I was a little disappointed with last year’s ad:tech conference in Paris, but this year’s event in San Francisco was quite good. All the leading advertising technology companies were represented, and I enjoyed learning what they are working on.

Some highlights and thoughts from the sessions I attended:

> Why is social media a marketing function? We have traditionally designated the web, and now social media, as the primary responsibility of marketing, but to succeed online today, we need to abandon this thinking.

> When building your social media team, include person from every department: management, marketing, PR, product development, customer service, etc

> Social media is a feedback loop: before, during, after transaction. Engage at each point.

> Some ad agencies are now optimizing landing pages around ‘who’ you know, not ‘what’ you know. Including connections from networks like Facebook gives a personal connection to the company.

> Starbucks was used as a good example of listening to customer suggestions, and acting on them. Their contest to submit ideas for improvement generated 80,000 ideas, and they have implemented 200 so far. (That is 2 ideas, every week, for the past 2 years) Are you doing something similar?

> Tracking online reputation should not just be aggregating reviews. Use a tool that gives you insight into trends and patterns.

> ROI is difficult to compare across platforms. Instead, compare ROO – Return on Objectives.

> Social media is the richest focus group that ever existed

> Social ROI is from insights, not necessarily sales

> Segment your email list by personas (not purchase history)

> Don’t try to buy social media fans. Avoid the “campaign” mindset, and understand that forming the relationships for a great online community will take years.

I’ll expand on many of these concepts in the days to come…

I livetweeted this week’s Social Media Strategies for Travel event, and posted summaries of day 1 and day 2. But what were the big takeaways?

1) Everyone is experimenting.

I was pleased to see the conversation move beyond social media basics into examples of how people are trying this stuff out. Right now everyone is trying everything. In the testing phase there tends to be less dogmatism…which I find refreshing.

2) Fail quickly, fail fast

The Silicon Valley mantra is being adopted by many hotel marketing professionals. Many prominent hospitality organizations are simultaneously trying a number of very different social networking experiments. They are trying to keep each tests’ cost as low as possible, and then plan to expand with the winners.

3) Create multiple accounts for multiple messages

Several organizations are using different Twitter accounts, for example, to publish promotions and to conduct conversations. Multiple Twitter accounts enable multiple “host” voices, and can provide more authentic messaging.

4) Older marketing tactics are just as powerful as ever.

I found it slightly ironic that when I asked dozens of people what their most productive internet marketing tactics were, many of them answered email, blogging, and search optimization.  It’s interesting to note that email seemed to be the top sales performer, even as social media gets most of the attention. It seems the best results are coming when these channels are integrated.

5) Social media represents a mindset

It’s not about a set of tools.

Rather, it is about how people interact with the web today. Good social media campaigns are really just attentive customer service happening online.

6) Think holistically

There are 3 stages a person goes through in travel: planning, the trip itself, and then looking back at the trip. As marketers we may be too focused on the “planning” stage – and need to think about reaching people at other times. Virginia Suliman asked us to think about the complete guest experience – and who we need to partner with to ensure excellence.

When we look at some of the most effective marketing organizations online right now, you’ll see this is the case. They go far beyond only communicating with their customers in the “planning” stage.

7) Involve your employees

Everyone needs to get involved. Social media cannot be delegated to a single person or department. Empower your entire team to take part.

“Employees can take brand message, localize it, and put their personality behind it.” – Claire Elias/STA Travel

Finished another full day of ideas at EyeForTravel’s Social Media Strategies 2010….

Susan Black opened with some interesting numbers on why people follow you in social media: 32% for offers & discounts, 19% for new products and services, 19% to be entertained. We need to remember that social media does not replace our other marketing & advertising responsibilities. We need to use multiple channels to reach everyone.

Brian Boland from Facebook thinks the reason behind social media’s explosive growth is that people naturally want to connect and share. Social media is not just another distribution channel. You need to think how you can become part of the social graph. Try to build your presence as an authentic personality online.

Michael Perhaes from MGM Grand said, “ “Twitter is not a direct marketing platform for us.” Instead he feels the platform is a big opportunity for hospitality companies to serve guests in real time. They use multiple accounts for multiple topics and voices. He recommends creating personas around your various accounts.

Mark Guerette from Alaska Airlines reminded us there are 3 stages a person goes through in travel: planning, the trip itself, and reminiscing. As marketers we may be too focused on the “planning” stage – and need to think about reaching people at other times. I also loved how Alaska Airlines has multiple customer advisory boards – bringing frequent fliers in to talk with their various departments on how to improve the experience.

Yen Lee from Uptake brought solid research data (as always). I enjoyed hearing his thoughts on how social media will develop over the next few years. He explained that a Social Graph is people you connected with, while an Affinity Graph connects people with similar interests. What’s next for travel & search? Technology that recognizes emotion and the meaning of online content.

Claire Elias from STA Travel closed us off with a very important topic: how to get our employees involved in our social media outreach. Empowering them to become online ambassadors can be a very powerful concept. They can take your brand message, localize it, and put their personality behind it. To do this successfully, you need to train and guide them in how to participate, but avoid just overwhelming them with a big list of rules. Instead, make it fun!

All in all I found attending this event a very rewarding experience. Thanks to Gina Baillie at EyeforTravel for putting everything together, and Susan Black for moderating the discussions. Great job!

EyeforTravel’s Social Media Strategies conference got off to a good start today here in San Francisco. I am pleased to see the conversations (for the most) part move beyond “Should we use Facebook?” to more meaningful discussions.

Specifically, I enjoyed hearing — and want to hear more tomorrow — about two things:

1. Examples of how people are integrating social media into their campaigns (What works? What doesn’t?)
2. What’s next for social media — how will this evolve over the next few years, and what should we do to prepare for these changes?

Susan Black began with a good introduction (as always). Social media is a conversation, not a tool. E-mail and social media are converging. Separate channels should be used for promotions and customer service/conversations.

Porter Gale opened a panel on the social media landscape by explaining customers now expect real-time, 24/7 support. Installing WiFi on their Virgin America flights resulted in a lot more online activity. [Would hotels experienced the same thing?] She believes social media is something the whole team should be involved in: Guest services deals with service issues, PR develops content and watches for stories, Marketing monitors everything and posts information.

Virginia Suliman of Hilton emphasized that social media tools are not more important than the trip as a whole. Think about your entire guest experience, and see who you can partner with to create a holistic guest experience. She reminded us that we would never put in a new front desk employee without training, and the same should go for social media. Social media isn’t free – you need to invest in training & tools.

Del Ross from the InterContinental Hotel Group showed studies that e-mail is not part of the daily communications web for people under 30. They’re not using Twitter either. Twitter may be coming less of a personal communications tool, and more of a media outlet. There are three basic ways for hotel to increase revenue: generating demand, converting demand, increasing revenue per sale. He doesn’t care where the improvement comes from… as long as it comes. Experimentation is the key to social media success. Find a way to fail cheaply and fail quickly. You won’t know what works for you unless you try.

This is just a quick overview – I plan to do a more comprehensive summary of the event on Friday. In the meantime, I live tweet every session so that you don’t miss anything important.

Follow me on Twitter to get updates as they come @HMarketingHelp

Josiah’s note: Although I was unable to be in Berlin this week to attend PhoCusWright@ITB 2010, Robert Cole of RockCheetah kindly agreed to share his top insights from the event in this guest post.

The PhoCusWright@ITB 2010 conference just concluded and, as always, provided a number of interesting points to consider within the travel industry marketing, distribution and technology landscape.

1)     PhoCusWright CEO Philip Wolf launched the conference with his keynote “Chaos Calls, Navigating the New” summarizing the disruptive forces at play that are complicating the travel industry landscape:

• Disparate Devices & Channels (new operating systems and platforms)
• Strains on Search (evolution of search changes search engine optimization)
• Tapping New Travelers (Look to the Asia Pacific region)
• See Me, Hear Me, Touch Me (new interfaces are predominantly visual)
• Significant Surprise (unexpected new player emerging)

2)     Gene Quinn, Chairman of PhoCusWright then hosted a group of analysts/investors to characterize the investment environment for travel technology companies:

• Investors are looking for recurring revenues, strong EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), company growth, long term contracts, differentiated product, and especially, strong management
• Travelport’s failure to float its initial public offering was not about travel, it was about debt – the company was severely overleveraged. Investors are suspicious of big debt.

3)     Krista Pappas of Microsoft’s Bing search engine provided five lessons for travel media:

• Be Authentic (Million dollar homepage worked only once)
• Relentless Measurement & Optimization (TripAdvisor set the standard)
• Be Social (Starbucks deepening already strong relationships with their community)
• Be Opportunistic & Responsive (Ashton Kutcher’s growth to 1 Million – now 4.5 Million – followers)
• Ads are Content (Burger King’s sacrifice a Facebook friend campaign)

4)     David Roche, President of Hotels.com and Venere.com provided a number of interesting points:

• From a financial perspective, Expedia is basically a hotel selling company
• When comparing the commission model to the merchant model, the company discovered it does not confuse the public when selling both models together.
• Roche was also very complimentary of Priceline’s Booking.com, especially how they used Google as a demand source & a method measuring performance.

Read more…

I’ll be attending quite a few conferences this year, but one of the ones I’m looking forward to most is EyeforTravel’s Social Media Strategies for Travel USA 2010 (March 24-25).

At most conferences, social media may be the topic of a few workshops, but it doesn’t get nearly as much attention as it deserves. I’m pleased to see EyeforTravel bringing together marketing directors from companies like Hilton, Fairmont, Virgin America, Google, and Facebook to talk about things like:

• Set the Right Vision, KPIs and Strategy for Your Business – and Make it Happen
• Learn How to Manage Your Brand Reputation Online
• Effectively Use Social Media Tools to Boost Customer Engagement & Loyalty
• Best Practices to get the Highest ROI on Your Social Media Initiatives
• Twitter and the Rise of Micro-blogging – What Are the Implications for your Travel Business?
• Social Media Metrics & Meaning – Are you Tracking and Interpreting Your Social Media Initiatives Effectively?
• At What Point in the Purchasing Cycle and to What Extent are Travelers Influenced by Social Media?
• Manage Social Networks to Gain Employee Company Buy-in and Build a Positive Company Culture

You can see the full conference details, agenda, and speakers. If this could help your organization, you may register here.

As with many conferences I attend, I have a press pass and will be covering the event as a reporter. My intention is to learn as much as possible about what’s happening in the industry right now, and pass along some of these ideas to you here.

Are you going to be there? Let me know, and maybe we can meet up for lunch.

[Photo credit: tibchris]

Couldn’t attend Blog World this year? Don’t worry – here are some of the best insights I took away from the event:

> When someone types in a search query, they’re giving you the opportunity to solve their problem.

> Most website traffic is from first time visitors – make sure you have a way to involve them immediately.

> Present your blog and social media presence as a way for people to connect with their peers, not just receive your marketing messages.

> Employee blogging is more powerful than executive blogging. According to Edelman research, readers find them five times more credible. Get your team involved.

> Involve your sales team in your social media marketing efforts.

> Use video to convey emotion or compelling visuals that are hard to show through written words.

> Content is the most important element of a good online community. Making sure that content is easy to find in search engines is next.

> Don’t spend time on the technology – focus on the content.

> People probably don’t want to join your social networking “club” – but they do want solutions to their problems. Provide free access to your answers.

> If you want to win the search rankings game, write in the language of the customer.

> The greatest selling tactic is the similar situation story.

> The web is a perfect market research environment. Ask your fans what they want, and they’ll tell you.

> Publishing rhythm is important online: find a schedule and stick with it.

> Consider using multiple sites/blogs for each of the niche audiences you’re trying to reach.

> To succeed online, you must keep re-inventing yourself. Don’t be afraid to try new things.

> People admire complexity, but reward simplicity.

> Sometimes, blogs are a better discovery mechanism than a selling platform.

> Don’t force your readers to leave one network (ex: Facebook) for another (ex: your blog). Figure out a way to be where your readers already are.

> We are natually visual learners. Create content appropriately.

> Create relationships with “firestarters” – influencers that can quickly spread your message.

> Leverage social proof. Everyone likes what everyone likes.

> Never burn bridges – the travel industry is a very small world.

> Spend time building your expertise and core competencies. Study and learn.

> Don’t do something unless you’re the best in the world at it. If someone else does something better, use their services. Focus only on what you do best, and outsource everything else.

> Giving all the time without selling is an unhealthy relationship. (Your hotel needs to monetize your blog and social media presence.)

> Internet marketing isn’t really that difficult. It’s all about consistent execution on the tactics you know work.

> Do something consistently good every day.

I just touched down in Las Vegas, where I’ll spend the next three days at the Blog World Expo. This is probably the conference I looked forward to most this year, and I’m really excited to be here.

As I try to do for every event I attend, I’ll be blogging the best ideas from each session – so you can learn along with me. Additional coverage will be over at our blog about blogging: BlogforGuests.com.

Anyone else here for the event? I like to meetup with you in person whenever possible…

Well I’m back from the 2009 EyeforTravel North America Travel Distribution Summit, and gathered some insights on where the industry is heading.

Here are my top 10 13 takeaways:

> Infrastructure is a challenge for small, independent hotels. To overcome that, build a solid training program for your staff.

> Never ask a guest “Have you stayed with us before?” Build a great recognition system so you know that answer already.

> Partner with other established brands if you’re trying to reach up-market segments

> OTAs offer international distribution and significant marketing budgets that can supplement hotels’ budgets when times are lean. Small & independent hotels should ride the backs of OTAs for these benefits.

> On metasearch sites, hotels should move away from price commoditization by providing product-level custom messages to differentiate their offers

> OTAs get first-time consumers in the door for new brands. They may book later directly & become brand loyalists. According to Expedia research, for every booking made on their site, they send the supplier two extra direct bookings.

> To encourage bookings through direct channels, hotels should build a strong loyalty rewards program and invest in comprehensive SEO & SEM marketing efforts.

> When given the chance, consumers often prefer booking with the brand for perceived flexibility and options.

> Many times, mobile devices are used by make last-minute bookings. 48% of consumers willing to buy a hotel room via mobile (eMarketer).

> In mobile search, if you’re not in the top 1-3 results you’re invisible. The search algorithm is unique for mobile results, so optimize appropriately.

> Apart from groceries, consumers go to the internet first before buying any product. Plan your marketing strategy accordingly.

> SEO (organic search) can give much better returns than SEM (paid inclusion). According to Yen Lee of Uptake, 86% of travel sales leads are generated by organic search listings.

> Consumers are becoming more sophisticated in their web search. This gives marketers the opportunity to provide content in context. Invest in landing pages to support your SEO & SEM efforts.

[Photo credit: PhotoDu.de]

A presentation at EyeforTravel by Scott Bacon, Senior Revenue Account Manager, Preferred Hotel Group.

Infrastructure is a challenge for small, independent hotels. To overcome that, build a solid training program. Build a library of information. If you don’t make that investment, you hurt your hotel’s profitability.

Invest in efficiency. If you have to track multiple data dashboards, you waste time.

If you’re small, you can be quick & nimble. Capitalize on that.

The “average-ness” of averages.

Industry research can be construed & misleading. Don’t rely on it completely. Look at data in a way that is meaningful, and use frequency distribution.

How can hotels price competitively to gain exposure while maintaing rate integrity?

Package with value-adds. Stay “under the radar” with private pricing offers (semi-opaque channels).

How can hotels build guest loyalty with a rational pricing strategy?

Build a guest recognition program. Never ask “have you stayed with us before?” – you should know that answer already.

You don’t have to give away upgrades…just recognize your loyal guests.

How do you increase revenues when you’ve got high occupancy rates?

Raising the rates seems obvious, but it could backfire at times.

So, test. Develop interesting tests and play with the market.

How do you raise your appeal to higher-rated segments?

Not a lot of hotels know where their market position is. Define and position yourself.

Ride the coattails of partner brands that have already spent lots of resources establishing themselves.