Failte Ireland Online Marketing 2009Presentation to Meath Tourism

Presented by: Niamh Nevill

eBusiness Manager

Agenda

• Marketing of DiscoverIreland.ie

• Content is still King: impact of Web 2.0

• Other online initiatives from Failte Ireland

• Ten Online Marketing Tips (that don’t cost a penny!)

• Summary

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Discoverireland.ie

• Received 2.89 million visits in 2008

• Top 5 most popular pages

– Accommodation

– Special Offers

– Things to See and Do

– Festivals and Events

– Discoverireland.ie/west

• Currently undergoing redesign

– Phase 1 launch March 2009

– Phase 2 launch June 2009

• Both phases: content quality improvement plan and distribution increase of TCS content

• Recent updates for preferred booking engine nomination

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Link to booking engine

Significant increase in referrals to Industry websites or email enquiries

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78% Increase in visits for Jan-April 2009 vs. 2008: 110,007 extra visits

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

90000

January February March April

External referrals from discoverireland.ie: email, website, booking engine

2008 visits 2009 visits

Redesign of Discovreireland.ie

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Redesign over 2 phases:• To create a contemporary look and feel

• To improve the presentation of motivational content, and tourist item content such as accommodation, activities, festivals and events.

Discover Ireland.ie Updates

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Redesign over 2 phases:• To apply Web 2.0 technologies and trends to enhance user experience.

Example: Google maps, RSS feeds, Links to social networks

Discover Ireland.ie exploring new channels

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Social Networking• Facebook

• Twitter

• Yahoo Travel

Discover Ireland.ie: aligning traditional channels TV, radio, Print advertising

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Advertising:

clear and inviting call to action to visit site across all offline media to Discoverireland.ie.

Discover Ireland.ie online marketing

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Content is STILL king!• Search Engine Optimisation:

Continuous evolution of website content to improve rankings and natural search traffic.

• Extension of traditional content to include rich media like virtual tours, video, high res images.

TCS Strategy 2009-2011

Tourism Content System Overview

• National tourism information database www.tcs.ireland.ie

• 26,000 tourist items categorised as;

– Accommodation

– Attractions

– Activities

– Festivals and Events

– Transport

• October 2008: review of the current state of the TCS.

• Failte Ireland created a 3 year plan to improve on the current content and improve its quality and distribution.

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TCS Strategy 2009-2011

The TCS project will ensure that our Irish Tourism content is

current, accurate, engaging and reaches a world-wide audience.

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Translates to;

• Audit of content quality and currency; industry involvement

• Increase distribution of content via content syndication

• Use current web 2.0 technologies to engage consumer

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Content is King now

Distribution is the Queen

TCS content syndication to reach a wider audience

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Discoverireland.ie : other marketing initiatives

Special Offers• In conjunction with newspaper lift-out

• 3 campaigns, March-April, May-June and July-August

• Contact geraldine.jeffers@failteireland.ie

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Ten Tips for your online marketing (that won’t cost a penny!)

1. Join the Facebook Group: I love Ireland

Publish stories, images, video related to your area.

Ten Tips for your online marketing (that won’t cost a penny!)

2. Join www.twitter.com . Follow each other to increase your numbers.

Ten Tips for your online marketing (that won’t cost a penny!)

3. Join www.linkedin.com and Talk Tourism to network with other

professionals and promote business related services.

Ten Tips for your online marketing (that won’t cost a penny!)

4. Join www.yahootravel.com and create suggested itineraries

for your area.

“Boyne Valley- home of Irish Myths and Legends”

Newgrange: 500 years

older than the pyramids!

“High Kings of Ireland sat at Hill of Tara..”

Ten Tips for your online marketing (that won’t cost a penny!)

5. Multiple social network updates using www.ping.fm and measure

your social network activity using www.bit.ly

Ten Tips for your online marketing (that won’t cost a penny!)

6. Upload a video from your area to You Tube. Be sure to Geotag on Google Maps.

Also upload to Facebook, you could use www.qik.com or www.vimeo.com to upload video from

your phone. Then Twitter the link to your videos!

Ten Tips for your online marketing (that won’t cost a penny!)

7. Create a Flickr gallery or upload your photos to Google

Earth using Picasa

Ten Tips for your online marketing (that won’t cost a penny!)

8. Check out www.TripAdvisor.com and provide responses to

engage with future or past customers

Ten Tips for your online marketing (that won’t cost a penny!)

9. Check your website content, contact details, page headings and intro

text: use keywords. Update your listing on discoverireland.ie. To find

out how you rank compared to your competitors, try

www.semrush.com.

Send updates to Teresa Heffernan:

Failte Ireland East and Midlands teresa.heffernan@failteireland.ie

Phone: (044) 9350119

Ten Tips for your online marketing (that won’t cost a penny!)

10. Consider using online vouchers. Recent article indicating that after

social networking the most popular area is related to vouchers.

Failte Ireland’s online focus 2009

• Failte Ireland’s role: to facilitate the success of the industry

– Product development and marketing

– Enterprise and skills dev

– Regional Development and marketing

– Visitor Servicing

• Continue to improve and expand our online presence, both consumer and corporate

• Expansion of online marketing initiatives:

– Mobile, PDA and GPS technologies

– CRM

– social networking

– rich media

– user-generated content policy

• Website Content improvements and distribution

• Industry Empowerment. Increase eBusiness skills and knowledge

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eBusiness Supports in online environment

What is it?

• The e-Business Support Initiative is a 3 year project running since June 2008

• Its designed to enable tourism business operators to identify their web development needs and provide them with direct support, on-site assistance and training.

• The e-Business support is provided in several stages, undertaken on behalf of Fáilte Ireland by a team of independent IT consultants (Service Providers):

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eBusiness Supports in online environment

How it works:WEB-CHECK

– review & critique of the existing website by phone

– on-site 1:2:1 consultation to address immediate issues

– highlighting an action plan of further developmental measures for consideration

• WEB-START

– for SME’s who do not possess a website

– web specification template

• WEB-CHECK PLUS

– additional ½ day on-site e-marketing support to optimise effectiveness of web-sites following Web-Check input

• WEB-SKILLS

– techniques to optimise on-line sales

– e-Business workshops /e-Symposiums highlighting cutting edge innovations in e-Business geared towards the Tourism sector.

– 10 workshops held in 2008, (178 delegates), 30 workshops scheduled for 2009, plus 3 e-Symposiums.

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eBusiness Supports in online environment

• 6 topics addressed during 2009 workshops;– Online selling

– Google Tools

– Web Content

– Web Safety (safety, risks and hazards)

– SEO

– Web Design & Development

• E-Symposium 12th May Rochestown Park Hotel, CORK

• More Info: www.iia.ie/webcheckstephen.dudley@failteireland.ie

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Summary: Key messages from this presentation:

• Check out your listing on www.discoverireland.ie to ensure your business is represented to its best. Send updates to Teresa Heffernan, Failte Ireland East and Midlands teresa.heffernan@failteireland.ie or phone 044 9350119

• Spend twenty minutes per day on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Yahoo Travel, Trip Advisor and start creating a buzz about your area. Try ping.fm for multiple updates. Follow me on Twitter: niamhtoohey

• Measure your online activities, e.g. www.bit.ly and watch external referrers on Google analytics. Ensure you calculate your ROI before investing.

Summary: Key messages from this presentation:

I hope that was useful, here’s a list of links used in this presentation.

http://niamhsmusings.tumblr.com/