Collaboration, Content, Community: Think! at #SoMeT12

Posted: December 4th, 2012

Think! at SoMeT12, pic by Brandon Williams

Whether it was meeting new people, taking in great presentations, quaffing margaritas, or winning the Social Media Smackdown (what? Parachuting armadillos is a GREAT idea!), members of our Vancouver, Detroit and Sydney offices were out in full force for the 2012 Social Media Tourism Symposium.

Hosted by Think! and held November 7-9 in El Paso, Texas, SoMeT was created to provide an opportunity for DMOs, CVBs, hotels and attractions to get together to swap ideas and tips on how to leverage social media within the tourism industry.

At SoMeT, content and community is key. In keeping with our belief in listening to – and sparking the excitement of – passionate communities, the conference location is determined via online voting and engagement campaigns; speakers pitch a topic that is then voted on by the community; and attendees past and future all have a say in how the conference unfolds. This is what makes SoMeT special. And our symposiasts agree:

With 27 of the top tourism/digital marketing experts in North America and Europe on the speakers’ roster this year, you couldn’t move for good content and advice. The themes that emerged included empowering advocates/ambassadors, curating content from new channels, being mobile, putting social at the core of business, and being interesting. Here are just a few of the takeaways that resonated with us:

  • “If you don’t have interestingness in campaigns, you might as well give up on it…you can try to outspend but that’s a futile attempt. Give away your brand, let people remix your assets. People love their city, love to talk about it and compare and contrast, so give them the assets and let their voice be louder than yours. Your job is in amplifying their stories.” – Dave Olson, Hootsuite
  •  “Stop promoting and posting crap.” – Theresa Overby, Miles Media
  • Get on G+. “I promise you, we’re not letting it go anywhere. It’s only going to become a bigger deal.” – John Thornton, Google
  • Think about Mobile Behaviour before Mobile Technology – think about where [people] are, what it’s like to be in their shoes, and don’t go do what you read about in Mashable or Techcrunch. Everyone’s audience will be different, and you have to be able to nail what will work for your audience before you can think about the technology.” – Tim Hayden, Edelman Digital
  • “If you want to find your most dedicated and devoted fans – share passionate stories. A campaign lasts a short time, but a movement lasts longer. People are the platforms not the tools – give people a platform and it gives them superpowers.” – Amanda Hite, Talent Revolution Inc
  • Want to run an ambassador program? “Keep it small; be picky; do your research into the amabassadors. Let them go behind the scenes; let them do the talking; communicate with them….and never directly tell ambassadors what to say. If they’re true ambassadors, they’ll figure it out.” – Ryan Goff, MGH Inc
  • “In order to be really, really effective, we need to go beyond having a social strategy. We need to understand what the impact is on the organization as a whole. What kind of skills do we need? How do we organize ourselves? What would you do if you could start again and compete with your own organization? Would you do everything the same? Would you produce the same collateral? Would you still have the same people with the same skillsets or would you do it differently?” – our own William Bakker, Think!
  •  “We need to change OUR organization. We need more people with the right skills, we have to train our people who are more used to traditional marketing, and we need to find more bloggers and key influencers…we’re going to keep working and learn from the things we could have done better. We need to work better.” – Thomas Vanderplaetse, Tourism Flanders

So – where to start? Why not share your favourite SoMeT12 moment here, or join us next year at SoMeT13? After all, there there will be not one, but TWO Social Media Tourism Symposiums in 2013.

SoMeT hits the road and makes its debut in Australia on July 17 and 18, while the North America SoMeT runs November 6-8. See you there!

For more information, visit sometourism.com or join our Facebook page.

 

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Posted in By Mikala Taylor, Digital Innovations and Marketing, Social Media | 3 Comments »

5 levels of social media sophistication at the DMO

Posted: April 23rd, 2012

Imagine you had to start a DMO. Your DMO. You have been given the same budget and must start from scratch. Would your DMO look exactly the same as it does now? The same departments, same positions? The same budget allocations? The same marketing tactics?

The internet, and social media in particular, have completely changed tourism marketing. Forever. People might not talk on Facebook about which fabric softener they use or which soft drink they prefer, but everybody talks about their travels. Social media sophistication is crucial to modern marketing. Yet the tourism industry is way behind.

We have worked with dozens of DMOs around the world, ranging from very small to very large. And we have spoken to hundreds more. Based on our conversations and experiences we have identified the following levels for social media adoption and integration into the organization.

1) Ignoring social media
This level represents DMOs who are not active at all in social media. Social media is seen more as a threat than an opportunity.

Characteristics you can find at this level are:

  • Leadership that is very skeptical of social media (“Facebook is a waste of time,” “I don’t care what my old high school buddy had for dinner last night,” “Twitter is for young people,” etc.)
  • Fear of negativity
  • Restricted staff access to social networking sites through policies or technology
  • Lack of an internal social media champion
  • Lack of social media knowledge at marketing agencies
  • Traditional marketing methods
  • No budget for social media

Two years ago, there were many DMOs at this level, but by today most have moved on. Most DMOs that remain here are tied to very restrictive government policies.

2) Experimenting with social media
DMOs experiment with social media without a specific strategy through random tactics.

Characteristics you can find at this level are:

  • Leadership that is skeptical, does not know activities are happening, ignores them because of disinterest, allows it because an influential stakeholder asked questions, or is swamped dealing with politics
  • Fear of negativity and overreaction when something “bad” happens
  • Enthusiastic internal champions who have created rogue accounts but sometimes lack skills to properly execute. These people eventually leave the organization to properly grow their skills elsewhere
  • Hit or miss results
  • Chasing anything that is new and hot
  • Lack of social media knowledge at marketing agencies
  • No or very little budget
  • No metrics

There are still a lot of DMOs operating at this level. It often takes a noticeable event to move them to the next level. This could be spurred by a social media success internally or by the DMO next door. For example, a rival’s viral YouTube video or growing number of Facebook fans.

3) Social media supporting marketing campaigns
Due to a lack of strategic knowledge, DMOs incorporate social media in paid, outbound marketing campaigns. Often this is an add-on to traditional marketing campaigns, such as a YouTube channel showing videos originally made for TV or using Facebook and Twitter to broadcast campaign messaging.

Characteristics you can find at this level are:

  • Leadership that realizes social media can be powerful but still relies/insists on traditional methods because they are more comfortable with them, or do not know how to measure and compare the difference in results
  • Marketing agencies that reluctantly incorporate social into campaign strategies, often as an afterthought and/or without understanding social media principles
  • Little integration or collaboration with members/partners/industry
  • Heavy scheduling and approval processes for social media activity
  • Broadcast-style communication in social media
  • Viewing and communicating with fans and followers in a traditional outbound marketing way, such as a consumer email database
  • Year-round efforts on Twitter, Facebook, etc., that lack strategic direction
  • Social media black-outs when there is no campaign in market
  • Frustrated and/or maxed-out staff who understand the potential of social media but are not heard by leadership and sometimes need/want more training
  • Often staff skilled in social media leave the organization out of frustration
  • Budget that is a small portion of marketing campaigns
  • Lack of appropriate metrics, with success often measured either by big numbers (# of fans/followers) or a campaign’s level of creativity

Most DMOs operate at this level, sometimes with some additional effort to keep Facebook and Twitter going year-round. Often the level of success depends on the sophistication of one or two staff members.

DMOs at this level want to succeed but cannot break out of the traditional way of doing business. Getting to level four is usually achieved by having a strong social media success as part of a bigger initiative or having an epiphany that social requires a different way of thinking. Usually, level two experiments continue alongside level three activity.

4) Following a social media strategy
This level is typified by a DMO having a social media strategy in place or having social media integrated into its marketing strategy. The DMO still believes that it is in full control of the destination brand.

Characteristics you can find at this level are:

  • Leadership that understands social media and has given it dedicated resources
  • Marketing campaigns that have social at the core
  • Agencies in place that are dedicated to social or a digital agency that (really) gets social
  • Social strategies in place tied to marketing goals and objectives
  • Stronger alignment/integration with members/partners/industry and other stakeholders
  • A move from mass to niche marketing
  • Activities that are measured and adjusted in real time
  • Staff that is trained in social media
  • Empowered staff that is allowed and encouraged to participate as a DMO professional in social networks
  • Social media monitoring and engagement that is in collaboration with members/partners/industry
  • Social media that is incorporated in customer service
  • Relaxed social media access policies and limited approvals for posting content
  • Crisis plan in place
  • Systematic experimentation that is part of the strategy
  • Dedicated staff and budget for social media

Leading DMOs have entered this level. Over the next few years we expect a rush of DMOs moving here. DMOs that enter level four first are the ones with less restraining operating environments (such as funding) with innovative leaders and marketing managers.

5) Embracing the social business model

The level five social business recognizes that the destination’s story and reputation are based on visitors’ experiences at every touch point during their trips (see point 1 in “Top 5 Wrong Assumptions in Destination Marketing”). This DMO knows and accepts that it is no longer in control of the destination story. It recognizes and acts on the need to collaborate closely with its industry, residents, influencers and visitors, and that it must change the way success is measured.

The level five DMO starts with the core of the passions that make a destination relevant and leads all partners that have an impact on those experiences. The sole focus is on delivering outstanding visitor experiences that are unique to the destination, and then making it easy for visitors to share these experiences in their own voices.

As painful as it may be, the DMO re-organizes, ending much of its old way of doing business. Staff is re-trained and assigned to new activities.

Characteristics you can find at this level are:

  • Leadership that understands that business models from 15 years ago must change and is willing to undertake the pain of changing the organization
  • Relentless focus on the consumer
  • Majority of marketing resources are allocated to digital
  • A shift from destination marketing to destination management, where the customer experience is seen as the primary way to build brand
  • Marketing strategies that are a collaborative effort between the DMO, industry, residents, passionate consumers and other stakeholders
  • A move from mass marketing to niche marketing
  • Culture of collaboration, internally as well as with members/partners/industry and even consumers
  • Flattened organizational hierarchy to increase efficiency and speed needed to respond and adjust quickly
  • Lean processes
  • Staff that is trained, empowered and supported to make decisions without requiring lengthy approvals or spending time in meetings designed by management to control every aspect of every tactic

We’re not aware of any DMOs at level five. We have spoken to many DMO executives who know they need to get here and want to get here. Often, their funding models or destination-specific politics stand in the way.

The DMO closest to a level five we are familiar with is Visit Sørlandet in Southern Norway. As a newly created regional DMO, this organization quickly realized it would be impossible to build a Southern Norway brand the traditional way. By creating a strategy based on collaborating with local DMOs and industry members to improve the visitor experience and elevate the collective digital marketing efforts, Visit Sørlandet is building it’s brand through every touchpoint while growing repeat visitation and encouraging word-of-mouth.

For many DMOs that have not reached level four, level five may seem pie in the sky. But the further you move your DMO through the levels, the more you realize just how much the world has changed and the true impact this has. Once you enter level four, you can see level five. It is no longer pie in the sky. It is tomorrow.

At what level is your DMO?
Your DMO’s current level is not a sign of success or failure. Every DMO is different. Politics and funding models have a big impact. So does the size and scope of a DMO. A country DMO is different from a city DMO. This affects specific marketing strategies and tactics.

It is also not a race. It is a process that organizations need to go through. Some might skip a step. For others, the levels could overlap. But in order for DMOs to stay relevant and effective, they need to climb up.

We have worked with DMOs in all shapes and sizes at every level of this process. We enjoy helping DMOs make the climb.

We have conducted audits, started Facebook pages, trained staff, implemented social media as part of bigger campaigns, run social campaigns, created strategies, helped to define entire business plans centered around social principles and much more.

Inventing the future
Alan Kay, the inventor of the GUI and object-oriented programming once said, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” Instead of all DMOs trying to invent level 5 independently, we think the best future is that we all invent it together and collectively stay relevant.

This is a cross post on William’s blog. Please leave your comments there.

Posted in By William Bakker, Digital Innovations and Marketing | 6 Comments »

Consumers don’t distinguish between marketing and social media

Posted: December 13th, 2010

Many business’ Facebook fanpages or Twitter accounts have received complaints about products or even direct attacks. Even Facebook has suffered an attack from Greenpeace, trying to encourage them to use clean energy to power their servers.

Most businesses would love to be able to isolate social media for marketing alone but the reality is that this is nearly impossible. Every business should be prepared with a crisis-response plan, just in case.

Clear communication is key. Below is an example of how one clever company is explaining what their Facebook page isn’t for.

How are you using your online presence(s)to talk with consumers?

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Posted in By Rodney Payne, Digital Innovations and Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

Embrace your influencers.

Posted: October 11th, 2010

The quickest way to start bad-word of mouth conversation is by not offering customers what they expect.

Business travellers need internet. If you’re a hotel catering to business travellers, give them free wifi and they will keep coming back. Don’t charge them for a service that should be ubiquitous.

It never ceases to baffle me why hotels in USA add-on the cost of in-room internet. Its not the price that gets me. Its the inconvenience of having to go through account sign-up, accept terms and conditions and enter your credit card number.

Internet doesn’t cost the hotel any extra. Surely it can be incorporated it into the room costs and provided as a ‘free’ service to the business travellers we cater to.  Interestingly, customers who are looking for wifi are likely to be active in social media and have a good sized reach and influence over their audience.

Posted in Digital Innovations and Marketing | No Comments »

What’s the difference between a website and a blog?

Posted: September 24th, 2010

Is there any difference between a website and a blog you’re using to pedal your own wares?

Lets look at the different options for a destion marketing organization:

1. A DMO can write their own blog.  To a consumer, this looks like a website that changes all the time.  Its shiny and polished to present the marketer’s view of the world.  It probably doesn’t rank high on the consumer trust-ometer.

2. A DMO can incentivize locals to blog on their site.  This can be challenging if they’re not already blogging.  Enthusiasm can wane or sometimes people may begin to promote their own interests.

3. A DMO can outreach to bloggers who already have an audience to encourage them to write about your destination.  This is similar to traditional travel outreach with a few big twists.  The more focused the blogger, the better quality audience.  Think quality not quantity.  Also, bloggers rarely get paid.  They’re doing it for passion.  You need to take the time to build a relationship.

4. A DMO could transition their website to become the hub for all of the content that people are already producing about your destination.  Take a look at the Calgary Stampede for an example of how to aggregate conversations, photos and video from around the web and make it look great!

I like option 4 best.  Which one do you like?

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WIFI in the Air.

Posted: August 13th, 2010

I’ve had so many more ideas since my first quick blog about the implications of internet access onboard planes that I thought I’d brainstorm some more.  The passenger who was previously disconnected from the world has a lot of people that they’d like to communicate with:

Airlines can communicate to passengers:

If you’re connecting with another flight, you could get real-time info on delays, gate changes, cancellations.  You can learn about loyalty programs, credit cards and flight specials.

Airports can communicate to passengers:

How long is the customs line if you’re flying international? What is the weather like when I land?  What do I need to know about the airport and ground transportation when I get there.

Hotels and tour operators can communicate to passengers:

People are already booking travel later and later.  Wifi on planes could amplify this.  I booked a flight for the biggest conference of the year in our industry just a matter of days prior.  I could be looking for the best rate on a hotel on the plane.  I could also be looking for things to do when I arrive.

Family can communicate to passengers:

Passengers could pass on information about flight delays. Family can also pass on pertinent information: “I’m running late to pick you up, the traffic is terrible.  Do you want to catch the train instead?”  Being disconnect can be concerning but we’re not cut off anymore: “I took little Johny to the doctor and he is feeling better.”

Passengers can communicate to the airline:

Airline PR departments take note. Complaints will be coming in real time. Passengers can give feedback about staff, about quality, about consistent delays and shoddy practices.  We’ve already seen the ramifications from one little youtube video about United Airlines. Now this can happen in real-time.

Destinations and services can communicate to passengers:

For the last minute traveler, the destination that they are travelling to can promote things to do while they’re on the way.  The trend towards last-minute booking will only increase.  Imagine the special offers last-minute, customized by interest and season.

Passengers can communicate to work:

Passengers can now be more productive.  When I’m on a plane now, I’m as good as in the office.  Same goes for students.  If I don’t have anything pressing, I have access to the largest entertainment system in the world. In-flight entertainment just became redundant, especially the ones you have to pay for.

All of this increased access to communication saves people time, makes us more efficient and will ultimately save the consumer money.  I’m sure there’s lots more that I haven’t thought of.

Can you think of more implications?

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Posted in Digital Innovations and Marketing | No Comments »

Questions: Asked and Answered

Posted: August 4th, 2010

We at Think! love getting questions from our clients that require us to do a little digging and research. These are a few that we received last week. They range from a query about the privacy settings on Flickr to a question about whether Facebook Insights is available for Facebook Groups. We thought we’d share our answers with everyone, just in case you’ve been sitting on these head-scratchers too.

Can you prevent downloads of photos in Flickr?

You can set your download preferences and specify who can download original photos here (you’ll need a Flickr login to see the FAQ on this topic).

If you are concerned about privacy, you can also create sets of photos that are not public and then give “guest passes” (which are simple URLs that Flickr creates on an as-needed basis) to particular people who you would like to view the set. You can read more here.

Does Facebook Insights work for Facebook Groups?

Short answer: no. Unfortunately, Insights is only available for Fan Pages. If you are interested in reading a bit more about the difference between Fan Pages and Groups, this is a good article.

Can you have a Delicious icon on your website so that when people click on it, they can add your website to their list of bookmarks?

Short answer: yes! But it looks like you’ll need a bit of coding knowledge to make it happen – you might have to ask your web developer to implement this on your site. It is possible though! You can read more about it here.

Is there a paid service that consolidates all of your social media monitoring for you (rather than having to check bit.ly, google analytics, Facebook Insights etc stats separately)? Basically, is there a paid social media monitoring service?

Yes, there are a few on the market. We at Think! recommend Scout Labs. Additionally, Think! offers monitoring services – we would be happy to monitor all of the different tools that we cover during our training course and send you a consolidated report at regular time intervals. If this is something that might interest you, please get in touch and let us know!

Posted in Digital Innovations and Marketing | 1 Comment »

My friend Laurel

Posted: August 3rd, 2010

This is my very amazing friend Laurel.  You can see she’s sitting chatting on Facebook.  I snapped this photo of her (sorry Laurel) ‘at work’ at 9pm on a Wednesday night, while the rest of us were having a bbq at her house.    Among many other things, Laurel has a very successful tourism business in Cabarete in the Dominican Republic and is opening another in the Cook Islands (LEK).  Laurel’s business teaches people from all over the world to Kiteboard. Laurel also coordinates promotional events.  Before she opened a school, Laurel competed on the world circuit.  Her company and brand is built heavily upon her personality.

I wanted to use this photo to show how the world has changed.  I used the term ‘at work’ loosely above because I’m not really sure what that is anymore).  At the moment, social media is used primarily for personal communication but it will be used more between and within businesses.  Laurel is using both Skype and Facebook to coordinate and promote a big event, leveraging her personal connections.

The boundaries between personal and business communication are no longer rigid.  They are not restricted to one office or set times.  The more your business depends on your people (or you) the more they will leverage social media as an efficient communication tool.

How much you will use social media depends on your people.  At the moment, it depends more on people who talk to people outside of your organization.

Does your business rely on people?

Posted in Digital Innovations and Marketing | No Comments »

Customer satisfaction just got a little more real-time.

Posted: July 20th, 2010

Social media has allowed individuals to communicate with other individuals, often in real-time. Conversations that are written down and can be visible by anyone who wants to see it. Google helps us find information online, including conversations, more easily.

Part of the reason I’m in this business is because I get bored without consistent challenges and I have a passion for travel. Social media changes daily. If I get complacent, our business won’t survive. This forces our entire team to be consistently learning and innovating.

I am currently sitting on an AirTran plane across the USA with onboard wifi. I unfortunately have to admit that having wifi makes me happy (its the little things…). Welcome to the future.

The job description of flight attendants just got a whole lot more complicated. Now, in addition to keeping us safe and not spilling drinks when it gets bumpy, they’re also a live support desk and computer technician rolled into one. They’ll get questions about different computers and browsers and all kinds of problems that aren’t necessarily related to wifi.

The (good) airlines will also be adapting their PR and crisis-response strategies to become even more real-time. Offering a new service (wifi) is a great selling point. Making sure it works is essential. Training staff on the new product is exceptional service. Giving consumers access to social communication while they’re actually experiencing your service is cutting edge engagement!

Allowing your customers to talk about your product service while they’re actually experiencing it is amazing empowerment. You’re giving up more of your brand but you’re gaining loyalty in return by making your customers feel part of that brand. It’s also risky. You’d better make sure your product is up to scratch, you have systems in place to listen to what customers are saying and your staff are trained on how to respond.

When we’re sitting on a plane with not much to do, and have our computer on, that’s really dangerous for the airlines. I could make a video, edit and upload it right now. All while I’m sitting in your seat and looking for things to occupy my time. How far can this go?

Think of all of the implications. I could be planning my trip and booking my hotel right now – last minute travel arrangements will surely increase. I’m spending 8 hours online today that I wouldn’t have been able to do last year – tech savvy people who can afford to fly will spend more time online. If I’m traveling for business, I’m not cut off while I’m in the air – up goes employee productivity.

Does this mean that flight attendants should start monitoring the conversation on Twitter to see what’s being said on their flight?

Posted in Digital Innovations and Marketing | 1 Comment »

Doritos: Calculating ROI for Viral Campaigns in Social Media

Posted: March 15th, 2010

Doritos are running a viral video contest in Canada with a prize of up to $250,000. A number of insights can be drawn from this campaign.

Doritos have implicitly acknowledged that there is no recipe for a viral campaign. The traditional advertising agency process inherently places a limit on creativity. The ad-agency usually presents a number of options for the client to choose from. The client chooses one or maybe two of these options to implement. One video has a slim chance of viral success in social media because it is hard to predict what might be successful. The Doritos campaign is effectively crowd-sourcing creativity, with the added bonus of free implementation.

This raises questions about the definition of viral. Something that ‘goes viral’ is usually started by one and shared by many. Online tools have the power to significantly increase sharing capacity. The winning video in the Doritos competition is the video with the most views, positive ratings and social sharing points. An investigation of the terms of the competition shows how accurately a social media campaign can be measured.

Doritos are using a point-system to determine a winner. The creator of the video with the most Viralocity Points wins $100,000. 10 million+ viralocity points gets the winner another $150,000. What is a Viralocity Point?

1. Every time a new and unique person (as counted by YouTube) views a video, the winner gets 5 points.
2. 5 points every time someone watches a video on Facebook.
3. Entrants receive 5 points for each External Youtube Embed.
4. Every time the video is shared from the competition website entrants receive 1 point.
5. Unique referals receive 1 point.
6. Every time somebody Retweets the unique bit.ly link the video gets 1 point.
7. Every time somebody signs in and Favourites a video on YouTube or on DoritosViralocity.ca, you get 5 points.
8. Points betewen 1-5 are awarded for each star-rating a video receives on the 5-star rating system
9. Every time someone Diggs a video it receives 1 point.

The most interesting part of this competition for our purposes is how Doritos is measuring the results of these attempts at a viral campaign. The breakdown of what actions actually earn points provides an analysis of the relative value of different social tools. Pepsico, the owner of the Doritos brand, chose Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and Digg as the most important social platforms for a viral campaign. While Flickr is redundant next to Facebook’s own photo sharing application, Youtube and Facebook both have benefits for video sharing.

The competition rules, including the tie-breaking process, make it clear that Pepsico, and arguably many other large companies, value quality over quantity when it comes to viral campaigns. Total unique views is weighted heavily with the rating system and number of Diggs lowest.

The campaign provides an additional incentive for people to share their videos on Facebook. Facebook views are already included in the competition’s calculation of unique views. Facebook views are therefore weighted to receive double the points of an ordinary view of an entry video. This weighted is attributable to Facebook’s algorithm that controls news feed displays – the more people click – the more exposure Doritos’ brand receives.

The points-system used to find a winner also provides an excellent insight into the measurement of a viral campaign. You can see the entire competition rules here. Perhaps this will help you to start tracking ROI from social media in your organization.

This campaign should be taken as an acknowledgment of the transition towards advertising through social media. A viral video has the power to reach many millions of people online for relatively little expense. Credit is due to the ad agency for capitalizing on the opportunity that social media presents. Rather than continuing on the traditional path and releasing a single high-budget video, Doritos were able to encourage consumers do their creative work and implementation for them. It will be interesting to see if the winner receives more than 10 Million Doritos Viralocity Points.

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Posted in Digital Innovations and Marketing | 1 Comment »