Marketing to travellers across the online world...travel is expected to rise from $214.6 billion in...
Transcript of 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
Page 10 | 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 | Page 11
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.
Page 12 | 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 | Page 13
the cUstoMer exPerience
Page 14 | 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 | Page 15
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.
Page 16 | The cusToMer exPerIence | Marketing to travellers across the online world
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%
Marketing to travellers across the online world | The cusToMer exPerIence | Page 17
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.
Page 18 | The cusToMer exPerIence | Marketing to travellers across the online world
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
Marketing to travellers across the online world | The cusToMer exPerIence | Page 19
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
Page 20 | 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 | Page 21
the rise oF the cloUd
Page 22 | 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 | Page 23
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.
Page 24 | 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 | Page 25
tUifly has achieved a 50% uplift in email success with a 6.4% conversion rate
Page 26 | 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 | Page 27
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.
Page 28 | 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 | Page 29
engaging with customers across the lifecycle is a very effective way to create additional revenue
FUtUre trends
Page 30 | 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 | Page 31
Page 32 | 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 | Page 33
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
Page 34 | 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 | Page 35
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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