Getmeaguide Digital Strategy Market Segments Targeting Promotions Executive

Getmeaguide Digital Strategy Market Segments, Targeting & Promotions

Executive Summary Vision Statement – Getmeaguide to be one of the world’s leading portals that connects travellers and tour guides § Getmeaguide is a portal that will connect travellers with tour guides across the world. § The aim is to put the traveller in control and the tour guides will bid for business as in an auction system. § The strategy sets out the state of this market and the major competitors that Getmeaguide will be going up against. And from this we have established the objectives that we want to achieve and the strategy and tactical tools that will allow us to reach our vision. § The differential advantage is that the traveller is in control and the tour guides bid for business and we will highlight this in all communications

Executive Summary § The benefit to travellers is that they don’t waste time with guides that don’t respond or are lousy or who are too busy § The review and rating system ensures that clients make informed decision when choosing a tour guide and avoid any that have negative reviews. § The benefit to tour guides is that they have regular work and through maintaining good work standards, this can be revealed in their profile and will win them more work and increase their earnings. § Our platform will also eliminate the need for intermediaries and save increase the income of tour guides by over 50%. § To keep clients and travellers safe, all guides are vetted and they should maintain a minimum positive feedback to continue having the privilege of bidding on the site.

Market Analyses § The tour guide industry is a growth area and in the US alone there are over 34, 000 tour guides (1). They work in a wide range of industries like museums, historical sites, public buildings and art galleries. § Many tour guides have second jobs so that they can make a living outside of the peak season (2). Our platform will make it easier for them to find work outside of the peak summer season. § Tourism is a growth industry and in 2013 it grew by 5% to 1. 07 billion and a UNWTO forecast for 2014 is that it will grow by 4 – 4. 5% (3)

SWOT Analysis Strengths Threats § Database of registered tour guides §Rise in global violence and war § Strong knowledge of tour guide industry §Security threats Weaknesses Opportunities § Unknown brand § Financial resources to take it to mass market §Growth in global tourism §Europe has experienced the fastest growth at over 5%

Competitors http: //www. toursbylocals. com/ Connects travellers with local guides. Based in Canada with a worldwide presence. A good Alexa Rank of 65, 000 revealing it is an established site with high traffic volumes. But the main searches according to Alexa are not for the brand. On Google PPC and Organic Search.

Competitors https: //www. vayable. com/ Emphasises the joy to be had as a group with local tour guides. An established brand with the primary search keyword being ‘Vayable’ showing strong brand awareness.

Objectives 1. 5000 UK registered travellers by 31 Aug 2015 2. 20, 000 registered global tour guides by 31 Aug 2015 This is a ratio of 1: 4 and means tour guides have a great chance of winning a job whilst ensuring that they put forward a good proposal and work towards a positive review.

Target Market (Segments) § There are two primary markets we will be targeting with various segments within. Our promotional tools will target these two markets 1. Travellers - relatively wealthy and seasoned UK travellers who want a private tour guide for say 200 -400 EUR a day. Age is 25 – 49 year old males and females and reside mostly in large cities like London 2. Tour Guides – Our primary target is tour guides located in Western Europe and the USA.

Product § Our product is a portal where travellers post a job and tour guides in the specific country bid for the job. § It includes: § Website – responsive § Mobile app § Video § Review and rating system § A multi-language website that changes language according to the browser language settings of the visitor. Or they can choose a language when they arrive at the site.

Product § Prospects will post a job and tour guides will bid any amount they want. Then prospect is free to choose any proposal they want based on the bid amount, reviews, location and experience of tour guide. § Each tour guide will have a page that includes information about their service, what their rate is, which sites they cover, reviews and ratings and other personal details like their name, how long they have been on the site and when they are available.

Price § We will take a commission of 10% for every booking made by a traveller on our platform. § Our pricing takes into consideration all the services we offer and the cost of running Getmeaguide which include advertising costs, staff, hosting and other variable costs.

Promotions Mix We are launching in Western Europe and USA and will roll out to the rest of Europe and around the globe. PPC § PPC – Bing and Adwords –Our launch campaign will be for UK travellers and will begin in Western European nations – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal – and the USA. § 90, 000 visitors from the next 6 months on a £ 3000 monthly budget and Average cost per click (CPC) of 20 p. This will bring us 15, 000 visitors from PPC per month and over the next 6 months that would be 90, 000 visitors. So we will be looking at a conversion rate of about 5% to achieve objective 1. § Boost campaign spend and CPC rates during the summer months.

Promotions Mix Search Campaign– At launch we will create a Search UK campaign targeting our primary target of wealthy travellers looking for a tour guide in the major cities and locations of Western Europe and the USA. This will be a direct response campaign and we will be seeking to get people to sign up Display 1– A display campaign to run in the UK to raise brand awareness amongst our target market and we will create banners and place them on sites that are part of the Google Adsense programme and frequented by our target audience – these include news sites, financial sites, entertainment sites and other sites like tourist sites we’ve identified as visited by our target demographic Display 2 – A display campaign targeting tour guides in the destinations our travellers are looking to visit. So it will have different banner Ads that will be placed on tourist sites and competitor sites that tour guides are likely to visit.

Marketing Mix - Place Online PR § Press Releases – At launch – Hire a PR expert to write and publish a press release about the launch of Getmeaguide highlighting the differential advantage, strengths and benefits of the service SEO § We will research keywords that people use when looking for our services and will include these in the Title and meta tags and in website content. § We will setup Google Analytics tracking, Google and Bing Webmaster Tools to measure and manage the traffic coming to the site and use this data to optimise the website content Social Media § Setup Twitter, Facebook and Google+ accounts and hire a freelance social media expert to create the cover, the look and manage the accounts each month

Marketing Mix - Promotions Affiliate Marketing – We will work with affiliates on one or more of the leading affiliate networks such as Affiliate Window or Commission Junction to drive traffic to our site and increase conversions. Affiliates will be paid a commission for sending new travellers to our site who register and then post a job. This will be set at 5% of the total amount of the job posted Video – Create a promotional video, no longer than 2 minutes that highlights the key features and benefits of Getmeaguide. The video will be posted to You. Tube and other video sites and we will create a campaign in Ad. Words to promote it on You. Tube. Remarketing Many visitors to the site will leave without registering or posting a job, so we will want to retarget them with banner Ads as they use other websites in their course of using the internet. This is to remind them of our site and get them to come back and register or post a job.

Budget § This is the launch budget that will help us achieve our objectives Cost Adwords/Bing Responsibility Date £ 3000 Mike 1 April Online PR £ 60 Mike 1 April Affiliate Marketing £ 300 Mike 1 May SEO £ 200 Mike 1 April Video £ 150 Pierre 1 April Social Media £ 100 Mike 1 April Web Development £ 5000 Pierre 9 Feb Logo £ 100 Pierre 9 Feb Trademark £ 170 Pierre 9 Feb Total £ 9080

Appendix § http: //www. bls. gov/oes/current/oes 397011. htm § https: //nationalcareersservice. direct. gov. uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/touristguide. aspx § http: //www 2. unwto. org/facts/eng/vision. htm § http: //dtxtq 4 w 60 xqpw. cloudfront. net/sites/all/files/pdf/unwto_barom 14_01_jan_excerpt. pdf