Edinburgh destinations seminar 161013

Digitally promoting and enhancing the attraction experience

The DREAM day out

Destinations Seminar

9.00 Start

1. Introducing the concept

2. Getting people to desire you more | Your success / challenges

3. Helping people’s research | Your success / challenges

10.15 – 10.30 Break

4. Engaging people | Your success / challenges

5. Enriching the experience | Your success / challenges

6. Keeping the memories

11.30 End (but feel free to button-hole me afterwards!)

Today

Who am I?

Rob van Tol – Senior Strategist

Psychotherapist

ex-Usability Consultant

ex-Website Manager

ex-Information Architect

ex-User Experience Designer

ex-User Interface Designer

ex-Technical & Help Writer

ex-Naval Historian

Who are You?

Who are Precedent?

• Offices

• Experts

• Years

LONDON

EDINBURGH

CARDIFF

PERTH

MELBOURNE

HONG KONG

Our research

New Brand Universities

Universities

Third Sector

NHS

Alumni

Globalisation

Financial Services

Our research relevant to you

Membership Organisations

Visitor Attractions

The DREAM model – Two sides of the coin

Customers Needs

Your Needs

Your physical experience is limited in a specific spot at a particular time … your digital experience isn’t

The DREAM model

Letting them find you. Making them want you. Making them want to come back.

The DREAM model

Preparing them (for the good, the bad, the before, the after)

The DREAM model

Make them love you before first sight. Prepare them for arrival.

The DREAM model

Making it as easy and up-sold as possible.

The DREAM model

Turning them into ambassadors who remind themselves to come back.

DREAM: Desire Attracting the good, sending away the bad

Aggregation: Bringing together everything

Aggregation: Bringing together everything

Enthusiasts: Aggregation by hand

Enthusiasts: Have a rollercoaster ? Are you talking to “Col”? (No 2 Google. No 1 Bing)

“Col” offers a pre-experience of every coaster. Is it correct? Is it showing you in the best light?

“Col” loves rollercoasters. He gets people excited about them. Show him some love back.

Have a castle? Do you know the Scottish Castle Association?

Have a castle? Do you know Castles on the Web?

Enthusiasts: Set up opportunities

Expand who shares you: Craft content aggregation

Expand the fun: Use topical piggybacks

Expand your stage: Access all areas

Expand your site: Amplify your site content

1. Seed and give away your content to relevant sites (eg, review sites, enthusiast bloggers, directory sites, affiliates, referrers, sites your users use)

2. Check how aggregators are putting you together in unexpected way

3. Piggybacks topical memes (outside destinations topics)

4. Setup opportunities for enthusiasts and their fans to come together

Ways to create Desire

Networking discussions

Share your successes and challenges

DREAM: Research Finding you, finding more.

Google: (April 2013) All knowing

Google: (October 2013) All changing

Google Local

User Review: The monster grows – milk it

User Reviews: It’s not just tripadvisor

Expand your offer: Are you misunderstood - reach out to blockers and rejecters , show them the full you

Glamour Style Naval Royalty

Too many choices: = Nothing highlighted

Too many choices: = Nothing highlighted

Too many choices: Form-filling is dull

Radical simplification: +Motivation or +Usability

2013 British Interactive Media Association Award nomination

Engage: Develop your own voice

Tempt during research: Show off your goodies

Tempt during research : Show off your goodies

Tempt during research : Know when to add detail

Engage: Develop your own voice

Radical simplification: +Motivation or +Usability

Expand your partnerships: Fill out the whole journey

Expand your partnerships: Fill out the whole journey

1. Test your proposition: Unique / Emotional Selling Point

2. Challenge yourself to attract the “it’s not for me” audience

3. Monitor social channels (aka free market research)

4. Then match your marketing to your user’s reviews

5. Package your different customer experiences (not in silos)

6. Make recommendations (even if you’re not meant to)

Ways to facilitate Research

Networking discussions

Share your successes and challenges

DREAM: Engage Build excitement, prepare for arrival.

Expand ambassadors’ role: Their influence adds impact

Backstage pass: We all love a look behind the scenes

Backstage pass: The more real the better

Beyond the ticket barrier: Set a wider context

Beyond the ticket barrier: Set a wider context

Beyond the ticket barrier: Set a wider context

Expand the context: And be gorgeous

2013 British Interactive Media Association Award nomination

2013 British Interactive Media Association Award nomination

Expand the context: Across all channels

Engage but keep it real: Or be mocked

Engage but keep it real: Or be mocked

Engage but keep it real: Or be mocked

1. Test and experiment with your conversion funnel checking the language, form design, leakage and referrals

2. Use analytics to see your customer footprints through your content and do something where there is trouble

3. Provide a pre-experience, exciting them about what they are going to get (eg show-stopping visuals)

4. Let people find others who have been or are about to go (eg suggested hashtags pre-attending)

5. Offer itineraries and timesavers (before, during & after)

6. Promote campaigns of what they can do on the day

Ways to Engage

Networking discussions

Share your successes and challenges

DREAM: Attend Bridge virtual and real, enhance both.

Support Viral Marketers: Every photo is an ad

Rewarding enthusiasts: The semi-pro blogger

Support Viral Marketers: Reserved seats for bloggers

Physical ≠ Digital Cannibalisation is a fact

Admirals of the First World War William Goodenough Robert Arbuthnot (died at Jutland) Montague Browning Christopher Craddock (died at Cornell) Horace Hood (died at Jutland) John de Robeck

William Packenham Reginald Tyrwhitt Roger Keyes Cecil Burney David Beatty Trevelyan Napier Louis Mountbatten

Hugh Evan-Thomas Frederick Sturdee Arthur Leveson Charles Madden John Jellicoe Rosslyn Wemyss

Don’t limit depth: You know stuff, share it

2013 British Interactive Media Association Award nomination

Don’t limit interaction: Turn viewers into doers

Set up photo opps: Get them to share

2013 British Interactive Media Association Award nomination

Expand to be the destination: Digital doesn’t need to be an add-on

1. Offer free WiFi

2. Encourage ‘BYOD’ usage – e.g. set-up cool photo opportunities, nominate staff photographers, badges saying ‘I can take your picture’

3. Digital tickets (do paperwork before arriving) with sign-ups

4. Make it clear you encourage photos and sharing!

5. Give away the guide but build in the up-sells

6. Incentivise reviews, posts and sharing with in-attraction perks, VIP treatment, discounts for future visits

Ways to enhance Attending

Networking discussions

Share your successes and challenges

DREAM: Memories Make them last, make them shared.

Don’t try to sell sharing: Physical ≠ Digital

Don’t try to sell sharing: Physical ≠ Digital

Harvest visitors’ info: View visitors as long-term customers

Harvest visitors’ memories: Turn viewers into sharers

Digital visitor books: Get them to share

1. Capture, house and enable sharing of memories for them

2. Link your customer to your CRM & re-engage on key dates

3. Leverage sign-ups with gifting, benefits and ‘memories’ for fans who couldn’t come

4. Create platforms for fan content

5. Seek out and connect to recent visitors on social media

6. Replace visitor book with tablets and membership sign-ups

Ways to build Memories

Networking discussions

Share your successes and challenges

Wrapping up Where’s this all going …

Ye Olde Customer Journey: The Great British Bank Holiday

Desiring friend’s Facebook Researching Google info mine

Lookup what next on phone

Look at site (tablet, PC, phone) Directions on phone

Playing on phone in queue ‘Selfie’ on your phone Memories to Facebook

DREAM Customer Journey: The Digital British Bank Holiday

1. Team capacity “you‘re going to need a bigger boat” content creation + content curation + community management + customer relations + affiliate relations

2. Mobile 1st digital channel (not your desktop website)

3. Maps 2nd digital channel (not your desktop website)

4. Social 3rd digital channel and an intimate part of what you do (not a best-endeavours piece of work)

5. Foreigners the 3rd World is becoming the 1st World (give them 1st World treatment)

Where is this all going: Some trends for you

6. Fees we‘re becoming accustomed to ancillary fees

7. Bookings differentiate between early-bird | peak | last minute

8. Reviews more sites to watch (trip advisor, virtual tourist, yelp, google+ et.al. and watch out for the rise of expert review sites)

9. Digital destination increasingly echo the physical one, be a destination in its own right

10.Digital experience more integral part of whole the experience (less an add-on or online leaflet)

Where is this all going: Some trends for you

If you remember nothing else: Digital lets you connect longer and wider, whatever your physical limitations