Getting Mobile

            Interesting Statistics about Mobile Social Media

“Social media is not a second website, it’s a community.” — Tristram Perry, U.S. State Department

    Mobile devices connect people to the digital world whenever and wherever.  Once people read the newspaper or a book on the train on their commute to work. Now their heads are down and their fingers whizz across touch screens as they play scrabble, search for information and communicate with friends via social media.

Mobile phones are rapidly becoming the main choice for people to access the internet with the most popular activities being to conduct online searches and chat on social networking sites. Australians most often access Facebook (98% of users), Twitter (20% of users), and MySpace (17% of users). Facebook statistics indicates there are more than 200 million active users currently accessing Facebook via their mobile.

     More than 70% of world's population has a mobile phone.

Almost half of Australians own a mobile phone with internet capability.

                         

In 2012, smartphone sales are anticipated to overtake computers and in 2013, the mobile phone will become the most common Web access platform with a billion mobile Internet users.  The top 5 European countries (UK, Italy, France, Germany, Spain) will see a huge increase in mobile ad spending expected to reach the about $1 billion in 2014.
For these reasons, using these tools for online marketing should be further investigated.

Source: http://www.onlinemarketing-trends.com/2011/01/mobile-internet-statistics-in-australia.html

and http://www.socialmediaamsterdam.com/1/post/2011/2/mobile-trends-2011.html

If you thought the usage of Facebook had reached saturation and your business was just becoming one of the crowd - a survey of businesses by MYOB Business Monitor suggests only 18% of business owners used social media like Facebook, YouTube, MySpace or Twitter to promote their business.

http://myob.com.au/myob/news-1258090872838?articleId=1257828849917&year=2010

http://thedma.com.au/blog/australian-online-marketing-trends-2011/

Trends to consider

Location. Location-based marketing has seen a huge growth in 2011, especially sites such as Foursquare and Facebook Places and Deals. Using location-based marketing to reach potential customers based on your same geographic locations may result in an increase in online and foot traffic.

Apps. Apps can be a great way to improve customer service and attract new customers. Apps have been developed for Tourism Noosa. The Noosa iApp, is free to download through the www.visitnoosa.com.au website and gives users anywhere in the world up-to-the-minute information about the northern Sunshine Coast (Australia) region.

Tourism Australia also has an app. This app allows travellers to experience Australia through the eyes of true experts: the locals! To assist in travel planning or just to find out more about the land down under, the app features over 3,500 annotated photos created by Australians in every corner of the country.

However, not all apps are usable by all potential customers so ...

Mobile Websites. With so many potential customers using mobile phones, giving them access to your business website set-up mobile Internet use makes sense. Virtually all potential customers, regardless of the mobile device they are using, can find and visit your website. This optimises the mobile experience and increases your reach.

Source : http://www.socialmediaamsterdam.com/1/post/2011/2/mobile-trends-2011.html

Accessing the Internet on mobile devices allows us to check and send emails, upload and stream videos, connect with friends and family on chat or through Facebook, Twitter, and countless other applications. Being able to tweet your latest news or connect with your Facebook fans at a moment’s notice is a vital part of social media for businesses in 2011 and beyond.

Compare this to the amount of people logging onto Facebook (700 million +) still indicates that businesses can benefit from promoting themselves using social media sites.

Simple Pleasures

Previously, I mentioned investigating what others are doing and saying outside your industry in order to get ideas for enhancing your current offerings and be inspired.

Organisers of a conference in Massachusetts, USA, believe many people want to learn about community sustainability – energy, water, materials management, land use, food and transportation.  Attending conferences and workshops, expos and displays, helps people to develop ideas and inspiration to do more in their own homes, businesses and communities.

                        Sustainability Street, Queensland Garden Expo 2011
I recently attended the QLD GARDEN EXPO in Nambour, on the Sunshine Coast. It was inspiring! So many local businesses offering a vast array of products and services from solar cooking to magnificent plants; spas, solar panels, small farm equipment, bee keeping, chicken coops and growing your own vegies. Attendees of all ages were engaged and children were especially fascinated.

           Small chicken coops - Young guests could collect and paint them at Easter time.


I overheard several people say - "I would love to have a go at this but I'm not sure if it would be possible at home".

This got me thinking - farmstays are specialist who are doing a fantastic job of providing a more in-depth rural experience. But what about coastal and city businesses.

If the target market is families for instance, could providing them with an opportunity to participate in simple pleasures such as interacting with a few chickens, hand picking some produce, learning about native bees or frogs, influence the decision of where to take a short break/holiday?

You do not necessarily have to be a rurally located business to participate. Check the local laws on keeping chickens but I found it is possible to keep them in many areas.  

                                   Growing produce does not need a lot of space

The saying goes - when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Be a teacher. Tell guests what you are doing in your business to be more sustainable. Show them what you are doing so they may get some ideas for their homes and businesses. Start small, have fun and see where it takes you.

Look around at what is happening in your neighbourhood. Are there events and activities that you could attend? Could events like these be included on your social media sites as activities your guests may like to attend during their stay? 

There are expos covering all manner of topics for developing your business. Check your local guides for more information.

The key is to look outside your own industry to get ideas; modify, adapt and develop these ideas and then, implement them.

Trends in Tourism

Managers are now more aware of the impact social media sites can have on their businesses. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare to name but a few.

Many tourism, leisure and events-related businesses have mastered the art of posting regularly, even creatively, and conversing (rather than just selling) to consumers. Being innovative and seeking out new ways to utilise these tools is the next step.

Here are some ideas that you may be able to apply or adapt to keep your pages/accounts fresh and interactive while striving to achieve your marketing and business goals.

Create and reward loyalty. Rather than offering everyone discounts on room rates, activities etc, use your social media sites to offer discounts specifically to your fans/followers/members. Discounts, used strategically, can fill vacancies e.g. last minute offers. Promotional codes making reference to specifc content on your website, social media sites or email newsletters can increase the usage and membership of these tools too. Rewards can keep customers coming back to you and may see them recommending you to friends and family. 

Improve your image. Promotional codes used inconjunction with social media can improve a businesses image, whereas large scale discounting may cheapen an image and alientate consumers who have paid higher prices to stay/play/travel with you.

Using invitation-only sites to offer real discounts and packages to members. An example is Luxury Link and Travel + Leisure Magazine http://www.vacationist.com/

Volunteer tourism. Volunteer tourism “makes use of holiday-makers who volunteer to fund and work on social or conservation projects around the world and aims to(Wearing, 2004:217).

provide sustainable alternative travel that can assist in community development, scientific research or ecological restoration”

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006), more than 5.2 million Australians (34%) aged 18 years and over, participate in voluntary work. 36% of Australian women volunteer compared to 32% of men. Volunteers perform a range of different tasks 48% fundraising, 31% preparing and serving food, 28% teaching/providing information, 26% administration and 23% management. The number of people willing and wanting to volunteer are growing.

Time poor travellers are being attracted to short burst of volunteerism. US National Parks offer four hours stints whereby locals and tourists can offer assistance with clean ups, tree planting etc.  The Ritz-Carlton Hotels (http://corporate.ritzcarlton.com/en/Press/Releases/GiveBackGetaways.htm) have Give Back Getaways that encourage guests to volunteer their time to improve and assist the local community where they are vacationing e.g. offers guests a variety of opportunities from helping to protect endangered sea turtles in Cancun, Mexico to helping with renovations and landscaping at the Children- Hospice SONNENHOF, which offers support for children with critical illnesses in Berlin.

National Tree Planting day is July 31st 2011. Schools Tree Day is Friday 29th July 2011. Last year over 312 000 people at 3 500 sites dug deep to improve their natural surroundings. Would your customers like to include this in their next visit?  http://treeday.planetark.org/

Look beyond tourism, leisure and events businesses. What new developments in sustianability, innovations, science, transport, social concepts can all provide ideas to enhance your business management and marketing practices and policies.  

Some of this content was inspired by an article by Torkells, E, 2010. Top 10 Travel Trends. Time Magazine. October 4, 2010. p. 45-46