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TravelMole eWire Q&A: Frommers Unlimited
Tuesday, 27 Feb, 2009
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Joel Brandon Bravo is general manager at digital content provider Frommers Unlimited. He spoke to Dinah Hatch
Q: Explain why buying your content, or that of another digital agency’s, helps a travel company
A: Companies are selling a travel experience, not a seat on a plane or renting a bed in a room. So to entice customers they need to provide quality, trustworthy content about that destination. Adding content helps in two main ways. Firstly it attracts customers to the site. Companies are moving away from the one-size-fits-all expensive brochure approach to using much more dynamic and targeted digital content, whether it is imagery or inspiring copy in an email newsletter. Many companies are starting to use advanced CRM techniques to personalise marketing messages. Most users’ journeys start with Google to initially research where to go and to find travel products. Around 75% of people click on natural search results rather than paid for ads, so to get in front of customers, sites need to have content that Google can find. The second way to draw in customers is to inspire and engage them once they are on the site. Travel providers also need to provide the information to enable customers to decide if the destination they are considering is right for them and how to get the most out of it. The content also provides a context for them to cross sell.
Q: How deeply have you penetrated the travel industry in terms of getting them to invest in content? Are we at the tip of the iceberg here or is every major player buying content now?
A: All sizes of business are adding content to their sites in some form or another. Having said that it was only 2-3 years ago I met the marketing director of a major airline and they had never heard of an SEO strategy. So things have moved pretty fast. Customising content is the real growth area as is localising it for different markets as client seek to expand their target audience into other languages.
Q: Is paying for content replacing spending on traditional online advertising such ad banners?
A: Absolutely. We conducted research at the end of last year which showed that planned spend on traditional ads such as banners was either static or declining while spending on destination content and SEO were not only the top priorities, but budgets were increasing between 10% and 100%. (email [email protected] for the full report).
Q: How soon do you think digital travel content will be consumed in any great quantity via mobile phones?
A: I think the next year or two will see mobiles come into their own as a means for consuming content. The iPhone has set the standard (over 500 million aps downloaded since launch last year) and all major phone manufacturers are following this year. Frommer’s launched destination guides for the iPhone which locate your position, plot any points of interest on a map and allow you to see what’s nearby. I think the focus will be on consuming content while in destination (maps, finding local restaurants, attractions, phrasebooks etc) rather than during the research and booking stages, which are still easier on a PC.
Q: Does Frommer’s Unlimited spell the end for printed guidebooks?
A: I don’t think so. People will want to take a guidebook with them for many years to come. Mobile use and digital readers are growing rapidly but they each have their own ‘experience’. Video/DVD didn’t kill the cinema.
Q: How do user generated content (UGC) and Web 2.0 fit into what you offer clients?
A: UGC is growing at a phenomenal rate as users look to other users for confirmation that the information provided by travel suppliers is a fair reflection of the reality experienced by other travellers. It also works as a useful feedback mechanism for the suppliers themselves and allows them a much more pro-active engagement with their customers. We have re-launched our community content on Frommers.com and launched a user tips section to our guides on the Eurostar website last year. I definitely see this expanding rapidly this year.
Q: What is the most effective way that your clients can use video and audio to sell their product?
A: As people become more sophisticated online they also become more critical and demanding and a Forrester report some time ago showed that top asks from customers online included visual evidence of bedrooms or hotel facilities. Video is so much more powerful in convincing potential customers about the quality and reality of the services a company is offering. And online offers the customer choice and ‘on-demand’ rather than the filtered push of travel channels on television. We know that tour operators have invested particularly heavily in video footage for online sites and that investment is paying dividend in increasing sales to the properties featured. Podcasts are less effective but do offer a new way to communicate with customers.
Dinah
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