The big news in the travel industry this week was that the official star ratings for hotels is expected to be superseded by online review scores. According to John Penrose, the Tourism Minister, the current system is out of date and does not accurately reflect holidaymakers' concerns. "We are going to be publishing our tourism strategy next month and in that we back a consumer-led system like Trip Advisor rather than traditional star-rating systems." - Source: Independent.co.uk Despite the fact that the move is expected to be resisted by hoteliers, many of whom have spoken out about review sites in the wake of the TripAdvisor row, I agree with the minister. Read the rest of this entry...

Read the rest of this entry »

Having read a very informative study, conducted by Nielsen, concerning the customer process in the UK online travel market, there were lots of interesting facts and figures which I felt compelled to share with our blog readers! The study took approximately 490 travel sites across all categories, and charted a detailed analysis from January to March on their users’ journey, from searching to purchasing. Being an intern at a search agency with one team focused entirely on the travel sector, the study highlighted some very important facts and I hope to explain them in this post. Let’s start with some basic facts: there are over 28.7 million people in the UK online travel market. Of these people, 22 million use search engines in their customer journey, with 92% of those that purchase using search at some point. That’s a huge number of potential customers that should not be ignored by any travel e-tailer wanting to dominate the industry! Read the rest of this entry...

Read the rest of this entry »

I firmly believe that we will look back at Christmas 2010 as the moment mobile went from a really interesting topic to a serious tactic within all retailers' marketing mix, and what better way to assist retailers in the build up to Christmas than to put together a mobile wish list. Now what a present that is! Ok, maybe a bit of an exaggeration but below are my top 10 tips and considerations for mobile: 1. Don't think for too long! Mobile is still heavily in the planning stage and everyone seems to be talking about theories rather than proven conclusions. This has lead to many retailers waiting to see what happens with mobile before taking the plunge themselves. Read the rest of this entry...

Read the rest of this entry »

2010 is my 8th year in PR and this June will not only see in the World Cup (Come on England!) but it will also be my 18th month in SEO-PR and what a whirlwind those 18 months have been! In those first few hazy months of arriving at Propellernet towers, never did I think that a) mixing the worlds of search and PR would be so exciting and b) that a year and a half down the line the excitement, learning and innovation would still be going strong. Walking into a search agency was a whole new world to me. I was used to crazy PR offices, being surrounded by products and it being quite normal for people to be shouting over banging music, over ringing phones and at each other. So, when I was welcomed in by the cool, calm and collected Propellernet team I knew it was going to be quite a different experience. There was a firm handshake and we were straight to work on sharing, learning, a little heated debating and on to creating what we now know as the real SEO-PR partnership; forming what...

Read the rest of this entry »

During a recession, ROI is obviously more important than ever. But are you also taking the time to focus on existing customers and on how they can be harnessed as brand advocates? With marketing spends under tremendous scrutiny in the economic downturn, companies are raising their game and working even harder to secure the best return possible for their investment. Although generating brand awareness and creating interest is indeed crucial, it is also often the most expensive form of marketing. As a result, more time is being invested in market research to ensure the messages are hitting the sweet spots. A strong understanding of who your customers are, staying close to them and building customer loyalty are all imperative within marketing - and brand advocacy is without doubt brand nirvana. Brand advocates play a tremendous role in influencing others to move along the customer journey and turning loyal customers into brand advocates is one of the most effective forms of...

Read the rest of this entry »