Laffitte Conseil

Word of Mouth Works Worldwide

There are more marketing channels aimed at consumers than ever. Yet more than three-quarters of consumers surveyed worldwide find that consumer opinions are the most effective form of advertising, according to a Nielsen study.

Nielsen surveyed Internet users in 47 markets in Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East on their attitudes toward many types of ads, including television, branded Web sites and consumer-generated content.

"The fact that consumers think opinions posted online are as trustworthy as brand Web sites speaks to the power of online reviews and recommendations," said Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer.

"It also means that marketers need to focus as much attention on what consumers say about their brands online as they do on creating the brand Web sites themselves," Ms. Williamson said. "The easiest thing to do is to make consumer feedback an essential part of every brand Web site."

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10 ways to optimize your hotel website through copy

Search engine optimization – or SEO – is a complex science, designed to increase the visibility of a website in the search engines’ natural results through the modification of certain key elements and site attributes. The most successful SEO campaigns for hotel and travel websites fully acknowledge and address the hundreds of different factors that the search engines use to determine the relevancy of a site to any given term – from its posted content and architectural structure, to the age of its primary URL and affiliation with other high-ranking sites.

Recognizing that copy is just one of many tools that should be engaged in a comprehensive SEO strategy, how can it be used to increase your hotel website’s natural search-engine rankings? The following list of tips provides an excellent starting point in the process of increasing your site’s visibility through effective SEO copywriting.

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Indirect route to customers works on Web

The sweeping success of online social networks like MySpace and Facebook has created new avenues for businesses - from New Balance to TripAdvisor - to market themselves.

Since Facebook opened up its platform to third-party users in May (allowing anyone to offer a free tool or game for Facebook users to download) Web traffic on the site has taken off at warp speed. Last month 33.7 million US Web users visited Facebook, up 46.5 percent from April, according to comScore Media Metrix, a firm that tracks Internet traffic.

One month after Facebook allowed outsiders in, TripAdvisor, the Needham-based online travel guide, launched an application called "Cities I've Visited," which the company's chief executive, Stephen Kaufer, likened to the maps children used to festoon with pins showing the different places they had visited. At last count, over 2 millions folks had installed the application on their profile page, Kaufer said.

"We certainly considered other social networks but what's particularly appealing about Facebook now is the viral nature of the news feed," said Kaufer. When someone installs an application, all of their friends are notified. And each time they update their profile friends are again notified which, Kaufer said, raises their curiosity. "Of all of their friends, some portion will check out and install the application, which in turn, causes more people to notice."

Facebook is currently the sixth-most-trafficked website in the United States, with members visiting the site an average of 2.3 times a day.

Two months after TripAdvisor launched "Cities I've Visited," it offered "Traveler I.Q. Challenge," a game that users can customize to ask geography-related questions, such as where events have taken place (from historic Olympic triumphs, to college pub crawls, for example) or where places are located according to topography, world capitals, or anything the imagination can conjure up. Depending upon how quickly players can find the correct location, or how close they are on the map, they receive a certain number of points. Players compete against their friends to see who has the highest traveler I.Q. Of course, the TripAdvisor icon is on the page, so with a click of the mouse, viewers can be transported to its site.

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Online travel videos, the next wave in social media sites

So are online travel videos the next wave in travel User Generated Content sites? All indications would appear to point in that direction.

In July, founders of igougo, who sold their business to Sabre in 2006, set up an online travel video website, www.tripfilms.com. With the tagline, "travel inspired", the site provides user generated videos of "authentic experiences" from around the world.

Last week, BBC World bought a 75% stake in Lonely Planet with its International Director of BBC Worldwide, Ian Watson, saying, "What we hope to be able to do very quickly is enrich, particularly in the online space, and increase the amount of video and audio content available to inspire travellers."

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Visa and Asiatravel.com join hands

Asiatravel.com and Visa International have signed a strategic partnership that will give Visa cardholders access to exclusive travel deals and discounts on the website.

Visa data shows that Asia Pacific Visa cardholders spent more than US$2.8 billion on travel via the internet to the year ended July 2007.

Meranda Chan, Country manager for Singapore and Brunei, Visa International said this highlights that consumers are looking to the internet to not only research their next trip but also to book and pay for it online.

Asiatravel.com deals available for Visa cardholders include:
• Pay two nights and get the third night free on the Thai island of Koh Yao, valid to 27 October
• 3D/2N golf packages at leading Thai hotels and resorts such as Northern Heritage Resort and Spa in Chiangmai, valid to 27 October

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Vietnam Golf Association formed at Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail stop

In a move that closely complements the July 2007 launch of the Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail, Vietnamese course owners and officials met at Kings’ Island Golf Club to discuss and celebrate the formation of a formal governing body for golf in  Vietnam.

The gathering took place a day after representatives from all seven Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail clubs, in addition to more than 150 Vietnamese golf officials, vendors and dignitaries, committed to the organization of a Vietnam Golf Association (VGA) — responsible for uniform course ratings, handicapping services and nationwide tournament administration — in 2008.

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High-Flying Tigers of Online Travel

The Asia-Pacific region includes economies at polar opposites of the online development spectrum.

Australia, Japan and South Korea have advanced digital infrastructures with mature e-commerce and online travel sectors, according to Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Asia-Pacific Online Travel: Focus on China and India.

"At the other end of the spectrum, while countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia are less developed, they are growing fast," he said.

But the real action lies in the middle.

"It is the massive online travel markets of China and India that will drive growth in the region," Mr. Grau said.

eMarketer estimates that online travel bookings in China were worth $1.5 billion in 2006, and it projects that average annual increases of 60% will push the Chinese market to $15.4 billion in 2011.

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Cinq clés pour optimiser son taux de conversion

   

Pour rentabiliser des investissements de plus en plus conséquents dans le domaine de l'acquisition de trafic, il est impératif de réaliser un important travail sur son offre et sur son site Web, étant donné que ce sont, pour les cybermarchands, les deux leviers qui leur permettront d'optimiser de leur taux de conversion.     

Pour ce faire, il n'y a pas de secret selon Omniture : il faut revenir à la règle de marketing direct des 40/40/20, qui précise que la réussite d'une action dépend à 40 % du ciblage du public, à 40 % de l'offre en elle-même, et à 20 % de l'exécution créative.   

Cinq clés pour adapter cet adage aux contraintes du e-commerce.

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Will IPTV ever move beyond early adoption?

Internet protocol television (IPTV) subscription service from telephone service providers accounts for less than 1% of the total US pay TV market, according to Gartner's “Dataquest Insight: U.S. Consumer Pay-TV Preferences Are Key for IPTV Market Entrants" report. That percentage is expected to increase to almost 8% by 2011.

Gartner projects that 84% of US households will have some type of paid TV subscriptions by the end of 2011, up marginally from 82% in 2006.

“The US pay TV market is dominated by cable and satellite providers by a factor of 2-to-1,” said Amanda Sabia, principal research analyst at Gartner, in a statement.

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French Internet Is Growing Fast

In its latest report, the France Online Overview, eMarketer projects that 30.9 million French citizens will use the Internet at least once a month in 2007.

By 2011, another 8 million French consumers will join their compatriots online.

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