Internet Marketing for Tourist Railways and Railway Museums

What you need to know

What we talked about in 2011…

1. Big events generate interest2. Use the free resources on the Internet to sell

more tickets3. Make sure you capture and use customer

data from ticket purchasers 4. Build on existing customer relationships for

year-over-year growth

What we’ll talk about this year

• Most popular types of Internet Marketing (Free and Paid)

• Setting Goals and Budgets • The Importance of Data

The Power of Internet Marketing

An inexpensive, highly measurable way to TELL MORE PEOPLE about your railway or museum, and MAKE MORE MONEY by increasing attendance and

ridership.

SETTING GOALS“Begin with the end in mind”

Where are You?

Low Ridership / AttendanceLow Community SupportFew Volunteers Shoestring Budget

Capacity Ridership / AttendanceHigh Community Support

Volunteer Corps StrongProfitable Operation

Where do you want to be?

Define Your Goals around each Campaign, be SMART

• Do you want to increase memberships?• Do you want to sell more tickets?• Do you want to get more social “followers”?

S.M.A.R.T

SMART GoalsIncrease Memberships

Sell More Tickets Get more Followers

Specific By how many? How many more? How many? Which network?

Measurable How many do we have today?

Can we track efficacy of this channel?

How many followers do we presently have?

Attainable Is this realistic? Is Internet marketing right for this goal?

Relevant Does this really matter to our business?

Timely How often do you measure results? Is that appropriate?

Setting Budgets

• With Internet Marketing, it is OK to have smaller budgets– BUT – you must temper expectations and goals

accordingly.• Example: A budget of $200. What should we expect?

• When working with smaller budgets, continuous optimization is key.– Test, tweak, retest

POPULAR TYPES OF INTERNET MARKETING

“Where do you start?”

Paid Search

Paid Search

PAID SEARCH• Providers:

– Google, Bing, Yahoo

• How it works:– You “bid” on certain keywords– The more you bid, the higher your “position” on the screen– You pay when someone clicks your ad

• You should do it because:– Inexpensive, easy to target geographically, easy to manage, reaches the entire internet

• Challenges you will face:– Choosing the right keywords.

How to Choose Keywords

• Google Keyword Toolhttps://adwords.google.com/o/KeywordTool

Three Tips:

• Think like a customer– What do they search for?

• Select more general or more specific keywords based on your goal

• Make sure your ads feature the keywords as well

Organic Search

Organic Search

Search Engine Optimization• Providers: Webmasters, Press Relations, Volunteers, Attendees, Riders

• How it works:– Websites are coded appropriately to make sure search engines can tell what’s on them

and refer relevant traffic.– Credible websites that link to yours provide additional ”juice” for search engine visibility

(inbound links)

• You should do it because:– It’s the most powerful and effective internet marketing method

• Challenges you will face:– It can be expensive. It takes constant focus and effort. It’s a moving target.– Optimizing for the right keywords

Which Search Engine?

The Secret to Owning Google: Pages

Google Pages

Owning Organic: Google Pages

https://plus.google.com/pages/create

Focus on Your Website

• Is it up to date?• Is it correct?• Is it easy to find tickets?• Is it pretty?• Is it mobile?

Social Media

Social Media• How it works:

– Your brand connects directly with customers in a portal managed by one of the service providers. Each portal enables different functionality.

– Your customers can “share” their interactions with you, spreading your brand influence to their respective networks.

• You should do it because:– Inexpensive, easy to target, very popular, effective.

• Challenges you will face:– It can be time consuming, and customers on these networks demand rapid

interaction.– It may be tough to deal with criticism.

Facebook Fan Page

Facebook Fan PagesCost: Free to set up, no annual support or hosting chargesUse it to: Communicate with and engage your audienceTry This: Use polls, post pictures, ask questions, create games

Tip: Put someone in charge and make sure policy is defined. How do you deal with criticism? How quickly should feedback be addressed?How often should the page be updated? What kind of content is appropriate? Talk to other railroads, “Like” their

pages, steal ideas with pride!

Tip: Use the USERNAME feature to give your facebook page an easy-to-remember address

Tip: Use your Facebook Page to Sell Tickets to your events

Social Media: Facebook

Facebook Paid Ads

Facebook Paid Ads

• There are two different types: Right Hand Column Ads and Sponsored (News Feed) Stories

• Right Hand Column Ads can include Social Activity (when someone likes your page)

• If your ad promotes a PAGE, APP, or EVENT on Facebook, Sponsored Stories are created automatically (you can opt out). You CANNOT buy sponsored stories on ads that promote websites.

• Right Hand Ads do NOT appear on Mobile (33% of traffic to Facebook)

Targeting

Promoted Posts: New

• By default, not all of your fans will see all of your posts.

• Facebook enables you to pay to change that, and reach fans outside of your sphere.

What kind of posts should I promote?

• Photos and videos: People tend to respond to bright, simple and attention-grabbing images, particularly of people using your product or service. For example, you could promote a photo of new products you want to sell. Keep in mind that your Page's profile picture will show up next to your promoted post so everyone knows it’s connected to your business.

• Exclusive events or news: Promoting posts with exclusive content gets people to talk about your Page and encourages them to share your posts with friends. This could be a daily special on the menu, an in-store event or the launch of an upcoming product.

• Questions: Promoting a question tells people that you value their opinion. For example, you could promote a question asking people to vote on a new product or service, which encourages people to have a direct impact on your business decisions.

Source: Facebook

Twitter

• 140-character updates• Automate it if you can– When Events are

scheduled , – When Tickets go on sale,– Tweet from Facebook

• “Mass Texting”

Banner and Display Ads

• Typically “Cost per thousand impressions” or “CPM”

• Expensive• Hard to Manage • Hard to Target• Increasingly Ignored• Intrusive

Blogger networks

• “Mom” Websites• Usually feature coupons or deals• Can be fairly effective at reaching new

customers• You should do it because:

They typically have built in networks. It’s quick, easy, and inexpensive.

• Challenges you will face: Finding them

THE IMPORTANCE OF DATAInternet Marketing for Tourist Railways and Railway Museums

The Cycle: It’s all about DATA

Internet Marketing

Website

Ticket Purchasers

Email Subscriber

s

Marketing Optimization

It’s all about focusing here…

To spend more wisely here…

To see improvement

here!

Email Marketing

• Your email list is an ASSET– Treat it with respect

(don’t spam)– Continuously focus on

growing it– At every customer

interaction, ask for the email

Track What is Working, Optimize

Print: 2%Radio: 1%Email:

11%

Word of Mouth: 63%

Web Search:

13%

Social Media: 9%Internet marketing

drives over 30% of sales!

Referral Source Data, 2011-2012 WhistleTix Clients

Trends (compared to 2010-2011):

Social Media +6%Email +4%Web Search -9%Word of Mouth +14%

QUESTIONS?Internet Marketing for Tourist Railways and Railway Museums

Eric Houshehoush@whistletix.com877-WHIS-TIX x 804

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESInternet Marketing for Tourist Railroad and Railway Museums

Internet Marketing Check List• Basics:

– Create a website for your railroad– Create a Facebook Fan Page for your railroad– Create a Twitter account for your railroad

• Publish your event to the Internet (remember ticketing links!)– Publish event to your website– Publish event to Facebook

• Events Tab on your Facebook page• Fan Page Ticketing from WhistleTix

– Publish Event to your Twitter account– Publish event to eventful.com , upcoming.yahoo.com, and zvents.com– Publish your event to the web sites of local publications, newspapers, magazines– Email your existing customer list!!!

• Make it easy for customers to find and buy tickets– Links on the front page of your website– Fan Page ticketing on Facebook– Mobile –friendly websites for Smartphone Users– Call Center to answer calls

• Capture patron data during the purchase process– At LEAST the email address!!

Get started with Search:

• For Paid Search:– Set up a Google Adwords Account

• Great Step-by-Step: http://bit.ly/SeY0hB

– Create Ads• 2 or 3 different versions

– Set a Budget– Turn it on!

• For Organic Search: Educate Yourself– http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo– Take one step at a time– Consult your network, ask others

Get Started Building a Fan Page

• https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

• Complete the Page as much as possible– Edit Page > Update info

• Address• Cover Photo• Profile Photo• Username• Hours• Description

Tips to Build your Facebook Audience

• Engage and provide interesting content• Link from your website• Signage at your Depot / Museum• Link on all printed collateral• Email to previous riders• Facebook Ads

Get Started with Facebook Adshttps://www.facebook.com/advertising