Alberta Business Marketing

Tags: handheld, iphone, mobile web, multimedia, Web 3.0
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These 60 bullet points are the highlights from my 60 minute keynote presentation at the BC Hospitality Industry Conference in Vancouver, November 24, 2009.

1. You don’t need to be a techie to accomplish a lot.
2. Know your customer and meet their needs.
3. 2/3 of Travelers use the Web exclusively to plan travel.  Not focused online? Don’t worry, you still have 30% of travelers who will see your stuff (as well as Internet content).
4. Is it time to consider budgetary priorities based one where the income is coming from?  For most of us, YES.
5. Consider the best measures for success in all your marketing.  Then measure it.  For most of us measure results like phone calls, emails, visa receipts, etc. (NOT Web hits).
6. Your Website is stale, media and social Web can make it better.
7. Webmasters should never control your access to posting content.  If you are a Webmaster, start thinking of a different way to do what you do best and change your name for goodness sake, tourism industry doesn’t need masters, we need teachers and facilitators.
   
8. Consider your Website as the centre of all your media.
9. Media - Good news, there will only ever be four types of media – text, photos, video, audio.  Anyone can post any of these for FREE.
10. When distribution is free, reallocate distribution expenses to production of stories using all kinds of media and distribute content across multiple Web 2.0 Websites (online applications).
11. Anyone can create MEDIA and upload it to the Web.  You too!
12. Blogging with Wordpress could replace most traditional Websites.
13. Mobile uploads to youtube up 400% since introduction of iPhone 3gs.
14. Youtube . . . Over 1 Billion views per day worldwide – Oct 9, 09.
15. Travelers want your photos and their own.
16. Photos: 2 Billion uploads/ month  on Facebook.  Flickr: 90 million/month – less than 1/20th size of Facebook. (September 09)
17. Basics of getting great photos:
    the right model,
    the right location,
    cues of activity,
    mood/emotion.
18. Hire the pros if you have money… DMO’s consider investing in photographers that are vetted and offer packages to operators.
19. Post your stuff under Creative Commons. Your best stuff will get seen.  With CC attribution, users will link back to your site. Come on, drop the Copyright.
20. Facebook is adding Half a Million New Users Every Day.  Don’tcha think some of them are your ideal guests?
21. Over 44% of all Internet users are active in social media.
    Travelers are especially social:
    19% visit blogs
    1/3 have written a review
    42% Youtube
    33% Facebook
    27% Trip Advisor
    73% search for photos
22. Facebook fan boxes…. Embed one on your site.  Your fans will love you for it and join.
23. IT’s OK for work to be fun.
24. Twitter: 60 Million users, 1171% Growth Rate. Worth getting in?
25. 19% of people update status daily – ie: Facebook status, Twitter, others.  That’s way up from just 9% in October of 2008.
26. Tweets now featured in search engine results. Bing and Google deals  in October, 2009.
27. Real Time Search is the next big thing.
28. Position your social media contact points in obvious places in print media: ie – receipts, business cards, posters, brochures.
29. Position your real world contact points in obvious places online.  ie: Phone number on every page.  Hey, handheld users can click it and dial you up.  This is a good thing.
30. Everyone has an audience.
31. 59% think customer reviews are more important than professional reviews.
32. 63% are more likely to purchase if a company has reviews.
33. Social Media is not optional.  Your business is naked.
34. Social sites like Facebook aren’t Websites, they are online applications.
35. Fans can make a difference
36. 7 deadly sins of Social media
    thinking you can control it,
    being unprepared for negatives,
    taking time to respond,
    expecting others to protect your brand,
    thinking your reputation rests with management,
    being deaf to conversation that includes your brand, region, your services,
    charging for Internet access.
37. Give Away WiFi access and never stop banging on the door for faster wired & handheld Internet access in your community.
38. High speed Internet access can double the revenue generating capacity across all industries in communities without it.  Faster speeds will likely increase revenue.
39. The real goal of your business isn’t to make sales, it is to Create FANS.
40. Check your listing on Google Maps.
41. Ask your Fans to tell their story on TripAdvisor – Embed a link in emails, tag lines, Websites, business cards.
42. The right business card and the right messagel can increase revenue 20%.
43. Current’cy is the new Currency.
44. The Here and Now Web means all your digital assets can be linked to location.  Do it.
45. 60% of the people in world have cell phone contract (3.1 billion). Phones are replaced every 18 months.  Most new phones are smartphones.
46. Over 90% of cell phone users have their phone with them 24/7.  This will be the Web marketing channel that matters most in travel.  Get started now.
47. 39% of N.A. now have smart phones.  Double from 2008.
48. 35% of 8 year olds in the U.K. have cell phones.
49. QR Codes: in Japan readers on 70% of new phones and can hyperlink any place, time or object to the Web. Apps can do the same in N.A.
50. Shop and pay with your phone?  It’s here.
51. Your next Website might not be a Website.  Think app!
52. Your app could:
    provide links to all your social media,
    allow fans to purchase directly from their phone or handheld device,
    allow your fans to upload and share their stories across all media types.
53. Hilton watched handheld revenue only double from mobile site year over year 2008-2009.  Then in May, month to month handheld sales started soaring!  Up 400% month over month from May to October.  Yes, we’ve hit the tipping point for mobile.  What are you waiting for?  Maybe you need to shift some of your print advertising budget.
54. Thinking app: Think iPhone, Blackberry, Android… in that order.
55. Collaborate with others in your community.
56. Engage your team.
57. Hire the skills of production and distribution.  Think beyond traditional job descriptions and application forms. Add some social media questions like: Which Web sites do you use?
58. The biggest shift in investment needed to succeed in social media is from money to time.  Where are you going to find the time to do the most important things?
59. It’s not too late to get started.
60. Augmented Reality . . . don’t even get me started about what the future holds.

Got any bullet points to add?  What’s your favourite?

BTW, these points are all published here under creative commons license.  Feel free to use and attribute the ideas to this blog with a link back.

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Tags: british columbia, conferences & events, keynote, real-time, social media, speaking notes, technology conference, tourism conference, Web 3.0
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Microsoft search engine Bing inked a deal with Twitter that includes tweets in search results.  Microsoft announced the deal onstage at the Web 2.0 Summit today.  The non-exclusive deal made it easy for Google to piggyback on the Bing announcement with their own announcement of a commitment to feature Tweets in search results.

Significance of the Bing / Google Twitter Announcements for Travel:

Tweets aren’t just for your followers on Twitter any more. Travel regions and tourism businesses will need to post relevant tweets and links to benefit from higher visibility among search users whether or not they are users of Twitter. Tweets will show up in Search results.

The upshot: Get tourism businesses in your region tweeting!

Twitter on Bing

Using http://bing.com/twitter will reveal relevant real time Twitter search results.  Microsoft also announced that soon Facebook status updates will also be featured on the search engine.  What is interesting is that Bing sample results page features the tweeted link title and sample tweets featuring the avatar (photo) and text of the tweet!

Twitter on Google

Surely the enlightenment of embedding Twitter in search results on Google was overdue.

In May this year I reported how Google was not invited to the Twitter Party, and that Twitter search was indeed a critical piece of the search puzzle for Web 3.0 – the Here and Now Web.

It appears now, Google and Twitter have come to a financial agreement  that will result in tweets being featured in Google search results.

News on the Twitter deal from the Google Blog

“Given this new type of information and its value to search, we are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results. We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months.”

What will Tweets in Search Results look like?  We don’t know yet.

Some users of Firefox have been using a Greasemonkey script which embeds Twitter search results at the top of any Google search result as shown below.

Google itself highlighted the importance of travel regions and tourism operators making effective use of the Twitter platform on its blog post:

“The next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you’ll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information.”

Impact of these Twitter announcements from Google and Microsoft:

• The Here and Now Web (Web 3.0) is here.  Real time search results and location relevant search results will take on greater importance.
• Twitter will Grow in adoption as tweets get greater visibility beyond the Twitterverse.
• A new era of search engine innovation will come about as engineers figure out how to identify relevant tweets from spam.
• With access to Twitter search results, Google and Microsoft will need to rethink their search result algorithyms and determine how much relative importance to give to tweets.

Share your thoughts?

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Tags: bing, google, google news, microsoft, real time search, research / trends, Twitter, Web 3.0
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Microsoft search engine Bing inked a deal with Twitter that includes tweets in search results. Microsoft announced the deal onstage at the Web 2.0 Summit today. The non-exclusive deal made it easy for Google to piggyback on the Bing announcement with their own announcement of a commitment to feature Tweets in search results.

Significance of the Bing / Google Twitter Announcements for Travel:

Tweets aren’t just for your followers on Twitter any more. Travel regions and tourism businesses will need to post relevant tweets and links to benefit from higher visibility among search users whether or not they are users of Twitter. Tweets will show up in Search results.

The upshot: Get tourism businesses in your region tweeting!

Twitter on Bing

Using http://bing.com/twitter will reveal relevant real time Twitter search results. Microsoft also announced that soon Facebook status updates will also be featured on the search engine. What is interesting is that Bing sample results page features the tweeted link title and sample tweets featuring the avatar (photo) and text of the tweet!

Twitter on Google

Marissa Mayer announces Google deal with Twitter at Web 2.0 Summit (youtube)

Surely the enlightenment of embedding Twitter in search results on Google was overdue.

In May this year I reported how Google was not invited to the Twitter Party, and that Twitter search was indeed a critical piece of the search puzzle for Web 3.0 – the Here and Now Web.

It appears now, Google and Twitter have come to a financial agreement that will result in tweets being featured in Google search results.

News on the Twitter deal from the Google Blog

“Given this new type of information and its value to search, we are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results. We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months.”

What will Tweets in Search Results look like? We don’t know yet.

Some users of Firefox have been using a Greasemonkey script which embeds Twitter search results at the top of any Google search result as shown below.

Google itself highlighted the importance of travel regions and tourism operators making effective use of the Twitter platform on its blog post:

“The next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you’ll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information.”

Impact of these Twitter announcements from Google and Microsoft:

• The Here and Now Web (Web 3.0) is here. Real time search results and location relevant search results will take on greater importance.
• Twitter will Grow in adoption as tweets get greater visibility beyond the Twitterverse.
• A new era of search engine innovation will come about as engineers figure out how to identify relevant tweets from spam.
• With access to Twitter search results, Google and Microsoft will need to rethink their search result algorithyms and determine how much relative importance to give to tweets.

Share your thoughts?

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Tags: bing, google, google news, microsoft, real time search, research / trends, Twitter, Web 3.0
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Early Augmented Reality

Travel Gadgets are like having God in your Pocket

An early GPS-linked project in the UK demonstrated how a tourism region could put information in the fingertips of visitors. The project used a tiny electronic machine to add interactivity to visiting ancient ruins by linking hotspots to audio/video content to tell the story of the place in a rich engaging way.

Today, devices capable of displaying such multimedia are in many travelers pockets! iPhone, Blackberry and other internet connected devices with built-in gps and cameras are all capable of overlaying digital information on top of reality – Augmented Reality.

What is Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality describes the merging of reality with digital information. The digital information (in the form of words, audio, video or pictures) can be triggered to display on an internet connected device based on gps location and/or recognizable visual objects including symbols or icons like QR codes which are photographed by the device.

Experience AR with Virtual Baseball Cards

Rawlings has a project that displays virtual baseball cards by using a computer Web cam and a printed logo. It only takes a few minutes to experience the thrill of seeing digital information come to life.

Visit http://rawlings.fleishmanhillard.com and print the Rawlings ad to get started. Then click on the link and hold the ad up to your computers video camera to see the virtual baseball cards. You can even control their movement and appearance on your screen.

In the image below, the three dimensional trophy and baseball card float around as you move the Rawlings logo about.

augmented reality webcam image

With AR, Travel Guides come to life in real time – on location with projects like these:

Find your Way

Discover Anywhere is working on an AR Transit application that will overlay digital information on an iPhone, making it easy for the traveler to find their way around an unfamiliar city.

Wikitude AR Travel Guide

The Here and Now Web

Thinking about the impact of Augmented Reality on the tourism experience can be a lot of fun, and like most technology it’s more important to think about the content than it is to worry about how to do the technical dirty work.

What can your organization do for your members, that they can’t do themselves? Is it Augmented Reality?

We’ll all be brought into the world of augmented reality in the near future and DMO’s and regional travel organizations may be inspired to dream up interesting engaging experiences that make use of this technology – GO FOR IT.

For those not inspired to start on an augmented reality project just yet, there is no time like now to start thinking like your ideal guest. Answer the most important question for the digitally connected traveler:

“Standing here, now, what kind of content could make my experience better?”

Start collecting the media you’ll need to make your travel region, one not to miss for the digitally connected traveler.

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Tags: augmented reality, multimedia, tourism, travel, Web 3.0
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