Presentation made to tourism teachers from across Austria who were learning about online marketing.

1. Online
Marke+ng
in
Tourism
Digital
Des+na+ons:
A
Fusion
of
Research,
Educa+on
&
Professional
Prac+ce
Dr
Philip
Alford
Zillertaler
Tourismusschulen
Friday
18th
October
2013
palford@bournemouth.ac.uk
@philipalford

2.
Digital
Des+na+ons
www.budigitalhub.co.uk
LinkedIn
(digital
des+na+ons
group)
www.pinterest.com/digitaldest
hIp://www.slideshare.net/DigitalHub
ddp@bournemouth.ac.uk
@PhilipAlford
|
@SchoolofTourism
#DDBU

4. Economic
and
Social
Research
Council
Funding
=
£55,000
“We
are
the
UK's
largest
organisaOon
for
funding
research
on
economic
and
social
issues.
We
support
independent,
high
quality
research
which
has
an
impact
on
business,
the
public
sector
and
the
third
sector.”
More
informaOon
at:
hUp://www.esrc.ac.uk/about-­‐esrc/

5. Aims
-­‐
summary
To
create
a
knowledge
network
for
the
creaOon
and
sharing
of
small
business
digital
markeOng
best
pracOce
and
knowledge.
To
idenOfy
the
determinants
of
small
business
engagement
with
digital
markeOng.

6. Importance
of
small
businesses
• In
the
UK
micro
enterprises
account
for
around
87
per
cent
of
hospitality
businesses
• 91.8%
of
businesses
in
the
EU
are
micro
(less
than
10
employees)
(European
Small
Business
Alliance
2013)

7. Why
small
businesses
need
help
• Annual
turnover
rate
of
nearly
a
quarter
for
tourism
businesses
• Small
businesses
in
general
lag
behind
with
online
markeOng
• However
despite
the
significance
of
small
businesses
in
the
visitor
economy,
“most
studies
of
tourism
SMEs
have
focused
on
condiOons
of
entry
and
paid
very
limited
aUenOon
to
business
development
and
growth
processes”
(Pearce
and
Butler
2010:
83).
Shaw,
G.,
&
Williams,
A.
M.
(2010).
Tourism
SMEs:
changing
research
agendas
and
missed
opportuniOes.
In
D.
Pearce,
&
Butler.
(Eds.),
Tourism
Research:
A
20:20
vision.
Oxford:
Goodfellow
Publishers.
Chapter
7.

8. 60
businesses
joined
program
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
AccommodaOon
Arts
&
Culture
Conference
&
Events
EducaOon
&
Outdoor
Adventure
AUracOons
Retail
DMO

9. Criteria
for
selec+ng
applicants
The
criteria
include:
• Current
level
of
online
markeOng
• AspiraOons
• Level
of
commitment
• Geographic
locaOon
• Size
of
business
• Sector

10. Applica+on
form
• Please
tell
us
what
parOcularly
inspired/moOvated
you
to
apply
for
this
programme.
“Having
recognised
the
importance
in
the
fast
growing
nature
of
digital/
online
marke9ng,
a
key
priority
to
us
over
the
next
12
months
is
to
focus
on
online
marke9ng
within
our
marke9ng
strategy
-­‐
making
the
most
of
the
various
online
marke9ng
channels
we
currently
use,
as
well
as
effec9vely
implemen9ng
new
ones.
This
programme
has
come
along
at
the
perfect
9me
to
help
us
make
the
most
of
the
opportunity.”

11. First
seminar
–
needs
analysis
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Digital
Olympians
Apps
Fab
Online
Crusaders
AppPrenOces
Digital
Dragons
Social
Maniacs

13. Second
seminar
-­‐
planning
• Aim
–
to
start
the
planning
process
and
work
on
specific
campaigns

14. Developing
the
strategy
Situa+on:
where
are
we
now?
Objec+ves:
where
do
we
want
to
be?
Strategy:
how
do
we
get
there?
Tac+cs:
how
exactly
do
we
get
there?
Ac+on:
what
is
our
plan?
Control:
did
we
get
there?

15. Student-­‐Business

16. Student-­‐Business

17. Student-­‐Business

18. Par+cipant
blogs

19. Digital
Marke+ng
‘unit’
• 60
students
at
‘Level
H’
(final
year
undergraduate)
• From
across
the
‘pathways’
in
the
School
of
Tourism
at
Bournemouth
University
• Course
ran
from
October
2012
–
April
2013
– Term
1:
Oct-­‐Dec
2012
course
content
covered
on
Digital
MarkeOng
– Term
2:
Jan-­‐April
students
worked
with
businesses
on
Digital
MarkeOng
plan
– Term
3:
April-­‐May:
students
submit
coursework

20. Final
student
reports
Paultons
Park
(Georgi
Oliver
working
with
Rob
Lee)

24. Measurement in Context
Sentiment
Re-Tweets
Mentions
Links
Reviews
Shared comments
Views
Visits
Volume
Search Rankings
Brand Buzz
Sales
Downloads
Paid Subscriptions
Subscriptions
Leads
Followers
Friends
Subscribers
Connections
“Likes”
Referrals
Click-Thru’s
Open Rates
@KarlHavard

27. Feedback
on
campaign
“To
add
400
new
followers
in
7
days
is
a
great
result
for
us.
When
celebri9es
have
men9oned
us
before
we
have
had
added
around
100-­‐200
new
followers
depending
on
their
following.
Naturally
Paultons
Park
generate
around
20-­‐30
new
followers
per
week”
(Rob
Lee,
Digital
MarkeOng
Manager,
Paultons)

29. Business
digital
plans
• All
plans
uploaded
to
slideshare.com
and
being
disseminated
via
social
media
• Case
example
at
hUp://www.slideshare.net/DigitalHub/
highcliffe-­‐castle-­‐case-­‐study

30. Results
&
Analysis
• Rich
dataset
comprising
– ApplicaOon
form
– Focus
groups
– Blog
posts
– MarkeOng
plans
• Uploaded
and
analyzed
within
Nvivo
• Currently
exploring
the
data
to
invesOgate
associaOons
and
build
theory

32. Results
&
Analysis
• MarkeOng
channel
analysis
• Channels
–
before
and
aser
• Database
analysis

33. Conclusion
-­‐
issues
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Lots
of
informaOon
on
the
‘why’
but
liUle
on
the
‘how’
Lack
of
Ome
and
human
resource
(the
owner/manager
syndrome
-­‐
doing
everything)
Inadequate
IT
skills
Lack
of
markeOng
know-­‐how
-­‐
while
small
businesses
have
entrepreneurial
skills
they
lack
the
formal
markeOng
knowledge
required
to
plan
effecOvely
Lack
of
measurable
goals
for
their
digital
markeOng
mainly
due
to
being
unaware
of
the
online
metrics
that
can
be
set
–
focus
on
end
sales
Lack
of
awareness
of
the
customer
engagement
process
and
channels/KPIs
that
apply
at
different
stages
of
that
process
Related
to
point
above,
many
small
businesses
not
completely
convinced
of
the
ROI
on
digital
markeOng
Outsourcing
some
or
most
of
their
digital
markeOng
without
having
a
clear
plan
or
knowledge
thereby
losing
control
and
insight

34. Thank
You
Ques+ons?
Dr
Philip
Alford
palford@bournemouth.ac.uk
@philipalford