WWW: New Consumer Marketing Medium

1. The Canadian Online Travel ConferenceCalgary, AlbertaMay 13-14, 2008 WWW: New Consumer Marketing Medium WWW: New Consumer Marketing Medium Getting Results Online WBN Meeting March 4th 2009 Search Behavior - Integrating Online Marketing www.acoupleofchicks.com

2. New Media Sound Bites • The Facts • Trends • What Now?

3. The Facts

4. Consumers are interacting differently with websites. Customers are visiting websites, search engines, Chat rooms, Blogs, playing online games sharing photos and more! Source; eMarketer.com

5. News- Magazine Broadcast News- Outdoor Internet represents 21% of weekly media usage Broadcast Yet only 10% of ad dollars spent papers 7% Magazine Internet TV papers 2% TV 4% 3% 21% 35.4% 21% 28% Radio Radio 20% Cable TV 14% Cable TV 10% Internet 22% 10% Marketers aren’t Leading – They are following consumers online Source; Yahoo! Canada

6. Research Occurs Across Multiple Channels Source: Yahoo

7. Content: Articles, News, Press Releases

8. Personalization: My Yahoo, My Google

9. Community: Facebook, MySpace

10. Search Engines: The Landscape is changing

11. Sponsored Advertising is taking the premium positions Local ads on sponsored search and Google Map listings-top spots Organic Search... Positions are Disappearing

12. Google Local and Maps: Paid Search Marketing Opportunity

13. Trends to Watch • The changing face of Organic Search makes SEO strategy and content more important than ever, with videos and Local Search ads taking up valuable real estate. • Social Media– The landscape of Consumer Marketing has changed. • Consumers are looking for their “Twinsumer”who is like them with the same interests - the new “Word of Mouse”based on similar experiences. • Growth of Online Communities– i.e. My Space, Facebook has added another few steps to the research cycle or has replaced others. • How is Social Media Affecting Marketers?-Be aware of Blogs (Tripadvisor) and other forms of online discussion groups (www.Blogpulse.com)-Viral Marketing (YouTube, Break.com) • What Now?-Use these channels to communicate with your customers AND to be aware of the “conversations” about your brand – don’t jump in to become part of the conversation without a plan and purpose.

14. Beyond the Website • Web has become Personalized and • Interactive • Consumers have shifted from “going online” to “being online” • Research and understand how channels • Are used BEFORE you play • All new media might not be right for your • business

15. Trends: What’s New?

16. Mass Media We Media My Media Web 3.0 and Beyond…what it means to Marketers Media Evolution The We in the Web • The Web Connects people with other people, and with information. • Gives mavens a platform to find information and share their knowledge and opinions, Expanding and building communities and beyond. The Web magnifies the reach of influencers Millions of people have recognized the potential; It’s time for marketers to join them.

17. New Media Applications – Beyond the Website • Blogs • RSS Feeds • Online PR Channels • Social Media (Facebook, MySpace) • Video and Photo Sharing sites (YouTube, Flickr) • Mobile Marketing …Oh My!

18. Blogging: To Blog or not to Blog… • Blogosphere – Threads of content and conversations occurring through Blog posts and social networks. • The brand is no longer what you say it • is... it is what your customers say it is – they are using Blogs to say it! (ie.Tripadvisor) • Your customers are reading & writing Blogs! • Measure and participate in conversations

19. So How do we Track and Measure the Buzz? • Sites such as Technorati, Blogpulse.com, Bloglines, Tailrank, • track interconnections between bloggers. • These sites can follow a piece of conversation as it moves from blog to blog - Tracks the Buzz – Viral flow of Conversation

20. So How Does this all Work?:RSS (really simple syndication) RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds, video feeds or podcasts - Wikipedia *In a recent Yahoo! survey people who were identified as RSS users by their Clickstream when asked about RSS - 82% did not even know they were using them. (Personalization of content)

21. How does RSS Work?

22. What does RSS mean to me? • Consumers are dealing with unwanted emails each day • Marketers dealing with anti-spam software blocking marketing message. • With RSS the end-user can control the flow, both in terms of what is received, its frequency, and whether it alerts the users to the arrival of the message. • RSS Feeds are Indexed in Search engines – fresh content.

23. Application: Optimized Press Releases (for online distribution): Announcing Specials, Renovations, Additions, Surrounding Events Content Syndication • Search Engines Index Press Releases. • A Press release ‘optimized’ for your target keywords with keyword hyperlinks pushed-out or “syndicated” through online channels (outside RSS feeds) builds relevant inbound links to your site. • Visibility across multiple online channels—connecting with consumers through the research cycle and not just the website. • New methods will now allow us to make content syndication interactive through social media distribution as well (video, images and social media tags). • READ MORE: A Couple of Chicks Articles

24. Social Media: Engage your Consumer

25. With over 1.5 million photos uploaded daily, Facebook is rapidly become a major player for travel research among all of the other social communities and blogs that already exist within cyberspace.

26. How Consumers Research is Changing... • Consumers are looking to channels like YouTube to experience brands AND Videos are now being indexed in Organic search results.

27. Research is an Emotive Process • Increase Visibility beyond the Website • Videos appearing in Organic Search Results • Research process has evolved from the • the marketing message, to the • testimonial, to the images and now video – • consumers looking for the authentic • experience. • Videos posted to sites such as YouTube as • well as website generates additional distribution.

28. What Now? Engage your Consumer What marketers can do!

29. Web Strategy Starts with the Website • Keyword research is critical. Find out what your market is actually looking for first. • Assess the competition. What do the top sites focus on? What are you missing? • Follow SEO best practices and avoid the trick of the day. Focus on content quality. • Avoid flash. Make sure search engines can index your content. Keep it simple. • Alwaysfocus on the user experience! Focus on this & rankings will often follow. • Link Popularity is King! Get quality links (votes) from 3rd parties to your site. • Link Reputation is Queen! Make sure the links you do get are descriptive.

30. Closing the Deal Strong first impressions and valuable content affect your conversion ratio. The average website loses over 60% of the visitors right off the home page due to usability issues and a lack ofrelevant content. 50% of visitors spend less than eight seconds on a site. You need toguide your visitors to Act!

31. A typical web page viewing pattern

33. What you should do… • Links are underlined (or clearly visible as links) • Search box on each page (top right hand corner) • Global nav on top, local nav on left • Don’t let design get in way of content • Clean, lot of white space • No extraneous design elements • Content (text and photos) rules

34. Reading /Writing on the web • Users don’t read, they scan • Short paragraphs • Bullets • Simple, clear text • Beautiful imagery • Keep it simple • Use half of conventional text • Hire web writer • Rewrite print text

35. User Testing • Test, test, and test some more • Test fast and often • Requirements - Focus groups • Test 3-5 people • They will find major issues • Fix and test again • Test actual target audience • Test on own system • Ad hoc testing

36. Interior Pages • Interior pages account for 60% of initial page views • Users spend more time reading interior pages • Spend time on these

37. Once your Web Strategy is in Place… • 1) Establish a ‘Local Search’ Program. High value opportunity with lower competition – especially important for a bricks and mortar business. • 2) Consider ongoing SEO program, PPC (Pay Per Click) or advertising with larger portal websites such as VCB’s and provincial tourism sites. • 3) Learn to specialize. Create content for untapped niche areas in your market place. (using articles, press releases to syndicate content – driving traffic back to the website) • 4) Be aware of the Buzz • Monitor Social Networks – or Participate – IF it makes sense to your business. • 5) Measure Measure Measure! Use tools such as Google Analytics to understand where your traffic and conversions are coming from.

38. www.onlinerevealed.com

39. Chicks Hatch “Online Marketing Revealed” • Leave us your card to receive an e-alert for the Chicks Guide to Success on the Web! • Coming Spring 2008! • Leave us your card to receive an e-discount for the Chicks Guide to Success on the Web! • Coming Spring 2008!

40. Patricia Brusha Co-Founder pbrusha@acoupleofchicks.com Alicia Whalen Co-Founderawhalen@acoupleofchicks.com Thank You!