Weekly stories curated exclusively for digital tourism marketers
We’re at the mercy of the almighty algorithms. So, how can you replace website traffic lost to Google and Facebook algorithm changes?
You’ll need:
EAT = Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness
MC = Quality Main Content
ORM = Online Reputation Management
…and more.
Laszlo Horvath, founder and president of website experts, ActiveMedia, has some insights on gaining and delivering EAT, MC, and ORM and a few additional tips to share from his eTourism LABS presentation, seen here.
The upcoming eTourism LABS, March 14-15, 2017 in Philadelphia, is an outgrowth of NAJ’s annual eTourism Summit in San Francisco. This year’s conference a “three-fer” opportunity for the serious tour and travel industry digital marketer, as well as for those transitioning from traditional to digital marketing and public relations.
“It is actually three different events in one,” said Jake Steinman, Founder and CEO of the NAJ Group, which also publishes the Inbound Report. He explained that the event’s first-day program alone has three tracks, “each of which addresses different pain points.” The topics include:
A sampler of the program content for the track on “Boot Camp for Newbies” includes the following presentations by experts:
Earning rankings in the “organic” results of the major search engines. How do DMOs use search to generate incremental room nights without cannibalizing travelers that would have booked anyway? Examples: Keyword and key phrase research, on-page optimization, how SEO intersects with content marketing, etc.
Presenter: Paul McLeod, Director of Business Intelligence, Simpleview
What is a good or bad bounce rate? How is time on site measured? Your questions answered.
Presenter: Laszlo Horvath, President, ActiveMedia
Boosting posts vs. creating Facebook ads formats. Targeting your audience with the right tools, custom audiences, etc., plus ad set and bidding analytics. Generating creative content that will help spread your DMO message and earn traffic. Examples: viral videos, user generated content, reviews, influencers.
Presenters: Martin Stoll, CEO, Sparkloft Media (i); Adam Gerston, Sr. VP, Client Partnerships, HYFN (i)
Know more about pursuing the right bloggers, vloggers and Instagrammers.
Presenter: Al Chen, Co-Founder, Cooperatize
When journalists cut and paste parts of your releases to place their own stories, be sure to get the maximum bang for your buck. Learn some tips to include keywords that pay off in discoverability and elevating your ranking on search pages.
Presenter: Korena Keys, CEO, Key Media Solutions
Further details and registration for eTourism LABS is found here.
In the eTourism Community, we like to “See Tomorrow.” Each year eTourism Summit includes a session where new tourism-related start-ups present their product or service in a “Shark Tank” format. Here are some success stories from several of the bright shiny new objects we’ve presented in recent years:
1. 2016 presenter – Clicktivated: Clicktivated is the premiere Amplified Video Engagement (AVE) platform for brands looking to create an enhanced interactive user experience. It allows interaction with individual locations featured within a video without using pop-ups, markers or annotations to deliver dynamic engagement.
Winner of the people’s choice at eTourism Summit, Clicktivated has won a finalist place at the Computer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, where they’ll be presenting at MatchFest, thanks to support from Laszlo Horvath, ActiveMedia.
2. 2015 presenter – Detour: A series of behind-the-scenes self-guided walking tours on a GPS-enabled mobile app, all produced like audio versions of a movie — with real characters telling the story accompanied by music. Detour, born in San Francisco, is a vision from Andrew Mason, founder of Groupon.
In November 2016, Airbnb announced a new collaboration with Detour in their expanded service product known as Trips (“Airbnb Expands Into Holistic Travel With the Launch of Trips Platform,” 12/1/2016). Airbnb begins with 12 international cities and plans expansion to 50 cities within 12 months.
3. 2014 presenter – EatWith: Attendees at eTourism Summit 2014 were introduced to Guy Michlin, founder of EatWith, a social dining service of local hosts cooking at home for strangers as guests.
The news from TripAdvisor last month is a partnership created in the latest investment round of funding for EatWith. The social dining experience has been integrated into Dine With a Local Chef experiences via TripAdvisor’s restaurant pages.
EatWith states it offers services from 650 hosts in 200 cities in 50 countries.
CrowdRiff, Utrip, and Bandwango are also eTourism Summit bright, shiny, new objects that are going strong!
