Manchester Marketing Masterclass

How to find cruise customersand keep them

June 21, 2012

Today we’ll cover

• How you can become more pro-active in generating customer demand

• Top tips and techniques for attracting new customers using advertising, PR & social media

• Best practice for getting repeat sales and business

• The power of testimonials and customer referrals

What you’ll take-away

• A better understanding of your brand and USPs• Be more effective in targeting your marketing

activity• What advertising you should consider using• How to use social media and PR to generate

“free” advertising• Best practice for managing your customer

database to get repeat sales

• How to know and understand your brand, your target market and your USPs

• Workshop 1

Agenda

• 1pm: Welcome• 1.05pm: Claire Riches, Travel Waves Marketing

• How to get the most out of your advertising budget

Agenda

• 1.30pm Nick Henley – Media Planning and Strategy Director Conrad Advertising

• Developing PR and social media opportunities

• Workshop 2

Agenda

• 2.30pm Ann Brine, AMB Marketing

• Keeping your cruise customers

Agenda

• 3.30pm Danny Crowe

• The difference a travel agent makes

• How to get referrals and usecustomer testimonials

• Workshop 3• Workshop Feedback by teams

Agenda

• 4pm Julia

Marketing – The Essentials

Claire RichesTravel Waves Marketing

www.travelwaves.co.uk

What is Marketing?

“ The management process responsible

for identifying, anticipating and

satisfying customer requirements

profitably.”Chartered Institute of Marketing


The 5 Levers of Business

• Number of Leads• Conversion rate• Average Sales Value• Repeat Customer• Manage Costs

=


Superbrands• The best brands create

relationships with customers based on intangible qualities that evoke strong emotional responses.


Building your Brand

• Name• Logo• Advertising slogan• Graphics• Colours

• & You…. • Your influence is huge • You are the personal

representation to your customers


Your Unique Selling Proposition

Should:• Attract attention• Differentiate you• Motivate customers• Be Memorable &

Distinctive• Fulfill a gap in the

market


Developing your USPs

• List your top unique & compelling service offerings – How do they make you

different?– Is anyone else offering

them? – If yes - they aren't unique!

• USPs allow you to easily differentiate yourself from the competition


Your target customers

• Who are they?• Where will you find

them?• Are they of value?• Are there enough of

them?• Can you reach them?• Are you fishing in the

right pond?


Workshop 1

• Your time to get creative!• Each team needs to create their own travel

agency – What’s your brand name?– Who are your target customers?– What are your USPs

How to get the most out of your advertising budget?Nick Henley – Media Planning and Strategy Director

http://www.conrad.co.uk/

Align your advertising with other marketing activities

BrandBehaviours

BrandAttributes

BrandEssence

e.g. “ We build your cruise around you”

Tailor-madeservice

Advertising

Customer experience

PR

Pricing Promotions

Sales channels

Bookingexperience


What is the role of advertising? What are your objectives?

INSPIRATION & IDEAS

RESEARCH DESTINATION

FIND A CRUISE

COMPARE PACKAGES

SEEK OUT REVIEWS

REVIEW FOR OTHERS

MAGAZINES REVIEW SITE FRIENDS

TARGETED ONLINE SEARCH MARKETING EMAIL


What do you want to invest and on what?

• Brand awareness vs. direct response?• Share of voice vs. competitors in key channels?• Timing and frequency of advertising?• Media channels?

• How will you measure advertising performance?


Track the performance of all advertising/media channels

Media A

Media B

Media C

Phone calls

Website visits

Shop visits

Email response

Mailing response

Website calls

Website actions

Call centre bookings

Onlinebookings

Response Analysis

OptimiseMedia

Selections

Response Analysis

OptimiseMedia

Selections


PROSPECTING/LEAD ACQUISITION

DATA

Better AudienceTargeting Future

SalesValue

CRM/RETENTION/LOYALTY

SEO / PPCDigital Display(Prospecting)Classified PressE-Newsletters

Targeted EmailDigital Display(Retargeting)Direct Mail

WebsiteVisitors &Convers.

TV

Press

Inserts

Which media channels?

CUSTOMER DATABASE


Optimise your website performance first

• Effective landing pages for an integrated advertising – website user experience

• Onsite tracking to allow effective digital media targeting (Prospecting and re-targeting)

• Capture of all valuable onsite actions: bookings, phone calls, brochure requests, email registrations etc

Improving your website visit to call

conversion rate from 2.0% to 2.5% is

equivalent to buying media 20% cheaper


Use PPC & SEO in combination to capture interest

PPC SEO

High PerformingKeywords

Lower volume keywordsLow bid costHigher conversion ratesMeasure: Cost/click

Higher volume keywordsAvoiding higher bid costMeasure: Search page ranking

Invest inBoth PPCand SEO

CONVERSION (WEB & PHONE)COST PER ACQUISITION (CPA)

PROFITABILITY (ROI)


Bid on impressions to serve to relevant users

Target users who Demonstrate interest in

your product

Showing interest in…

Med Cruise 2013

Cruise offers

MSC cruise MayTarget

Avoid

Online Display Advertising – Right People


Value users based on their relevance


£1.65 CPM

£1.10 CPM

£1.90 CPM£1.23 CPM

£1.90 CPM

Med Cruise 2013

Cruise offers

MSC cruise May

Online Display Advertising – Right Price


Winning ad creative and formats are up-weighted across campaign

Creative A Creative B

Campaign weighted to serve Creative ‘A’

Specific ad creative generated dynamically for the relevant cruise

line/destination in a template

Creative ?

Campaign creative varies according to user interest


Med Cruise 2013

Cruise offers

MSC cruise May

Online Display Advertising – Right Creative


Be careful when attributing value – not just ‘last click’

Brand 3 (E.g. Unknown)

Brand 2

Brand 1 (E.g. Brand leader)

Brand Awareness

CPA (£)

Responses created

Direct Calls

Footfall

Direct site visits

indirect site visitsEmail

response rates

Word of mouth

Social media mentions

Sales


Press advertising, inserts and editorial still important

Responses created

Direct Calls

Footfall

Direct site visits

indirect site visitsEmail

response rates

Word of mouth

Social media mentions

Sales


Work with an integrated agency

• Better focus on CPE/CPA rather than a specific channel

• Better creative integration to make it easier for consumers

• Better experience to avoid obvious mistakes

• Work with Conrad!


32

Making Friends…..

Or People Buy from People ACE

18 April 2012

Ann Brine

www.ambmarketing.co.uk

www.ambmarketing.co.uk 33

Overview

• Good ol’ fashioned PR!• How to write a press release and getting to

know your media• e-PR – Blogs, Forums etc - the way forward?• Measuring effectiveness • How social media pulls it all together• Case study and discussions to finish


Public Relations – The basics

• It’s like sales• Talking to stakeholders including customer and prospects• A means of getting a positive review of your business or services• Build profile with key groups outside of your network• People believe words more than adverts

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Public Relations

• Who are your stakeholders?• How many different types of magazines, radio stations and TV channels are there for your target market?• Form database of contacts• Can you write or do you need some help?• Look at the positives in your business

–New staff, Business Anniversary, Great figures–Offers from the cruise companies–Comments on issues–Competitions, sponsorships

• Paid/free news boards for specific industries


Do it yourself or agency?

• How confident are you on the phone?• Can you write?• Can you or your team organise an event and

then support it with the ‘right materials’?• How much time will it take?• Cost versus benefit?

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e-PR

• Foster and build relationships with people you know and their networks• Remind customers and prospects about who you are and what you do• Overcome many of the cost and technical issues associated with e-marketing• Build communities and engage in dialogue through chat rooms and forums

37


Social Media

38

39

Twitter Page for AM here and Ann


Twitter

• The ultimate easy to use biz tool• Mobile or PC its easy to use• Can be difficult to control• 58% of Twitter users have tweeted about a

poor experience• Easy to upload offers and promotions as well

as pass on positive coverage to your audience• Most journalists are on Twitter• Use smart links to build and monitor traffic to

your web site• Be seen as an expert/ thought provoker/

comic

40


Facebook

• The social media network• Reminds people/friends of what you do and why they like you• Majority of users are between 20-50• MySpace and Bebo if you are young and trendy• Other niche offerings for particular markets• It’s about trust and friendship groups• Care and caution

43


YouTube and Vimeo

45


Blogs, Forums and Chat Rooms

47


So what can social media do?

• Can it replace a basic web site?• It can build and foster relationships directly with individuals/audience• Enhance reputation• Listen to what your customers, partners, prospects, suppliers say about you

48


Voyages to Antiquity

49


When you leave today

• List your objectives• Ask you team what do they use• What are your competitors doing?• Clarify your realistic targets and where you are going• How are you going to manage your time?• Develop content• Integrate with your other marketing activity• Measure results and feedback into the process• Refine

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The success of your campaign

• Traffic to your web site• Inbound enquiries and phone calls• Value and frequency of business

– New– Existing customers

• Twitter and Facebook followers, retweets, mentions, direct messages, # follows• Personal success - LinkedIn followers

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Monitoring tools

• Simple app on your mobile phone• Tweetdeck• HootSuite• Klout• Cube Social

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Any questions?


Network with us!

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• www.ambmarketing.co.uk• www.ambmarketing.co.uk/blog• www.linkedin.com/annbrine• @annbrine• @ambmarketing

Workshop 2

• How will you attract new customers to buy from your travel agency?– What advertising will you use?– How will you generate PR?– How will you use Social Media?

Keeping Your Cruise Customers

Insight session with Danny Crowe,

Managing Director, Friday Travel

Make it Personal

Sometimes you want to go …where everybody knows your name

Make them Feel Loved

Your Database is Valuable

• Make sure you have it in good order• Understand it• Manipulate it• The Cruise Lines will pay top dollar to get to it

Remember Pareto

80% of the sales

Comefrom 20% of your customers

What is a Good Database?• Single view of customer transactions over

time• Integrates different types of data including

Lookers and Bookers• Accurate picture of each customer in different

customer groups (segments) for differentiated investment in relevant communication and service

What is a good Database? (cont)

• Informs the business on the current and future profit opportunity

• Customer insight across the organisation, supporting product development, pricing and communications

• Accurately evaluate the effects of marketing activity from acquisition through to retention and referral.

Build It

• Is your data in an organised structure?• Can you analyse it?• Where is the data coming from?• Is it clean?

• Make sure someone owns it!!!!!

Using It

KnowledgeMailings

Analysis/Segmentation

• Recency• Frequency • Value

• Identify your best customers through to the worst

• And speak to them as individuals

Set the parametersFreq

1

2

3

4+

Av Spend

0-500

501-1000

1001-2000

2000+

Last Time

0-6 mths

6-12 mths

12-18 mths

18 mths +

And they are all different!

Understand Share of Wallet

Use them all - together

The Customer Journey• It all starts hereJust booked

• Selling is a serviceAlmost on my way

• SMS saying happy cruisingOn My Cruise

• How was it? We are interested!Welcome Home

• Tell us what your plans areAnswer the Questionnaire

• Right product/time/priceRelevant Comms

• Supporting main salesCampaign Messages

• New ship launchTactical Messages

• This time last yearCustomer Driven Messages

Lookers are valuable too

• You spent a lot of money getting them• They have held up their hands• Treat them as your best prospects and don’t

let them go!• Strangely, many other industries are accused

of treating their prospects better than their customers. Do we?

Take one thought

• Put yourself in their shoes• Always think “what would I think if I got that”• And don’t always sell!

This time last month…

Summary

• Get your data in order• Analyse what you have• Segmentation• Talk in a relevant way• Find out what you can• Mix up communications• Turn selling into a service

The Difference A Travel Agent Makes

Julia Lo Bue-Said

AgendaChanging World

Creating Excellence

Winning formula

Rising to the Challenge

Challenging times

• The UK travel industry continues to

undergo a radical transformation– Atol Reform

– Online start ups

– No frills airlines

– Self packaged holidays

– Direct distribution

• Enhancements in Technology

• Mature market

The World is changing at a whirlwind pace

Understanding Travel - ABTA 200680

ABTA Retail Agents over time

5000

5500

6000

6500

7000

7500

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

no

: ag

ents

total

High Street under pressureTotal number of agents over

10 years–5702 agents in 2006

–Nearly 1300 fewer than 1996

–Down 18%

Key Travel Agent Deliverables

• Wade through the confusion• Reviews based on facts• Understanding your customer’s needs• Trust • Experience• Product Knowledge• Multi channelled offering• Etc, etc, etc

First Time Cruisers

• First time cruisers• In 2011, the percentage of first time cruisers increased

from 33% to 40%• What part can a travel agent play in this sector?• Ace training course launching in May

Customer Testimonials

• Best form of marketing FOC!

• Let your customers help spread the word

• Utilising customer testimonials on your marketing collateral

• Build your own database of reviews

Customer Referrals

• Analyse the source of your sales - be clear on where your best leads come from

• Don’t leave referrals by chance

• Put together an action plan

• Put a plan in place for referral generated sales

• Can you incentivise existing customers for referrals?

• Can you work with a local business on attracting referrals?

• Encourage staff to maximise referrals – it’s a much more cost effective route to customer acquisition!

Summary

• Don’t lose sight of your value.

• Expertise, trust & knowledge

• People by from people

• First time cruising is a growing market

• Think about your referral strategy

• Utilise your customer testimonials and ask them to review your service!

Workshop 3

For your new travel agency• How will you generate repeat business?• What communications will you use with past

customers and when?• How will you use customer testimonials?

Workshop Feedback

• 5 minute presentation by each team • Introduce your brand & your USPs• Tell us how you will you attract new

customers?• What will you put in place to generate repeat

business & customer loyalty?

ActionsWrite 3 actions you will complete over the next quarter to improve your Marketing

Add your name & company details

Address envelope to you

Any Questions

Manchester Marketing Masterclass

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Transcript of Manchester Marketing Masterclass