Digital Sales and Marketing Strategies for TUI and Tour Operators

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of digital sales and marketing strategies employed by tour operators, with a specific focus on TUI Group. It begins by investigating various digital sales and marketing channels, such as social media and online marketplaces, evaluating their opportunit...Read More

Digital Sales and
Marketing
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
An investigate of the different digital sales and marketing channels used by a range of tour
operators and discuss the opportunities and challenges they offer.........................................3
An analysis of different digital sales and marketing channels used by a range of tour operators
and their opportunities and challenges, using specific example.............................................4
An assessment of the success of key digital platforms used to increase sales and maximise
marketing efforts, and discuss how they attract customers in the tour operating sector........4
A comparison of different digital sales and marketing platforms for a range of tour operators,
evaluating their effectiveness in attracting and retaining customers in the tourism industry.5
A critical analysis of digital sales and marketing channels and platforms used by the tour
operating sector, justifying the platforms chosen for retaining and expanding their customer
base.........................................................................................................................................6
PART 2............................................................................................................................................6
A plan of a digital sales and marketing campaign using recognised marketing methods and
apply this to TUI business......................................................................................................6
An examination of how omni-channel marketing has evolved and its application in digital
sales and marketing campaign................................................................................................9
Develop a digital sales and marketing campaign using recognised marketing methods and
omni-channel marketing to effectively meet strategic objectives for market position and
customer acquisition at TUI.................................................................................................10
An evaluation of the measurement techniques and performance metrics used in digital
marketing..............................................................................................................................10
Presenting a set of actions to improve performance in digital marketing............................10
A critical evaluation of the effectiveness of monitoring and measuring digital marketing, and
recommend possible improvements.....................................................................................11
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A critical evaluation of the challenges and opportunities of the sales and marketing campaign,
and justify the choice of methods for monitoring and measuring performance...................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
Digital sales can be defined as the process encompassing conversion of leads into prospects.
The digital sales team of an organisation holds the sole responsibility to persuade the behavioural
conduct of consumers in a manner such that they get convinced to make a purchase. The
effectiveness of digital sales depends over the presence of strong persuasion and communication
skills. Besides this, digital marketing can be acknowledged to be the process involving creation
of brand awareness via internet or other such kinds of electronic means (Hult and Sjölund, 2017).
Companies making use of digital marketing leverage social media platforms, email, website,
SEO and so on to transmit their message within a large base of audience. Digital sales and
marketing provides assistance to a firm in enhancing its reach among the public and thereby
consequently inflating its market positioning.
The following report is based on TUI Group which is acknowledged to be an Anglo
German multinational tourism and travel corporation having its headquarters within the confines
of Hannover, Germany. The management of this organisation is seeking to gain success by
leveraging digital sales and marketing through the utilisation of some tools. The report throws
light upon range of digital sales and marketing channels used by tour operators along with their
opportunities and challenges. Further, it includes success of key digital platforms for increasing
sales and maximising marketing efforts. Besides this, it consists of comparison made between
different digital sales and marketing platforms along with their effectiveness in customer
attraction and retention. Also, it includes a plan of digital sales and marketing campaign and its
application to company together with evolution of Omni-channel marketing. Lastly, a campaign
is covered along with the discussion over the measurement techniques and performance metrics
put to use in digital marketing.
PART 1
An investigate of the different digital sales and marketing channels used by a range of tour
operators and discuss the opportunities and challenges they offer
Digital sales are explained as process of selling the advertising space on the digital
mediums like blogs, websites and the different social media platforms. Marketing channel is
people and activities which are required to transfer goods ownership from production point to
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consumption. There are some digital sales and marketing channels used by a range of tour
operators along with opportunities and challenges they offer given below:
Social media- It is one of the effective digital sales m and the marketing channel.
Through this, tour operator can able to reach at new consumers. The tour operator can use the
different social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram to connect with the people.
The main opportunities from social media are that tour operator can communicate and attract the
people by posting photos and videos of different destination place. Other than this, challenge is
that people do not much believe on social media (Kotler and et. al., 2017).
Use Online Marketplaces- The marketplaces represent increasingly valuable channel of
marketing for the tour operators. Travel Triangle and Tour Radar are most popular marketplaces
which can easily explore.
It provides the opportunities about reach at wider audience without breaking sweat.
Challenge is related to lack of the trust issue of people on online marketplaces.
An analysis of different digital sales and marketing channels used by a range of tour operators
and their opportunities and challenges, using specific example
Under this, the digital sale is helpful for the tour operator to connect with the customers
and also provide the information about the attractive destination places which can give them
better experience. There has been social media and online marketplaces use as the marketing
channel. These both are helpful in connected with the customers to the tour operators. The social
media is one of the main digital sales and marketing channel that helpful in communicate with
the customer and determine their requirements regarding the destination place. Other than this,
through using online marketplace tour operator can able to reach at the wider audience. Other
than this, the main challenges faced by the tour operator regarding social media is that people do
not more believe in the information provided on social media and the negative comments also
impact their mindset. On the other hand, online marketplace arise also challenges because there
is lack of trust of customers on the online marketplace (Hudson and Hudson, 2017).
An assessment of the success of key digital platforms used to increase sales and maximise
marketing efforts, and discuss how they attract customers in the tour operating sector
Digital platform is any web based platform in order to presenting content. Digital platform is
helpful in improving the experience of customers and partners for also the tour operators mainly
used the digital platforms in order to communicate and interact with the customer and also
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provide them information regarding the different destination places in a better manner. There are
different digital platforms used by the tour operating system for enhance sales and marketing
efforts given below:
Facebook- It is a better digital platform that promotes the business and also uses tips to
make most of it. In this, tour operator shares the images and videos regarding the specific
destination places. This is one of the effective platform of marketing that tour operator can use to
attracting the customers. The post links to the relevant content might be useful for potential
consumers. It is helpful in increase the brand awareness and attracts as well as sustains the large
number of customers (Zsarnoczky, 2018).
Twitter- As comparison to the other platforms, Twitter seems more challenging for the
social media marketing. It streams new content that leaves small content of the time to stand out.
It is one of the effective ways for tour operator to make the new connection. Other than this, the
main benefit of using Twitter to tour operator sector is that it helps in interacting as well as
connecting with the guest.
YouTube- While the photos of most useful for showing tour experience and the videos are
better if tour is the action packed. With the help of video of attractive tourism destination, people
can get the real sense of what experience they get. They can easily hear the event tour guide tell
information about the destination places. The YouTube is one of the best places to share videos
and photos of business. From the reviews of product to customer testimonials tour operator can
choose developed and published anything.
A comparison of different digital sales and marketing platforms for a range of tour operators,
evaluating their effectiveness in attracting and retaining customers in the tourism industry.
The digital sale is related to selling through the social media. It allows creating perfect
customer profile that enabling to personalize their Sales pitch. The digital marketing is where the
marketing efforts are run over the internet. In addition to this, the marketing platforms are
helpful in connecting with the customers by using the different channels such as Instagram,
blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn and many others. The digital sales and marketing platforms are
mainly used through the tour operators to attract the customers and also sustaining them in the
tourism industry. In relation to social media is one of the effective digital sales and the marketing
platform (Happ and Ivancsó-Horváth, 2018). It has different tools through which the tour
operator can easily connect with the customers, determine their requirement and also provide
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then information about the different destination place resources on the basis of their requirement.
In this, there will be no requirement to customers to go at the travel agency. With the help of
digital sales and marketing platform the tour operator and customers can easily interact with each
other and from this the tour operator can easily sustain the customers in travel and tourism
sector.
A critical analysis of digital sales and marketing channels and platforms used by the tour
operating sector, justifying the platforms chosen for retaining and expanding their
customer base.
Digital sales and the marketing platforms in the travel and tourism industry have in engage
the communities and also assure that their clients have best possible gateways. In order to
perform better and gain the competitive advantage the travel and tourism sector are always
looking for better and unique way to reach at buyer persona and tailor their providing to target
audience. With the help of using marketing channels and platforms the tour operator can easily at
write the large number of customers and serve online through using smart phones and tablet
devices and with the other devices. The travel online marketing can go viral for given audience
through using audio, video email and other mediums (Morrison, 2018). The Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube are the main platforms which are selected through the tour operating sector for
sustaining as well and expanding the customer base because through this the tour operator can
communicate with the people and also provide then the better tour packages over there they can
travel without using any complexities. This is one of the effective ways to attract the consumers
and also sustain them in travel industry for long period of time.
PART 2
A plan of a digital sales and marketing campaign using recognised marketing methods and apply
this to TUI business
Digital sales and marketing campaign is an effective way through which an entity seeks to
inflate its reach among public and thereby consequently enhance its sales and profitability
prospects. In this relation, such campaign can be better developed when proper planning is
executed in relation to it in advance (How to plan a successful digital marketing campaign,
2020). TUI Group is considered as the biggest leisure tourism and travel organisation across the
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globe. It owns several hotels, airline, cruise ship, retail outlets and travel agencies. The
management of this tour operator is looking upon launching a digital sales and marketing
campaign for which it wants to do effective planning. Thus, it has prepared a plan of a digital
sales and marketing campaign to ensure that the campaign is formulated in an effective manner
and yields the desired results. Such plan made by the respective tourism company, consisting of
6 staged process, is presented below:-
Define your business brief
 Analyse your market: Hereby, TUI Group will gain clear knowledge of the standing and
likelihood of people towards the products and services offered by this organisation within the
confines of tourism sector.
 Research your competitors: It is quite important for TUI Group to gain knowledge of the
rival firms along with their strategies in order to create and develop own digital sales and
marketing strategy accordingly (Keller and et. al., 2016).
 Defining goals & objectives: It becomes significant for the respective travel and tourism tour
operator to lay down clear goals and objectives that are to be achieved as a result of the
sound execution of company’s digital sales and marketing campaign.
Define your budget
 Resource allocation: Resources are scarce and thus it is important for the marketing manager
of TUI Group to effectively and strategically assign the resources to different activities in
accordance with the requirements.
 Requirement of assets: This step is concerned with ascertainment of the requirement of assets
along with making arrangements to procure the same.
 Distribution strategy: Hereby, the entity decides upon the distribution strategy to be used
within the digital sales and marketing campaign. In this relation, it has been identified that
Pay Per Click is an effective distribution strategy that can be used by TUI Group.
Define buyer personas
 Understanding their challenges & goals: The most important aspect for each and every
company is the customer base whose needs and demands keep on changing with the
evolution of time. In this stage, the marketing manager of TUI Group will undertake
measures to gain knowledge of the challenges and goals of the buyers (Geria, Maheswari and
Pemayun, 2018).
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 Identification of themes & keywords: This is concerned with selection of themes that can be
used as the foundation for content creation of TUI Group. Further, keywords would be put to
use in order to inflate the impact of company’s content amidst the audience.
 Selection of appropriate marketing tools/channels: This step is associated with gaining
knowledge of the right mix of marketing tools and channels that can be used by TUI Group.
Some of the tools or channels that can be taken into consideration by the concerned travel
and tourism operator are SEO, content marketing, affiliate, social media, PPC, email
marketing etc.
Content Development
 Awareness: Awareness content is to be created in accordance with the individuals who would
share the same. This needs to have mass share ability along with a broad appeal.
 Convert: Conversion content should have the capability to react to the challenges that the
buyer personas are encountering. If this does not add value, it is not included in the digital
promotion strategy (Reichstein and Härting, 2018).
 Nurture: Nurture content is designed to suit the audience and seeks to engage them with the
brand. If this is executed well, it will pay way for the success of digital branding of TUI
Group.
Implementation
 Time plan: Prior to the production of digital content, a considerable amount of time is
required for the campaign. This will provide assistance to TUI Group in dividing the time
and planning resources in an effective manner.
 Asset Creation: This is the stage whereby the digital content ideas are converted into real life
assets that are ready for the purpose of distribution (Sheth, Sinha and Shah, 2016).
 Distribution plan: This is concerned with determining how and where digital content would
go out. Also, it needs to take into consideration how the content created by TUI Group fits
the larger body of content.
Reporting
 Track: Whenever a digital sales and marketing campaign goes viral, it becomes important for
the company to track its progress at regular intervals of time so as to make sure that it does
not deviated from the path to achieve the goals set at the beginning.
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 Measure: Measurement of the results of digital sales and marketing campaign is crucial for
TUI Group. This provides assistance in finding out whether the desired results were achieved
as a result of its formulation and execution.
Adapt: Once the results are measured, TUI Group would find out what worked out exceptionally
and what did not turn out right. Thus, the respective travel and tourism operator would adapt in
accordance with it (Pelet, Barton and Chapuis, 2019).
An examination of how omni-channel marketing has evolved and its application in digital sales
and marketing campaign
The Omni channel marketing is an approach that gives consumers with completely
seamless as well as integrated shopping experience from first touch point to last. The Omni-
channel marketing is together to developed unified message, voice and brand for organization.
The Omni channel strategy is necessary because it helps in enhance the customer experience
rating. It gives customers with better experience no matter where they are or what device they
are currently using. With the help of using Omni channel, people can communicate with business
at given time on any channel or device. The tour operators in collaboration with the digital
service providers make the big deal regarding it. They can help the consumer tracking their
channels and also touch point to be digitalized in a better manner with software and the solution
to get and interpreted consumer’s data (Li and Mačerinskienė, 2016). The Omni channel is
becoming necessary as consumers begin demand this kind of the service. They want to become
an interaction in one channel and also complete in another. Its main focus is on providing the
better experience to the consumers. On the other hand, Omni channel is connected with the
digital sales and the marketing campaign is providing the better experience to consumers across
all the channels. These includes online marketing channel search a social media, commerce
websites and the mobile advertising. The digital sales and the marketing campaign are necessary
medium to transfer product and brand information to consumers. The digital marketing of Omni
channel understands importance of strategized, personalized and segment approach to buying
part of consumers.
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Develop a digital sales and marketing campaign using recognised marketing methods and omni-
channel marketing to effectively meet strategic objectives for market position and
customer acquisition at TUI
Developing the digital sales and marketing campaign using recognised marketing method
as well as Omni channel marketing is helpful in meet with the strategic objective for marketing
positioning and the consumer acquisition. The digital sales and marketing campaign is one of the
effective ways to attracting customers and sustaining them at the marketplace for long period of
time. In order to developing the digital sales and marketing campaign, group can use the
celebrity in order to promote the services and products. People are mainly influence the
advertising by the celebrity taken that advertisement. Through this, company can able to target
the new customer base (Bratec, 2018). On the other hand, tour operator can use the different
digital platforms and also provide the regular update regarding the services and new offerings
provided by TUI group. This is one of the effective ways to interact with customers and also
attract towards its product and services.
An evaluation of the measurement techniques and performance metrics used in digital marketing
The measurement techniques and the performance metrics used in digital marketing are the
values used to marketing teams to measure as well as better performance of marketing
campaigns. Digital marketing teams use various tools to promote the services and products and
also tracking outcomes can often be time consuming as well as complex. Measurement
techniques and the digital marketing metrics used to drive the performance of the marketing
campaigns. With the help of using digital marketing, this is easier to identify the target as well as
measure performance on the basis of values (Adeola and Evans, 2019). The main measurement
technique is determining the total site visit for. It is necessary that monitor as well as track over
time to provide of idea about effectiveness of the marketing campaign is at the driving campaign.
Other than this, traffic by sources or channels is one of the useful for segmenting the traffic
source to pinpoint which ones are over and also underperforming overall marketing campaign.
These both are the effective measurement techniques which are mainly used by TUI digital
marketing (Liberato and et. al., 2017).
Presenting a set of actions to improve performance in digital marketing
In this present time, the travel and tourism sector go in hand with the digital marketing.
New generation of the travelers rely on the local agencies to help them decide where they need to
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go. The people of generation Z are getting inspiration online through different channel such as
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and many other travelling channels. With the help of using
digital platforms travel deals and provides to reach at more potential travelers then what the
traditional marketing do. In order to make improvement in the digital marketing, there is a need
to travel and tourism sector to use the social media to communicate with the customers. Through
this, the tourism sector can handle the enquiries of customers faster and personal through use of
the social media. This does not include answering to the queries but also the tourism sector can
supply information even before asking them. With the help of using social media tourist sector
can upload the shares of various better places and also show potential consumers exclusive travel
deals. On the other hand, the digital marketing permits the better collection and analyzes the
data. There is a need to use data to develop the personalized travel experience to the people who
talk with streamlined channel; the tour industry can collect all the consumers interact with them
by sales pipeline and service duration. Collected data can be easily analyzed to permit offer
personalized experience for consumers’ on large scale and determine the patterns which could
negatively impact on services (Misso and et. al., 2018).
A critical evaluation of the effectiveness of monitoring and measuring digital marketing, and
recommend possible improvements
Digital marketing is component of the marketing that use internet and the online based
digital technology like mobile phones and some other digital platforms to promote the product
and services. The digital marketing has changed marketers operate and provided them ability to
put messages right at fingertips of the potential consumers. Digital marketing is helpful in travel
and tourism sector to promote the destination. The people willing to travel used to search the
travel destination in print medium and with the help of using digital marketing they can easily
get the information regarding the different travelling places. In order to make improvement in the
digital marketing, it is necessary to use the social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube
and Twitter (Yoga, Korry and Yulianti, 2019). On the other hand make my trip, cleartrip and
many other more firms use the digital marketing in order to promote the business. It is necessary
to keep update information regarding the different destination places and the product and
services offered through the organisation. These are helpful in attract the customers and also
make improvement in the digital marketing.
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A critical evaluation of the challenges and opportunities of the sales and marketing campaign,
and justify the choice of methods for monitoring and measuring performance
There has been discussed about the different marketing campaign such as use the celebrity
to promote the products and services and also use the different platforms to attract the customers.
The main opportunity that company can get from celebrity invitation is to attract the large
number of customers. Other than this, some people think that it is more expensive for them and
they cannot easily purchase the services (Meriläinen, 2017). Other than this, the digital platforms
are helpful in attracting the customers and also communicate with them in an effective manner.
On the other hand, the main challenges is related to this sales and marketing campaign is that
people do not believe on the digital platforms and there think that there is a chance of leak of
their personal and financial information. It is necessary for company to monitoring these both the
campaigns and also measuring performance with the help of using KPI.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above report, it has been determined that digital sales allow the conversion
of leads in to prospects. Besides this, it is recognised that digital marketing allows companies to
get connected with the customers prevailing in any part of the globe just with a click of their
hand. Further, it allows real time networking of a business entity with its potential customers
across the world. Apart from this, it has been acknowledged that digital sales when employed
with digital marketing tend to inflate the scale of operations along with financial performance of
the firm. In addition to this, it has also been determined that digital sales and marketing
campaign is an effective way through which the entity can reach out to the public and inflate its
sales in rapid course of time. It is further discovered that proper planning is required to be done
prior to the actual implementation of the campaign in market. The progress of the campaign
needs to be tracked and measured in order to find out the deviations and adapt in accordance
with it. Along with this, it has been determined that an entity can execute a number of actions to
ensure success in digital marketing. This provides aid to the entity in achieving the corporate
goals and objectives in due course of time.
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