E-marketing and social marketing - hospitallity
Having a hotel website and a few portal listings is simply not enough. You need multiple points of presence on the web and you need to be continuously engaged in the online conversations that can convince potential guests that your establishment really is their best option.
Fish where the fish are! With more than half of all bookings taking place online, the web has become the medium of choice for travellers, and so the travel industry, more than any other, is now emphatically an online marketing industry.
The phenomenal growth of the tourism industry online has been accompanied by a boom in website creation that has intensified the battle for the consumers' time and attention. Getting travellers and hotel-seekers to find you, and book with you, therefore requires a competitive online presence.
This means that you need to create a compelling online guest experience that distinguishes yourself from others.
This is e-marketing. And succeeding in it today seems daunting. It's a constantly changing environment that seems to be driven by technology, and is laden with off-putting jargon. But when you cut through all this, and understand the various components of e-marketing, it is one of the most cost effective ways of to reach out to your new and existing guests and engage with them - keeping in mind that the ultimate objective is to drive bookings for your hotel.
Who Should Attend?
This course will be of great value to you if you are
• responsible for sales or marketing in a large or small hotel, B&B, other hospitality business or Travel or Tourism office or related business.
• responsible for making strategic decisions or implementing a marketing strategy
• in IT or web development and support websites for Hospitality, Travel or Tourism
• tired of not looking or functioning like a 21st century business
In other words, if you have any kind of responsibility for improving the marketing performance, image, or quality of customer service in a hotel or tourism chain, independent hotel, b&b, game lodge, accommodation, travel or tourism service, you need to have the skills that this course provides.
Course Overview
This authoritative e-marketing course, run by hotel marketing expert, Karen Parkin, is specifically designed for people in the hospitality and tourism industry. It helps participants get up to speed with the web and all the new communication tools. It demystifies the technology and jargon and teaches you what works; and it separates fact from hype and myth.
The course covers an overview of all the elements of e-marketing including search marketing, Google advertising, email marketing, websites and social media. It discusses best practises and how these elements can be combined into an effective digital strategy. It explains the expectations and behaviour of travel-seekers online, how to attract traffic to your website, and finally what it takes to convert "lookers into bookers".
This course provides the context for an in- depth discussion about Social Media with a particular focus on how to exploit the power of tools like Twitter, YouTube, Digg and Facebook. You will know what to look for when listing on travel or accommodation portals. You will appreciate the value of consumer generated content and be confident to make effective use of online travel reviews to further market and promote your establishment or business.
The course is packed with examples, references, practical hints and tips, and 'how-tos'. You will find that doing a great e-marketing job does not require big company budgets nor is it rocket science. This course is designed to provide exactly the right amount of information to inform and educate you so that you get there quickly and effectively, and without breaking the bank! At the end of the course you will have an excellent understanding of e-marketing with a particular focus on Social Media, and be able to define and implement the web strategy that is just right for you and that best fits the needs and character of your establishment or travel business.
Course Topics include:
• Overview of the web and the online traveller
• The components of E-marketing - understanding how all the pieces fit together and how to use them
• Email marketing
• Search marketing - understand search engines and optimise your site rankings
• Online advertising - how to use Pay Per Click to advertise online
• Your website - what hotel and tourism websites must have
• Using social media to market your establishment effectively
• Facebook- how to use Facebook, advertising on Facebook, best practises, marketing ideas
• Twitter - how to use Twitter to market your business
• The power of pictures and video - how to leverage video sharing sites (eg YouTube) and image sharing sites (eg Flickr)
• LinkedIn - how to use LinkedIn to market your business
• Blogs - how to set up a blog and best practises for creating blogs
• Consumer generated content - reviews on your site
• Your online marketing budget - what should it cost and how to allocate funds for most effective results.
• Strategy - putting it all together
Britefire (Pty) Ltd. (www.britefire.co.za)
A digital strategy and marketing firm. With innovation and international experience, we help companies excel worldwide in e-business, online marketing and digital project management. We offer consulting, development, implementation and training.
South African companies who have benefitted from our experience include:
Clicks, Orion Group, UNISA, SA Tourism, MWEB, FinWeek, McCann Worldgroup, Eskom, Jupiter Drawing Room, Makro, Media 24, Exclusive Books, City Sightseeing Cape Town, Ocean View House, Trudon, Mooiplaas Guesthouse, GCIS, Markham, University of Stellenbosch Business School, Struik and Standard Bank.
Globally, we've worked with a long list of organisations, including:
The BBC, AC Nielsen, Marriott Hotels International, American Express, Intel, Ford, Credit Suisse, Lockheed-Martin, Library of Congress, US Department of Defense, Nomura, Sasktel, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Cisco Systems, Kepner-Tregoe and American Honda.
Time: 09:00 - 17:00
Venue: Winchester Mansions, Cape Town
Cost: R1495
Date: 28 August 2012
Time: 09:00 - 17:00
Venue: Focus Rooms, Johannesburg
Cost: R1495
Date: 23 October 2012
Time: 09:00 - 17:00
Venue: Focus Rooms, Johannesburg
Cost: R1495
Date: 13 November 2012
Time: 09:00 - 17:00
Venue: Winchester Mansions, Cape Town
Cost: R1495