Thursday, May 1, 2008

Seems as if traveling is this week’s theme…

Thursday, April 17th- last post of last week, blogger wouldn’t let me sign on.

I discovered another article written about the travel industry incorporating viral marketing into their advertising plans. Using the popularity of YouTube as inspiration, PR-USA.net reported that tourism companies are incorporating viral videos into their websites in order for customers to better visualize the experience that their company’s services will provide them.

Apparently, this movement is incredibly successful. A 2007 Hotelmarketing.com report stated that a nationwide survey by Taylor Nelson Sofres found that over 75% of respondents said online video was as good as television for learning about advertisers, and more than 60% respondents said they had taken some action after watching a viral video ad.

There have been many success stores, one being from Sarah Robinson from a tourism company in Andalucia, Spain: "My conversion rate went over 20% today, I am so pleased. Having a short video on our website has enabled us to get a message to our audience that sound and pictures can do better than text on a page.”

Word-of-mouth has traditionally been the most effective mode of promotions for tourism companies; people tell others about their experiences, which encourages others to want to have the same experience. These videos are projected to be just as effective, but they are more expensive due to hiring a production company and the costs that ensue. However, a Sydney-based video production company called Authentic Holiday Films provides a “shoot-your-own-holiday manual” and they take care of the editing and post-production processes, which reduces the cost dramatically.

This is something, I hate to admit, that I’ve never thought of, but I wish I did. I know that while in Spain planning my weekend trips, these videos would have definitely strayed me away from decided to go to Lisbon, Portugal, during rain season, instead of Valencia, Spain. Oh well, maybe others will avoid my mistakes thanks to this new trend!

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