internet marketing for tourist railroads and railway museums
DESCRIPTION
This presentation was assembled by WhistleTix Chief Marketing Officer Eric Housh. Eric presented this information at the 2012 Railway Heritage Preservation Conference in Montreal, Quebec. If you have any questions or require any clarification, please contact Eric Directly at ehoush (at) whistletix (dot) com.TRANSCRIPT
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Internet Marketing for Tourist Railways and Railway Museums
What you need to know
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What we talked about in 2011…
1. Big events generate interest2. Use the free resources on the Internet to sell
more tickets3. Make sure you capture and use customer
data from ticket purchasers 4. Build on existing customer relationships for
year-over-year growth
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What we’ll talk about this year
• Most popular types of Internet Marketing (Free and Paid)
• Setting Goals and Budgets • The Importance of Data
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The Power of Internet Marketing
An inexpensive, highly measurable way to TELL MORE PEOPLE about your railway or museum, and MAKE MORE MONEY by increasing attendance and
ridership.
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SETTING GOALS“Begin with the end in mind”
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Where are You?
Low Ridership / AttendanceLow Community SupportFew Volunteers Shoestring Budget
Capacity Ridership / AttendanceHigh Community Support
Volunteer Corps StrongProfitable Operation
Where do you want to be?
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Define Your Goals around each Campaign, be SMART
• Do you want to increase memberships?• Do you want to sell more tickets?• Do you want to get more social “followers”?
S.M.A.R.T
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SMART GoalsIncrease Memberships
Sell More Tickets Get more Followers
Specific By how many? How many more? How many? Which network?
Measurable How many do we have today?
Can we track efficacy of this channel?
How many followers do we presently have?
Attainable Is this realistic? Is Internet marketing right for this goal?
Relevant Does this really matter to our business?
Timely How often do you measure results? Is that appropriate?
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Setting Budgets
• With Internet Marketing, it is OK to have smaller budgets– BUT – you must temper expectations and goals
accordingly.• Example: A budget of $200. What should we expect?
• When working with smaller budgets, continuous optimization is key.– Test, tweak, retest
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POPULAR TYPES OF INTERNET MARKETING
“Where do you start?”
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Paid Search
Paid Search
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PAID SEARCH• Providers:
– Google, Bing, Yahoo
• How it works:– You “bid” on certain keywords– The more you bid, the higher your “position” on the screen– You pay when someone clicks your ad
• You should do it because:– Inexpensive, easy to target geographically, easy to manage, reaches the entire internet
• Challenges you will face:– Choosing the right keywords.
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How to Choose Keywords
• Google Keyword Toolhttps://adwords.google.com/o/KeywordTool
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Three Tips:
• Think like a customer– What do they search for?
• Select more general or more specific keywords based on your goal
• Make sure your ads feature the keywords as well
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Organic Search
Organic Search
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Search Engine Optimization• Providers: Webmasters, Press Relations, Volunteers, Attendees, Riders
• How it works:– Websites are coded appropriately to make sure search engines can tell what’s on them
and refer relevant traffic.– Credible websites that link to yours provide additional ”juice” for search engine visibility
(inbound links)
• You should do it because:– It’s the most powerful and effective internet marketing method
• Challenges you will face:– It can be expensive. It takes constant focus and effort. It’s a moving target.– Optimizing for the right keywords
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Which Search Engine?
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The Secret to Owning Google: Pages
Google Pages
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Owning Organic: Google Pages
https://plus.google.com/pages/create
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Focus on Your Website
• Is it up to date?• Is it correct?• Is it easy to find tickets?• Is it pretty?• Is it mobile?
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Social Media
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Social Media• How it works:
– Your brand connects directly with customers in a portal managed by one of the service providers. Each portal enables different functionality.
– Your customers can “share” their interactions with you, spreading your brand influence to their respective networks.
• You should do it because:– Inexpensive, easy to target, very popular, effective.
• Challenges you will face:– It can be time consuming, and customers on these networks demand rapid
interaction.– It may be tough to deal with criticism.
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Facebook Fan Page
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Facebook Fan PagesCost: Free to set up, no annual support or hosting chargesUse it to: Communicate with and engage your audienceTry This: Use polls, post pictures, ask questions, create games
Tip: Put someone in charge and make sure policy is defined. How do you deal with criticism? How quickly should feedback be addressed?How often should the page be updated? What kind of content is appropriate? Talk to other railroads, “Like” their
pages, steal ideas with pride!
Tip: Use the USERNAME feature to give your facebook page an easy-to-remember address
Tip: Use your Facebook Page to Sell Tickets to your events
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Social Media: Facebook
Facebook Paid Ads
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Facebook Paid Ads
• There are two different types: Right Hand Column Ads and Sponsored (News Feed) Stories
• Right Hand Column Ads can include Social Activity (when someone likes your page)
• If your ad promotes a PAGE, APP, or EVENT on Facebook, Sponsored Stories are created automatically (you can opt out). You CANNOT buy sponsored stories on ads that promote websites.
• Right Hand Ads do NOT appear on Mobile (33% of traffic to Facebook)
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Targeting
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Promoted Posts: New
• By default, not all of your fans will see all of your posts.
• Facebook enables you to pay to change that, and reach fans outside of your sphere.
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What kind of posts should I promote?
• Photos and videos: People tend to respond to bright, simple and attention-grabbing images, particularly of people using your product or service. For example, you could promote a photo of new products you want to sell. Keep in mind that your Page's profile picture will show up next to your promoted post so everyone knows it’s connected to your business.
• Exclusive events or news: Promoting posts with exclusive content gets people to talk about your Page and encourages them to share your posts with friends. This could be a daily special on the menu, an in-store event or the launch of an upcoming product.
• Questions: Promoting a question tells people that you value their opinion. For example, you could promote a question asking people to vote on a new product or service, which encourages people to have a direct impact on your business decisions.
Source: Facebook
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• 140-character updates• Automate it if you can– When Events are
scheduled , – When Tickets go on sale,– Tweet from Facebook
• “Mass Texting”
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Banner and Display Ads
• Typically “Cost per thousand impressions” or “CPM”
• Expensive• Hard to Manage • Hard to Target• Increasingly Ignored• Intrusive
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Blogger networks
• “Mom” Websites• Usually feature coupons or deals• Can be fairly effective at reaching new
customers• You should do it because:
They typically have built in networks. It’s quick, easy, and inexpensive.
• Challenges you will face: Finding them
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THE IMPORTANCE OF DATAInternet Marketing for Tourist Railways and Railway Museums
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The Cycle: It’s all about DATA
Internet Marketing
Website
Ticket Purchasers
Email Subscriber
s
Marketing Optimization
It’s all about focusing here…
To spend more wisely here…
To see improvement
here!
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Email Marketing
• Your email list is an ASSET– Treat it with respect
(don’t spam)– Continuously focus on
growing it– At every customer
interaction, ask for the email
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Track What is Working, Optimize
Print: 2%Radio: 1%Email:
11%
Word of Mouth: 63%
Web Search:
13%
Social Media: 9%Internet marketing
drives over 30% of sales!
Referral Source Data, 2011-2012 WhistleTix Clients
Trends (compared to 2010-2011):
Social Media +6%Email +4%Web Search -9%Word of Mouth +14%
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCESInternet Marketing for Tourist Railroad and Railway Museums
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Internet Marketing Check List• Basics:
– Create a website for your railroad– Create a Facebook Fan Page for your railroad– Create a Twitter account for your railroad
• Publish your event to the Internet (remember ticketing links!)– Publish event to your website– Publish event to Facebook
• Events Tab on your Facebook page• Fan Page Ticketing from WhistleTix
– Publish Event to your Twitter account– Publish event to eventful.com , upcoming.yahoo.com, and zvents.com– Publish your event to the web sites of local publications, newspapers, magazines– Email your existing customer list!!!
• Make it easy for customers to find and buy tickets– Links on the front page of your website– Fan Page ticketing on Facebook– Mobile –friendly websites for Smartphone Users– Call Center to answer calls
• Capture patron data during the purchase process– At LEAST the email address!!
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Get started with Search:
• For Paid Search:– Set up a Google Adwords Account
• Great Step-by-Step: http://bit.ly/SeY0hB
– Create Ads• 2 or 3 different versions
– Set a Budget– Turn it on!
• For Organic Search: Educate Yourself– http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo– Take one step at a time– Consult your network, ask others
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Get Started Building a Fan Page
• https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php
• Complete the Page as much as possible– Edit Page > Update info
• Address• Cover Photo• Profile Photo• Username• Hours• Description
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Tips to Build your Facebook Audience
• Engage and provide interesting content• Link from your website• Signage at your Depot / Museum• Link on all printed collateral• Email to previous riders• Facebook Ads
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Get Started with Facebook Adshttps://www.facebook.com/advertising