Part 3: Tactical Marketing Applications in the Digital Economy
8 Human-Centric Marketing for Brand Attraction
Human Centric approach deals with a style that touches the minds, hearts and spirits of the target market. Human centric marketing deals with addressing the emotional desires and core aspirations. Marketers need to leverage human centricity and embrace the world of artificial intelligence, when algorithms, AI or even programs may understand and feel the needs of the consumers. Consumers will search for something that feels real and less hard selling. Human centric is building the brand character and living up to it. Digital anthropology is used to determine the target persona’s deepest desires and worries.
- Understanding Humans Using Digital Anthropology
Digital Anthropology is focusing on the connection or link between humans and the digital world. This can also determine how people perceive your brand or brand equity. This explains how human behaves in the digital world and how technology is being used humans to communicate to one another. Anthropology, the study of sciences and human behaviour aids in knowing he culture and social behaviour of ethnic groups, what is it for us? As digital marketer, we have to know how to tap the groups and identify the social behaviour of our desired market. Using the Social listening, Netropology and Empathic research we will be able to know how our potential guests behave and the resort needs to be visible and explore these channels.
Social Listening (IMMERSED)- Social listening is used by lurking. This is a method of observing how the guests react to our post how they communicate, what are the frequently asked questions that they ask, how they react on a certain content in Facebook page. The key work is “Social Listening” this is usually analysing big data as well to monitor conversation and purchase behaviour, identifying the potential leads. Social Customer relationship Management can be used to see how people give feedback, comments, suggestion, questions, and violent reactions. Social listening is a tool to compete with other brands using big data analytics and business intelligence. In addition, the resort can engage in social listening by offline methods, phone interviews or sentiments of the ones that are inquiring, reservation officers should keep be able to read between the lines, understand the behaviour of those guests who are calling, complaining, guest filling out the survey forms and of just for the sake of giving information. To be more efficient and effective, reservation officers should practice taking down notes on what has been discovered in online and phone conversations then bring this in the monthly general customer relations (something like fgd) meeting as the needs might change from time to time.
Netropology (MORE IMMERSED, HIGH LEVEL OF EMPATHY) – Ethnography are e tribes or online communities. The guests are being observed when they speak in communities or groups. In the resorts case, the company should observe and join Facebook ethnic groups like online communities about camping, outdoor hiking, travel communities, camp and bike for bikers, mountaineering groups. The resort engage in joining social groups related to travel. The proposal was also to build an online community for avid campers that will aid the how to’s. The community website will serve an information hub, a support for campers and futher promote camping as a trend, it will feature articles that will aid guests on how to plan a successful beach outing. It will increase awareness about the resort. Offering information to others that is of value with its members will ultimately make the business successful. Members will be abe to interact with others of similar interest – the outdoors and the beach. The community will not engage in hardselling but will focus on building a sustainable community of campers and potential guests. The community aims to educate what is in store for them in Calatagan Batangas. It will be an avenue to know more about the business. This is also a good startegy to get closer to the members and get brand ambassadors to talk about the resort. Communities can develop close relationships, the more opportunities you will eventually have of offering them the service since profile is already stored in the database. We will create a community page named “CalataganBeachCamp.org” that will showcase different Categories related to camping that will let guest to actively participate and have them deeply engaged as active members.
Special topics will be covered like the following:
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CATEGORY
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SUB-CATEGORIES/TOPICS
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BEACH ACTIVITIES
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1. Safety precautions when riding a Banana Boat.
2. What to bring during fishing in salt water.
3. How to make a perfect sand castle at the beach.
4. Snorkeling guidelines.
5. How to prepare for a Beach volleyball game.
6. Beach Team Building Suggestions.
7. How to set up a bonfire for kids.
8. Boat ride and Island hopping essentials.
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FOOD
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1. How to prepare for your favorite grilled dishes.
2. Ideal food for your Beach camping.
3. Quick snacks for kids during Beach Camping.
4. Cooking pots, pans and utensils that you need to bring during beach camping.
5. Different types of coolers for beach camping.
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SECURITY AND SAFETY
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1. Kinds of life jackets and floaters for kids.
2. How to secure your camping tents at night.
3. What should be in your First aid kit during camping?
4. How to secure your belonging in a crowded camping area.
5. How to deal with burns from camp fire during your trip.
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TRAVEL
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1. What to do when it rains in your tent area.
2. Basic camping gears.
3. Beach-specific items to bring for recreation.
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ENVIRONEMENT PROTECTION AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBIITY
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1. How to maintain a clean camping spot.
2. How to properly dispose your garbage on your beach camping trip.
3. How to preserve sea life and marine animals
4. How to rehabilitate reef
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Emphatic Research (PARTICIPATORY IMMERSION) – this is research method to discover the suppressed guest needs. This is in person observation, dialogue and brain storming collaboration among researchers to come up with a summarized conclusion. Emphatic research is closest to traditional ethnography, this can be done by attending the meet-ups of travelers, avid campers, beach lovers, mountaineering groups, camp and bikers to further determine their demands and wants and emotional needs. A team may be form just like in the medical field there are multidisciplinary meetings, to discuss the approach, plans, execution, planning, leading, organizing, controlling and brainstorming for a strategic approach done by a team of experts like psychologist, product designers, marketers, beach lover, camping expert, a mystery guest that can immerse to the communities to further observe the needs and actual behavior of the market. This will aid in coming up with a new product campaign that will aid and fulfill the mission “To provide an affordable customized beach camping experience, to give a 100% response rate in all inquiries and provide a perfect venue for reuniting friends and families. With its dedication to the environment, excellent customer service and to provide prime grade camping amenities, Casa Astillero aims to give a cherished experience that will be remembered throughout the years.“
Building the 6 Attributes of Human-Centric Brands
In order for a brand to be more attractive and be perceived as a friend that can understand the needs of their guests, it must then possess the 6 attributes of a complete human being and be a role model for its employees. This brand character will be so string that it can be easily be distinguished by one by just taking to any of its representative may be online or offline.
BRAND CHARACTER
The beach resort offers not just camping and swimming, but also lots of activities that you can get excited about. The resort will surely give its guests endless discovery of what nature can offer.
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Young, Adventurous & Romantic
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It is inviting to explore nature and the outdoors; it is young at heart and willing to try new things that deepen the love and respect for nature and all of its wonder and significance.
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Reasonable &
Compassionate
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It takes into consideration the current market rate and need of specific market segments. Price is very competitive and even low income earners and students can afford to enjoy the place.
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Adaptable
&
Fit for all season
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Sensitive of the needs of its guests, Casa Astillero adjusts he price and introduces promos for different seasons like rainy season and special occasions like Fathers day etc. It offers different packages that cater to the specific time of the year.
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Friendly & Sociable
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Its staff is easy to talk to, customer is the no 1 priority, has a great sense of humor and very approachable.
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Generous & Kind
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It does not hesitate to upgrade accommodation and give freebies like free bonfire, free banana leaf and use of volleyball court. It also gives discounts to guests and regular visitors for optimum beach experience.
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Helpful & Reliable
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It shares its expertise in outdoor activities e.g. setting up a bonfire or pitching tents. It is willing to give assistance to its guests round the clock.
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Polite & Warmhearted and environmentally responsible
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It treats its guest with respect and sincerity, making sure that all its needs are addressed in a timely manner. As well as all needs of the environment is being taken care of.
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Physical – Physical brand identity involves logo and tag line. Our logo is an actual description of what to expect, native huts and kawayan. And a tag line that is human centric. “To provide a wonderful camping experience that will unite friends and families that will be cherished and remembered though out the years.”
Intellectuality – The ability to innovate will be shown on how the resort can mix all digital channels and make the integration benefit one channel to another. The resort do not just focus on bench-marking as it style and strategy but it also focus on supporting leadership activities like the suggestion system of employees, a very cost effective because it also increases morale of its employees. The resort will mobilize for change not for sustainability alone.
Sociability – This pertains to verbal and non-verbal communication skills of talking to guests just like a friend or sister. Speed and urgency in answering questions are the key factors to be monitored across all media channels online or offline.
The resort should communicate and convey this brand voice in social activities.
- Casa Astillero Beach Resort is cool, calm, and collected and can make you feel relaxed and stress free with its breath-taking sunrise and the sunset.
- Casa Astillero is light-hearted and adventurous, adaptable to any situation.
- It talks like a best friend or a good companion, it has dedicated and cheerful staff that shows expertise in outdoor camping and gives suggestions, beach camping tips for a picture perfect getaway.
- It loves nature and shows empathy in preserving Mother Nature.
- Casa Astillero Beach Resort is warm and welcoming; it treats its guest like a family member.
- Casa Astillero Beach Resort is fun, homey and lively. It has an on-the-go attitude; it is ready to accept visitors and guests anytime 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Casa Astillero Beach Resort is expressive of individuality and encourages simplicity and freedom.
Emotionality – This is connecting with the guest in an emotional level and understand the needs of its target market. It understand the core desires of its guests which could be the following:
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Corporate Events Personnel
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Working Professional
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College student
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Government Employee
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Occupation
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Corporate Events Personnel
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Working Professional
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College student
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Government Employee
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Emotional needs
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Sense of autonomy and control, Being emotionally connected to others, Unity
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Self- reliance, Self-assurance,
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Independence, Confidence, Individualism
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Attention, Love, Respect, Security
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Core desires & Psychographics
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To get foster unity in the organization and build friendship.
“I need to find an affordable place for team building that will develop camaraderie of our employees.”
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To live independently, have a stable career and financial freedom.
“I need a break! I want to spend a weekend at the beach that is of good proximity to Manila.”
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To live a carefree life, explore new things and establish social relationships.
“It is my birthday and I want to treat my classmates in an outing where we can camp and have an exciting bonfire party come night time.”
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To give the best for their families and keep family intact.
“I need to get a reservation for a venue that could accommodate 40 people for the family’s annual holy week reunion.”
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Sentiments
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1. Has the responsibility to maintain harmonious and amicable relationship within the company.
2. Evaluates employee’s behaviour and attitude.
3. Conceptualize, develop and disseminate information to maximize HR/Admin Division budget.
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1. Actively participates in peer/group hangouts.
2. Spends most spare time with close friends and workmates.
3. Exerts considerable effort in getting and maximizing breaks from work’s daily grind.
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1. Wanting to belong in a group.
2. Wants to spend time with friends and classmates.
3. Closely watches expenses but always contributes and shares to his group especially on special occasions.
4. Wants attention from peers.
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1. Needs to focus on work without sacrificing time for family and friends.
2. Needs to work longer hours to make ends meet and earn a decent income.
3. Want to keep things within budget.
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Identifying traits/ Attitudes
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Single, Broad-minded, Communicative, Compassionate, Generous
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Married, Career Oriented, Easy-going, Optimistic, Passionate
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Single, adventurous, creative, Simple, Enthusiastic, Friendly, Funny
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Married, Affectionate, Considerate, Decisive, Loving, Practical
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Personability – The company also can demonstrate flaws, as humans are not perfect being, this is evident in some negative reviews that we receive. We carefully digest the details of a negative comment and address it accordingly. The company takes action on guest feedback, the information is spread across the whole organization so that everyone can be aware and help in taking action of improving the product, accommodation and service. The recent issue was about flies in the area, we review trip advisor’s comment. We forward it to the management, then to the marketing department so that the team can email the person who commented, and it was also forwarded to the housekeeping department so that they can be aware of what has reached the manila office and take action about it. What is important is that the employees have learned some lessons along the way. The rule that we practice is “Whenever you fall, make sure you pick up something and stand up again”
Morality – The company practices environmental protection of marine life animals and human nature, promote conservation of water and electricity. We follow legal requirements like permits etc. E.g. paying necessary ecological fees. On the moral level, we have set standards that will promote health, safety and life. Our lifeguards are instructed to call help when someone is drowning but on an ethical personal standpoint he could leave his post and save the drowning man. Morality is shared principles and norms that our ethics committee can impose like avoiding extra marital affairs that is socially unacceptable. Ethical values on a deeper sense is an obligation to do what the conscience dictates, it is the domain of free choice.
This is our obligation It core values are the following that guides the morale of its employees:
OUR CORE VALUES
Integrity
Promoting an ethical practices and displaying honesty in dealing with co-workers and with guests, upholding right conduct and behavior and taking responsibility for our actions.
Respect for all
Fostering a trusting, open and inclusive workplace wherein there is no discrimination of age, sex, religion and educational attainment. Everyone has to work as a family and foster unity as it is its mission to unite family and friends that nurtures a happy environment.
Responsibility and Environmental Sustainability
Fulfilling our obligation to preserve nature by preserving natural resources, sea life and marine animals to maintain and support long term ecological balance by being responsible in garbage segregation for appropriate disposal.
Safety
Exercising safety first, prioritizing care and security among all members of the organization and to its guest. Safeguarding lives and well being without sacrificing the enjoyment that the recreational activities can offer.
Superior Customer Service
Attracting and developing the best talent to address camping needs for excellent customer satisfaction, demonstrating a “sunny attitude”, implementing a people oriented service and promoting creative and collaborative sharing of ideas.
Loyalty
Valuing relationships and faithfulness by building a better and stronger company for the future generations, meeting the commitment to stakeholders and developing our people to further develop and grow in a harmonious environment that can keep long lasting guest relations.
2. Summary: When Brands Become Humans
For a brand to be more human, it should be addressing the anxieties and desires of its market. The tools can be Social Listening where the brand should immerse or engage, Netropology, immerse and empathize and lastly, Empathic Research which requires immersion and participation. The brand should also be physically attractive, intellectually engaging, socially involved and emotionally dedicated to what it is doing.
A. What are the deepest anxieties and desires of your customers?
The mission addresses the need to reunite family and friends to foster a long lasting relationship with love ones.
- To get foster unity in the organization and build friendship.(Head of Company Team buildings)
- To live independently, have a stable career and financial freedom. (Career driven person)
- To live a carefree life, explore new things and establish social relationships (Youth and avid camper)
- To give the best for their families and keep family intact. (Head of the family)
B. Does your brand possess human qualities? What can you do to make it more human?
Yes, we have built a brand character, voice and personality as mentioned above. The core values are guiding the organization in implementing legal, moral and ethical values.
9 Content Marketing for Brand Curiosity (Initiating Conversations with Powerful Storytelling)
- Content is the New Ad, #Hashtag is the New Tagline
Content has a big role of making a brand appealing, the content that will be posted in social media should be compelling, attractive and engaging. It should be an interesting story for people to read it and take action about it. Nowadays, hashtags are used as taglines which is the traditional format. Content marketing’s role is to bring about the truth about the brand. Since there is an advent of trust towards peers than companies, it has become a challenge to all marketers to clearly convey value proposition without the impression of hard selling. Moreover, content should be very creative and overwhelming yet a credible information. Consumer can now has the ability to choose when, how and where to consume the content or even decide if they want to consume or not. Advertisers faces the five-second challenge to attract the viewers of the ad in Youtube or Facebook.
There are 2 types of content, a content that delivers an information about the product with the goal of selling the products and services and the other one is a content that will address the needs of the consumers. Content nowadays should touch the emotions and the first 5 seconds should achieve a brand recall. In creating content, consumer’s definition of content should be prioritized.
With the resort, the content that we make should always be helpful, like tips and guidelines that makes sense to all who will read it not a content that will push sales. Content in a form of video or blogs should be useful and relevant to its readers or viewers.
Sample content for the resort would be.
- Travel must haves: What you should have in your camping backpack
- How to prepare for a Long Drive to the beach
- Igloo Tents vs Arbhor Screen Tents?
- 10 Best Beach Pose
- Top 5 Beach Activities that you should try
- Camping Outdoors vs. Staying in a Deluxe Room
- 10 Trendiest Beach Attires
- How to save on your summer beach outing
- Tools that you might need in your Camping getaway
- 10 Reasons why you should go camping.
2. Step-by-Step Content Marketing
Pre-production and post-distribution are essential steps in making a quality content
GOAL SETTING – This is goal setting, the exact target goal number should be identified. Goals must be very specific. Content must be distributed to the right digital channel.
2 Categories of Content
1. Sales Oriented Goals – lead generation, conversion, this has a call to action included in the content.
EXAMPLE:
- Increase occupancy rate in lean season by 50%
- To achieve 50% or 115 bookings from Facebook inquiries per month.
- To increase search engine conversion ratio by 30% and get 3,969, bookings in 3 months.
- To achieve 50 bookings from Search Ads / Google ads in 3 months.
2. Brand Related Goals – brand awareness, brand loyalty/advocacy, this should be consistent with the brand character and should build the brand image.
EXAMPLE:
- To get 10 travel bloggers talking about the resort in 3 months.
- To gain 20 affiliate partners in 3 months.
- To increase YouTube views by 50% that will achieve 12,439 views from all owned videos combined in 3 months.
- To gain 50 new members for the online community website in 3 months.
AUDIENCE MAPPING – building the brand persona or target market. This is the specific audience that will read the content. Target market and Market segment.
EXAMPLE:
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FIRST PRIORITY
THE COMPANY
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Name
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Leini Rose Apun of Inovus
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Age
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33
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Class
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B and C
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Sex
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Female
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Occupation
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Corporate Events Personnel
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Monthly Income
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P50,000
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Budget can allocate
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600 per person per day
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Identifying traits/ Attitudes
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Single, Broad-minded, Communicative, Compassionate, Generous
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Emotional needs
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Sense of autonomy and control, Being emotionally connected to others, Unity
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Core desires & Psychographics
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To get foster unity in the organization and build friendship.
“I need to find an affordable place for team building that will develop camaraderie of our employees.”
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Sentiments
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1. Has the responsibility to maintain harmonious and amicable relationship within the company.
2. Evaluates employee’s behavior and attitude.
3. Conceptualize, develop and disseminate information to maximize HR/Admin Division budget.
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Techno-graphics
Digital Usage Habits
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1. Usually equipped with gadgets for online use -desktop/laptop, smartphone, and/or tablet.
2. Regularly monitors Facebook and Twitter accounts and is almost always online.
3. Has active accounts in job search sites such as JobStreet.com, JobsDB.com, LinkedIn and the likes.
SOURCES & DATA:
1. 31% of population in the Philippines ages 25-34 uses the internet for research and buying products as per Comscore via rappler.
2. Internet penetration in the Philippines rose to 35% this year from 29% in 2011 from DST Sec. Louis Casambre. This was attributed to the lowering cost of accessing the Internet and the growing accessibility to web-capable mobile phones among Filipinos. –PHILSTAR
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Techno-graphics
Content Consumption Preferences
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1. Checks her emails almost every hour.
2. Reads blogs almost daily about topics related to human resource and employee relations.
3. Spends 3 hours surfing the net daily, watches trending YouTube videos at the end of his/her shift.
4. Some even subscribe to newsletters related to their interests and buy online.
5. They visit news sites for current events like www.inquirer.net, ph.news.yahoo.com, www.rappler.com and ABS-CBN or GMA news FB pages.
SOURCES & DATA:
1. According to a recent study by ComScore, Filipinos were found to spend 41.5% computer screen time on social networking sites versus 17.3% on services website and 19.5% on news.
2. Top 1 Facebook media page is ABS CBN and Top 4 is GMA according to Social Bakers.
3. Filipinos are second when it comes to the number of blog readers and video uploaders, a study released by Universal McCann.
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Techno-graphics
Consumer Content Creation Profile
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1. Express opinions and is comfortable in “speaking their mind”. (CRITIC)
2. Also subscribes to newsletters based on their interest. (JOINERS)
3. Fond of using hash tags on Instagram and Twitter. (COLLECTORS)
4. Fond of posting OOTD and Throwback pictures on FB (CREATORS)
SOURCES & DATA:
1. Most popular post on FB according to Social Bakers September 2014 is about Throwback pictures with 210K Total Interactions and 22.4% engagement from Social Bakers.
2. In research by digital audience measurement company Effective Measure, 83% of the respondents engage in the Facebook page influenced them to purchase from those businesses.
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Aspirations
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1. Wants to develop harmony and build self esteem among employees.
2. Prioritizes employee’s welfare and personal development.
3. Wants to cultivate teamwork within the organization.
4. Wants to deepen employee-employer relationship.
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CONTENT IDEATION & PLANNING – Themes relevant to audience and industry brand. Content should be clear and relatable. It should address anxieties and desires. Brand image and voice should also be applied here, same with that it has to be have a very consistent brand character. A good content can cover visuals, info graphics, games, video, short film, photos. Multi-formats are the key these days. Conent should be attractive to promote curiosity that addresses the “appeal” and “ask” stages.
EXAMPLE:
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Content
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Purpose
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Frequency
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Email Content
*For Brand Loyalty
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To contact cancelled bookings, paid bookings and for feedback gathering that will increase guest return rate
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Daily
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Survey Content
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To collect feedback from guest at the resort after their camp experience and to know if they will recommend to others.
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Daily (After check out)
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FB Post
*For Branding and News Updates
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To give updates about the resort, drive guests into the resorts website; increase customer awareness, engagement to FB page and traffic to the website.
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Daily
(MWF) at 6-9 pm
and T,TH, Sat, Sun at 5-7am
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FB Ads Content
*Target specific market segment
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To attract target market with clear CTA and entice them to experience the resort by linking the ads to the rates page and gallery that showcases what the resort can offer.
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Daily for 3 months
(starting March-May)
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Promos and Discounts
*Showcase group packages
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To present package offers for a specific group number to help the guest in deciding on what amenities that will fit their budget.
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Once a week
(Every Wednesday)
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Instagram Content
*Capture real emotion
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To show what beach activities can they do at the resort. To express peoples emotion through pictures. To share what is new at the resort.
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Three time a week
(Tues, Thurs, Sat)
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Affiliate Program Letter
*X deal for added exposure
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To invite and establish a link with online travel agencies and be able to add media exposure which can increase ROI.
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Send invites 3 X a week for 3 months.
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Press Releases / Blogs
*Online Reputation
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To promote the resort with use of blogs and positive press releases and improve online reputation.
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Once a week
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Online community Site Content
*Share valuable Information to campers
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To unite all campers and have a one stop resource site about camping, this will increase awareness about the resort and at the same time aid potential guests in a successful camping activity.
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Once a week
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You Tube content
*To draw guest to visit the resort
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To entice people to visit the resort, this will contain shots of happy people and amazing scenery, beauty of nature and camping how -to’s directed to the resorts website.
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Once a week
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Google Paid Ads
*To yield higher reach of potential guests
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This is to target key terms that are not used in SEO, for brand awareness, higher reach and geo-targeted locations. The ads should contain phrases which supports the big idea.
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Daily for 3 months
(starting March-May)
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Landing Pages
*To cater to a more specific need of the potential consumer
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This is to address the specific interest and the precise reason why the potential consumer clicked on the Paid ads, this is to keep them glued to the page and prevent them from getting confused with other unimportant information on the page.
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Once a week
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CONTENT CREATION – Content creation itself. Marketers should act as publishers with strong writing skills and an eye of an editor. Content should be truthful and consistent. Creating content is a continuous process. Quality and appealing content should be planned and created ahead of time. Marketers can opt to hire journalists, animators, videographers. It must be compelling and inviting for the viewers to make their own version that can be shared across digital media.
EXAMPLE:
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Day
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Topic
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Theme
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Detailed Context
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Sunday
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Games /Trivia Quotes and Facts
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“Special Sunday”
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Games/Trivia’s about the beach, Quotes and facts how nature nourishes the soul, facts about the beach – nature and what It can offer. It could also contain link to published articles and owned blogs. Posted on a Sunday to offer relaxation to everyone.
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Monday
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Events
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“Manic Monday”
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Events like Kite flying tournament, Barbecue Party, Beach Volleyball Clinic. Posted on a Monday to give guests ample time to prepare for the events.
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Tuesday
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Gratitude Day
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“Thankful Tuesday”
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Welcome and Thank you note patronizing the resort. Pictures submitted to the team and YouTube videos created will be shared on this day. Posted on a Tuesday to acknowledge selected guests who visited the resort and those who have submitted their pictures to the management.
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Wednesday
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Best shots
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“Wacky & Wild Wednesday”
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Post pictures of people in motion and action, group barkadas best shots and couples romantic shots. Posted on a Wednesday when majority are planning for a relaxing weekend.
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Thursday
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All about food
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“Tasty Thursday”
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Food / Drinks and preparation Posted on a Thursday, to give ideas on what food to bring for the weekend getaway
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Friday
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Package Rates
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“Fantastic Friday”
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Package Rates, Teambuilding packages, Wedding Packages, Reunion packages, Lean Season rates, Special Discounts, Promos. Posted on a Friday for last minute bookings.
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Saturday
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News and Updates
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“Steady Saturday”
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Holiday update, Weather update, meteor shower, tide updates, Staff update, policies, behind the scene updates and what’s new about the resort. Posted on a Saturday to give real time updates about what’s happening at the resort.
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CONTENT DISTRIBUTION – Content distribution does not need to focus only on digital, in person events may also be a good addition to a digital marketing plan because it allows human to human interaction. The 3 categories where content can be published is through owned, paid and earned media.
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POEM Usage
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Paid
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- Face book Ads
- Display Search or Google Ads
- Search Engine Optimization
- Affiliate Marketing
- Paid Bloggers / Paid Press Release
- Email Content
- Survey Content
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Owned
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- Website
- Face book Page and Apps that fits the business
- Instagram page
- Indoor Ads
- Instagram Photo Frame (studio)
- You Tube Channel
- Online Community page
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Earned
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- Blog Posts
- Positive Online Reviews
- Shares, Likes, Status message on Facebook
- Likes and comments on Instagram, Regrams
- Positive Mentions
- Youtube webisode views and shares
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SAMPLE CHANNEL MIX
CONTENT AMPLIFICATION – Content amplification strategy begins when there are audiences who becomes influencers, normally these are the people with high number of followers and can be brand advocates. To keep a long lasting relationship with influencers, the content should be very useful that it is worth sharing and that content should also improve the influencer’s reputation. Once amplified, the marketers should continue the conversation and keep a record of these brand loyalist, there should be a program or system to retain them. Once a positive feedback or a positive press release was awarded to the resort, it is the marketer’s duty to nurture the relationship.
CONTENT MARKETING EVALUATION – This is managing metrics based on media channels that was chosen. This will establish data and identify if the content marketing plan has actually made an impact on the business. Analytics tools may be used to determine engagements like Facebook Insights. It should be able to determine if the content is effective by looking at areas of how much became curios (aware) of the brand. People was able to relate (appeal), people actually made a move to contact the resort (ask), People booked (act) and shared (advocated). In offline, KPI will be a measure of no of respondents of the survey, no if guest who will be willing to recommend the resort to their friends. No. of guest who have heard of the resort through other people or by referral. In online, Key performance indicators may be measured if your content has been passed to another, they registered on your site, they created a their own version of your content though blogs etc., has been actively joining your contests, making votes, like, engagement and recommendation, sharing of photos positively influencing others about your brand, positive review rating and by increased review rate. Here are some formulas that can determine KPI’sCONTENT AMPLIFICATION – Content amplification strategy begins when there are audiences who becomes influencers, normally these are the people with high number of followers and can be brand advocates. To keep a long lasting relationship with influencers, the content should be very useful that it is worth sharing and that content should also improve the influencer’s reputation. Once amplified, the marketers should continue the conversation and keep a record of these brand loyalist, there should be a program or system to retain them. Once a positive feedback or a positive press release was awarded to the resort, it is the marketer’s duty to nurture the relationship.
EXAMPLE
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ROI and Average Time on Site
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Ultimate measure of success of the campaign an indicator of websites to keep track of guests
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ROI = Income from investment – Cost of Investment / Total cost of investments
Average Site Time
= # of visitors
Total time on site of all visitors
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WEBSITE FOR MAIN SITE AND COMMUNITY WEBSITE
CONVERSION RATIOS
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1. Search Engine Conversion Ratio (SEC)
2. Client/ Guest Conversion Ratio (CCR)
3. Customer Acquisition Cost
4. Cost per Impression
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- SER= # sign ups
/Search Engine Users
- CCR= #of reservation and walk-in guests/Unique Visitors
- CAC-Total Marketing expense/
Total # of unique visitors
- CPM – (Total Cost or Budget) (1000/CPM)
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EMAIL MARKETING
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1.Bounce Rate
2. Open Rate
3. Replied Rate
4. Unsubscribe rate
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1. No of emails returned to sender = # of bounced/email sent
2. No of emails opened and read = #of emails read / Emails sent
3. No of emails with reply = # of emails opened / Total emails sent
4. No recipient unsubscribed = Unsubscribed / Total no of emails sent
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SOCIAL MEDIA
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Social Media ROI
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SMR = Investment Return – Social Media Spend / Social Media Investment percent
LEAD GENERATION= # of leads form SM channels/total # of leads
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FB ADS, GOOGLE ADS AND ENGAGEMENT SCORE
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1.CONVERSION RATE
2. Engagement Score
3. Cost per Impression
4. Cost Per Acquisition
5. Cost per click
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CR= Number of conversion # of clicks
CTR=Total Points
Total Site traffic
CPM = Flat rate per month
(Total Impressions / 1,000)
CPA = Ads spend
# of Impressions (CTR)(CR)
CPC = Flat rate per month
Total number of click
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BLOG
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A new blog has been made by a client as earned media and has been spread over the web.
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1. Check the quality of the blogs if it can give access to the target audieence. Celebrity or Travel advocates if possible.
2. Check back links inbound links from external bloggers
3. Blogs should come from a credible source and if the blogs has a good position in search engine results.
4. A call to acion towards FB page and webste should be visible.
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INSTAGARM
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Measure of follows and regrams
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REACH = # of followers
ENGAGEMENT RATE = # of likes + # of shares + comments / total number of posts
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YOU TUBE
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Measure of Videos popularity and shares
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Number of likes, shares, and embeds
Number of youtube documentation by guests.
ENGAGEMENT RATE = # of likes + # of shares + embeds / total number of posts
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CONTENT MARKETING IMPROVEMENT– Content marketing can be easily improved with a little tweak on schedule and approach or scheduling. It may be experimental in the sense that there is no right or wrong as long as the appropriate content is distributed to the right channel. It should only be consistent with the brand image, voice, character, personality and focused on company’s vision and brand’s mission.
3. Summary: Creating Conversations with Content
Shifting to content marketing from the traditional advertising requires a shift in mind set, it is a totally different arena, it is easy to track the results with the analytics available, less expensive and easy to modify. However, it also require pre-production and post-distribution activities for it to be successful.
A. What is the content that you think will be valuable to your customers?
Content that is engaging, games probably or any informative details like the example mentioned above. The content should address the questions on how to have a successful beach camp, the video content must be enticing enough to be shared and replicated with their own version. They would appreciate weather reports or information. Thanking the guests would also be a good content. They should feel appreciated, tips and guide for a safe and long drive can also be a topic, same with team building games suggestions. Info graphics or a short cartoon skit about the trip in a beach would also be fun to share. Promos, rates, announcement about contests, link to blogs which features the resort is also acceptable. The ideas are endless.
B. How can the content tell a story about your brand?
The content can be a storyboard of an ordinary traveler, an adventure that is memorable, the content should also be written in a creative and narrative way. Following the 2 options as presented in this chapter, it should inform and should be consistent with the brand character and should build the brand image.
C. How do you plan to execute your content-marketing strategy?
The report should combine online and offline content, all survey content should be polished all towards building return guest and loyal advocates. FB content should include information, games, promos, packages, pictures, info graphics, blogs and links to resort videos. The content should be interlinked to each other. The content plan should be prepared ahead of time and needs to be approved by the content manager. It should be well written and that it should also showcase real people, real emotions and even behind the scene pictures of real people who works for the resort. Real life stories and content should also acknowledge those people who are trying to be a part of the company, we shall post pictures submitted to us by the guests as we aim to our guest feel that we are a family. To be able to successfully execute the plan, it should follow the step by step marketing plan as discussed above because it covers specific goal setting, building the persona, planning the content, setting up metrics o measure success, amplification and retaining advocates and evaluation of the strategy for further improvements.
10 Omnichannel Marketing for Brand Commitment (Integrating Traditional and Digital Media and Experiences)
- The Rise of Omnichannel Marketing
Nowadays, consumer move from one channel to another, the combination of online marketing and offline marketing is the best combo. They complement and support each other in the sense that some people may look over the internet first before they make a purchase and then read about product reviews before they decide. The routine can go the other way around the consumer may look at the product at the store to see its physical appearance then review online then make an online purchase. The same happened to me as I have ordered a laptop online but before that I checked the physical looks of it first then ordered in Amazon.
Checking the attributes physically first then making an online purchase is called “showrooming” and checking online then going to the physical store is called “webrooming”. Indeed, the internet has shifted the way people make a purchase and make a decision. More and more people are becoming online and channel-agnostics. People move from one channel to another. Traditional marketing can be tracked and monitored in a different set of metrics and different set of goals. Customer journey path is now considered spiral as compared to a straightforward approach. There are numerous ways on how digital can be consumed and as well as traditional before the lead converts to sales.
Omni channel Marketing has been the trend these days, it is the process of integrating the channels to work for a common objective for the brand which could either be a sale or awareness. When people has more exposure to different channels and has explored many options, it says that it yields a higher commitment to purchase. Omni channel has 30% higher value than a single channel. Omni channel is the solution to the growing trend of e commerce and it is growing rapidly.
TREND 1 – Focusing on Mobile Commerce in the “Now” Economy
Mobile phones are the tools to easily access website and information about the resort. The mobile economy has flourished as everyone has one or more mobile phones and are heavily attached to their smartphones. The ease of making transaction online through mobile has become a fashion. People can even walk into a store nowadays and receive promo discounts or even announcements because it can track the mobile phones that are within the proximity of the store. It has become a success ingredient to include mobile channel in a digital marketing plan. Wearable’s like smart watches has also became a part of the lifestyle, this can also be used as tool to leverage on marketing strategy.
TREND 2 – Brining “Webgrooming” into Offline Channels (WALK- IN GUESTS)
Webgrooming is when people search for products online and may or may not do crowdsourcing as well, the end activity is they go to the store and purchase the product from the physical store.
Technology like NFC or RFID are used to create a communication between retailers and consumers. With the resort, creating machine to machine connections can allow the business to track where the customers are within the 12 HA beach front property. Thinking forward, the behavioural data that can be retrieved can be used to identify past purchases and other data about the guest thus allows personalization of services that can make the beach experience more worthwhile. RFID’s can be tagged in rice cookers and other inventories that are for rent. The resort can leverage on this technique by putting a lot of effort in making product viewing more enjoyable and more strategic. Videos that are compelling and enticing. The resorts FB page can give a virtual tour video or pictures that are arranges in a way that customers can easily get a clear picture of the outing that they are availing of. Just like any other hotel or resorts, details should be complete, policies should be clear. Some guests are even from other provinces as far as Bulacan and all they can rely on is the information found in the web before they can make the purchase,
TREND 3 – Bringing “Showrooming” into Online Channels (BOOKINGS WITH RESERVATION and OCCULAR VISIT)
Showrooming is checking the attributes physically first then making an online purchase. Online channels can never replace offline channels, Offline shopping allows consumers to hear it, feel it, see it and touch it. These are concepts operations management concepts that are aligned to an efficient and effective selling. Human to human interaction is evident part of this traditional purchase method. It is less likely that they go to the report to do ocular and pay a reservation fee. Most of the time they are assisted by the reservations officers to give them a more human centric touch. Moreover, some guests are from different countries and they make reservation through FB, Viber and other chat apps. But still there are still 20% who goes to the venue to do an ocular visit first and eventually pay he reservation fee at the resort.
Optimizing Omni Channel Experience with Big Data Analytics
Rich customer data can capture customer demographics and journey patterns, browsing patterns and social media activities, product promotion and transaction records. Analytics can provide information that can clone the identity of the usual guests and this can maximize ROI. This can engage marketers to collect data for forecasting trends. This can identify the demands of the target market. Using Webgrooming and Showgrooming will give an all-inclusive Omnichannel immersion.
2. Step-by-Step Omnichannel Marketing
Customer path analysis is the best tool to develop a good Omnichannel. If you know your target market it will be easier to do the intergration across all touch points and digital and traditional channels. It is a two (2) step process.
STEP 1 Mapping all Touch Points and Channels Across the Customer Path. By answering the 5 A’s
Aware – Learn about the resort through a friend (Calling Card)
Appeal – Visit the resort website (Visit the website)
Ask – Inquire by calling the reservations number or through FB (Contact Center)
Act –Booking and accommodation (Pay Reservation Fee through Reservation Staff)
Advocate – Recommend the resort (Post videos in blogs or FB)
STEP 2 Identify the Most Critical Touch Points and Channels
Omnichannel enables guests to view and engage in multiple channels before the purchase and the point is to make sure that all touch points are seamless.
STEP 3 Improve and Integrate the Most Critical Touch points and Channels
Based on the touch points that has the most engagement, the marketing team should be able to determine the most used and most important areas where the company should allocate more funds to drive more conversion to the resort. Goals and budgets should be aligned and metrics as well should serve as basis of success of the online and offline campaign.
3. Summary: Integrating the Best of Online and Offline Channels
The brand should have a perfect strategy that addresses all touch points and that could answer the demands of the guests from awareness, research, purchase and even out of the box experience, this is equal to the 5A’s and the whole organization should have a unifies structure that is consistent. A process that is polished to avoid gaps. Customer behavior is relative, they can go to from one channel to another and behavior can be spiral than straightforward. The brand should prepare a customer path and journey map that will also tackle all possible activities, motivations, questions and barriers. Online and Offline strategies are best combined. No standalone strategy can survive on a long term basis.
A. What are the most important customer touch points and channels for your business?
For the resort, the most important key point is the conversation between the reservations officer. This avenue is online and over phone. The staff receives incentives in form of commission per booking and bonus when target goal is reached. However, the management practices that performance evaluation is not solely based on sales but on overall efficiency, effectively in the role, culture and ethical behavior.
B. Have you aligned the channels to support a seamless and consistent experience?
Yes, by having a customer journey path and map, we have identified all touch points and by knowing the needs of each activity we were able to decide on what is the best channel to use. Moreover, integration is the key since people’s search behaviour vary from one another.
11 Engagement Marketing for Brand Affinity (Harnessing the Power of Mobile Apps, Social CRM and Gamification)
The sales cycle focuses on aware and act ratio that eventually leads to act and advocacy ratio. To further amplify results Brand Affinity should be developed well. In order to increase engagements, Three (3) techniques should be mastered. First is to leverage on Apps. Second, amplify Customer Relationship Management or CRM. Lastly is the Gamification which to drive the right customer behaviour. All three combined will yield the best result.
1. Enhancing Digital Experiences with Mobile Apps
According to research, mobile users will rise by 70% by 2020. Everyone owns a smartphone. This has become the best channels to engage customer because of its mobility and people are heavily attached to their smart phones. It has become an important avenue for marketers to tap the mobile apps channel. It is not necessary for the report to have a mobile app just for the sake of being trendy. The resort can maximise the use of Google maps, Waze and other locators as of the moment. Resort App is not applicable because our resort is a camping site with strict check in time and we don’t serve food where Apps can be helpful.
2. Providing Solutions with Social CRM
Customer Relation Management build brand interaction and long term relationship. In the resorts Facebook page, we engage potential guest with enticing content and at the same time make sure that we have 95-100% because positive reviews and comments needs to be maintained. Those who have an actual positive experience can turned to advocates and this is one of the target goals of the brand. Positive engagement can be amplified by addressing the LOVE for customers and attending to the needs of the guests. Valuing their inputs and insight and making them feel that we listen to their comments, sentiments and suggestions are the key to a long lasting positive relationship.
Communications our one of our core competencies and we need to keep on improving in this area s the trend in digital interaction evolves. The resort office ours is open 6 times a week between 8-6pm and we can further leverage customer care by incorporating chat bots when there are no office staff available.
Communication is also between brand and the communities that we engage in, the groups related to travel that we join, the avid campers group, the outdoor adventurers, the beach lovers, the camp and bike club etc. The online community page that we are about to set up will discuss tips and tricks in camping, the dos and don’ts and also showcase the love for the environment.
Social media need not to be focused only on Facebook but we are also visible in Instagram (pictures of sunset), Tweeter (News about the weather), YouTube (How to’s), Blogs (Experience) and VBlogs (Video experiences). All these channels needs to be interconnected. Channel integration is an important factor to consider for them to complement each other.
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Integration
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- FB linked to Website and Online community.
- Blogs linked to Website and Social Media Fan Page
- Social Media page lined to websites
- Affiliate Marketing Partners linked to Reservation form
- You tube linked to website and FB pages.
- Display Search Ads linked to landing pages and/or website.
- Online community linked to FB and website.
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The resort do not suggest separate account @supportcasaastillero to filter the sentiments of the guests and be able to isolate issues without damaging the brands reputation mainly because we have a short list of products as of the moment and it is not practical to have a separate account yet. However this can be considered in the future. Maximizing twitter capabilities of receiving feedback is also overlooked. To be able to promote better understanding of consumer sentiments, the brand should build Sense-and-Respond Capabilities, tools like Social Mention can help in achieving better communication of consumer and the management. Upon establishing a structure then the brand should Develop and Empower Social CRM Agents who can represent the brand with high level of empathy. Sticking to the brand core values and strong product knowledge can empower not just the employees but the brand itself. The culture that should be practiced within the resorts is a culture that cultivates empowerment and collaboration. A participative leadership should be done in order to serve the guest better. The definition of a customer in this sense is the person beside you. The empowered CRM can also drive brand love within the whole team. Leveraging Community Involvement is a way to keep a good brand reputation, having build a solid community who can actually aid in answering the questions, reactions and violent feedback is also an ultimate goal. Fostering a community that can positively speak about the brand is a challenge. For the resort the online community website can be used as a way to nourish people thorough gamification and rewards system, it can be an online community for avid campers who can “assist” others in coming up with the best camping experience, this can also be a listening tool to learn more about your market and ideas on how to further improve your brand. Though building and online community as a strategy can be a separate website, these loyal advocates still can become critics, joiners and creators or even lurkers who can defend your brand in other forums, groups and over the entire internet world.
3. Driving Desired Behavior with Gamification
Gamification can build customer communities, the resorts loyalty program is focused on the guests who actually experienced the resort, they send a picture and it is being rewarded. Then they are given incentives and VIP ticket to the resort, prioritization in reservation especially in peak season. Point system can also be implemented and as they increase points, they also increase brand loyalty, feel like home and this is the mission of the resort, to make them feel like a family member. Generating Vbolgs and Blogs can also be a game that the guest can join, with “exciting” mechanics could engage customer to love the brand and join the online community that was created.
“CalataganBeachCamp.org”
Online community badges
1. Visitors
2. Newbie
3. Creators
4. Leaders
5. Elders
MEMBER ROUTINE for Online Community
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Visitors must fill up the application form, Read terms and conditions and house rules of the Community. They should read about the community history and must recognize the goals objectives of the community and its history
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Newbie must be able to interact and contribute to regular articles, participate in discussions and will need to share 20 articles, be online for not less than 3X a week, must be actively participating
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Create initiation rituals, conversation starters, must be able to contribute and share at least 70 articles in 1 year time. Give regular insights to make community interesting, recommend topics for discussion. They must be active in the community for 5 years.
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Leaders must share interesting experiences to newbies and members. Impose policies and regulations; check on activities that members can engage in outside the virtual community. Encourage members to share their side of the story.
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Elders foster sustainability for the online community. The will aid in promoting camaraderie among members. Impart their knowledge and expertise in topics. Reminds and Imparts community objectives. Implement protocols.
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4. Summary: Mobile Apps, Social CRM and Gamification
Mobile Apps is used to increase guest’s engagement.
Social CRM aims to build a camaraderie between guests and even employees. It promotes a better communication and communication of human capital is the key success factor of all organizations.
Gamification can build guest loyalty because of the reward system and it is human nature that people are motivated by rewards, it builds stronger affinity, since privileges are attached to this, the strategy aims to touch the desire of people to achieve higher goals and rewards. Moreover, gamification can collect data and guest information that can be used in big data analytics.
A. How can mobile apps, social CRM, and gamification help you engage your customers?
Mobile apps help in locating the resort, Social CRM builds better guest relations and a tool in achieving better communication (examples are stated above). While, gamification is a tool to increase customer base and give the sense of reward to loyal advocates and a bigger community that can help in promoting the brand.
B. What are the challenges of executing customer engagement programs in your business?
The gap lies on the building a more enticing protocol for the loyalty program, the resort can further push more enticing content, further improve speed, efficiency in answering calls and emails and other avenues where we receive inquiries. Employees should be fast and should have adept product knowledge to sound convincing and trustworthy. People wants value for their money and not just an excellent communicator but someone with love for the brand. It starts within so the culture should be revisited from time to time.
Epilogue: Getting to Wow (Enjoy, Experience, Engage)
1. What is a “WOW?”
There are 2 types of WOW. First of which is a “wow” that is surprising when you get more than it is expected. The second “wow” is personal that is only triggered by the person experiencing it. The businesses should not neglect the change to give a “WOW” experience to its guests. Wow is an expression that many people say when they see something that is out of the box, something extraordinary and something that exceptional, brilliant, overwhelming. Once a guest see something admirable that incredibly stands out from other services, they advocate and spread the good news. Brands need to design a WOW moment, the moment of truth that is superb and worth sharing. In Marketing 4.0 we should engage the 5A’s to deliver a WOW moment
2. Enjoy, Experience, Engage: Wow!
Resort guests should enjoy the moment, experience ordinary things done extraordinarily, and spread the news to others. This is definitely the wow factor.
Enjoy – The resort customize camping and outing packages.
Experience – Feel that they are family and that they are the first priority
Engage – Feel that they can do more to contribute to society and environment’s welfare. Spread the good news and feel QUALITY WORK LIFE THAT PROMOTE DIGNITY OF LIFE. This can happen when they are engaged to even participate in reef rehabilitation activities, a winner idea that will benefit people, planet and profit.
When we prioritize our guest, be a real, put value in our work, and contribute to society’s welfare blessings will follow. When an outing becomes a life changing transformation, it is when we touch lives, reunite long lost relationship, build a family, give experience that is memorable, address all anxieties and worries, people will go back and reminisce happy moments and share it to the world.
3. Are you ready to WOW?
OOBE or out of the box experiences can “wow” the guests by experiencing distributed pleasure method. The design is to give an exquisite experience from start to finish and this should loop and be worth blogging or vblogging. This does not stop here, From the moment guest hear about the brand a positive impression should be made to the way they research about the resort all write ups should be positive, it can be an impossible 100% positive but the management can work a way to address the negative write up, all digital channels may it be offline and offline should impress the guests. Effective communication, product knowledge and human to human interaction should also be admirable. Transactions should be smooth, there should be no gap between reservation systems that will irritate the guest. This can happen when there are double booking or when they arrive earlier than check in time. Automation can also be a solution. All digital channels should alight in their own specific goals and should be monitored for improvement of the strategy. Welcoming the guest should be flawless and most of all the “MOMENT OF TRUTH” should be exceptional, all online and offline ads, what has been said in the phone should be consistent with what they will actually get. They should be given value added services, e.g. additional banana leaf etc. escorting to the bus station etc. An effective management of operation is expected. Contingency planning should also be drafted for unexpected issues. Planning, Leading, Organizing and Controlling should be executed and as everyone continues to learn from mistakes, employees should have the right mind-set. Monitoring KPI and Promoting Loyalty programs to increase advocates should also be impeccable. Maximizing success is not solely focused on 7’S or strategies it also lies in moral and culture for overall brand health. When you are selling happiness, delight in this sunshine industry, all employees should be equipped with courtesy, inner happiness and love one another and love for the brand for this will definitely show in all their actions. Yes! We are ready to “WOW” because we are family and it should be felt in every possible way by our guests. “We reunite, build long term relationships”
