Online Marketing Trends for 2011

This is a guest blog post written by Matthew Barker. He is a managing partner at Hit Riddle, an internet marketing consultancy specialising in the travel industry.

Online marketing trends for 2011

2011 will see some interesting new developments in the tools and platforms available to travel marketers. And provided they're used well, they could help many firms make the most from a recovering market.

Google Places, review sites & local search

A big issue for 2011 will be Google Places, already causing web marketers a headache for its impact on Google's search results pages, but potentially a strong tool for locally or regionally-focused travel businesses.

If local business is in any way important to your company, you need a Google Places profile and you need it now. The leverage this tool offers will only become more important, giving you a chance to (literally) put yourself on the map, as well as add photos, opening times, product descriptions, customer reviews and more.

But it doesn't stop at Google Places. There are a growing number of review sites and directories that run on a similar level. Yelp is an obvious one, Yahoo Local is another contender, Insider Pages, CitySearch, and so on. Not all of these will be appropriate or useful for every travel business but the fact remains, as local search takes centre stage in 2011, if you don't have a presence here then you're missing out on the conversation.

"Smart" emails & deals

Just about any travel business has a mailing list and sends some form of email to its clients. Email marketing is one of the die-hards of online marketing but given its reputation as a stalwart, it is surprising how many brands aren't using it to its full advantage.

The key is in segmenting your databases to ensure you're only sending relevant messages to clients. Most email marketing applications include a system for subscribers to self-categorise themselves, according to their interests. Use that and tailor your messages to each group. Your open and click rates will increase and the number of leads will rise.

People are still feeling the economic pinch, and developing smart and compelling deals will be pivotal in 2011.

Mobile browsing

The irresistible rise of mobile browsing will continue to boom in 2011, increasing the importance of mobile optimized sites and the use of travel apps. Not every business has the capacity to jump on the app bandwagon but as a minimum it is important that websites are navigable from mobile devices and, if you're considering a site redesign in 2011, making sure it is also optimised for mobile is a must.

As a bare minimum make sure that product pages and vital information are viewable and make sure your contact information and contact forms are functional.

SEO v.2.0

Search engine optimization is another old horse in the world of online marketing but my guess is that 2011 will see a step change in the way we think about SEO, largely due to the integration of social media signals into traditional search results.

This process has huge implications for search marketers and the key is to get integrated now while the process is just beginning. Implementing Facebook's Open Graph Protocol is a good idea, especially on your core pages. This will integrate your pages within the Facebook universe and set you up for long-term visibility to Facebook's booming network.

Twitter feeds are now displayed on Google's results pages, giving us another opportunity to increase our search visibility. Finally, YouTube, as the web's second biggest search tool, is perfect for agencies with budgets for quality video production.

I expect that online marketers throughout the travel business will be exploiting all of the above this year, hopefully helping to cement the industry's recovery following a difficult couple of years.