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e.g., families with children

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The story of Santa Claus is an important part Lapland's, and especially Rovaniemi's, identity

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The waiting area is part of the story, as is the entire surrounding location (Santa Claus Village)

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From Santa Claus Village website. (Santa Claus Office website is missing the phone number. This website is missing the Twitter link)

Omnichannel or multichannel?

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Everything that can be done in Santa Claus Office

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Everything that can be done in Santa Claus Office

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https://santaclausoffice.com/story-santa-claus-office/

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E.g., Use location tagging on posts and be hashtag smart (think about context and relevancy)

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E.g., Engage in dialogue and build relationships by retweeting

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E.g., Leverage eye-catching visuals, whether photos or videos, as a compelling storytelling tool (elves, winter wonderland)

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Affordable and a easy way to create company image

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Knowing your customer base and what kind of material is effective for them

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SEO is an example to market your business with a high ROI as it doesn’t cost you any money

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Captivating potential customers with photos that are attractive and different from general ones

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Builds stronger relationships with customers, especially if the business replies to them

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Creates organic buzz, co-creation with customers

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Creative Ways of Using SoMe in Marketing is Significant

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Creative Ways of Using SoMe in Marketing is Significant

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MeCiT students blog about digital marketing

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The article " Social Media and the Travel Sector " published by Expedia Media Solutions presents tips on using social media in travel marketing. It introduces the evolution of social media metrics, how social media has evolved, the changing ways to measure the significance of social media, and reasons why continuous relationships are more important than the number of likes on social media.

I find the article interesting because it shows ways to use different social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest in different ways to find new customers. In addition, the article clearly describes the figures for how many users use these platforms.

Content of comments over the number of comments

Social media users are looking for meaningful conversations as well as motivation and encouragement to do something new (Expedia, 3) The number of comments and likes is important to the travel marketers and they often also motivate the development of marketing tools, but nowadays the number of comments is more important than their number. Comments and direct messages can be used to have discussions with current and potential future customers. Verbal feedback on services can also be obtained through commenting.

A certain way of marketing does not work for every company and that is why every company needs to think about which practices work best for them and how to reach their target group depending on specific goals (Expedia). Different ways of marketing should be used for certain target groups. For example, the older population uses more Facebook than Instagram while the young people use TikTok a lot. If you market your product or service for example in the form of a giveaway, targeted to generation X on TikTok, it will be difficult to reach a population over 40 y ears of age.

Co-creative SoMe campaigns are effective

Innovative social media campaigns with a clear goal can lead to positively surprising results. The Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions' goal was to promote Holland and its year-long celebration of artist Vincent Van Gogh in 2015 using the hashtag #VanGogh2015. (Expedia, 13-14.)

"The premise of the Flock-to-unlock invites your audience to tweet using a specific hashtag until a targeted number of tweets is reached, and once that happens, exclusive content is unlocked" ( Flowics 2016). The mechanism makes Twitter users feel a key part of the campaign. Rewarding them for their participation is an excellent way to spread the message.

Flock to Unlock gave Twitter users motivation to tweet using the hashtag #VanGogh2015 "to earn brushstrokes that revealed six of the artist's famous works." In addition, the possibility to win a trip to the Netherlands only by tweeting or retweeting motivated users to use the hashtag increased the campaign's visibility on Twitter. (Expedia, 13-14.)

Several people took part in this campaign as on Twitter it had up to 2.2 million impressions and more than 22,000 engagements. This proves that the opportunity to participate and the feeling of being an important part of something increase engagement.

Conclusion

Using social media platforms as interacting with customers actively can be very profitable in many ways. It can increase the number of customers, make the company reliable, and show customers that they are most important to the company. That is also why travel marketers need to keep finding new ways to develop and maintain customer and other relationships.
Bibliography
Expedia. Social Media and the Travel Sector - Insights and tips for travel marketers. Accessed 15 March 2022 https://lucit-my.sharepoint.com/personal/outi_kahkonen_lapinamk_fi/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fouti%5Fkahkonen%5Flapinamk%5Ffi%2FDocuments%2FCEMIT%2DMECIT%2FMaterials%2FWorkshops%2FSocial%20Media%2FGeneral%20Materials%2FeBook%5FSocialMediaTravelerSector%2Epdf&parent=%2Fpersonal%2Fouti%5Fkahkonen%5Flapinamk%5Ffi%2FDocuments%2FCEMIT%2DMECIT%2FMaterials%2FWorkshops%2FSocial%20Media%2FGeneral%20Materials.

Flowics CTRL MAGIC 2016. Flock to Unlock - A powerful solution to boost social engagement. Accessed 15 March 2022 https://blog.flowics.com/2016/03/11/flock-unlock-powerful-solution-boost-social-engagement#:~:text=The%20premise%20of%20the%20Flock,an%20exclusive%20content%20is%20unlocked.

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Creative Ways of Using SoMe in Marketing is Significant - MeCiT students blog about digital marketing

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The article " Social Media and the Travel Sector " published by Expedia Media Solutions presents tips on using social media in travel marketing. It introduces the evolution of social media metrics, how social media has evolved, the changing ways to measure the significance of social media, and reasons why continuous relationships are more important than the number of likes on social media.

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How important is Digital Marketing Transforming Anyway?

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How important is Digital Marketing Transforming Anyway?

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How important is digital marketing transformation anyway?

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Digital Marketing Transformation should be an integral part of every marketing strategy - but why is it so difficult to get it done?

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Insights for the New World of Travel: Omnichannel

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Insights for the New World of Travel: Omnichannel

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MeCiT students blog about digital marketing

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❝The only way for travel brands to fully meet the desire for a highly personalized experience is to deliver a true omnichannel approach❞ - Amadeus 2021, 5

Introduction

The Article

The Insights for the New World of Travel: Omnichannel is a summary of four articles published by Amadeus. It discusses how the modern traveler is both offline and online and how the omnichannel strategy should connect those needs. It relies on co-creation, service-dominant logic, and maximizing marketing. All these themes are also important in the Marketing and eCommerce in Tourism study unit.

Amadeus interviewed, surveyed, and studied 35 travel sellers, 800 travel agencies, and 600 travelers. Their research was conducted in six languages.

Omnichannel 101

Omnichannel aims for the same content, the same service, and freedom of choice for customers (Amadeus 2021, 7). In other words, customers should have a seamless experience across all the platforms that they choose to use.

For example, Disney's MagicBand offers seamless and personalized service that combines multiple channels into a cohesive experience. This is illustrated in Figure 1.

It should be noted that omnichannel is not the same as multichannel. The multichannel strategy does not try to understand customer choices to the same extent, and channels are less integrated because they are managed separately (Westfall 2021).

Key Points

Consumers have high expectations

Firstly, I noticed that a demanding customer was a common theme in the article.

Amadeus mentions Netflix as an example of a company setting high expectations. I can see why. Netflix offers offline viewing and personalized recommendations. It works on various devices, and if you stop watching, the show will continue from the same spot later. Consumers can choose to watch what they want, whenever and wherever they want.

Amadeus (2020, 4) argues that high expectations in traveling are only elevated by Covid-19. Customers demand real-time information and superior service on all platforms even more than before.

Omnichannel improves the customer experience

Secondly, I paid attention to the good results that omnichannel gave in customer satisfaction and retention. This is shown in Figure 2.

An average accommodation purchase journey lasts 36 days and involves 45 touchpoints across different devices and websites (Amadeus 2021, 8). Most of us cannot relate to that, so let's consider laptops instead. When I need a laptop, I will do research on multiple online channels and buy it offline. But without omnichannel, I might still get laptop advertisements from the online store.

If the online store knows that I have already bought the laptop, they can give better service. For example, by offering firewall subscriptions or laptop bags. The same works for flight or hotel bookings. After booking, complementary offers from different channels can improve the customer experience.

Omnichannel is the future

Finally, I found that the main message of the article was to implement omnichannel as soon as possible. In fact, Yuruk-Kayapinar (2020, 56) argues that most traditional consumers have already turned into digital and omnichannel ones.

Did you know that...

There were 204 billion mobile applications downloaded in 2019? (Gultekin & Erdem 2020, 212)

There were approximately 50 billion network-connected devices in 2020? (Amadeus 2020, 4)

There were 4.66 billion active internet users in January 2021? (Johnson 2021)

With society moving towards a digital world, travel companies should follow by utilizing omnichannel across platforms. Because as Amadeus (2021, 4-5) says, every touchpoint is an opportunity to connect with the traveler, but they have very individual preferences about when and how they interact with companies. Multichannel strategy is not enough anymore.

Results & Impact

Main results

The offline to online shift can happen fast, as we have witnessed with Covid-19. However, not everyone adapts to change at the same pace. Clive Wratten (Amadeus 2021, 4) suggests that marketing through multiple channels and touchpoints simultaneously helps the company reach a more diverse demographic. This is what omnichannel does.

The company benefits from the omnichannel strategy, too. For example, more than 60% of consumers use multiple devices when they shop online (Amadeus 2021, 8). When companies are able to track their most profitable platforms, they can improve marketing. Amadeus continues by sharing that while 10% of travel agencies believe communication channels are a top need, 43% of travelers see it as very important. By studying personalized data, companies can meet customers' expectations more easily.

Impact on me

I had not heard of omnichannel prior to reading this article. It helped me understand service-dominant logic and how important it is to make sure that the different platforms work together cohesively.

Moreover, the co-creation aspect is fascinating to me. This is because it does not mean co-creation only between the company and consumers, but also between different sections of a company. It makes me wonder if in the future one must really master all platforms, or if the communication simply works more smoothly across the teams.

TLDR

Is at least one of these true?

You...

a.) Scrolled to the end yawning b.) Did not understand my rambling c.) Want to know more

I got you.

Bibliography

Amadeus. 2021. Insights for the new World of Travel: Omnichannel.

Gultekin, B. & Erdem, S. 2020. Omni-Channel Strategy in the Framework of the Search Engines. In T. Direshan (ed.) Managing Customer Experiences in an Omnichannel World: Melody of Online and Offline Environments in the customer Journey. Emerald Publishing Limited, 211-232.

Johnson, J. 2021. Worldwide Digital Population. Statista. Accessed 22 March 2022 https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/.

Westfall, L. 2021. Omnichannel vs. Multichannel: What's the difference? Ring Central. Accessed 20 March 2022 https://www.ringcentral.com/us/en/blog/omnichannel-vs-multichannel-whats-the-difference/.

Yuruk-Kayapinar, P. 2020. Digital Consumer Behavior in an Omnichannel World. In T. Direshan (ed.) Managing Customer Experiences in an Omnichannel World: Melody of Online and Offline Environments in the customer Journey. Emerald Publishing Limited, 55-73.

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Insights for the New World of Travel: Omnichannel

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❝The only way for travel brands to fully meet the desire for a highly personalized experience is to deliver a true omnichannel approach❞ - Amadeus 2021, 5 The Insights for the New World of Travel: Omnichannel is a summary of four articles published by Amadeus.

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MeCiT students blog about digital marketing

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The guide to user generated content

Introduction

The article is based entirely around user-generated content for people in eCommerce. It discusses all the aspects of user-generated content. It starts from how it affects inbound strategy, how to use user-generated content in eCommerce, uses of user-generated content on Ecommerce sites and lastly the mistakes to avoid with user-generated content (Alter. J, Morris. S.). The article can be related to our study unit in a way that user-generated content is a much needed tool to be able to promote yourself through others. User-generated content is showing proof to potential customers / users of a product through more "believable" ways. This in turn increases the credibility of claims made by companies making it better for them. The increased use of technology to promote products and services are on the rise and is most likely the place where you will be hearing about a product.

Content

The arguments made in the text all relate to the advantages and the most common mistakes to avoid of user-generated content. The main purpose of the text overall is to highlight the importance of user-generated content for your inbound strategy (Alter. J, Morris. S.). Inbound strategy is "Inbound marketing is a strategic approach to creating valuable content that aligns with the needs of your target audiences and inspires long-term customer relationships." (salesforce). Basically, with this companies should be basing their products and sales off the user-generated content to maximise their sales and satisfy their target audience.

Two points that are interesting together are the fact that cosmetic companies such as eyeglass or sunglass companies ask people to post reviews of their products (Alter. J, Morris. S.). Along with the written review they will also ask for a picture to be uploaded with the text to show potential customers. This will show how their products will potentially look on them rather than just the model wearing them, if even that. But in the last chapter when talking about things to avoid the article says that companies can't publish the reviews / photographs without their permission. Although this may make sense the fact that the customer can post themselves for everyone to see companies cannot just use the post. This to me was very interesting and to avoid mishaps companies will add discretions on their websites saying their reviews may be reused for marketing purposes. (Alter. J, Morris. S.)

Thirdly, as the article states "Social proof is essential to any marketing strategy, and user-generated content like customer reviews and pictures provides social proof that addresses the key ecommerce pain point of uncertainty." (Alter. J, Morris. S.). This article shows how important it is for other people and not just the company itself to promote their product. For example as brand deals are becoming more common these days with many content creators on various different platforms. This could be argued as a form of user-generated content, although it will not be as credible as an everyday consumer because they most likely have been paid by the company. It also depends on the creator themselves if they are a "reliable source".

Conclusion

The main result of the article was to highlight the importance of user-generated content and how it can increase all sales and marketing attributes of your company positively as long as you stick by not making the mistakes they listed. The article gave me and eye-opening insight into how I have been exposed to user-generated content and it having an effect on me and my purchasing decision of a certain product. as an example, whenever I am looking for a new restaurant I always look at the google reviews to check out the place beforehand.

Bibliography

Alter. J, Morris. S. "The Guide to USER-GENERATED CONTENT: A Playbook for Ecommerce Marketers"

Salesforce.com, "What is inbound marketing" https://www.salesforce.com/resources/articles/inbound-marketing/#:~:text=Inbound%20marketing%20is%20a%20strategic,provide%20solutions%20to%20their%20problems.

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The guide to user generated content Introduction The article is based entirely around user-generated content for people in eCommerce. It discusses all the aspects of user-generated content. It starts from how it affects inbound strategy, how to use user-generated content in eCommerce, uses of user-generated content on Ecommerce sites and lastly the mistakes to a­­void...

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MeCiT students blog about digital marketing

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Creating stories to market a product or service can help you connect with customers more easily. But how does this storytelling approach work?

About the article

Already the article's title " Event Storytelling Playbook " is very inviting. The use of the word "playbook" made me think of easy and playful step-by-step guidelines instead of just "another article", which is a huge relief especially for impatient readers like me! 😉

The most important points:

Stories should be simple and focus on the essential (brand promise, value, identity, USP)

Possibility to use already existing stories, because it is nearly impossible to create something that has never been there before (customers are likely to recognise the story, which catches their attention)

Identifying the attendee journey (I will talk about that a bit later!)

Make customers the heroes of your story

Create relatable scenarios for them to connect with your story emotionally

What to learn from it

As we are learning in this Marketing course, storytelling is an important and useful marketing element, especially in the digital world. It catches people's attention, attracts a lot of new customers as well as it deepens existing customer relationships.

I personally have been interested in creating stories, mostly in form of videos, myself, therefore I am really curious about this specific marketing tool. I like becoming creative in this way and I am sure that I will come back to this article in the future for my own use.

What caught my interest:

1. The 6-point plan for Resonating with the Audience
One: Creating demand for the product/service
Two: Creating value with a backstory
An organisation that came to my mind is 4Ocean. They are the perfect example by creating value with their mission to keep our oceans clean; people with a similar vision or values are ready to become customers for this story.
Three: Creating trust with brand promise Four: Branding identity within an event
Five: Creating relatability by keeping it simple
This point made me think how advertising a story of someone most people cannot relate to at all (like a superhero) might be entertaining, but they won't feel like the brand speaks to them directly. Instead, imagine you are a family father, who often suffers from migraine. One evening you're sitting on the sofa and come across the following TV advertisement:

The man in the video is neither perfect, nor does he have any superpowers that make him the perfect main character of the next Hollywood blockbuster. However, he catches your attention, because you can perfectly relate to his struggle of dealing with migraine and children at the same time, so you build an emotional connection with him.

Six: Making your story the start of the customer's journey
We all are getting loads of video advertisements daily, and from own experience I can say that there often is an "open ending" in a story and it is up to the audience to complete it. University advertisements like the one below are a great example for that. Their video is the product introduction and the next chapter is your own one, with their help: "Start your journey".

2. Defining the Attendee Journey

This point was very interesting to me, because it made me realise how often we can find ourselves in such a situation without even noticing the concept behind it.

Let's say you are planning to go to a concert. Already weeks before the concert you would get emails or videos, which boost your excitement, during the event you enjoy the music and the show, afterwards you get asked for your feedback and get access to pictures or videos for example on social media, which will make you remember the concert even years after it had happened.

3. You are NOT the hero of your story

The customer is the hero of your story! And you are the one who has a solution for their struggles. Heroes are usually not perfect; that way it is easier to relate to them. This is a very interesting factor as well, and once again I was surprised how often I had faced those situations without noticing.

Let's say you have a skincare product like in the video below. Create a story for someone who struggles with skincare. You should clearly show that you understand their struggle and need for something else, which is why you are offering them your product.

While doing that you are creating small emotional hooks, which make them care about your product. Your goal is to overcome their struggles with your help! Showing positive emotions after the problem has been solved increases your believability and that you can actually help them.

What should be improved?

Even though I liked the article a lot, I would improve the point "keeping it simple and relatable".

Having something that is easy to follow is important, but for my own taste those stories are not always the most attractive ones. In fact, the crazier and absurd the story, the more attention I give to a brand's advertisement, whether I can relate to the situation or not.

A perfect example for my point are the Snickers advertisements. You will probably never find yourself in the situation of jumping from roof to roof or changing personality after a snickers, however the story is funny and entertains you, so next time you see a snickers in the supermarket, it will remind you of the advertisement and the positive emotions it gave you and you will consider buying it.

Check out the Snickers advert with Mr Bean!

Bibliography

EventMB Studio Team 2019. Event Storytelling Playbook, page 24 - 43.

Panadol ANZ 2018. Panadol Extra Migraine Headache 2018 TVC. Accessed 21 May 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2NgP8EQRBM.

Snickers UK 2014. Snickers Mr Bean TV advert - Subitled. Accessed 22 March 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIVDxL2lgN4.

Curology 2020. That Feeling When Skincare Finally Makes Sense. Accessed 22 March 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzOrf8Y-qAw.

University of Kent 2021. Start your journey | University of Kent. Accessed 22 March 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nPQeflFd0A.

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Event Storytelling Playbook - MeCiT students blog about digital marketing

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Already the article's title " Event Storytelling Playbook " is very inviting. The use of the word "playbook" made me think of easy and playful step-by-step guidelines instead of just "another article", which is a huge relief especially for impatient readers like me!

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Providing an Excellent Customer Experience in the Digital Age

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Providing an Excellent Customer Experience in the Digital Age

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MeCiT students blog about digital marketing

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When reading the article 'How to provide an excellent customer experience in the digital age' by Sana Commerce, you will come across several important and relevant subjects related to customer experiences and how to improve those things. You will figure out why this topic is so important compared to now and how it started some years ago when the digital world wasn't as big as it is today.

Relevance to our Study Unit

When doing marketing, it is very important to know what your customers are looking for in order to get people to buy your product/service. As for eCommerce, you are basically buying or selling the product/service (B2B,B2C,...). So as a business, it is their job to keep improving whenever a problem is discovered by the business or the customer itself.

What is a customer experience?

This is something we all experience on a regular basis. Whether you shop online or go experience it in real time, A good customer experience is something we all long for. Nobody wants to find any faults in their product, price, packaging and especially in the provided service (this goes for both businesses and customers).

How to provide the best experience

It is hard to provide an experience that satisfies all customers, and most of us have experienced some bad ones. Something that bothers me personally would for example be not being able to compare products, having difficulties with the payments, going through too many steps during the process or having to use a site that is not visually pleasing.
In the article, they show you how exactly you can provide the best possible customer experience.

Usability

The first one would be to improve the usability. Like mentioned previously, it isn't very pleasant when you have difficulties with navigating through the website and have to go through many steps when complete a purchase. It is important that the website uses simple and easy instructions. Businesses want to prevent their customers from getting lost or wanting to leave the website. You could for example, use features like 'faceted search' that allows you to narrow down what exactly you are looking for.

Relevant content

Use content that is captivating and relevant for your customers.
Let's be honest. Nobody likes to read long texts, especially when you are there to make a quick purchase. If a business wants their customers to keep using their services/products, customers would prefer to use a website that is clear, concise and user-friendly over a website that is the total opposite.

User-friendly

All topics were very interesting, but one in perticular caught my attention the most. They talked about making the process of purchasing enjoyable, even when it is for a work-related visit. During my student job at a hotel, I noticed that ordering products for the hotel isn't always an easy job. The person who was in charge of ordering the products, had so many troubles during the ordering process. In the end they decided to change and work with another business that provides a better customer experience.
This example showed me how important it is to have a service that is user-friendly. Otherwise it is possible to lose some, if not, all your clients.

Conclusion

Going through all the information that I have read, made me compare my own experiences to the text. The article provided me helpful solutions on how to improve the customer experience. It made me realize that there is more to it than just making your website attractive.

Bibliography

ARTICLE: How to provide an excellent customer experiece in the digital age

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Providing an excellent customer experiece in the digital age - MeCiT students blog about digital marketing

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When reading the article 'How to provide an excellent customer experience in the digital age' by Sana Commerce, you will come across several important and relevant subjects related to customer experiences and how to improve those things.

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The Domination of Online Travel Planning

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The Domination of Online Travel Planning

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MeCiT students blog about digital marketing

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Travel planning is a significant part of going on a holiday whether that is done online or not. Nowadays it's a norm to find information through web searchers and I'm pretty sure we all do it. Planning travels online is beneficial on many levels, which is something that article The Changing Impact of the Internet on Travel Planning Behavior (Wang, Park, Zach & Fesenmaier 2016) focuses on.

The change

The reason I chose this particular article is because I find it interesting how internet has such a big impact on our daily lives. Without even knowing, it affects our behaviour. In regards of travel planning, people have adapted to the new way and it shows positive effects. For example I have only ever booked holidays online. Much like in the article, being online has made our lives easier. The results include more satisfaction, saving time and money as well as easier way to share information (Wang, Park, Zach & Fesenmaier 2016.)

Although the article points out how the impact of internet is decreasing, I would think otherwise. Internet is becoming more and more part of our lives and technology is improving with it. Along that, the ways we use internet have increased and I find myself reaching for my phone every time I think about travelling somewhere. Times have changed. In fact, I don't know anyone who would plan their travels by calling a hotel walking to the airport to book tickets.

The message

The authors point out how the benefit of internet is directly impacting our behaviour in travel planning. Here are some of their findings that caught my eye.

Using the internet for planning resulted in people exploring more places than they normally would have

Not using internet as much for planning had significant impact on travels

The changing trends of internet usage also effect travel planning behaviour

Next I will explain why these things specifically were the most interesting to me.

1. Increased exploration

As mentioned by Wang, Park, Zach & Fesenmaier (2016), people who did their travel planning online explored more new places at their destinations. I found this interesting because I tend to do the same thing.

When I'm planning a holiday I tend to search beforehand what the place has to offer. Sometimes I even do this at the destination but since a lot of things can be found online I can easily figure it out on the go as well. It has resulted in me finding places that I probably wouldn't have visited otherwise.

2. Lack of experiences

The second bullet point is about how not using internet has significant impact on travels. By this I mean that those who decide to book their holidays more traditionally or by using online book as little as possible, result in missing out. They benefit less from the usage of internet and the efficiency that it brings (Wang, Park, Zach & Fesenmaier 2016).

Of course the situation is different now and I have some disagreements with the article due to it being from almost 10 years ago. Either way, some people still like to explore places on their own and find cool spots to hang out at.

3. Internet usage trends

Something that was brought up in the article is that those people who tend to use internet when travel planning are not tied to that "stage" (Wang, Park, Zach & Fesenmaier 2016). By this I mean that people who use less internet now can turn into the one's who do everything online. Usually the affect is from low usage to high usage and I see why. For me it would be difficult to give up on travel planning online, since for me it feels so easy and effortless. This alone also affects the behaviour of people. As mentioned above those who use internet a lot for planning seem to have more experiences.

Conclusion

I believe that the article tries to shed light on how much the internet is changing our lives and behaviours. It may not seem like much, but something as simple as booking flight or even searching for them can be really time consuming if it was done traditionally. Honestly I wouldn't even know where to begin with that. The article gave me insights of how simple things in life affect our behaviours. I think the next time I start planning a trip I'm going to be even more grateful that the internet exists and how easy it has made life for us.

Do you book your holidays online? If so, would you be able do travel planning without internet? Leave your comments below!

Bibliography

Wang, D., Park, S., Zach, F. & Fesenmaier, D. R. 2016. The Changing Impact of the Internet on Travel Planning Behaviour. Accessed 22 March 2022 https://lucit-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/outi_kahkonen_lapinamk_fi/EW8pd3FRs3pKs917vQF9d6oBcDDsExdhhrVlp3_O-9sFEA?e=6eX0k6.

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The domination of online travel planning - MeCiT students blog about digital marketing

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Travel planning is a significant part of going on a holiday whether that is done online or not. Nowadays it's a norm to find information through web searchers and I'm pretty sure we all do it.

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Visual Content Creation for Marketers: A DIY Crash Course

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Visual Content Creation for Marketers: A DIY Crash Course

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Visual Content Creation for Marketers: A DIY Crash Course - Blogging

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A crash course in visual content creation for marketers. Tips and tools to create awesome visual content for blog and social media platforms.

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Marketing to Millenials. How to Better Reach Them.

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Marketing to Millenials. How to Better Reach Them.

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MeCiT students blog about digital marketing

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In the beginning, millennials were described as "lazy", "entitled", and "narcissistic". Over the years when their number rose, those stop being used. Instead, they are described now as "avid users of digital", "highly visual communicators" and "greatly influenced by one another" with a fear of losing out. In order to reach them better, companies have divided millennials into 14 types of buyer personas about which we are going to talk next.

Buyer personas

First, there is the "Boss Babe", who are career-driven women, without children. This category has a strong purchasing power and is concerned about making it on a professional level. They have a hectic lifestyle including work, gym, and going out, and are attracted to images and ads that display that.

The "Brogrammer" is a young career-focused man that is an avid sports fan and always down for a beer after work. They tend to idolize people that play by their own rules. This category is drawn to images regarding the latest gadgets, high profile athletes, or experiential activities

The next category is the "Nostalgic". They are young people that fondly think of the past although they never experienced it. They pride themselves as unique, are inclined to shop at vintage shops. Therefore, they are attracted by unique clothing, difficult-to-obtain items, or quirky images.

Next, we have the "Underemployed". They are young people who can barely afford rent, living in a shared flat. They treat themselves with any chance they can and are also proud when scoring a deal. Speaking to this category are images revolving around city life, inspirational quotes, and bargains.

Next, there is the "Shout out". They are males with an impractical/no degree, low earning potential, and likely to live with their parents. Even though they have low earning potential, they play an important role in their parents' purchase decisions. They are defined by comedy and so images that cater to their type of humor will win them.

In the sixth category, there are the "Travel enthusiasts". They are young adventurers that seem to be underemployed/not employed at all. They are keen to experience cities as the locals do so those types of images are very important for getting their attention.

The next category is the "Culinary explorer". Also, one type of adventurer but more inclined to be roaming in their city. For them, food is an experience. Images that speak to this group are of their favorite chefs, exquisitely plated meals, and behind the scenes from restaurants.

In the eighth category, we have the "exuberant". They are content creators constantly seeking to show off how awesome their lives are. They care a lot about likes and comments and have as aim to be the first ones among their friends that get to experience something. For this category, photos of unique activities, luxurious items ad mind-blowing deals are a to-go.

Next, there is the "Collector" which is the opposite of the exuberant and collects the experiences of other people. They lack the dedication to create adventures and respond well to behind-the-scenes peeks into the lives of celebrities.

In the tenth category, there is the "Millennial Martha" who is a typical female happy to share their latest DIY masterpiece on social media. They respond well to DIY crafts and are motivated by the marketers to tag their brand for further reach.

Next, we have the "Millennial mom". Their social feed is full of baby-related content, but they didn't lose their identity as women. This category still spends on beauty and hair products.

The twelfth category is the "Quarter-life crisis". More inclined to be a young woman still in the process of figuring out what she wants from life. They seek motivational quotes and self-deprecating humor.

Next, there is the "activist" who is very aware of social-political and economical inequalities. Highly present on social media, this category responds well to cause marketing such as brands supporting social issues.

The last category is the "High-end minimalist". They are typically male with a strong purchasing power which prefers quality over quantity. They love tech, traveling, and staying out of debt. Very hard to reach them on social methods because likely they don't use them.

Marketing strategies

For tackling best those categories, companies can use one or more of the following 5 strategies.

1. Make it easy to shop.

2. Feature user-generated content on your site.

3. Turn content into commerce.

4. Contests and campaigns.

5. Tap influencers

Objections

Based on what was presented before I have to say that I am quite amazed by the buyer personas. I never thought that companies have to pay so much attention when making an ad based on who they want to see it. Furthermore, I must say that I do not quite agree with the last 5 strategies presented and in my opinion, numbers 1 ad 2 should be changed.

At the beginning of the article, it was explained that 78% of millennials have a fear of missing out. This translates into the fact that they would rather spend money on a desirable experience rather than buy something desirable. For this reason, I think that the first strategy would be for brands to market their products as an adventure. If a company's products don't quite fit in the "adventure" category, they should first use user-generated content for marketing.

The article explained that for 25 major brands, over a period of 30 days, 69% of the top three posts shared by the brand, originated from fans. I think that those should be in the first place. From my experience, if you really like something you are willing to go the extra mile to find it and order it. Now, if you don't really like that product, it doesn't matter how easy or convenient it's to order it.

In third place, there should be contests and campaigns. This is a very important strategy because it can be done under a handful of forms. First, you have pools that can help you gather information from your customers. There can also be giveaways which are a simple way of driving sales. Another option could be a quiz that will offer your audience the opportunity to answer some questions and even win a small prize. (Perry, 2021)

In fourth place is tap influencers. The influencer marketing industry has massively grown in the past years and in 2021 it reached $13.8 billion. This shows just how big of an impact influencers make on products' popularity. Moreover, 90% of the people believe that influencer marketing is an effective marketing form. (Geyser, 2022)

In the last place, there should be turn content into commerce. This method helps companies drive engagement with fans and use content to inspire new products. I don't think this strategy is that important because you can reach the same results using contests and campaigns in the form of pools or surveys.

To sum up everything, the only statement I do not agree with is the order of the strategies. Although I do agree that all of them play an important marketing role, I think that the first concern should be on making the product desirable.

References
Curalate. (2015). Marketing to millennials. Engaging a generation of visual buyers, 1-31. Geyser, W. (2022, 03 2). The State of Influencer Marketing 2021: Benchmark Report. Retrieved from Influencer Marketing Hub Perry, P. (2021, 01 28). Contest Marketing Strategy: A Guide to Boosting Your Brand with Social. Retrieved from Submittable

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Millennials and their buyer personas. How can you better reach them?

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In the beginning, millennials were described as "lazy", "entitled", and "narcissistic". Over the years when their number rose, those stop being used. Instead, they are described now as "avid users of digital", "highly visual communicators" and "greatly influenced by one another" with a fear of losing out.

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Event Marketing 2.0. How to Boost Attendance Through Social Media

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Event Marketing 2.0. How to Boost Attendance Through Social Media

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CEMiT students blog about digital marketing

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Social marketing in today's world

At the beginning of the 21st century, the computer industry took off, and then came smartphones, the new information technology. The role of social media in today is world is enormous - it is replacing or merging with classic media. Television is seamlessly transitioning to YouTube, radio is becoming a streaming platform with podcasts, the news is served in telegram feeds and aggregators, and things are bought in marketplaces. And in all of these places, we can communicate or influence content: by liking, commenting, or adding our own posts.

The global trend is to turn social media into virtual worlds, which will be analogous to the real world. Social media is indispensable for increasing sales and distributing viral content. The user can interact with other members of the platform, publish personal information or remain an observer.

When promoting commercially, content on all social media is unified by a common idea or theme and has a recognizable publishing style in both text and illustration. The accessibility of the information being posted. Most of the information is in the public space and is open to scrutiny. Not subject to time and space limitations. All users can communicate, search, and publish regardless of their location or time online.

Responsiveness

Platforms allow users to publish online, thanks to which all information is available in real-time. It is based on the presentation of products through direct dialogue with the target audience. Social media are indispensable for increasing sales and distributing viral content. Social media also support brand reputation and are considered as one of the significant promotion methods. Through their platforms, companies can inform users, intrigue, communicate, and through interactive actions stimulate a purchase. Provides an understanding of what each social network is for, i.e. shows a ready-made analysis and example of what it should look like. To focus on the goal and not waste effort and time where it is not needed.

The text gives examples of how to disseminate information, how to develop a marketing strategy, how to act online to see how efforts get results and not just exist. Blogs have an important place in our training plans, so demonstrating analysis skills in text demonstrates how important this is, which will help direct the text to the right and an appropriate group of readers. If you post a work or offer on Instagram that is suitable for tourism, for example, and hope to attract business people or investors, then the potential of such an idea falls by the wayside and the effort directed to the wrong audience is wasted. An example of the old type of marketing is when a company invests money and effort, only in advertising and promotion through the usual placement of the company on different platforms. This type of marketing is considered an old method, but it still works. My personal experience is that I worked in a small hotel that only placed this type of advertising and it brought results.

Social media integration

After reading this material I realized that many people, like me, used to know about the importance of social networks, but did not understand how to work with them, how to promote them, or they had enough of the old method of work and they thought that to increase attendance or earnings, you need to spend even more money. But nowadays there are free social networks where you don't have to pay to post or reply to comments. Nowadays 4.62 billion people use social media for information ( Global social media statistics research summary 2022) and the number is growing, less and fewer people watch the news or learn something new on TV or through reading newspapers.

The importance of social media marketing will continue to grow every year. It is an affordable and virtually limitless program for perfecting yourself in marketing. The text talks about the rules of event marketing where you have to participate in the conversation, answer questions, and generally take part in the social life of the project. In my opinion, it would also be appropriate to create surveys, not comments, where people create their own impressions and memories. A survey of the target audience can highlight new ideas or innovations and also see what customers or audiences are missing.

Conclusion

Social media marketing is an effective tool that can be used by companies, brands, or small businesses to drive more traffic to their websites and increase sales. I realized that social media promotion should not just focus on your brand, but on how customers can benefit. This is what visitors care about. It is important for people to understand that you are willing to help solve their problems, so that creates more trust. This text helps to open the eyes of those who still don't understand the importance of social marketing.

References and Bibliography
Cvent. Event Marketing 2.0. How to Boost Attendance Through Social Media
Global social media statistics research summary 2022

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Event Marketing 2.0. How to Boost Attendance Through Social Media

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At the beginning of the 21st century, the computer industry took off, and then came smartphones, the new information technology. The role of social media in today is world is enormous - it is replacing or merging with classic media.

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Digital Customer Experience: Connecting the Dots

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Digital Customer Experience: Connecting the Dots

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MeCiT students blog about digital marketing

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First Impression of the Article

I read the article Digital Customer Experience - Connecting the Dots, published by i-scoop, which included very interesting information and approaches to digital services and their affect on customer experience. Some of the approaches were familiar to me through my own experiences, and some information was completely new. Why I chose this article only just based on the title was, that I think the topic is very much in our everyday lives nowadays. The article also attracted me because not only it is around us everywhere today, will everything digital be even more common in the future. I am sure, that knowing about digital services, technology, and how customers experience all that will be beneficial knowledge in working life in the future.

Interesting Findings

According to the article, customer is always seen as one. It shouldn't matter from behalf of the company, whether the customer is online or physically right in front of you. I think that's an excellent approach when thinking about creating valuable customer experiences.

What makes the article relevant to the study units and my personal learning objectives is that it for sure defines the future of the working life in the tourism field. Everything is becoming more digitized year by year, but we still have to make sure to provide good customer experiences. In a digitized world customers are usually a numbers, or just names without faces. It is still important to not forget that they need to be treated and taken care of as well as if they were physically present.

The article made me think about a question that was asked in it. The question was: is there such a thing as the digital customer experience? Now, that digital services are more and more common, we can turn our thinking upside down. Instead of thinking about digital customer experiences as a new thing, we could think about it as the new "normal". Therefore we would have to think about how physical contact customer service is experienced as it's becoming even more rare.

The article makes the reader think broadly about what all matters in the digital process customers go through. Even a little thing can make the possible customer to click to close the page if there is something that doesn't work like they expected. When I'm thinking my self, I would definitely try to give a chance to something that seems interesting to me, like a company or a brand. However, we live in a very hectic world, so might be that majority of people don't have the patience or they think they don't have time for something that at the end would have been very suitable for them, but at first didn't just work the way they wanted it to.

Speaking of a hectic world, I think the key factors in the future are rapidity, ease and comfort. From the article I originally read for this assignment, I found my way to another article that was based on the interview of Gerry McGovern. Here to end my paper, I wanted to share this quotation from Gerry McGovern for you to think about.

"If you don't make it fast and easy you lose customers. Fact. The easier you make it the more customers you win. Fact. Businesses are doing an incredibly poor job because to make it easy for the customer you almost always need to make it more complex for the business. Businesses don't want to take on the complexity of making it easy for customers. We need to develop a return on investment model for ease of use. There are huge returns but we're not measuring them". - Gerry McGovern, CMS and customer experience pioneer.

Conclusion

After reading the article, I gained a better understanding on how different digital customer experiences there can be. I also learned that digital customer experience and traditional face to face customer experience don't differ that much. The line is quite blurry, because the experiences customers get are usually seen as a whole. People want to get necessary things done smoothly and as easily as possible, no matter if they are happening face to face or online.

The article had many good questions in it that made me stop reading and thinking about an answer for the question. If I was ever to establish a company, I would want to read the article again to make sure I have remembered to think about everything in terms of digital customer service experiences.

Bibliography

Digital Customer Experience - Connecting the Dots. i-SCOOP. Accessed 21 March 2022 https://www.i-scoop.eu/customer-experience/digital-customer-experience-connecting-the-dots/.

Gerry McGovern: Content is Not the Strategy, the Task is. i-SCOOP. Accessed 22 March 2022 https://www.i-scoop.eu/content-is-not-the-strategy-the-task-is/.

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Digital Customer Experience - Connecting the Dots - MeCiT students blog about digital marketing

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First Impression of the Article I read the article Digital Customer Experience - Connecting the Dots, published by i-scoop, which included very interesting information and approaches to digital services and their affect on customer experience. Some of the approaches were familiar to me through my own experiences, and some information was completely new.

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E.g., related products suggestions

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E.g., faceted search for more accurate results

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E.g., faceted search for more accurate results

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Santa Claus Office (@Santas_Office) / Twitter

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Santa Claus Office - YouTube

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Santa Claus Office (@santaclausoffice)

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When you take a photo/video at the physical location, you can download them online within a year

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Focus on the essential and brand identity

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Have you remembered to be good?

As Christmas approaches, the question "Have you remembered to be good" is something Santa's friends, young and old, often ask themselves. Fortunately, Santa's elves have some comforting insider information relating to this quandary. Without a shadow of a doubt, Santa Claus is the nicest and most good-humoured person on the planet!

If you have done your best at trying to be good, you rest assure that your name will be found on the elves' List of the World's Well Behaved Children.

Place and date of birth of Santa Claus

Santa Claus's roots lie far in the north. His place of birth is shrouded in the mystery of many tales, but we do know that centuries ago he made his home in Lapland, in the northernmost region of Finland. The Arctic Circle has always been a dear and delightful place for Santa, as many of the fairytale secrets of Christmas have their roots in this magical area.

There is reliable and precise information about when Santa was born; on Santa's reindeer driver's licence, his date of birth reads "A very long time ago".

Santa Claus In Nature

Santa Claus has always had a close relationship with nature. He spends a great deal of time with his elves in the forests, on northern fells and the wilderness, sometimes travelling on a sleigh pulled by reindeer, sometimes pulled on a sled by a team of huskies, occasionally on skis or with a rowing boat. In summer, Santa likes to pick berries and one his favorite pastimes in winter is to marvel the magnificent northern lights.

Santa also believes that healthy nature is one of the best gifts we can pass on to future generations.

Santa's inner circle of friends

Elves are very close helpers of Santa Claus, who help him with all the Christmas preparations, remind children to be good and make sure Santa Claus takes regular breaks to drink his hot chocolate. Santa's reindeer don't care that much for hot chocolate, but taking part in the great Christmas journey is definitely the highlight of their year. Mrs Claus has been one of Santa's closest helpers for already a few centuries too.

In addition to these important helpers, Santa's inner circle of friends also includes all those who are passionate about stories and tales. Yes, he counts you as his friend too.

Christmas wishes

At Christmastime, Santa Claus travels around the world to distribute gifts. Year after year, Children's letters sent to Santa Claus are wish lists for an enormous number of toys, games, dolls and toy cars, while grown-ups commonly ask for health, peace and love for themselves, their family and friends.

Santa Claus himself thinks that one of the best things about Christmas is good spirit. This is a gift always on top of the enormous pile of Christmas gifts.

Life and pastimes of Santa Claus

"Work" is a word that Santa Claus finds a little strange, and he often starts to smile when he hears that word. He is a busy man, especially around Christmas, but he doesn't think he's really working; so much he likes what he's doing.

Santa Claus has a number of hobbies, and we know he is interested in at least archaeology, astronomy and building snowmen. Sitting by the campfire and watching the amazing Northern Lights is something Santa loves doing, just as skateboarding and fishing. Santa Claus is also a great fan of taking naps, and above all, he simply loves reading all the letters he is sent.

Santa Claus's home is located far in the north, but he also lives in the wondrous world of stories and tales. In this world of stories and tales, many matters are playfully true and truthfully play, and people of all ages are always welcome to join. In Santa's own words:
"Once upon a time, there was a world where children laughed a lot and were very happy..." Visit Santa

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The Story of Santa Claus - Rovaniemi - Lapland -Finland

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As Christmas approaches, the question "Have you remembered to be good" is something Santa's friends, young and old, often ask themselves. Fortunately, Santa's elves have some comforting insider information relating to this quandary. Without a shadow of a doubt, Santa Claus is the nicest and most good-humoured person on the planet!

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Search results for "meet Santa Claus" (incognito mode). No paid advertisements. Santa Claus Village #3, Santa Claus Office #4

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Santa Claus Office | Facebook

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Choose based on your target audience (e.g., by age)

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How customers experience online platforms

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Searching beforehand what the company offers let's the customers know beforehand what to expect and how to prepare

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Advertising through Santa Clause Village

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Seamless communication across platforms

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Santa Claus Office | Santa Claus Village, Official site of Santa Claus