will project a positive and upbeat image for my brand / product, reminding consumers why they trust us.
- I will reconnect and indulge my already loyal consumers…email list members, subscribers, requestors, etc…they have shown an interest in my brand / product and I need to offer them something in return.
- I will learn to listen and communicate with my consumers using the interactive tools they are comfortable with…social networks, blogs, Twitter, SMS, etc.
- I will test and re-test my creative, targeting and messaging, holding my vendors or ad agency accountable for under-performing ads.
- I will focus more attention and resources on ensuring that my search engine strategy, both SEO and SEM, is delivering maximum results.
- I will look beyond the simple metrics associated with my online campaigns or website and determine my ‘engagement’ metrics…the data that reveals insight into how my consumers are interacting with my online presence.
- I will take advantage of this opportunity to reevaluate our position in the marketplace…can we offer a more valuable, useful or desirable service, across a variety of interactive platforms, to our consumers.
There you go, our 7, but we are quite sure there are a lot more. What do you think? What are your resolutions for the new year?
Let us know in the comments section.
Here’s to a positive and prosperous 2009.
Travel 2.0 Blog: News, trends & opinions on travel technology. 
These are great! Very positive. Mine is to read more social media focused materials.
I especially like #6 as it jives with some new functionality we just built – tracking activity within the interactive map. Knowing how many people were looking at the map for how long was interesting, but to know exactly what information within the map they accessed is going to be even more valuable.
It’s all about Social Media….what can you do that is different than your competition?
Hi Teresa,
Well, I would argue that only #3 is specific to social media. Some of other points are related to interactive marketing, while #1, #2 and #7 are larger brand / product resolutions.
However your question is spot on. The travel industry, as with most segments, has a bad habit of simply duplicating the marketing plan of a competitor. City ‘X’ is on Twitter, well, we better get on Twitter. That is not always the best answer, whether it is social media marketing or selecting a print magazine for an ad campaign.
Why jump into any marketing strategy simply because that is where the competition is at?
As for your question, I am afraid only you have the answer. We speak in general terms here on the Travel 2.0 blog because we have a wide variety of readers, so it is difficult to pick out a specific product…YouTube, for example…and say this will work for states ‘X’ and ‘Y.’
But, we can provide some guidance. Because the travel industry as a whole is selling the same product, most of us are going to have a similar marketing plan at it’s highest level:
– Search
– Display Ads
– Email Campaign
– Social Media Marketing (Twitter, TripAdvisor, etc)
Where you can make a difference is in your niche product offering. What does Oregon offer that no other state can offer?
If the answer is amazing cycling and bike-friendly towns, then begin to focus your second-level marketing strategy on cycling-focused sites and social networks.
A simple example, but hopefully that illustrates the point.
Read point #7 once more. We were pretty light on the explanation, but essentially that resolution is asking you to challenge your current marketing plan. Or, in your words, what can we do different?
So, what is the answer?
Does your website need all those listings?
Do you need a website at all?
Why are you printing a Visitors Guide?
Should you be on Facebook?
Those are the type of questions that resolution #7 should raise.
Answering some of those questions will certainly set you apart.
Good stuff, thanks Teresa.
– Troy
I’d say that I’m focusing on #3. Because I’m working a lot on monitoring what and where people are talking about our brand online and then reaching out, when appropriate, and engaging them.
We’re also working on creating engaging and shareable content in both article and video format.
Oh, Happy New Years, keep up the great work in 2009 Tory and Mo!
Thanks Eric!
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