PowerPoint Presentation

Sarah SlatteryThe Travel Expert.ieITAA Conference 2017BLOGGING FOR THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY

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A LITTLE ABOUT METheTravelExpert.ie30k Monthly Website Views22k Social Media Followers2016 Finalist In Eir Spider Awards Best in Blogging category

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WHY AM I HERE?

TRUST

TRUSTAside from hard work, I think the biggest reason for my success has been trust. My followers trust me. They know I have experience in my field, they value my opinions and my honesty. As Travel Agents you have the same experience, you are experts in your fields and already have the followers your clients. 3

WHY AM I HERE?

THE FUTUREAlthough we dont know what the future will hold or what the next big thing will be. Some say its all about video, others say it will be virtual reality. One thing we know for sure is that TUI will no longer produce brochures after 2020. They made this announcement earlier this year and its only a matter of time before others follow suit. All consumers will look up holiday information online, read reviews, blogs and watch videos of their chosen resort or hotel.

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WHY BLOGGING?BRAND AWARENESSMARKETINGCUSTOMER INTERACTIONSEO

Why blog?Rather than have your customers look up the TUI website, or the hotel website, why not have the hotel or destination reviews on your own website. I dont just mean copy and paste from other websites, I mean reviews from you, your staff, personal experiences.We all know how much easier it is to sell a holiday when you have been to the resort or hotel. Its the same with a blog. If the consumer trusts you and your blog, they are more likely to book with you. Blogs dont have to be written by Pulitzer prize winning authors. In fact, the more real and plain spoken the better.Marketing, brand awareness and customer interaction are all key reasons why you should blog. With this is mind I want to show you this short video, it cleverly shows how consumers attitudes have changed and why we need to change how we interact with our customers.

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Advertiser vs Consumer

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THE GOOGLE JUICE!CONTENT MARKETINGORIGINALCONTENTSEO

The Technical BitThe other main reason why companies have blogs is for SEO. Blogging is probably one of the least expensive ways to build SEO. Your website is more likely to appear higher in the search engine result pages if you have a blog than if you dont and if visitors share or comment on your posts, your blog will rank even higher. Try to use your companys keywords in posts this will also improve your SEO.Within three months of setting up my own website, I was on page 1 of Google for the term The Travel Expert, despite never having spent a penny on SEO or even knowing the first thing about it. I also had to compete with holidayexperts.com, thetravelexpert.com and many more well established businesses. Now if you search for travel expert, despite numerous people using that phrase I am first, second or third every time. And just to reiterate, I still have NEVER spent any money on SEO. The phrase content is king springs to mind

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Dollar shave clubWritten postsPhotographsInfographicsSurveysCompetitionsInterviewsGuest PostsVideoWHAT THE HELL IS CONTENT?

What is content?Not only do consumers love regular, original content but google does too. I must point out that it HAS to be original. You cant copy and paste from another website, Google will see this and you will be penalised or de ranked or worse again not indexed at all. You have probably heard the word content marketing. It is a buzzword at the moment, because it is what Google wants. Content marketing isnt just about writing blogs; it could be video, infographics, photographs, surveys or the next big thing whatever that is! The beauty of blogging as a form of content though, is that anyone can do it and start almost right away.Video is one of the greatest forms of content marketing. This video is from a company that was launched in 2011 and sold a few months ago to Unilver for 1 billion dollars. The owner made this cheesy video that was shared 25 million times and he puts the success of his company down to this video. This shows how writing or filming the right content can dramatically change your business.

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DOLLAR SHAVE CLUBMichael Dubin CEODollar Shave ClubLaunched the company in July 2011 with this video on You Tube.Sold the company to Unilever for $1Billion cash in July 16

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TIMESTAFF INVOLVEMENTUSEFUL SALES TOOLEVERYONE IS NOSEY

HOW TO BLOGWhen I talk to business owners about blogging, Im always given the same excuse. Time, or lack of it. I know how busy travel agencies are, how hard it is to get staff, but writing a 600 word blog post, will take less than an hour. It needs to be part of your marketing strategy, like putting posters in the window, doing your digital adds, aertel etc. Best of all, the blog articles that you write now will still attract prospective customers years from now. GET YOUR STAFF INVOLVEDWhen your staff are sent on educationals, or receive concession travel from Tour Operators or airlines, part of the condition of travel could be that they write a review / blog when they get back. They could even write more than one, one on the resort, one on the hotel, activities etc. The suppliers who offered the educational will be happy too and they may share your blog post out on their social media channels.A USEFUL SALES TOOLThink of how much better it would be when a staff member is selling a holiday over the phone, or emailing a quote via email, that they can say read my blog here. Not only is it bringing more visitors to your website, but the customer is reading an honest review from a staff member and not a page from the suppliers website, showing online discounts. It can also serve as a reference for others in the office. It can be hard to recall the name of a hotel that you stayed in Venice 5 years ago. However if it is documented on your website in a blog post, it can be easily searched by the staff, when looking for a recommendation.IWE ARE ALL NOSEYIn the age of Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook people are voyeuristic. They want to see where the staff go on holidays, and the owners too! Think of your customers telling their friends that the owner of a Travel Agency went to the place they are going to.

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TOPICS FOR YOUR BLOG?YOU CAN BLOG ABOUT ANYTHINGCONNECT WITH YOUR CUSTOMERSSHARE YOU POSTS ON SOCIAL MEDIAStorytelling when done right, takes a product that should have sold $100 million worth of stuff and sells $1 billion worth of stuff.Gary Vaynerchuk Entrepreneur | Marketing Expert

You can blog about anything!Blogging doesnt just have to be about destinations. Aer Lingus have just launched a new route to Miami. Perhaps a new staff member doesnt know much about Miami, let them do some research, find out the top 5 or 10 things to do in Miami and write a post about it. Not only is that building knowledge for the new staff member but it can be used as a reference for all staff. Rather than just sending an newsletter with prices to Miami, send a blog post on what to do there, instead of a sales pitch every time. If you had a bad experience with a car rental company, or a good experience with an airline, hotel or transfer company write about it.CONNECT WITH YOUR CUSTOMERSUse your blog as a chance to connect with your customers on a human level. Show them that you know whats happening, that you are aware Aer Lingus have just launched new routes. Position yourself as an industry expert, talk about current trends, new routes, exorbitant bag charges, become a trusted source for travel information with your customers and with search engines. Share your posts on your social media channels, rather than just sharing your best deals all the time. These content posts are also more likely to be shared. Its much better to share your own content rather than content published on other websites. And as these posts will be on your website, you are building traffic all the time. Storytelling when done right, takes a product that should have sold $100 million worth of stuff and sells $1 billion worth of stuff. Gary Vaynerchuk, Marketing Expert & Entrepreneur 11

GETTING STARTEDHOW OFTEN SHOULD I BLOG?CAN I GET SOMEONE ELSE TO DO THIS?

How to get startedIf you have your own in house IT person, they should be able to add a page to your current website, or alternatively ask your web developer to do it for you. Its important that it is part of your website, not a separate sub domain, i.e blog.thetravelexpert.ie One of the reasons you are blogging is to increase your SEO / traffic to your main website so there is not much point in having your blog away from the main site. There is mixed views on this but, in my opinion, front and centre on your own site is the way to go. Things like page speed, mobile friendliness or at least responsiveness are key to the success of good blog so make sure you test these before you launch it. How often should I blog? The best answer I can give is this. Blogging is like exercise, and the best exercise is the one that youll actually do. My advice is blog when you can daily is great, twice weekly is ideal but for most once a week is probably about as good as you will get. Its all good though, like exercise do as much as you can.Can or should I outsource?Yes, you can do this, i blog for companies now. However blogging is quite personal and consumers may not engage the same way with a corporate style blogger than with you or your staff members. My advice would be mix it up, for destination pieces on places you have not visited, where a lot of time and research is needed outsource. If you have the personal connection with a staff member who has visited or had a personal experience on holiday that could be shared use it.

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Sarah SlatteryTheTravelExpert.Ie

Thanks For Listening!

Visit TheTravelExpert.ieEmail: sarah@thetravelexpert.ie

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