The Use of Web 2.0 As a Marketing Tool

The use of Web 2.0 as a marketing tool

by European Convention Bureaus

Rob Davidson

University of Greenwich, London, UK

MadyKeup

SKEMA Business School, Sophia Antipolis, France

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Web 2.0 is a term created to encompass recent fundamental changes in theways in which the Web is used and the new technologies associated with those changes. Our study takes a first step towards achieving an understanding of howEuropean convention bureaus are exploiting,in their marketing communications programmes, the opportunities created by Web 2.0 applications, and how they are measuring the effectiveness of their use of these tools. It highlights the various objectives that convention bureaus have, for their use of Web 2.0 and provides evidence suggesting that the effectiveness of these tools is in many cases untested.

Earlier studies suggest that DMOs’ (destination marketing organisations’) adoption of Web 2.0 as a marketing tool has been relatively slow, uneven and in some cases not fully competent – even though there is evidence that many meeting planners have positively embraced the Internet and Web 2.0 as powerful new communication and marketing tools in the workplace.

 The use of Web 2.0 as a marketing tool by convention bureaus is a relatively recent phenomenon. Less than a quarter of the 22 European convention bureaus who participated in our survey had been using Web 2.0 applications in their marketing for more than 2 years. The greatest proportion (41%) had been using these for between 1 and 2 years only.

YouTube, followed by Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter were found to be the applications the most commonly used by convention bureaus. Blogs, Flickr and Slideshare featured to a lesser extent in their marketing communications strategies. Those convention bureaus with a longer experience of Web 2.0 use were found to be using a greater number of applications – 4 or more, as against later adopters’ 2 or 3. The same was true for the reported intended use of tools – here those convention bureaus that had used Web 2.0 for over a year professed to be more likely than later adopters to try a variety of social media beyond simply the ‘Big 4’ (YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

In terms of matching specific Web 2.0 tools to specific marketing objectives, there was ample evidence suggesting that convention bureau marketing managers were familiar with the particular strengths of each tool. Recognition of the distinct powers of Facebook and Twitter in particular was evident. For example, Facebook and Twitter’s power as instant, simple two-way communication forums would explain why, between them both they accounted for 72% of the convention bureaus’ use of Web 2.0 for the purpose of stimulating dialogue about their destinations. The same two tools accounted for 62% of the use of Web 2.0 in connection with convention bureaus’ objective of communicating with their suppliers/members; and 60% for the purpose of monitoring and responding to comments about their destinations. Nine of the 22 convention bureaus in our sample reported finding Facebook to be the most effective in their marketing communications.

On the other hand, Linkedin, which offers detailed biographies of registered users, was found to be the single Web 2.0 tool most commonly used by convention bureaus to accomplish their objective of profiling potential clients for sales purposes; and in connection with convention bureaus’ objective of creating awareness and enhancing brand reputation, YouTube emerged as the leading Web 2.0 tool, reflecting that application’s proven effectiveness in connecting the emotions of consumers to individual brands.

Regarding the techniques used by convention bureaus to evaluate the performance of their Web 2.0 tools, a variety of quantitative systems of measurement were found to be in use. These ranged from Google Analytics to systems such as Klout, Hootsuite and Tweetdeck, as well as the technique of counting Facebook ‘friends’, Twitter ‘followers’ and so on. However, a significant proportion of convention bureaus were found to have no system in place for measuring the return on investment from their use of Web 2.0 applications.The most common explanation provided for this was lack of experience with Web 2.0 tools: convention bureaus reported using these too little or too recently to have considered measuring their performance. There was also an element of skepticism concerning the extent to which the quantitative measurement of certain tools (such as the number of viewings on You Tube) was even meaningful.

In terms of how convention bureaus’ use of Web 2.0 had evolved over time, it was found that of the 14 convention bureaus that reported using Web 2.0 for longer than one year, 9 said that their use of these tools had changed over time. Five of these explained that the changes were changes in the extent to which their use of Web 2.0 had grown in importance / usefulness / necessity for their work, as measured by the increase in time spent using these tools. Four respondents specified more qualitative changes in their use of Web 2.0. emphasising the growing interactive nature of their involvement with these tools.

The participating convention bureaus’ advice for other destination marketing organisations regarding their use of Web 2.0 focused on two principal topics: the importance of proper management of convention bureaus’ use of Web 2.0; and the need to offer relevant content. The management issues included the need to allocate adequate resources to the use of these tools (notably human resources) and the need to have Web 2.0 techniques properly integrated into the marketing plan, with a budget. In terms of content, respondents stressed the need to offer useful, relevant information, and to engage customers in a dialogue, rather than simply broadcasting information aimed at them.

In terms of industry perspectives, these results provide a number of important insights for practitioners in the areas of destination marketing, and should assist them in benchmarking their own use of Web 2.0.This study points to the need for European convention bureausto enhance their current marketingresource allocations and strategiesby developing and implementing innovative Web 2.0 strategies for building sustained customer loyalty and competitive advantage.

The use of Web 2.0 as a marketing tool

by European Convention Bureaus

INTRODUCTION

Marketing used to be all about creating a message and communicating it to a target audience. From the marketer’s perspective, it was a question of: We talk. You listen. It involved messages being sent from one (vendor) to many (prospects); it was uni-directional, with no automatic right of reply.But over the past eight years, Web 2.0 –comprising technologies that enable users to create and organise content and share it with others via social networks –has radically changed how we use the Internetfor marketing purposes. Web 2.0 has become an increasingly important channel for marketers to reach their customers, and fast-growing numbers of organisations have begun to exploit Web 2.0 in order to communicate with their clients and build awareness of their products and services.

Many destination marketing professionals have begun to use Web 2.0 tools to promote their countries and cities to leisure tourists. However, these tools are also being used for the purposes of promoting destinations to meeting planners and other professionals responsible for selecting sites for business events such as conferences and incentive trips.

This study examines the use of Web 2.0 by European convention bureaus. It examines which tools are most widely used by them,as well as their principal motivators and business objectives for using Web 2.0 tools in the context of European business tourism destination marketing. In addition, the study investigates how convention bureausevaluatethe effectiveness of their use of social media tools in their marketing strategies.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is identified with a number of online activities and applications, including blogs, wikis, file-sharing communities, mashups, social networks, RSS and podcasts. The public haveenthusiastically adopted these applications for the purposes of:

- communication;

- entertainment; and

- collecting information on products and services prior to making purchases.

Therefore Web 2.0 has quickly become an important channel for marketers to reach out to their potential customers. The annual McKinsey Quarterly global survey of companies’ adoption and use of Web 2.0 tools shows that the percentage of firms using these tools for the purposes of reaching their customers grew from 45% in 2007 to 79% in 2011. Their use of social networking tools alone expanded from 41% of companies surveyed in 2009 to 70% of companies surveyed in 2011. Moreover, in terms of the benefits of using Web 2.0, in 2009 54% of companies agreed that ‘Increasing effectiveness of marketing’ was one of these, while this figure had risen to 65% in 2011 (1).

How can organisationsuse Web 2.0 applications to communicate with customers about their products and services?

* Monitor what people are saying about the firm and its products in blogs, podcasts, forums and online communities. This can be a useful source of market research – people like to exchange experiences about products, services and firms, advising other consumers or even proposing how products can be improved: this is high-quality and low-cost market information (2).

* Actively encourage communication, interaction and customer feedback by

introducing Web 2.0 websites that encourage social networking and community-forming. These sites offer the organisation’s customers the possibility of reaching their peers and exchanging information and experiences. Consumers feel more engaged with products and organisations when they are able to submit feedback. This may come in the form of criticism, accolade, or helpful suggestions. But taken as a whole, this feedback contributes to a sense of community in which honest, open communications are encouraged and customer engagement is enhanced (3).

* Launch corporate blogs and podcasts, encouraging customers to interact and freely express their feelings, suggestions or remarks about the company and its products. The aims of such blogs are usually:

- to create more lively and credible content on the website

- to facilitate continuous contact with clients

- to increase traffic to theorganisation’s website

- toimprove search engine rankings (4).

The content of a blog should not be too overtly promotional, and should be clearly different to the content provided in the organisation’s conventional marketing information.

* Advertise in well-selected blogs and popular search engines. This can be an

effective way of passing messages through to target markets at a fraction of the costs required by traditional media.

* Partner with talented amateurs, who create viral films or TV commercials for the organisation. Messages created by real customers reflect the genuine feelings of product users and as such are more credible and more effective than messages created by advertising agencies (5).

By using techniques such as these, organisations can gain better:

* Market Knowledge and Intelligence– from tuning in to wherevertheir customers, partners, competitors and staff are spending time online.

* Customer Insight and Understanding – from monitoring what their customers and their influencers are saying about them or their competitors.

* Engagement with a potential network of high value, high growth prospects – by identifying key posts and follow-up actions.

* Interaction with Key Influencers – by identifying influential sources for incorporation into a wider strategic response.

* Reputation Management – through timely identification of potential reputation issues.

* Sales and Marketing – by identifying new prospects, customer and market opportunities.

(6)

It is clear that such uses of Web 2.0 applications fundamentally change the roles of, and the relationship between, marketers and consumers, who are no longer simply passive recipients of ‘brand messages’. As a result, Web 2.0 has significantly shifted power towards consumers, who now have theability to create content and disseminate their opinions of particular products and services very widely and very quickly. Marketing is now typified by a two-way dialogue and thefree exchange of opinions, reviews, and information.

Butsince organisations’ use of Web 2.0 for the types of activities listed abovebrings a financial cost in terms of staff time and training,concerns have arisen regarding the return on investment (ROI) from marketing campaigns making use of such applications. Many commentators havehighlighted the challenge of evaluating the value of Web 2.0 applications asmarketing tools and determining to what extent they represent sources of additional business value. A number of solutions for measuring the effectiveness of marketing initiatives based on Web 2.0 applications have been suggested.These include measuring:

* Thenumber of website visitors on social media platforms

* The volume ofincoming traffic to a company website.

* The state of public opinion (or ‘sentiment’) towardsthe company’s brand, their products, their staff.

The instruments available for measuring the impact of social media in particular range from no-cost or low-cost tools such as Google Alerts, Trackur, Social Mention or ViralHeat to more expensive and sophisticated tools, such as Scoutlabs, Radian6, SM2 or SocialRadar. But organisationscan experience significant difficulty in deciding which of the many tools on the market is the most appropriate, and in any case none of them will alone accurately calculate ROI(7).

Convention Bureaus’ use of Web 2.0

The new generation of Web 2.0 tools and applications has offered convention bureausthe opportunity to rethink their destination marketing strategies by harnessing Web 2.0’s potential to help them identify, acquire and retain clients.However, the adoption of Web 2.0 by DMOs(destination marketing organisations) as a marketing tool has been relatively slow, uneven and in some cases not fully competent.A 2010 analysis of European national DMOs’ use of social media as a marketing tool, concluded that few of these were really engaged in effective social media marketing and that the majority of such organisations had yet to develop sophisticated and comprehensive social media strategies. According to that study, only one DMO (VisitEngland) could be classified as a ‘progressive adopter’, with only one other (Switzerland) recording an overall score greater than one-third of the total possible. By the authors’ own definitions, all other national DMOs were ranked as being ‘Very Cautious’ or ‘Non-Adopters’ of social media (8).

A survey conducted in the same year explored Facebook use among national DMOs in Europe and found that not only did many in the sample not have a Facebook presence, but even more importantly those who had a Facebook presence were not using it in ways that would allow them to really seize all of the advantages that are offered by user-generated content for marketing purposes (9).

A 2012 study showed DMOs’ capacity to innovate and successfully adopt new information technologies still varied considerably among organisations, noting that ‘While some DMOs are still struggling with fully taking advantage of Web 1.0 applications, others have already embraced the new Web 2.0 paradigm and are active users of social media-based strategies in their marketing efforts, riding high on the social media wave’ (10).

Until now, no research has been carried out specifically on how European convention bureausare using Web 2.0 to promote their cities, regions and countries as business events destinations. But much more has been written about the use of Web 2.0 by the targets of convention bureaus marketing efforts – the meeting planners who choose destinations and venues for their events. The consensus would appear to be that most meeting planners have positivelyembraced the Internet and Web 2.0 aspowerful new communication and marketing tools in the workplace, using them to enhance their events and create interactive communities between attendees before, during and after those events. For example, a growing number of meeting planners are using Facebook or Linkedin to:

*collect ideas for keynote speakers or entertainers

* survey attendees about the best destination for future events

*solicit creative ideas for ways to improve their meetings, which can ensure that events meet the needs of attendees(11).

However, it is meeting planners’ use of Web 2.0 in their search for suitable destinations and venues for their events that is of most interest to convention bureaus. Widely used in this respect are the various user-review sites that allow meetings planners to submit their own evaluations of meetings venues and destinations that they have used. For example: Elite Meetings ( Meetings Collaborative ( MeetingUniverse.com ( and i-meet (

But there is growing evidence that meetings planners are also engaging with the Internet and Web 2.0 marketing tools used by convention bureaus. A recent study of the influence of different channels of communication on meeting plannersfound that while about two-thirds of those surveyed indicated that personal sales and word-of-mouth was the mostinfluential channel, convention bureaus’ websites (14.2%) were the second most influential channel(12). A 2012 survey of Arizona-based meeting planners’ use of social media networking sites revealed that just over half of respondents (54%) reported that they were using such sites to look for destination information (for example, local amenities and activities); and just under half (46%) reported that they were using social media networking sites ‘to communicate with “experts” who can help meeting planners’ (hotel sales managers, convention bureau managers and catering managers) (13).