Project papillon

Introduction
Social Marketing is marketing that seeks to raise the profile of our com-
pany by leveraging and creating networks of travel consumers. A recent
study done by JupiterReasearch found that social network users are three
times more likely to trust the opinions of fellow consumers over that of
advertisers when making a major purchase decision. Social media sites
are still picking up more and more users everyday.

Montrose Travel can build trusting relationships with social media us-
ers. We will target people who are already interested in traveling by giv-
ing them useful travel information through our blog, Twitter, Facebook,
YouTube, and other social media tactics. Montrose Travel will use social
media as a valuable extension to our ongoing marketing program to drive
travel bookings.

“As long as embracing constant change is a part of a com-

pany’s culture, the competition will not be able to evolve

as fast. To stay ahead of competition, you must continually
change and keep them guessing. Social Media is maybe one of

the biggest changes to happen in marketing in a long time so
Project Papillon - Acquisition

embracing it is essential to a modern company.”

(JeffBullas.com)

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http://www.realwire.com/writeitfiles/acquire-convert-retain.JPG

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http://www.optimusbt.com/Services/Pages/Total_Marketing_Solutions.aspx

Goals
1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – using keywords, links, XML
sitemap, ALT/TITLE attributes, reporting/analytics.

• SEM (Search Engine Marketing) – campaign design/management,

Google AdWords, Facebook ads, Yahoo! search marketing,
Microsoft adCenter.
• SMO (Social Media Optimization) – increase our linkability, make
tagging and bookmarking easy, help our content spread to different
people.

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2. Networking Marketing & PCC (Pay Per Click) Campaigns – Use Face-
book, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, PCC campaigns, & press releases to
pull people into our site, where customers can start thinking about and
researching their next vacation; i.e. become the “Zappos” in the travel
industry.

3. Email Campaigns - Spread the word that we are on network sites and
that we are the leader in travel.

4. Whitepaper & Case Study Syndication, Webinar Promotions – Dig deep-
er into what a vacation really means to people; e.g. is it about relax-
ation, volunteer work, going green, etc.

5. Brochures, Logos, Booth Designs – Reaching out to our clients the
traditional way, to ensure we do not lose our current clients who like
traditional methods.

6. Website – Making sure we constantly keep an updated professional
website that is user-friendly and clean from clutter.

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Audience

The picture above depicts the typical search behavior of a travel
customer in quarter one of 2009. When customers look to purchase a
vacation it is typically like this:

1. Get Vacation Ideas – Initial stage of the vacation hunting - they are
still looking for ideas by going to Google and typing in “summer vaca-
tion, beach vacation, lake vacation.”

2. Destination Research – By this time, they have a budget in mind. Now
they want to identify the location and will type things in like “best
Mediterranean beach vacations.”

3. Confirm Location – Now they will start a searching specific location,
like “beach vacations in the South of France.”

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4. Compare Packages & Transportation Options – They will determine the
preferred mode of transportation by looking at flights, trains or driving
options. To search, they will type in “cheap flight to Nice, Eurostar to
Nice,” as well as look at vacation packages.

5. Select a Hotel – They have found the cheap flight, now they want the
hotel or vacation package. They will search features/location and the
most reasonable price.

6. Decision Time –This is the period of time where they will think things
over, and maybe even call the travel agency to confirm their decision.

7. Revisit Website to Book – They are now ready to book definite dates
and have confirmed that they have the time off from work to travel.
This is where they will probably search best prices again.

8. Purchase – They have gone over their agenda several times and now
are ready to purchase their vacation, either on the internet or over the
phone.

9. After Sales – Following the sale, the buying cycle will continue with
customer service/ support and hopefully the opportunity for repeat
business in the future. We have to make sure that our brand has glow-
ing reviews and the PR that we want them to find.

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We are living in a revolutionary time where people have the choice to
find the best products for their needs and choose which companies to do
business with. These days, almost everyone turns to Google and research-
es what they are going to buy. We no longer pay attention to the ads on
TV. Instead, we look at websites and look for great content. As long as
we publish engaging material for people to read, people will be interested
in what we have to offer.

Inbound marketing is about getting found online, through search engines
and on sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter – between all of these
sites, hundreds of millions of people find the answers they need everyday.
“On average, inbound marketing leads are 61% less expensive than out-
bound marketing leads” (Inboundmarketingbook.com). This means that
marketing in the traditional sense is changing from outbound to more in-
bound marking techniques. We need to promote our website to our audi-
ence by increasing visibility on Google and other search engines. We must
first use SEO tactics, pay per click campaigns, and social networking that
work to grab our clients’ attention before we lose them to another travel

site.

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http://www.commarketing.com/images/online-marketing-pyramid.png

Most travel customers do not listen to 3rd party information (sales reps,
commercials, spam mail, etc.). A way to capture more travel custom-
ers is through building up social media sites and developing a strong SEO
strategy. In addition, we can use effective keywords in our PPC advertis-
ing for our internet marketing. We will use sites such as Market Samurai,
Google Adwords, and Wordtracker to determine what keywords people
are searching when looking for their next vacation.

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Based on what they are searching for, we will create inbound links to our
website. To start, we will begin using some new web features, as well
as enhancing the old ones, to help people find us. We will use Twitter,
Facebook, Digg, online press releases, podcasting, videos, and a blog to
our advantage. Experts say Social Media is here to stay… people want to
keep connected to what is going on around them. We can be there when
our clients want us and that is when it really counts. We will optimize
Montrose Travel’s digital presence and drive inbound traffic to our web-
site through the use of SEO optimized content.

http://www.sumolabs.com/files/SEO_SME_SMO_venn_diagram.jpg

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Shift to
Inbound Marketing
In today’s travel industry more and more people are booking their travel
online, “55% of internet users book holidays online – only 7% book on the
high street” (brick and morter) (http://www.iabuk.net/en/1/travelonline-
consumer.html). Many clients research where they are going before they
even think about booking their vacation. Having social media to connect
with them to help people find relevant travel information will help us have
the upper hand to give them the information they want when they want
it. This shows our clients that we care about their travel experience which
in turn helps us to build a trusting relationship with our clients. This brings
us back to our ultimate goal which is having them book travel through us.
In 2009, “$115.6 billion was spent by customers purchasing travel on-
line” forresterresearch.com. This is a huge market share that we need to
be apart of.

It is also important to note that we will have links going from our sites to
other websites and from other websites to our website. This will be key
to obtaining more traffic to our site. A high quality link is viewed favorably
by Google as a “vote” and or “endorsement” of our website.

“Links to the internet are like
dollar bills to the U.S. economy”

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It is crucial for Montrose Travel to turn our websites into a hub just like
New York City.

• New York City = Montrose website = Hub
• Google = Ferries
• Montrose Blog = Airports
• Twitter = Bus stations
• Facebook = Train stations

• YouTube = Light Rail
• Podcasts = Freeways
• Online Press Releases = Subway

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The more ways we can reach people through multiple social outlets the
more people we will bring back to our hub. Top-ranked sites today have
created communities where like-minded people can connect with each
other. We have to create a hub for our website to be reached through.
Eventually, the outside focus of Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and the
Montrose blog will bring people back to our website.

Example
Let’s look at an example of a successful inbound marketing campaign.
This campaign was done by our current president, Barack Obama. He
took on the challenge to run against one of the most well-known Sena-
tors in the United States, Hillary Clinton. Many people did not know who
Barack was; however, he did not let this stop him from competing with a
big competitor. Just like Barack, Montrose might not be that well-known
now, but if we use proper social media sources to connect with the public,
we too can reach people we have never reached before.

By using Barack’s example, we can open up our direct channels of com-
munication with our clients. We can utilize our e-mail, text messages,
online networks to make clients feel more involved with our company.
Just like Barack used networking technology, Montrose can also utilize
the same technologies through our own websites: Barack used Facebook
(5,800,000 friends and counting), Twitter (450,000 followers and count-
ing), LinkedIn (13,000 members and counting), YouTube (21,000,000
views and counting). No matter what your political views are, Barack has
given a powerful message that inbound marketing is something we cannot
go without.

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Strategies
10 key strategies to make
Montrose Travel an Inbound Online
Marketing website.

1. Be ourselves – We are not an Expedia. We are a family-owned com-
pany that is trying to help customers build their dream vacations, one
traveler at a time.

2. Be the Thought Leader & Teacher – We are not going to sell our prod-
ucts on our social media sites, we are going to teach our clients about
the inside scope of travel. We will provide webcasts, YouTube videos,
and how to’s for our clients to learn from. We will provide content in
many different ways for people’s different learning styles:

1. Text
2. Video
3. Presentation
4. Podcasts
5. Webinars

6. Picture Slideshows

3. Plan and Write Content for our Travel Market (Luxury & Mass Market)
The Montrose blog is for people who are searching for information, and
our website is a way for them to book what they have researched.

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We will give our clients a window into our company, industry, and des-
tinations.

As we get more involved with this project, we learn what our clients
really want to hear from the feedback they give us.

4. Content Titles – We need to have catchy titles that will grab the
reader’s attention in a couple of seconds. If they do not like the titles
of our articles, they will probably not take the time to read what we
have written.

• How to plan a family getaway for all age groups
• Little known ways to make a family vacation relaxing
• Have it all on the ultimate spa, golf, and romance vacation
• Fears of flying these days… we can help

5. Amplify Our Message Through the Top 4 Social Media Sites

• Facebook (more than 250 million people are active on Facebook)
• Twitter (more than 14 million registered users)
• YouTube (more than 100 million viewers per month)
• Blogs (more than 346 million people read blogs, more than 184
million people are bloggers themselves)

We are going to produce content that can be done quickly and peo-
ple can spread online, with the following methods:
• Blog Articles – One page articles on topics related to travel.
• White Papers – 5-7 page papers that educate our marketplace on
industry trends, challenges, etc (these are not about products).
• Videos – short 2- to 3-minute videos about our different travel
products.

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• Webinars – Live online PowerPoint presentations on industry top-
ics.

• Podcasts – 10 to 20-minute audio programs or interviews with
industry experts similar to radio shows.
• Webcasts – Live video shows viewed online.

http://www.mikekujawski.ca/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/channels.jpg

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6. Build Our Subscriber List RSS for Our Blog and E-mail Blasts – Offer
various ways for people to subscribe at different locations on our web-
site and blog, such as at the top (header) and bottom (footer) of the
pages.

1. Subscribe via RSS
2. Subscribe via email

7. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – If people think we are important,
so will Google. We need to get more people to link to us. The more
inbound links we have, the higher our web pages rank on Google.

8. Have Our Blog and Website Developed with Search Engine Optimized
Content.

1. On-site optimization.
2. Keyword phrases.
3. Search engines-friendly URLs.
4. Offer different media formats.
5. Off-site optimization.
6. Blog commenting.
7. Forums.
8. Press releases.

9. Design Website to Enhance Our Brand and Authority – We have to look
more professional than our competitors.

10. Enhance Our Customer Relationships – We have to continue to write
things that are interesting to make us look knowledgeable and to en-
sure our clients keep booking travel through us.

Shift happens 17

http://www.seobook.com/images/keyword-value-pyramid.png

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The great thing about content with lots
of links to it is that they never go
away. It just produces more qualified
traffic, on top of the traffic you are
getting on your older content.

In addition, there is the marketing
ripple effect. If one customer finds
our sites useful, they will tell their
friends, and their friends will tell
their friends, and so on.

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Tactics
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Social Media will create more awareness for Montrose Travel as a credible
travel partner. We need to consider both the conversion rates and the
search volumes in order to estimate the overall value of referred con-
verted sales. SEO will be a long-term process, so we need to put a lot of
effort into evaluating the quality and cost-effectiveness of keywords via
paid search.

After we have determined our keywords, we will write more and more
content on our web pages and social media sites. We will optimize and
push towards achieving the high search rankings. “A recent study shows
that Google’s first page captures over 89% of traffic, and most users
will not look beyond the first page. Even within the first page, the traffic
is not spread evenly – top-ranked result (#1 on the first page) captures
about 42 percent of the traffic” (inboundmarketingbook.com). We will
use key SEO words on our social media sites, and links to drive our site to
be on the first page in Google.

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http://images.marketingtechblog.com/uploads/2009/06/ripples1.png

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http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/2009/08/seo-hierarchy-of-needs/

Blog

There are 4 main reasons why Montrose Travel should start a blog:

1. A blog will establish our company as a leader in our market.

2. A blog will change our website from an online brochure to a living,
breathing hub for our marketplace.

3. A blog gives our potential customers a way to engage with us vs. be-
ing hit with a premature sales pitch. We will build trust over time.

4. A blog will dramatically improve our search engine rankings. It is a
great way start creating more pages on our site.

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PPC

Reasons why Montrose Travel should dive deeper into PPC:

1. With PPC, we will drive targeted traffic to our websites.

2. Track key SEO words that we can target in our social media sites.

http://www.olmblog.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/
cceda_4098148467_814a38f84c_o.jpg

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Twitter

Reasons why Montrose Travel should dive deeper into Twitter:

1. There is a worldwide phenomenon with millions of current users and
tens of thousand of new users joining everyday.
2. Create an open forum with clients where they can ask us questions
about products and services, and customers can post reviews, which
will build trust with our clients.

YouTube

Reasons why Montrose Travel should start a YouTube account:

1. In January 2009, 147 million U.S. internet users watched an average of
101 videos per person.
2. More than 100 million videos are viewed each day.
3. YouTube is the most popular video site on the internet. Google has 43
percent of the online video market and YouTube makes up 99 percent
of that.

Facebook

Reasons why Montrose Travel should start a YouTube account:

1. Facebook has more than 200 million active users.
2. Over 100 million users log on at least once a day.

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3. Facebook has the fastest growing demographic of people

35 years and older.

LinkedIn Groups
Reasons why Montrose Travel should start a LinkedIn Groups page:

1. There are over 250,000 different groups on LinkedIn.
2. Starting a group is quick, easy, and free.

Digg/StumbleUpon

Reasons why Montrose Travel should dive deeper into Digg:

1. Articles on Digg get over 25,000 views in a single day -- a level of web
traffic that exceeds what many websites would get in an entire year.
2. Once an article hits the front page, it drives significant web traffic
back to the site from which the article originated.
3. This is an exceptionally powerful way for us to spread our content
(such as articles, pictures, and videos) to large masses of users.
4. The readers on this site are much more connected and influential than
the average web user, and are often bloggers themselves. They can
help spread our articles on other social media sites, generating even
more traffic for our website(s).

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Metrics
1. We need to measure the number of subscribers we have to our RSS
feed, email lists, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, blog, Digg and Delicious
bookmarks.
2. We need to measure the number of links back to our website from
other websites and the number of organic keywords that are producing
traffic to our site on Google. (Web analytics software and online tools
that measure inbound links website.grader.com)
3. We need to track the number of other web sites linking to our website.
(Everytime someone links to our site, it’s a vote we are writing remark-
able content.)
4. We need to track the number of times someone uses Delicious to
bookmark our site.
5. We need to track the number of pages on our site that have been in-
dexed by Google and are ready to be served on a moment’s notice to
an eager searcher.
6. We need to track each individual article, along with the following di-
mensions: Date, Author, Visitors, Comments, and Links.
7. We need to measure our monthly prospects, leads, opportunities, and
customers per channel over time, as well as the ratios between the
levels over time.

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Conclusion
Social Media is a great way for Montrose Travel to meet the needs of our
clients. People have become more efficient at blocking marketing
interruptions and turn instead to the web for their shopping needs.
This new way of doing business will open many doors for our company to
reach clients we could never reach before. It will give Montrose the oppor-
tunity to listen to the needs of our clients, and give us the chance to re-
act to their needs. Learning inbound marketing will have a learning curve,
but we need to start now before the competition passes us by, making
it even more difficult for us to “catch up.” Social media will take some
creativity and know-how, but the marketing and IT teams at Montrose
Travel are ready to make that commitment to see our company grow and
prosper.

Sources used to create Project Papillon
• The Social Media Marketing Book by Dan Zarrella
• Inbound Marketing book by Brian Halligan & Dharmesh Shah
• “Friends, fans, and followers” article by Travel Weekly
• “The conversation era” article by Travel Age West
• “The Travel Agent’s Guide to Social Marketing-Introduction”
article by Travel Research Online.
• “The Travel Agent Guide to Social Marketing-A Facebook
Overview” article
• “Creating Your social Media Plan” article by Outspokenmedia.com
• Hubspot.com

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Project papillon

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