Marketing to travellers across the online world...travel is expected to rise from $214.6 billion in...

Marketing to travellers across the online world

solUtion gUideBook

digital Messaging

Smartly addreSS each phaSe of the cuStomer journey

taBle oF contents

about teradata ecircle 04

execUtive sUMMary 06

the Market

Most trips start with a click 09

social media – deal maker, deal breaker or both? 09

reaching the consUMer

turning dreams and fantasies into business 11

innovative and creative email from ireland 13

the cUstoMer exPerience

From awareness to decision 15

virgin boosts customer engagement through email 17

Making it all work on mobile too 18

emails that capture more attention 18

From responsive design to live email 19

social networking

travellers and the power of social networking 21

leading tour operator lets dream holidays begin with social media 21

the rise oF the cloUd

Using the cloud to build extreme personalization 23

tUifly takes off with a broad email marketing strategy 24

BUilding a digital Messaging strategy steP-By-steP 27

FUtUre trends

location-predictive marketing 31

Meeting consumers’ changing needs 32

conclusion 34

source references 35

Page 02 | Table of conTenTs | Marketing to travellers across the online world

today, travellers are always accessible. 44% of people use their smartphones to research travel while they’re travelling1

Marketing to travellers across the online world | Page 03

ABOUT TERADATA ECIRCLE

Teradata ecircle is one of the largest providers of digital direct marketing services.

since 1999, ecircle has stood for innovative and efficient online marketing for

customer acquisition and retention. leading companies and agencies trust our

consistent customer care, our long-term experience and our highly motivated and

committed employees.

In close partnership with our clients we are continuously optimising our products and

services. We are one of the few email marketing providers with a product portfolio

offering a complete range of email marketing solutions from one source, including

high-performance email software, large email address stocks for exclusive email

and address generation campaigns and effective concepts for lead generation and

consultancy.

In May 2012, ecircle was acquired by Teradata, the leading analytic data solutions

company. The company has been merged with aprimo, the leader in Integrated

Marketing Management software that has also been acquired by Teradata. The

combination of Teradata’s data warehousing and analytical capabilities, aprimo’s

Integrated Marketing Management solutions and ecircle’s digital messaging platform

and services will enable marketers worldwide to create more compelling customer

experiences across the plethora of online and offline channels.

•eCirclewasfoundedin1999andhasbeenacquired by teradata in 2012 who continue the business as teradata ecircle in europe

•OurcorebusinessisIntegratedMarketingManagement, including digital messaging, media, lead generation and consulting

•Officesaroundtheworld

•Morethan2,000systemsacrossEuroperunteradata ec-messenger, our award-winning marketing software

•Oursystemstransmitmorethan10billionemails every quarter

•Referencesfromeveryverticalsector

Page 04 | abouT TeradaTa ecIrcle | Marketing to travellers across the online world

Marketing to travellers across the online world | Page 05

Experience eC-messenger, our easy to use email marketing software, with our free demo – live and convenient from your desk. One of our experienced Account Managers will call you and take you through the system via a web conference on your PC. You will be shown how an email newsletter is created and sent and learn about the versatile reporting capabilities our software. We will also be able to answer any specific questions you may have.

Request your no-commitment live demo today and experience one of the most capable email broadcasting solutions worldwide.

execUtive sUMMary

Page 06 | execuTIve suMMary | Marketing to travellers across the online world

like many industries, the travel sector has been transformed by the Internet. People

use multiple digital channels to plan and book their holidays, with the typical

traveller using 22 websites to research a trip in multiple shopping sessions before

they book2. With the growing penetration of Internet-capable mobile devices such

as smartphones and tablets, the number of people being informed about travel and

researching their trips online can only grow.

While this shift is proving challenging for some traditional travel agents, it is on the

whole an opportunity for all types of organisations in the travel sector to improve

their customer relationships. This is most effectively achieved by personalising

communications with customers, moving from the broad-brush approach of delivering

the same message to everyone, to one-to-one marketing in which each individual

recipient gets highly tailored content.

email in particular is ripe for such tailoring. Today’s advanced and automated

platforms help to ensure extreme personalisation of email by using content that

matches the needs of each recipient at all times. This capability is achieved through

powerful cloud capabilities that help travel companies to build up detailed profiles

of customers, combined with dynamic email design techniques to ensure that the

content looks great on all devices – whether fixed or mobile, big screen or small.

There are many solid examples of how travel sector organisations have adopted this

personalised communication approach to boost their businesses.

deploying such a strategy today will reap real rewards for travel companies long into

the future as people’s digital capabilities and needs evolve.

Marketing to travellers across the online world | execuTIve suMMary | Page 07

it’s no surprise that travellers use their mobiles a lot, giving the travel industry a huge opportunity to use email to build strong relationships and win new revenue.

volker wiewer, vice President, teradata ecircle

the Market

Page 08 | The MarkeT | Marketing to travellers across the online world

MOsT TRIps sTART wITh A CLICk

according to the un World Tourism organisation (unWTo), 2012 saw one billion

travellers crossing international borders for the first time, while 1.8 billion international

trips a year by 2030 are forecast. In a world still dogged by economic woes, tourism is

one of the brightest beacons with unWTo claiming 4% growth in travel and tourism

numbers worldwide in 2012 and 3.0 - 3.5% expected for 2013.

The total (offline and online) amount spent for us leisure and unmanaged business

travel is expected to rise from $214.6 billion in 2011 to $270.1 billion by the end of

20163.

In a world gone digital, much of this growth is being enabled by online spending. at

the same time, as with many other industries, the Internet is profoundly changing the

way the travel sector operates. That’s because, thanks to online booking services and

the ability to research all the elements of a trip, people are much more empowered

today than they have ever been.

The result is that in 2013, online leisure travel spending in the us is estimated to be

$87,500,000,000 on airlines and $36,000,000,000 on hotels4.

In mature markets, most travellers have good quality Internet access at home and

increasingly on their mobile devices. and they’re using it. In the uk in 2012, 78% of

trips were booked over the Internet, representing a 47% increase in Internet bookings

over 2008.

furthermore, with smartphones now outselling conventional feature phones

globally for the first time in early 2013 people have information at their fingertips

at all times. Wherever they are, consumers can look for nearby activities such as

museums, restaurants, fun parks and excursions. equally, if they don’t like what they

are experiencing, they can find alternative providers, such as hotels. In fact, 44% of

people use their smartphone to research travel while they’re travelling5.

This new status quo is challenging many businesses, including traditional travel agents

and tour operators with only basic digital marketing and online sales capabilities. In

West europe in 2008, an average of one in three trips was booked through travel

agent whereas in 2012 it was only one in five6. but it is also opening up tremendous

new opportunities for any travel company offering online booking services. also

benefiting are specialist travel agents focusing on a specific destination, or a specific

“theme” or sport, such as scuba diving.

the decline of the traditional travel agent

no longer do people need to contact a traditional travel agent to book an average, straightforward trip. travel is increasingly going self-service, whether for trains, parking, flights, rental cars, or accommodation of all types from self-catering apartments to all-inclusive hotels.

sOCIAL MEDIA – DEAL MAkER, DEAL BREAkER OR BOTh?

The impact of the Internet doesn’t end there. The phenomenal rise of social

networking is exerting a powerful influence on how consumers choose the various

components of their trips. as far back as Q1 2011, forrester reported that 77% of us

online leisure travellers engage in social media, up from 72% in 20107.

accommodation in particular has felt the power of review sites such as Tripadvisor

to affect bookings, while most hotel booking engines, such as booking.com, also

come with review functions. People tell others about their experiences, and they

actively read and react to the opinions of others.

It is abundantly clear that consumers are becoming increasingly savvy about how

to take advantage of the online world to find bargain deals, to tailor their trips, to

explore new experiences and to just make their lives easier through online check-ins

and other convenient services.

What does this all mean for the way people plan their trips? and how can

companies in the travel sector design their marketing to take advantage of the new

opportunities?

Marketing to travellers across the online world | The MarkeT | Page 09

reaching the consUMer

| reachIng The consuMer | Marketing to travellers across the online world

TURnIng DREAMs AnD fAnTAsIEs InTO BUsInEss

The travel industry is characterized by a wide range of products and services that

people can purchase pre-trip, during the trip and post-trip. Typically, the buying

process (let’s call it the customer journey) for a leisure traveller is split into four stages

– dreams, anticipation, experience and reflection.

depending on the product or service they offer, companies will market to travellers at

different points along this customer journey. a rental car company’s most opportune

period of promotion towards potential customers will differ to that of an airline’s.

during the dreams phase, people are researching and gathering ideas for their trip.

They may be completely open to new destination ideas from companies, or have

a preconceived notion of what they want to do for their trip. either way, effective

marketing, particularly direct digital marketing by email, is essential to attract a

potential customer’s attention and then build their interest.

as people move into the anticipation phase, they are making concrete decisions

such as how they want to travel, where they want to stay and what they want to do

during their trip. companies must convince customers that they want and desire their

product or service because it will satisfy their needs. This is also the most critical pre-

trip phase because it’s where bookings are made and typically most of the money is

spent.

during the experience phase people are realizing their dreams and plans. for local

attractions, restaurants, excursion operators and other services, this is often the most

productive period for sales.

Marketing to travellers across the online world | reachIng The consuMer |

fig. 1 – The customer journey presents different opportunities for travel companies to market their services to travellers pre-trip, during the trip and post-trip.

booking of additional elements

booking of most important

elements

buying of products &

services at the destination

buying of additional

souvenirs (eg photo books)

awareness: building

anticipationconcrete interest

Telling others about the trip

dreams & fantasies anticipation experience (realization)

reflection

next holiday period

Pre-trip Trip Post-trip

hot phase

finally, when they return home, people want to tell their friends and family about their

experiences and may be willing to buy additional souvenirs, perhaps a coffee table

book or a personal photo album. This is also a great time for companies to send the

customer back into the dream phase by contacting them with personalised ideas for

their next trip. The customer journey begins again.

There are opportunities for customer engagement throughout this lifecycle. Tour

operators, for example, will want to consider using social media channels such as

facebook or Twitter to ensure they communicate with their customers at every stage

of the lifecycle. giving customers the opportunity to review their experiences will

improve the likelihood of maintaining relationships based on engagement, not pure

sales.

using this approach, various tour operators have been able to identify the exact

interests of each individual customer and target its email marketing activities

accordingly. a quick reaction will make the most of the small window of opportunity

to capture the booking of travel browsers.

| reachIng The consuMer | Marketing to travellers across the online world

fig. 2 – Typically, the most appropriate times for different organisations to make contact with potential customers during each phase of the customer journey.

Tourist boards

airlines

Tour operators

hotels

cruise lines

rental car companies

holiday apartments

online booking Portals

Publishers: Travel Media

Publishers: Travel guides

Publishers: Photo books

companies at the destination

Make the customer aware of the destination before booking

dreamS

Information and services shortly before booking and additional offers after booking

anticipation

communication during the trip

eXperience

after the trip

reflection

key: blue = opportunity to promote services; orange = opportunity to sell services

caSe Studyinnovative and creative email from ireland

tourism ireland’s aim is to increase the number of tourists visiting ireland and generate a higher turnover. to help achieve these goals, tourism ireland has implemented an integrated marketing campaign to give people in germany an insight into all things irish.

not only does tourism ireland send regular newsletters, it also broadcasts email campaigns focusing on particular promotions. teradata ecircle develops and distributes these campaigns, with all email recipient addresses deriving from teradata ecircle’s extensive permissions database. tourism ireland’s eye-catching emails are themed around irish traditions and customs to drive traffic to its website and generate addresses via competitions and prize draws.

to encourage repeat visits to its website, tourism ireland employed a 24-day advent calendar campaign. recipients were invited to open a door of the calendar each day in the run up to christmas to reveal a seasonal anecdote. the campaign helped to double the number of recipients of tourism ireland emails, with open rates reaching 72%, click rates more than 80% and peaking at 97%, even during the campaign’s final stages.

tourism ireland also deployed a highly profiled, customised campaign themed around celtic horoscopes. 140,000 customers received an email each having the chance to find out their celtic horoscope and additionally take part in a prize draw. Following the initial email, recipients were sent further personalised, celtic themed emails on their birthday. their horoscope prediction was given and a tour operator and holiday break were suggested.

tourism ireland’s success is a great example of how a tourist board can use clever email marketing to engage prospective visitors and promote a region as a holiday destination.

tourism ireland’s success is a great example of how a tourist board can use clever email marketing

Marketing to travellers across the online world | reachIng The consuMer |

the cUstoMer exPerience

| The cusToMer exPerIence | Marketing to travellers across the online world

fROM AwAREnEss TO DECIsIOn

although each organization will have different opportunities to influence buying

behaviour, there are some common aspects that need to be addressed in order to

create the right customer experience.

The first aim is to create awareness of the product or service being offered and

capture the potential customer’s interest. It’s also important at this stage to obtain

information to build a personal profile, for example planned travel dates, departure

point, potential destinations and budget.

This kind of data makes it possible to build a relationship with the customer through

more personalised and targeted communications. Poorly optimised, impersonalised,

‘shot in the dark’ communications that guess what consumers want, rather than

accurately delivering what they need, are destined to fail. Personalisation doesn’t just

mean greeting your customers by name at the start of the email. It’s basically using

knowledge about each individual customer as a way to keep the customer happy at

every stage of the customer journey.

Travel firms now have the means to talk to their customers as individuals and

genuinely understand their travel habits; what they like to do and where they like to

go. not only does this allow them to target customers accurately, it also equips them

with the ability to identify potential segments to target.

Providing useful and valuable content for travellers is achieved by looking at the

demographic, previous holiday destinations, and choice of holiday, whether it is

a european break, a long haul sun seeker, an adventure or a business trip. This

combined data can then be used to automatically generate email messages that are

highly personalised, precisely targeted and detail rich, which can then be delivered

to millions of customers quickly, with every customer getting a tailored version of the

same message.

It’s also important not to cut off potential customers by omitting any contact details,

including phone numbers, postal addresses and anything else that will make it easier

for customers to get in touch. for example, they may be happy to receive the initial

information about holidays via email but prefer to talk about the options over the

phone.

Marketing to travellers across the online world | The cusToMer exPerIence |

perSonaliSation verSuS privacy

although personalised offers have to be balanced carefully with privacy, a survey by accenture shows that consumers prefer individually-relevant communications. nearly half of all survey respondents were found to be receptive to their favourite brands using their tracking data to inform them about potential future purchases and make them aware of product availability.

when asked to make a choice, 64% of respondents said it is more important that companies present them with relevant offers against only 36% who say companies should stop tracking their website activity8.

not only should the content of the communication be personally relevant, but it must

also offer excellent usability, with clear and easy-to-understand language in emails

and campaigns, good navigation on landing pages and a booking engine that works

perfectly.

an example of the solid benefits of clear, personalised email is illustrated by center

Parcs, which was able to save its customers time by encouraging them to pre-book

holiday activities before they arrive, and thus increase the relevancy of their emails

and improve the overall customer experience. by splitting the emails by location,

center Parcs could highlight different activities and promotions by site and guest

arrival dates. over 20% more click-throughs were generated plus revenues from pre-

booked activities increased and over 80% of pre-booked activity booking now comes

from online.


moving from broad brush communications to one-to-one marketing

Traditionally, digital marketing communications has depended on mass emailing the same content to many people. But today, with the rise of intelligent automation and access to more information on consumer preferences, we are approaching the long-promised ideal of one-to-one marketing in which each and every customer gets content tailored individually for them. This approach is far more efficient and effective but is only possible with good customer data and genuine customer insight.

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communication based on individual recipient behaviour: newsletter with highly individualized offers based on multiple criteria.

Individualized communication based on preferred destination airport: newsletter with offers on the closest airport.

differentiated communication based on, e.g., tariffs; basic/smart/best; newsletter with offers for the preferred booking class.

Mass communication with mostly unknown recipients; undifferentiated newsletter to the entire recipient list.

amount of data & customer insights

caSe Study virgin limited edition booStS cuStomer engagement through email

virgin limited edition is a collection of retreats owned by sir richard Branson, chosen for their stunning locations, magnificent surroundings and offering style, luxury and exceptional personal service.

email is at the core of virgin limited edition’s multichannel strategy as it is closely integrated with direct mail, all marketing collateral and other online channels including social media, blogs and the website. the aim is to capture interest using the speed and frequency of email and also to generate enquiries for the different resorts. increased engagement is the key performance indicator because bookings cannot be made on the website.

teradata ecircle’s content management system (cMs) enables virgin limited edition’s non-technical teams to create high quality professional messages easily without compromising on design. the cMs template and email creative were both created in-house by teradata ecircle offering virgin limited edition a full email marketing solution to accommodate all of its requirements.

new and improved email designs offer a simple and consistent brand experience through the email channel. the development of cutting-edge htMl, that could be used time and time again, was a key component in the project’s success. the year-on-year results to date include a 5% increase in open rates. this was gained through long-term loyalty and the increased value offered with the new design templates. the new creative approach has also yielded more than a 100% increase in click-through rates which have generated many more leads for the business.

teradata ecircle used advanced htMl to create high-quality emails that boosted click-through rates by 100%


MAkIng IT ALL wORk On MOBILE TOO

Many booking engines were originally developed for use with Pcs with fixed screen

sizes. Making all communications and web tools work on mobile devices is critical.

In addition to websites and booking tools being mobile compatible, emails need

to work on every device because it is estimated that up to a third of all emails are

opened on mobile devices9.

email templates must be designed for varying screen sizes, whether on mobile

devices or desktops. conventional email design falls into the same trap as

conventional web design, which is ineffective when transferred to a smaller,

touchscreen device. The text can be illegibly small, or the user may have to scroll

horizontally to see everything and buttons may be too small or crowded together to

achieve the desired transaction.

smartphones are especially challenging. not only do they come in various screen

resolutions and sizes, they can also be tilted on the move. some people want to read

an email with the device held upright, in “portrait mode”, while others like to use

“landscape mode”. In any case, readers want the message to adapt flexibly to the

screen orientation they choose.

There are quick fixes to optimise email for both desktop and mobile devices, such as

using a simple one- or two-column design template, using bigger buttons and font

sizes, and using the pre-header that appears in the top few lines of the message to

promote offers or key information to entice the user to open the email.

caSe Study emailS that capture more attention

in a consumer’s crowded inbox it’s essential for travel companies to make sure their emails stand out. an effective way to do this is through multivariate testing, which is a process that enables more than one component of an email to be tested in a live environment. in effect, a campaign is run that enables recipients to decide what they like best – all in real time

the technique has helped hostelworld, which offers online booking services for thousands of hostels worldwide, to achieve an average 209% increase in its click through rates. working with ecircle, hostelworld tested four different header images across four segments based on currency – Usd, gBP, eUr and aUd.

the multivariate testing project has been a very productive exercise. any future newsletters that we send now will be highly targeted with content that we know our subscribers are interested in receiving.

debs kennedy, group strategic Marketing Manager, hostelworld.


fROM REspOnsIvE DEsIgn TO LIvE EMAIL

a more effective way to optimize emails is to create adaptive layouts and to use

responsive design techniques. applied correctly, these will adapt the layout,

presentation, and functionality of content to the device’s screen size, making it easier

to see company branding, product information and calls to action, across a variety of

mobile devices.

responsive design comprises three main components. css media queries which

control the fluid design of an email, fluid media which controls what is shown, for

example images and buttons, and fluid grids, whereby the email layout changes and

columns drop at designated break points so the layout always fits the screen size.

adaptive layout on the other hand is quicker to produce and has only two layout

options, desktop or mobile. although it is similar to responsive design, adaptive

layout does not use fluid media queries, however it does cover the majority of layout

scenarios from mobile to desktop and is a viable option.

The third, and ultimate, level for effective email marketing is live email in which the

email considers the context surrounding each recipient’s viewing of the email. This

can be particularly effective for targeting travellers, especially during the experience

phase of the customer journey.

live email updates the content when the user opens the email, not the time it is sent

out. live data can be used to show relevant offers according to the location of the

device and the current time. With live email, a specific email can sit in the recipient’s

inbox and be opened more than once – each time displaying different information

depending on the user’s context such as where they are or the time of opening.

live email dynamically adapts content according to the context of the recipient at the time the email is opened.

we see email as the best method of communicating with prospects once we’ve acquired them. we’ve always considered email a very useful marketing medium, however its significance has grown a great deal since using the ecircle platform from June 2006. Before this, we could not deliver targeted content dynamically, nor could we produce a newsletter without the aid of designers and programmers. having this functionality has meant a real ability to optimise the roi on our marketing campaigns.

chirac shah, online Marketing executive, the holiday Place


Weathergeolocation / regional / uk

nearest Storedirections / services

live count downend of sales / Promotion

ThE OLD wAy ThE fUTURE

Stockdirections / services

last link clickedlink categorisation

product browseomniture browse/abandon

recommendationbased on past purchase/browsing

wrap Up,it’s Cold!

0:20 minutes

£ 14.99 5 LEfTnow£ 10

–1°C

social networking

| socIal neTWorkIng | Marketing to travellers across the online world

TRAvELLERs AnD ThE pOwER Of sOCIAL nETwORkIng

like many sectors, the travel industry has felt the influence of widespread social

networking. People are much more engaged with travel brands on social media and

regularly use recommendation engines such as Tripadvisor. This makes better and

more personalised use of these mediums essential for travel brands.

social websites can exert a powerful influence on people researching and booking

trips. for example, an increasing reason behind a specific destination choice is ‘seeing

a friend’s holiday pictures’ on facebook. as a result, there is a fantastic opportunity

for brands to exploit this trend and use their own facebook page in a similar way to

offer a more personal, unique insight into a location. any travel company that can link

that positive feedback into their communication, whether through email or facebook,

is going to benefit.

social networking also makes it easy for customers to share good content and

communications they receive. This makes it essential for travel companies to always

include links in their emails to appropriate social media channels to encourage wider

discussions about a particular offer they are making.

on the flip side, social media channels are also often the first places people visit

online to complain when something goes wrong or they feel they have had a less than

perfect experience. Travel brands have a responsibility to deliver answers and insight

faster than ever. how travel brands react to bad experiences is key in driving trust

with customers.

caSe Study leading tour operator letS dream holidayS begin With Social media

an italian tour operator specialising in holiday villages has entered the world of social media in 2011 by creating its own company blog, a youtube channel, a twitter profile, and Facebook fan pages.

the company wanted to create a direct channel to listen to customers and support them in their choice by providing comparisons and useful suggestions. in addition, they saw an opportunity to use social media to implement an effective online customer care campaign to improve customer satisfaction while at the same time identifying trends to help build an even richer and more varied product range.

they started using ec-social, teradata ecircle‘s social media platform, to manage the publication of content on the various channels and monitor online user enquiries in real time. in particular, the company liked the platform’s central control of the editorial flow of content and its publication on different channels, the simple and intuitive monitoring of user activity on the various pages (social inbox) and being able to analyse the performance of each activity. this enabled them to send effective offers in line with customer demand while increasing loyalty.

with its new focus, the tour operator created a substantial social media presence, achieving almost 39,000 Facebook fans within ten months of becoming active on social media and improving its twitter presence.

Marketing to travellers across the online world | socIal neTWorkIng |

the rise oF the cloUd

| The rIse of The cloud | Marketing to travellers across the online world

UsIng ThE CLOUD TO BUILD ExTREME pERsOnALIzATIOn

The evolution of cloud technology offers travel companies a whole new way to

structure, connect and access their data, as well as how they gather and use

information to connect and talk to customers. With all this data at their fingertips,

they can build much deeper personalisation to develop long-standing relationships

with their customers.

The cloud allows companies to make us of a vast range of information to personalize

their communications. even extremely large databases, constantly changing data sets,

recipient-independent data, product catalogues and extensive customer purchase

histories can be uploaded directly into your private data cloud and used for your

digital messages.

furthermore, existing data in the cloud can be pulled in to provide valuable content

for individual customers, perhaps a weather forecast for their destination. The cloud

gives greater flexibility for those companies that need to nurture and build long term

relationships. booking a holiday or a trip away involves much research, advice and

collaboration with fellow travellers, and with so many variants in a decision process,

cloud technology is ideally suited to travel firms looking to give their customers

added value.

and it is with exactly this kind of highly personalised customer service that travel

agents can re-invent themselves to deliver extreme value and thereby compete

against bland booking engines.

a further benefit of the cloud is that it provides companies with the complete

flexibility to change and modify their email campaigns as new data is collected. This

is in addition to greater insight into the campaigns’ performance, which can provide

better targeting for future communications.

Teradata ecircle’s cloud+ data Management platform can source data from almost

any system connected to the Internet and make it available for digital messaging. This

enables a travel company to store, connect and update customer profile data, from

their interests to their purchasing history, allowing the creation of smart, personalized

campaigns.

customer segmentation and targeting become very straightforward. for example,

users who abandoned their online shopping carts can be targeted with a personalized

message using information like departure airport, destination, travel dates, holiday

Id, abandonment date and time, discount offered and total trip cost. This can be

extremely effective in recovering what would otherwise be a lost sale.

Marketing to travellers across the online world | The rIse of The cloud |

With cloud+ you can use almost any information from any system, anywhere, for personalization and segmentation in your email campaign.

caSe Study tuifly takeS off With a broad email marketing Strategy

For germany’s third-largest airline, tUifly, the internet is an integral part of its business with more than 80% of tUifly-controlled flights sold directly online. the company also uses online marketing to promote its wider offering, including hotel accommodation, car rentals, insurance and holiday homes.

email is tUifly’s main marketing tool. its “tUifly luftpost” weekly newsletter focuses on increasing the sales of new or under-booked destinations, offering discounts, prize draws, price cuts and other promotions to build immediate bookings. limited duration offers, plus extra schemes on hotels or hire cars, help to increase sales with newsletter recipients able to reach the relevant section of tUifly’s website directly.

the complete broadcast, tracking and evaluation of tUifly’s newsletters, is undertaken by teradata ecircle’s ec-messenger email software. as well as automating email broadcasts, ec-messenger enables very personalised content.

cart recovery iS a priority

however, a challenge for tUifly has been a 76% cart abandonment rate, compared to typical rates of 72% for retailers and 67% for the fashion industry. in other words, more than three-quarters of people who get to the final stage of purchasing from tUifly online decide not to go ahead.

clearly, converting these cart abandoners holds huge potential for generating extra revenue. success depends on being able to track these customers and gain their permission to send a recovery email to them.

| The rIse of The cloud | Marketing to travellers across the online world

tUifly increases the effectiveness of its recovery emails by gathering data from the abandoned carts, such as travel dates, prices, currency and carriers. combining this with data from its own systems, for example flight and seat availability and pricing, tUifly creates personalised emails with strong offers to entice customers to buy.

Using this process of tracking, sending newsletters, emailing offers and alternatives along with conversion targeting has enabled tUifly to achieve a 50% uplift in the success of its emails with a 6.4% conversion rate.

Marketing to travellers across the online world | The rIse of The cloud |

tUifly has achieved a 50% uplift in email success with a 6.4% conversion rate

| buIldIng a dIgITal MessagIng sTraTegy sTeP-by-sTeP | Marketing to travellers across the online world

BUilding a digital Messaging strategy steP-By-steP

Marketing to travellers across the online world | buIldIng a dIgITal MessagIng sTraTegy sTeP-by-sTeP |

BUILDIng A DIgITAL MEssAgIng sTRATEgy sTEp-By-sTEp

consider a fictitious airline, let’s name it Proactive airways, that wants to evolve its

digital marketing strategy. currently, Proactive airways sends regular newsletters to

all of its customers as a means of generating sales leads. The airline also has a sign-up

process for the newsletter.

What Proactive airways really needs is a more sophisticated digital messaging

framework that will allow it to engage with customers at all points along the

customer lifecycle using highly personalised content that will build closer customer

relationships. The objective is to create additional revenue and intensify customer

loyalty.

but how?

There are 13 key programs that the airline could implement to vastly improve the roI

on its digital marketing.

1. lead-warming program: The first step is to respond immediately to customers

signing up for the newsletter by sending them content they have requested or they

will find useful. This email could also invite the customer to visit Proactive airways’

other online channels, such as facebook, Twitter, youTube and its frequent flyer

program.

2. Profile enrichment program: having begun a dialogue with customers, it is then

time to encourage them to share their interests and other profile data. This could

be anything from location and preferred departure airports, destinations and travel

times to marriage status, income and more.

3. click behavior program: now the airline can start to analyze which links in its emails

are being clicked, and which are not. The most clicked links are given prominence in

future emails to steadily improve targeting.

4. search/browse behavior program: The airline looks at which sections of its website

are of most interest to a customer using integrations of web analytic services like

adobe omniture.

5. anniversary program: an obvious but sometimes overlooked opportunity to keep

the dialogue with the customer running.

6. cancellation program: a further opportunity for contact and to raise revenue is

to follow up and try to re-activate customers who have abandoned a booking

process before completion.

7. booking confirmation: Post booking is the perfect time to offer further services

tailored to the customer based on their travel times, departure airport, destination,

hotel, price range etc.

8. Preflight message: a straightforward touch point that not only reminds the

customer of their forthcoming trip, but gives another opportunity to provide useful

information and targeted offers.

9. Post-trip message: This can be a simple “thank you” or include additional offers,

perhaps a discounted photo book.

10. bonus program: The aim here is to encourage the customer to join Proactive

airways’ reward scheme.

11. satisfaction survey program: another way to keep the dialogue open after the trip

and to encourage feedback on the travel experience.

12. reactivation program: When a customer has been dormant for a while, the airline

needs to regain their attention.

13. Win-back program: should the customer remain inactive for a longer period, the

airline can send targeted offers to encourage them to respond.

| buIldIng a dIgITal MessagIng sTraTegy sTeP-by-sTeP | Marketing to travellers across the online world

using email to create and maintain dialogue throughout the customer lifecycle.

Permission dialogue Improving customer relationship

reactivation

• sign up

• sign up processes

• user behaviour

• Profile enrichment

• birthday email

• Transactional messages (e.g. order confirmation delivery status change)

• cross/upselling

• booking process abandoners

• second purchase emails

• customer loyalty programs

• customer surveys

• customer satisfaction

• reactivation programs

potential customer

interested

new customer repeat customer

inactivity

1. activation Program: leadwarming

2. Profile enrichment Program

3. click behaviour Program

4. search/browse- behaviour Program

5. anniversary-Program

6. cancellation Program

7. booking confirmation/ Postbooking

8. Preflight Message

9. Posttrip Message

10. bonus Program

11. satisfaction surveys

12. reactivation Program

13. Winback Program

Marketing to travellers across the online world | buIldIng a dIgITal MessagIng sTraTegy sTeP-by-sTeP |

engaging with customers across the lifecycle is a very effective way to create additional revenue

FUtUre trends

| fuTure Trends | Marketing to travellers across the online world

LOCATIOn-pREDICTIvE MARkETIng

location-based marketing is a topic talked about for several years, made possible

largely by the growth in smartphones. The idea is to deliver targeted marketing

content based on the customer’s actual location and time of day. so, for example,

a restaurant or attraction may send an sMs or email to a potential customer in the

vicinity with a short-lived discount coupon.

however, humans tend to be quite inflexible in what they do in a busy day. They follow

their plans and are not so willing to be deflected by on-the-spot offers if they are

walking to a specific destination.

location-predictive marketing promises to overcome this limitation by using a variety

of data sources to enable a company to predict the future location of a customer

and send them a relevant offer well in advance so they can build the offer into their

travel plans. forrester research defines location-predictive marketing as “Predicting a

person’s future locations and needs on the basis of their past locations and needs10.”

by collecting data from a variety of sources, an organisation can build up a prediction

of the future location of a customer. These data sources include:

• locationdatafrommobiledevicestoestablishthecustomer’scurrentandprevious

whereabouts

• indoorpositioningservices

• purchasinghistoryofphysicalstoresvisitedandwhen

• knowledgeofthecustomer’splans,i.e.abookedtrip.

• Interestincertainlocationsontheweb,e.g.mapqueries,visitstopagesdealing

with specific local services and offers

so, by knowing that a customer holds a flight ticket, a company can be confident of

where they will be (departure airport and destination airport) and when (waiting for

their flight and flight arrival). This enables offers to be sent relevant to this location,

for example information for getting to a car rental collection location, or vouchers for

shopping discounts at the airport.

Marketing to travellers across the online world | fuTure Trends |

| fuTure Trends | Marketing to travellers across the online world

MEETIng COnsUMERs’ ChAngIng nEEDs

It’s estimated that 43% of people will start planning a trip on one device and then

continue or finish their research on another device11. With multiple devices including

smartphones, tablets, smart Tvs and Pcs available to them, the way people behave

online is becoming more complex and harder for marketers to tap into.

according to forrester research, this means that “firms cannot try to force users

through a set of device-specific gates. Instead, they must understand how customers

pursue their goals and adapt accordingly12.”

furthermore, as the range of connected devices grows, with new ways of interaction

such as gestures, voice and eyes, travel companies will need to introduce new thinking

into their digital marketing communications.

google glass, for example, comprises a small transparent display in a user’s field of

vision connected to a camera, eye movement sensors, a touch-sensitive sidebar and

a number of other sensors, including an accelerometer, gyroscope and compass. The

device will connect people to the online world more intensely and continuously than is

ever possible with a smartphone alone.

Meanwhile, interactive watches will soon feature small screens, probably about the

same size as that of a MP3 player, but it will be far more prominent for the wearer than

a smartphone that lives inside a pocket or bag for much of its life. This will mean that

a well-designed advert or email message will command immediate attention. With

such a small screen, complex messages will need to be avoided, but simple, highly

personalized calls to action, such as accepting a promotional offer, could be very

effective.

one potential impact of the roll out of these very personal devices may be users’

desire to restrict the number of messages coming into their inboxes through the

use of better filtering. deliverability will become even more important for those who

create the content of emails.

despite this and the radically new experiences these devices will bring, the flexibility

of responsive design and live email techniques will help to ensure the design process

will not need to be overhauled.

having ecircle as our chosen supplier for the last few years has led to the development of a series of sophisticated email programs that deliver targeted and timely communications to our guests and prospects. the team at ecircle understand what we are trying to achieve through the email channel. we look forward to continuing this positive and developing working relationship.

Jeremy colston, crM Manager, center Parcs

Marketing to travellers across the online world | fuTure Trends |

in many markets, the majority of travellers use online booking services and research their trips using the internet – often while they are travelling

In many respects, the travel industry is facing the same challenges as the retail and

finance industries - battling against competitive prices and the economic downturn.

yet, travel brands have a real opportunity, perhaps more so than finance or retail, to

provide an added-value service.

grabbing this opportunity depends on creating more personalised and targeted

communications. customers need to see the value of using a specific travel provider,

especially once they have placed their trust in them and booked a trip. This calls for

all brands in the travel industry to increase investment in applications where they can

optimise their campaigns across each channel - mobile, email and social, and ensure

they are integrated effectively with other more traditional channels such as search

and display.

new channels of communication such as social media and mobile can be profitable

and thus invaluable when used effectively. Travel brands that don’t put the time and

effort into developing personalized and engaging campaigns using all the digital

communications capabilities opening up to them are missing a golden business

building opportunity and more importantly, will inevitably lose customers to their

competitors.

conclusion

| conclusIon | Marketing to travellers across the online world

1. european Travel commission

2. “The future of airline distribution, a look ahead to 2017”, atmosphere research group

3. “us online leisure and unmanaged business Travel forecast, 2011 to 2016”, forrester

4. hudson crossing llc, 2013

5. european Travel commission: new Media Trend Watch

6. european Travel commmission: new Media Trend Watch

7. north american Technographics® Travel online survey, Q1 2011 (us), forrester

8. accenture Interactive survey results, Today’s shopper Preferences: channels, social Media, Privacy and the Personalized experience, november 2012

9. http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/10176-mobile-optimisation-for-email-is-vital-for-campaign-success

10. location-Predictive Marketing report, June 2013, forrester research

11. “The new Multi-screen World study”, google, august 2012

12. “Meet the changing needs of connected customers” forrester research, June 2013

source references

Marketing to travellers across the online world | source references |

istockphoto.com/PeskyMonkey (cover), lightpoet/shutterstock.com (3, 33), istockphoto.com/linzyslusher (5), istockphoto.com/Imagelovingfactory (6), Maridav/shutterstock.com (8), syda Productions/shutterstock.com (10), Martin novak/shutterstock.com (13), Teradata/Michaela rehle (14), istockphoto.com/warrengoldswain (20), Pressmaster/shutterstock.com (22), antonio guillem/shutterstock.com (25), adam radosavljevic/shutterstock.com (26), istockphoto.com/quavondo (29), Warren goldswain/shutterstock.com (30), surkov vladimir/shutterstock.com (34), istockphoto.com/baran Özdemir (35)

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