You are viewing an old revision of this post, from 23 April, 2012 @ 19:29. See below for differences between this version and the current revision.
It seems that there are what I’d like to refer to as ‘re-occurring themes’ that appear during these conferences. They’re discussed as part of the healthy debate that has helped to shape the digital travel industry the past year or so.
These discussions are great to help the industry move forward and also, fuelling new initiatives that we’ve seen rolled out over the past few months.
It is interesting to see that even though discussions have progressed around some of these ‘re-occurring themes’, they are still new to a lot of bloggers (nothing wrong with that) – things like, Media Packs, Bloggers and PR’s working together, Links etc. have been covered in detail before.
So, in an attempt to share what’s been discussed a bit further afield, I thought it would be useful to summarise some of the learnings of the past year or so.
Firstly, let’s recap
… the issues surrounding PR Agencies, bloggers and Clients (and the practise of educating Clients)
This been central to many discussions the past year. In my opinion, it comes down to transparency. It’s a two-way-street. Bloggers should understand the objectives of PR Agencies. PR’s answer to clients and they need to deliver informed recommendations. As Ruth Haffenden from Four BGB stated in an earlier article on Travelllll.com:
[Any] company decision maker worth their salt will ask questions about you [bloggers] – after all they have to justify every penny they spend to their Stakeholders so have every right to want more information.
Bloggers can help by being transparent firstly, with information about their readers – a Media Pack is a good start. More about that later.
PR Agencies have the responsibility of managing expectations of the Client as well as the blogger and balancing this to find a solution that works for both parties – coverage for the Client and relevant content for the blogger. Key to this is to understand that travel bloggers are interested specifically in travel experiences that will be of interest to their audiences, as opposed to general Press Release information. (It’s worth noting this doesn’t apply to all types of blogger. Well targeted press releases with good quality content are often accepted by bloggers in other industries e.g. Beauty).
PR agencies have an even greater responsibility, which is to educate clients on the world of social media. A lot of organisations have traditional marketers who are not only new to the world of ‘social’, but to ‘digital’ as a Marketing/Sales channel as a whole. One of the biggest challenges for business are around understanding and structuring departments in a way to accommodate Digital, Content and Social as a part of the Marketing Communications plan. There is also the fact that businesses worry that they have no control over what bloggers might say and write in the social space, which, when being new to the world of ‘social’ (a world that we are all comfortable in) can be pretty scary.
Despite all that, the relevance of Social is undeniable and as per the quote below, one example to illustrate the demand is there:
Media Pack
This a topic that has been discussed again recently. It is key for bloggers to have a Media Pack outlining what their blog is about and what they can offer. In her article (mentioned above) Ruth Haffenden suggests there are some fundamental questions that you can ask yourself…
If you were to visit your own site for the first time:
- Would you know who you (About Page)?
- Would you know where to find you (Clear Contact details)?
- Would you know how to work with you (Downloadable Media Pack with relevant information)?
Any statistics you have will be helpful but a few key things to cover include:
1. Your brand – Outline who you are and what you stand for, what you write about and how.
In short, your differentiation factor, which is often to do with where you might be located in the world, unique insights/ skills and of course, your niche.
2. Your key statistics – Unique visitors, page views, feed subscribers, Facebook and Twitter followers, Flickr, YouTube or Linkedin. Any statistics that highlight your online reach and influence.
3. Demographics – Where is your readership? What age are they? Their social profile?
Segmentation and getting closer to your data is another interesting point which in my opinion is the one of the most important. At the end of last year, an article by Kevin May appeared in Tnooz which said the following:
Write more articles about destinations and airlines and hotels and tour operators and activities. And rather than retweeting each other’s content on an hourly (often more) basis, dive into your analytics for a bit longer and come up with data and trends which can support the commercialisation of the craft.
Ruth goes on to say:
Don’t get too caught up in numbers, know your audience and harness your niche. In a nutshell, there is no magic number. No standardised figure whispered secretly between PRs and their travel clients. It’s about who those readers are and the influence you have on them.
4. Independent verification of your status – Klout score, Google Page Rank, Technorati rank and Technorati authority are just a few examples.
Klout score is included in the above, but as of late, PR Agencies don’t consider it a credible source by any means.
Klout might be considered the first of its kind, but it’s still early days for measuring digital /social influence. The ability for technology to accurately measure influence is still a work in progress and I’m sure that we can expect a few more releases and interesting approaches from rivals and other social players before this is locked down.
Media buying kit – What information do media buyers need?
Keep in mind that when you are looking to engage with Media Buying agencies, there’s a different set of requirements to include than those needed by PR Agencies.
A previous article on Travelllll.com highlighted the following:
The start point for bloggers who want to be more professional about selling their ad space has to be a rate card at the very least.
Lbi London’s Business Development Director Rosalie Kurton, says a rate card is essential. From a media buying viewpoint the value of a buy is based on the quality and quantity of audiences, so, as well as the spaces available (banner sizes and formats) and the rates [Cost per thousand impressions (CPM), cost per click (CPC), cost per lead or acquisition (CPA/CPL), fixed price (per month), & currency], she says buyers are interested in the size of audience, the profile of the audience, levels of engagement and the frequency of visits.
Secondly, Let’s re-cap
…the issues surrounding Best Practise
1. Link selling (yes, that old chestnut). It is not a sustainable business model, and it really has been talked to death. It was also included as part of the panel discussion at the Social Travel Market in November 2011.
For anyone who is still unclear about the Links conversation, Paul Dow (@travmonkey) has since written an article that nicely sums up the discussion, focusing on best practise:
The practice violates search engines rules and although it’s not illegal or necessarily unethical it can be potentially damaging to your website.
2. Twitter impressions – not the Holy Grail. There is no official tool for measuring impressions. The best you can ever get is an estimate. One of the Social Media Monitoring tools I use and like is Sysomos, which estimates by taking a sample of tweets, estimating a total, and then estimating how many users may potentially have been exposed to the content (sum of number of followers for each unique poster of the tweet).
As for other tools, anyone’s free to take a guess! There’s TweetReach (which might be powered by Sysomos) and I haven’t seen any that look more reliable.
You might find that twitter impressions differ across tools. Two things might cause your estimates to differ:
- Tools: Using a different method/tool to estimate – perhaps applying an average number of followers to each tweet/retweet, perhaps double-counting rather than de-duplicating
- Search queries: Using a different search query eg [#gmailscribbles OR "gmail scribbles" OR (@gmail AND scribbles)] etc.
3. Twitter following and authority
This is very true. There’s enough software to monitor behaviour in the twitter sphere. E.g.Manipulating your twitter following not only jeopardises your own position as an authority, but also that of your fellow bloggers as it takes away credibility from twitter followers as indication of authority. This is especially harmful to bloggers who have worked very hard to secure each and every twitter follower.
There are no short cuts. Manipulation of links, followers etc. are what Search Engines look for and what technology can pick up on. They tend to adjust accordingly and it would be shame if Google’s next release includes devaluing social after the latest Fresh Release.
What’s Next?
…What might we be discussing at future conferences?
Search
Understanding Search and the relevance of Social. I.e. the impact of Social across all platforms and how it is amplified. By now, we should all know that Google recently rolled-out an update that will see fresh, quality blog content rank better in organic search listings than static or outdated webpages. This update has already impacted over a third of Google searches.
How is this relevant to bloggers?:
- 52% of consumers say blogs have impacted their purchase decisions
- 57% of marketers have acquired new customers via their blog
- 42% of consumers look to articles and blogs before they buy
*Source: Brafton
Innovation – More new and interesting blogger initiatives.
A good example of this is the Luxury Hostels project recently launched by @TheBudgetTraveller. Clearly a lot of hard work involved upfront, but the result is a well-thought through objective and approach which includes a proper income. This will no doubt lead to further exposure for the BudgetTraveller brand, and well recognised industry recognised brands (like Easyjet and TRAVELZOO who are sponsoring the project), will look good on any Media Pack.
Live Blogging – or “Digital Storytelling” as Audrey Scott and Daniel Noll of Uncornered Market call it. They will be reporting on their latest project to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) conference in Egypt later this week.
Foreign language blogs –the next big thing, about to explode. There is growth potential and the German market in particular is looking for travel bloggers.
Case Studies
Case studies are really useful to create industry bench marks. To do this, they need to demonstrate clear Objectives, Approach and Results. They should also list the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) showing how the results were measured. No single initiative is exactly the same and so need to be looked at in context. (This is something that we wouldn’t mind sharing on Travelllll.com as part of covering blogtrips and other initiatives in order to help spread those examples across the industry.
What other threads should we be discussion at future travel blogger conferences?
Image: BigStockPhoto/Texelart
Post Revisions:
- 23 April, 2012 @ 21:14 [Current Revision] by Lezaan Roos
- 23 April, 2012 @ 21:09 by Alastair McKenzie
- 23 April, 2012 @ 20:27 by Alastair McKenzie
- 23 April, 2012 @ 20:27 by Lezaan Roos
- 23 April, 2012 @ 20:26 by Lezaan Roos
- 23 April, 2012 @ 19:31 by Lezaan Roos
- 23 April, 2012 @ 19:29 by Alastair McKenzie
- 23 April, 2012 @ 19:26 by Alastair McKenzie
- 23 April, 2012 @ 19:24 by Alastair McKenzie
- 23 April, 2012 @ 19:24 by Alastair McKenzie
- 23 April, 2012 @ 19:23 by Alastair McKenzie
Changes:
| 23 April, 2012 @ 19:29 | Current Revision | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Content | |||
| [kicker]Since early 2011 I've attended numerous conferences and events relating to the world of travel, social and blogging. As with other people in this space, I work on the industry side, though I also participate in (as well as organise) blogtrips from time to time.[/kicker] | [kicker]Since early 2011 I've attended numerous conferences and events relating to the world of travel, social and blogging. As with other people in this space, I work on the industry side, though I also participate in (as well as organise) blogtrips from time to time.[/kicker] | ||
| - | [dropcap]I[/dropcap]t seems that there are what I'd like to refer to as 're-occurring themes' that appear during these conferences. They're discussed as part of the healthy debate that has helped to shape the | + | [dropcap]I[/dropcap]t seems that there are what I'd like to refer to as 're-occurring themes' that appear during these conferences. They're discussed as part of the healthy debate that has helped to shape the Digital Travel industry the past year or so. |
| These discussions are great to help the industry move forward and also, fuelling new initiatives that we've seen rolled out over the past few months. | These discussions are great to help the industry move forward and also, fuelling new initiatives that we've seen rolled out over the past few months. | ||
| It is interesting to see that even though discussions have progressed around some of these 're-occurring themes', they are still new to a lot of bloggers (nothing wrong with that) - things like, Media Packs, Bloggers and PR's working together, Links etc. have been covered in detail before. | It is interesting to see that even though discussions have progressed around some of these 're-occurring themes', they are still new to a lot of bloggers (nothing wrong with that) - things like, Media Packs, Bloggers and PR's working together, Links etc. have been covered in detail before. | ||
| So, in an attempt to share what's been discussed a bit further afield, I thought it would be useful to summarise some of the learnings of the past year or so. | So, in an attempt to share what's been discussed a bit further afield, I thought it would be useful to summarise some of the learnings of the past year or so. | ||
| | | ||
| <h2>Firstly, let's recap</h2> | <h2>Firstly, let's recap</h2> | ||
| <h5>... the issues surrounding PR Agencies, bloggers and Clients (and the practise of educating Clients)</h5> | <h5>... the issues surrounding PR Agencies, bloggers and Clients (and the practise of educating Clients)</h5> | ||
| | | ||
| [box style="rounded" border="full" icon="https:/ /si0.twimg.com/images/dev/ cms/intents/bird/bird_blue/ bird_32_blue.png" ] @48houradventure: a good blogger is professional enough to know how PR/business works. No middle man required" - 21 April 2012[/box] | [box style="rounded" border="full" icon="https:/ /si0.twimg.com/images/dev/ cms/intents/bird/bird_blue/ bird_32_blue.png" ] @48houradventure: a good blogger is professional enough to know how PR/business works. No middle man required" - 21 April 2012[/box] | ||
| This been central to many discussions the past year. In my opinion, it comes down to transparency. It's a two-way-street. Bloggers should understand the objectives of PR Agencies. PR's answer to clients and they need to deliver informed recommendations. As Ruth Haffenden from Four BGB stated in an <a href="http:// travelllll.com/2011/09/14/ how-to-pitch- to-prs-%E2%80%93- a-travel-blogger%E2%80%99s- guide/">earlier article</a> on Travelllll.com: | This been central to many discussions the past year. In my opinion, it comes down to transparency. It's a two-way-street. Bloggers should understand the objectives of PR Agencies. PR's answer to clients and they need to deliver informed recommendations. As Ruth Haffenden from Four BGB stated in an <a href="http:// travelllll.com/2011/09/14/ how-to-pitch- to-prs-%E2%80%93- a-travel-blogger%E2%80%99s- guide/">earlier article</a> on Travelllll.com: | ||
| <blockquote>[Any] company decision maker worth their salt will ask questions about you [bloggers] – after all they have to justify every penny they spend to their Stakeholders so have every right to want more information.< /blockquote> | <blockquote>[Any] company decision maker worth their salt will ask questions about you [bloggers] – after all they have to justify every penny they spend to their Stakeholders so have every right to want more information.< /blockquote> | ||
| Bloggers can help by being transparent firstly, with information about their readers - a Media Pack is a good start. More about that later. | Bloggers can help by being transparent firstly, with information about their readers - a Media Pack is a good start. More about that later. | ||
| - | PR Agencies have the responsibility of managing expectations of the Client as well as the blogger and balancing this to find a solution that works for both parties - coverage for the Client and relevant content for the blogger. Key to this is to understand that travel bloggers are interested specifically in travel experiences that will be of interest to their audiences, as opposed to general Press Release information. (It's worth noting this doesn't apply to all types of | + | PR Agencies have the responsibility of managing expectations of the Client as well as the blogger and balancing this to find a solution that works for both parties - coverage for the Client and relevant content for the blogger. Key to this is to understand that travel bloggers are interested specifically in travel experiences that will be of interest to their audiences, as opposed to general Press Release information. (It's worth noting this doesn't apply to all types of bloggers. Well targeted press releases with good quality or exclusive content are often accepted by bloggers in other industries e.g. Beauty). |
| - | PR agencies have an even greater responsibility, which is to educate clients on the world of | + | PR agencies have an even greater responsibility, which is to educate clients on the world of Social Media. A lot of organisations have traditional marketers who are not only new to the world of 'Social', but to 'Digital' as a Marketing/Sales channel as a whole. One of the biggest challenges for businesses are around understanding and structuring departments in a way to accommodate Digital, Content and Social as a part of the Marketing Communications plan. There is also the fact that businesses worry that they have no control over what bloggers might say and write in the Social space, which, when being new to the world of 'Social' (a world that <span style="text-decoration: underline;">we</span> are all comfortable in) can be pretty scary. |
| Despite all that, the relevance of Social is undeniable and as per the quote below, one example to illustrate the demand is there: | Despite all that, the relevance of Social is undeniable and as per the quote below, one example to illustrate the demand is there: | ||
| [box style="rounded" border="full" icon="https:/ /si0.twimg.com/images/dev/ cms/intents/bird/bird_blue/ bird_32_blue.png"] @BudgetTraveller: 59% of travel companies @bgbcomms surveyed found that want to work with bloggers to help with social media amplification – 21 April 2012[/box] | [box style="rounded" border="full" icon="https:/ /si0.twimg.com/images/dev/ cms/intents/bird/bird_blue/ bird_32_blue.png"] @BudgetTraveller: 59% of travel companies @bgbcomms surveyed found that want to work with bloggers to help with social media amplification – 21 April 2012[/box] | ||
| <h3>Media Pack</h3> | <h3>Media Pack</h3> | ||
| - | This a topic that has been discussed again recently. It is key for bloggers to have a Media Pack outlining what their blog is about and what they can offer. In her article (mentioned above) Ruth Haffenden suggests there are some | + | This a topic that has been discussed again recently. It is key for bloggers to have a Media Pack outlining what their blog is about and what they can offer. In her article (mentioned above) Ruth Haffenden suggests there are some key bits of information to include... |
| <div style="padding-left: 30px;"> | <div style="padding-left: 30px;"> | ||
| - | <em>If you were to visit your own site for the first time:</em> | ||
| - | <ul> | ||
| - | <li><em>Would you know who you (About Page)?</em></li> | ||
| - | <li><em>Would you know where to find you (Clear Contact details)?</em></li> | ||
| - | <li><em>Would you know how to work with you (Downloadable Media Pack with relevant information)?</em></li> | ||
| - | </ul> | ||
| <em>Any statistics you have will be helpful but a few key things to cover include:</em> | <em>Any statistics you have will be helpful but a few key things to cover include:</em> | ||
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>1. <strong>Your brand</strong> - Outline who you are and what you stand for, what you write about and how.</em></p> | <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>1. <strong>Your brand</strong> - Outline who you are and what you stand for, what you write about and how.</em></p> | ||
| </div> | </div> | ||
| In short, your differentiation factor, which is often to do with where you might be located in the world, unique insights/ skills and of course, your niche. | In short, your differentiation factor, which is often to do with where you might be located in the world, unique insights/ skills and of course, your niche. | ||
| <div style="padding-left: 30px;"> | <div style="padding-left: 30px;"> | ||
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>2. <strong>Your key statistics</strong> - Unique visitors, page views, feed subscribers, Facebook and Twitter followers, Flickr, YouTube or Linkedin. Any statistics that highlight your online reach and influence.</em></p> | <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>2. <strong>Your key statistics</strong> - Unique visitors, page views, feed subscribers, Facebook and Twitter followers, Flickr, YouTube or Linkedin. Any statistics that highlight your online reach and influence.</em></p> | ||
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>3. <strong>Demographics</strong> - Where is your readership? What age are they? Their social profile?</em></p> | <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>3. <strong>Demographics</strong> - Where is your readership? What age are they? Their social profile?</em></p> | ||
| </div> | </div> | ||
| - | Segmentation and getting closer to your data is another interesting point which in my opinion is | + | Segmentation and getting closer to your data is another interesting point which in my opinion is one of the most important. At the end of last year, <a href="http:// www.tnooz.com/2011/12/23/ news/travel-bloggers-time- to-stop-navel-gazing-and- get-on-with-the- job-please/">an article</a> by Kevin May appeared in Tnooz which said the following: |
| <blockquote>Write more articles about destinations and airlines and hotels and tour operators and activities. And rather than retweeting each other's content on an hourly (often more) basis, dive into your analytics for a bit longer and come up with data and trends which can support the commercialisation of the craft.</blockquote> | <blockquote>Write more articles about destinations and airlines and hotels and tour operators and activities. And rather than retweeting each other's content on an hourly (often more) basis, dive into your analytics for a bit longer and come up with data and trends which can support the commercialisation of the craft.</blockquote> | ||
| Ruth goes on to say: | Ruth goes on to say: | ||
| <div style="padding-left: 30px;"> | <div style="padding-left: 30px;"> | ||
| <em>Don't get too caught up in numbers, know your audience and harness your niche. In a nutshell, there is no magic number. No standardised figure whispered secretly between PRs and their travel clients. It's about who those readers are and the influence you have on them.</em> | <em>Don't get too caught up in numbers, know your audience and harness your niche. In a nutshell, there is no magic number. No standardised figure whispered secretly between PRs and their travel clients. It's about who those readers are and the influence you have on them.</em> | ||
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>4. <strong>Independent verification of your status</strong> - Klout score, Google Page Rank, Technorati rank and Technorati authority are just a few examples.</em></p> | <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>4. <strong>Independent verification of your status</strong> - Klout score, Google Page Rank, Technorati rank and Technorati authority are just a few examples.</em></p> | ||
| </div> | </div> | ||
| Klout score is included in the above, but as of late, PR Agencies don't consider it a credible source by any means. | Klout score is included in the above, but as of late, PR Agencies don't consider it a credible source by any means. | ||
| - | [box style="rounded" border="full" icon="https:/ /si0.twimg.com/images/dev/ cms/intents/bird/bird_blue/ bird_32_blue.png" ] @KirstenAlana: Interesting to hear that Klout has no meaning to [travel & PR] companies | + | [box style="rounded" border="full" icon="https:/ /si0.twimg.com/images/dev/ cms/intents/bird/bird_blue/ bird_32_blue.png" ] @KirstenAlana: Interesting to hear that Klout has no meaning to [travel & PR] companies - 21 April 2012[/box] |
| Klout might be considered the first of its kind, but it's still early days for measuring digital /social influence. The ability for technology to accurately measure influence is still a work in progress and I'm sure that we can expect a few more releases and interesting approaches from rivals and other social players before this is locked down. | Klout might be considered the first of its kind, but it's still early days for measuring digital /social influence. The ability for technology to accurately measure influence is still a work in progress and I'm sure that we can expect a few more releases and interesting approaches from rivals and other social players before this is locked down. | ||
| <h3>Media buying kit - What information do media buyers need?</h3> | <h3>Media buying kit - What information do media buyers need?</h3> | ||
| - | Keep in mind that when you are looking to engage with Media Buying agencies, there's | + | Keep in mind that when you are looking to engage with Media Buying agencies, there's an additional set of requirements to include than those needed by PR Agencies. |
| A <a href="http:// travelllll.com/2011/10/06/ are-travel-bloggers-worth- advertising-with-the-media- buyers-perspective/">previous article</a> on Travelllll.com highlighted the following: | A <a href="http:// travelllll.com/2011/10/06/ are-travel-bloggers-worth- advertising-with-the-media- buyers-perspective/">previous article</a> on Travelllll.com highlighted the following: | ||
| <blockquote>The start point for bloggers who want to be more professional about selling their ad space has to be a rate card at the very least. | <blockquote>The start point for bloggers who want to be more professional about selling their ad space has to be a rate card at the very least. | ||
| - | + | LBi London's Business Development Director Rosalie Kurton, says a rate card is essential. From a media buying viewpoint the value of a buy is based on the quality and quantity of audiences, so, as well as the spaces available (banner sizes and formats) and the rates [Cost per thousand impressions (CPM), cost per click (CPC), cost per lead or acquisition (CPA/CPL), fixed price (per month), & currency], she says buyers are interested in the size of audience, the profile of the audience, levels of engagement and the frequency of visits.</blockquote> | |
| - | <h2></h2> | ||
| <h2>Secondly, Let's re-cap</h2> | <h2>Secondly, Let's re-cap</h2> | ||
| <h5>...the issues surrounding Best Practise</h5> | <h5>...the issues surrounding Best Practise</h5> | ||
| | | ||
| <strong>1. Link selling (yes, that old chestnut)</strong>. It is not a sustainable business model, and it really has been talked to death. It was also included as part of the panel discussion at the Social Travel Market in November 2011. | <strong>1. Link selling (yes, that old chestnut)</strong>. It is not a sustainable business model, and it really has been talked to death. It was also included as part of the panel discussion at the Social Travel Market in November 2011. | ||
| For anyone who is still unclear about the Links conversation, Paul Dow (@travmonkey) has since written <a href="http:// www.travmonkey.com/ blog/making- money-travel- blogging/">an article</a> that nicely sums up the discussion, focusing on best practise: | For anyone who is still unclear about the Links conversation, Paul Dow (@travmonkey) has since written <a href="http:// www.travmonkey.com/ blog/making- money-travel- blogging/">an article</a> that nicely sums up the discussion, focusing on best practise: | ||
| <blockquote>The practice violates search engines rules and although it's not illegal or necessarily unethical it can be potentially damaging to your website.</blockquote> | <blockquote>The practice violates search engines rules and although it's not illegal or necessarily unethical it can be potentially damaging to your website.</blockquote> | ||
| <strong>2. Twitter impressions - not the Holy Grail</strong>. There is no official tool for measuring impressions. The best you can ever get is an estimate. One of the Social Media Monitoring tools I use and like is <a href="http:// www.sysomos.com/ ">Sysomos</a>, which estimates by taking a sample of tweets, estimating a total, and then estimating how many users may potentially have been exposed to the content (sum of number of followers for each unique poster of the tweet). | <strong>2. Twitter impressions - not the Holy Grail</strong>. There is no official tool for measuring impressions. The best you can ever get is an estimate. One of the Social Media Monitoring tools I use and like is <a href="http:// www.sysomos.com/ ">Sysomos</a>, which estimates by taking a sample of tweets, estimating a total, and then estimating how many users may potentially have been exposed to the content (sum of number of followers for each unique poster of the tweet). | ||
| As for other tools, anyone's free to take a guess! There's TweetReach (which might be powered by Sysomos) and I haven't seen any that look more reliable. | As for other tools, anyone's free to take a guess! There's TweetReach (which might be powered by Sysomos) and I haven't seen any that look more reliable. | ||
| You might find that twitter impressions differ across tools. Two things might cause your estimates to differ: | You might find that twitter impressions differ across tools. Two things might cause your estimates to differ: | ||
| <ol> | <ol> | ||
| <li>Tools: Using a different method/tool to estimate - perhaps applying an average number of followers to each tweet/retweet, perhaps double-counting rather than de-duplicating</li> | <li>Tools: Using a different method/tool to estimate - perhaps applying an average number of followers to each tweet/retweet, perhaps double-counting rather than de-duplicating</li> | ||
| <li>Search queries: Using a different search query eg [#gmailscribbles OR "gmail scribbles" OR (@gmail AND scribbles)] etc.</li> | <li>Search queries: Using a different search query eg [#gmailscribbles OR "gmail scribbles" OR (@gmail AND scribbles)] etc.</li> | ||
| </ol> | </ol> | ||
| <strong>3. Twitter following and authority</strong> | <strong>3. Twitter following and authority</strong> | ||
| [box style="rounded" border="full" icon="https:/ /si0.twimg.com/images/dev/ cms/intents/bird/bird_blue/ bird_32_blue.png" ] @theaussienomad: Boosting your twitter followers via competitions or other erroneous means is monitored by PR @housetrip – 21 April 2012[/box] | [box style="rounded" border="full" icon="https:/ /si0.twimg.com/images/dev/ cms/intents/bird/bird_blue/ bird_32_blue.png" ] @theaussienomad: Boosting your twitter followers via competitions or other erroneous means is monitored by PR @housetrip – 21 April 2012[/box] | ||
| - | This is very true. There's enough software to monitor behaviour in the twitter sphere. E.g.Manipulating your twitter following not only jeopardises your own position as an authority, but also that of your fellow bloggers as it takes away credibility from twitter followers as indication of authority. This is especially harmful to bloggers who have worked very hard to secure each and every twitter follower. | + | This is very true. There's enough software to monitor behaviour in the twitter sphere. E.g. Manipulating your twitter following not only jeopardises your own position as an authority, but also that of your fellow bloggers as it takes away credibility from twitter followers as indication of authority. This is especially harmful to bloggers who have worked very hard to secure each and every twitter follower. |
| - | There are no short cuts. Manipulation of links, followers etc. are what Search Engines look | + | There are no short cuts. Manipulation of links, followers etc. are what Search Engines look to stop and what technology can pick up on. They tend to adjust accordingly and it would be shame if Google's next release includes devaluing Social (after the latest Fresh Release) due to bad Social practise. |
| <h2></h2> | <h2></h2> | ||
| <h2>What's Next?</h2> | <h2>What's Next?</h2> | ||
| <h5>...What might we be discussing at future conferences?</h5> | <h5>...What might we be discussing at future conferences?</h5> | ||
| <h3></h3> | <h3></h3> | ||
| <h3>Search</h3> | <h3>Search</h3> | ||
| Understanding Search and the relevance of Social. I.e. the impact of Social across all platforms and how it is amplified. By now, we should all know that Google recently rolled-out an update that will see fresh, quality blog content rank better in organic search listings than static or outdated webpages. This update has already impacted over a third of Google searches. | Understanding Search and the relevance of Social. I.e. the impact of Social across all platforms and how it is amplified. By now, we should all know that Google recently rolled-out an update that will see fresh, quality blog content rank better in organic search listings than static or outdated webpages. This update has already impacted over a third of Google searches. | ||
| How is this relevant to bloggers?: | How is this relevant to bloggers?: | ||
| <ul> | <ul> | ||
| <li>52% of consumers say blogs have impacted their purchase decisions</li> | <li>52% of consumers say blogs have impacted their purchase decisions</li> | ||
| <li>57% of marketers have acquired new customers via their blog</li> | <li>57% of marketers have acquired new customers via their blog</li> | ||
| <li>42% of consumers look to articles and blogs before they buy</li> | <li>42% of consumers look to articles and blogs before they buy</li> | ||
| </ul> | </ul> | ||
| *Source: Brafton | *Source: Brafton | ||
| <h3>Innovation - More new and interesting blogger initiatives.</h3> | <h3>Innovation - More new and interesting blogger initiatives.</h3> | ||
| - | A good example of this is the <a href="http:// travelllll.com/2012/03/26/ luxury-hostel- reviews-sponsored/">Luxury Hostels project</a> recently launched by @TheBudgetTraveller. Clearly a lot of hard work involved upfront, but the result is a well-thought through objective and approach which includes a proper income. This will no doubt lead to further exposure for the BudgetTraveller brand, and well recognised industry | + | A good example of this is the <a href="http:// travelllll.com/2012/03/26/ luxury-hostel- reviews-sponsored/">Luxury Hostels project</a> recently launched by @TheBudgetTraveller. Clearly a lot of hard work involved upfront, but the result is a well-thought through objective and approach which includes a proper income. This will no doubt lead to further exposure for the BudgetTraveller brand, and well recognised industry brands (like Easyjet and TRAVELZOO who are sponsoring the project), will look good on any Media Pack. |
| <em>Live Blogging</em> - or "Digital Storytelling" as Audrey Scott and Daniel Noll of <a href="http:// www.uncorneredmarket.com/ ">Uncornered Market</a> call it. They will be reporting on their <a href="http:// travelllll.com/2012/04/22/ live-blogging- in-the-sinai/">latest project</a> to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) conference in Egypt later this week. | <em>Live Blogging</em> - or "Digital Storytelling" as Audrey Scott and Daniel Noll of <a href="http:// www.uncorneredmarket.com/ ">Uncornered Market</a> call it. They will be reporting on their <a href="http:// travelllll.com/2012/04/22/ live-blogging- in-the-sinai/">latest project</a> to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) conference in Egypt later this week. | ||
| <em>Foreign language blogs</em> –the next big thing, about to explode. There is growth potential and the German market in particular is looking for travel bloggers. | <em>Foreign language blogs</em> –the next big thing, about to explode. There is growth potential and the German market in particular is looking for travel bloggers. | ||
| <h3>Case Studies</h3> | <h3>Case Studies</h3> | ||
| - | Case studies are really useful to create industry bench marks. To do this, they need to demonstrate clear Objectives, Approach and | + | Case studies are really useful to create industry bench marks. To do this, they need to demonstrate clear Objectives, Approach, Results and Insights. They should also list the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) showing how the results were measured. No single initiative is exactly the same and so need not be compared and should be looked at in context. (This is something that we wouldn't mind sharing on Travelllll.com as part of covering blogtrips and other initiatives in order to help spread those examples across the industry. |
| <strong>What other threads should we be discussion at future travel blogger conferences?</strong> | <strong>What other threads should we be discussion at future travel blogger conferences?</strong> | ||
| Image: BigStockPhoto/<a href="http:// www.bigstockphoto.com/profile/ texelart/">Texelart</a> | Image: BigStockPhoto/<a href="http:// www.bigstockphoto.com/profile/ texelart/">Texelart</a> | ||
| | | ||
Note: Spaces may be added to comparison text to allow better line wrapping.
Really interesting article, thanks! I’m off to go and brush up on the old German skills then…
Thanks Vicky, let us know how it goes!
I love the recaps provided. Yes, much of this has been beaten to death and you can believe that this stuff will continue to be covered. However, I like the summary of this as it is very helpful for those who are old hat at these conferences and for some that are new. Gets them focused on key issues right away.
As for the projects, love what Kash, Daniel, and Audrey are doing – it’s thinking outside of the box in a way that will draw people to them. I think people should think of projects and angles like this from a niche perspective and see where this goes. Writing about everywhere and every place is good information for a lot of people and internet searches. However, for brand awareness, people should try and find a niche that allows them to partner with specific companies or PR agencies. Just my two cents.
Thanks for your comments Jeremy.
Agree with your points, I’m looking forward to seeing more innovative ideas roll out over the next few months – from both the blogger and Client side.
Great info. Thanks.
Hi Lezann,
This is a great piece and should be required reading for all travel bloggers that want to monetise their blogs. I’ve been reading a lot of travel blogs lately and thinking around this subject and I would like to add a few points:
1) In terms of “Independent verification of your status”, I agree that Klout is discredited, but so is Google Toolbar Page Rank and Technorati rank. A digital marketer will be looking instead at metrics such as MozRank, Moz Domain Authority and the number of linking root domains. Bloggers should be looking at http://www.opensiteexplorer.org.
2) I don’t think you should so readily dismiss the business of link selling. I realise this is a touchy subject, but for a lot of bloggers this is their only form of steady income. Anybody that has a banner ad with a dofollow link is selling links. I think you should differentiate between contextual paid links within articles (which tend to be misleading) and clearly labelled adverts with followed links (which tend not to mislead readers but still violate Google’s webmaster guidelines).
3) I don’t think the notion of “Twitter impressions” has any credibility in the real world. Now that Google and Bing incorporate social signals into their algorithms, activity on Twitter is affecting search rankings. However, this is not just about the number of users that might glance at any given tweet. It’s more about the viral way that content spreads across social media sites (and probably about the influence and authority of those spreading it). To learn more about what Google and Bing have said recently on this subject, see this: http://www.siliconbeachtraining.co.uk/blog/brightonseo-ask-the-search-engines-panel/
4) You say it’s wrong to boost “your twitter followers via competitions or other erroneous means”. I don’t buy this at all. Big brands do this all the time, getting Facebook Likes and Twitter followers through giving away iPads, etc. In fact, Dave Coplin of Bing indicated at Brighton SEO that this was a valid exercise (in reply to a question from the floor by my pal, Jeremy Head). I certainly don’t think that any PR agency is going to have the guile or technology to be able to track how anybody has acquired their Twitter followers.
5) You refer to a statistic that “59% of travel companies @bgbcomms surveyed found that want to work with bloggers to help with social media amplification”. I think this needs some unpicking (is this something they plan to do in the near future, or vaguely think it would be a good idea). How large was the sample size of this “survey”?
6) You make a good point about establishing a niche. In my view too many travel bloggers have no concept of niche. There are too many generalists, “living the dream”. Kevin May – as ever – makes an important point: “Write more articles about destinations and airlines and hotels and tour operators and activities”. If travel bloggers are to help DMOs promote destinations and companies sell holidays, bloggers need to write about the kinds of holidays customers want to book. That means more mainstream coverage and fewer articles about “How I gave up my job to become a digital nomad”.
Thanks for hearing me out,
Mark
Hi Mark
Thanks for the comments and for the links that you’ve included, very helpful indeed.
On your points –
1) Agree with your comments.
2) The point here for me is to be informed. If you’re aware of how Search Engines work and the rules around it, you’d be able to make an informed decision as to how you choose to engage with links. Key here for me is to be educated and also to be aware of longer term implications when choosing to engage with link related activity.
3) I think that twitter impressions could be considered as one piece of the puzzle as to help tell a wider story. As with data in general, it shouldn’t be looked at in isolation but in context of e.g. wider campaign, against key objectives etc.
Quality of audience – since the twitter audience aren’t qualifed, it is hard to say so whether these impressions have reached anyone relevant. That to me is an important factor to consider:
Who have you reached through these impressions?
How are you engaging with the people who have seen/ engaged with the tweet?
If the aim is for it to be a tactical burst of awareness across the twitter sphere, then I think it makes sense. Hopefully this tactical approach would be underpinned by a wider strategy.
4. I’m not sure if I would compare bloggers with brands when it comes to twitter and how they approach acquiring followers. It is very hard work for an individual blogger to build a twitter following from scratch, where as a well established brand have the advantage of already being established (with authority in some cases).
To me, bloggers with a strong following has authority becuase they have earned it as an individual and therefore it is more authoritative.
Isn’t buying a bunch of followers or using software to boost following the easy way out? :) These are the activities that can be mesured.
What is the point of building a following, if you can just buy one?
5) I would also like to understand a bit more about the survey.
As per my comment to Hayden below. The point I was trying to make was that activities can be measured. It is up to the PR’s as what they consider to be important.
Thanks Lezaan for this post and really interesting to get some good pointers / stats here …. In total agreement that yes, Bloggers need to have good new (out of the box) innovations / initiatives.
Thanks for the comment Abhishek
Awesome article as always!
I agree with Mark that boosting numbers by way of competitions on social media isn’t hugely harmful to a blogs reputation. I feel that the negatives do not out weigh the positives – the ability to spread your message to a greater audience can only be a good thing.
Hi, thanks for the comment.
I should have been more clear, it is not so much about the competitions, probably more about the fact that there are activities that can be measured. It is up to the PR’s as what they consider to be important.
Thanks for the clarification Lezaan!
I’ve just started my blog and I was going to start with some competitions to get my numbers up as I thought it was a legit way to boost membership.
Cheers
Another comment specific to Marks point #4.
You might be surprised as to the depth PR’s who spoke at TBU are starting to look into stats, followers, and Likes. They referrred specifically to ‘empty Likes’, which are Likes encouraged by competitions and other incentives, that later result in 0 engagement with the site/page/brand from that ‘follower’.
PR’s who deal specifically with bloggers have to know how this stuff affects them, and there is a big difference in the understanding of blogging statistics from PR’s who are pre- and mid/post- this learning curve. Given time you have to expect that this will change. In the end, bloggers with real followings will be much more attractive to the companies most active/educated in the industry.
It would be interesting to understand more about how PRs have started to measure (and define) what they consider to be ‘social authority’ with the tools that are available.
Great article, interesting read and lots of food for thought — thanks!
As a niche travel blogger, I am amazed there are not more out there. To my mind, that’s where the opportunities are. It’s very worthwhile to really get to know your niche, the market, the pain points, etc. For example, with my major niche — India — I know that many people are fascinated and would love to visit, but they are nervous and need encouragement. As I love traveling there, it is easy and natural for me to write encouraging posts. For each niche, the pain points will be different and therefore the most effective approach will be different.
Thanks Mariellen
I agree with you, niche is where the a lot of the opportunities are and part of what makes a blog unique.