My nephew Oliver illustrates the new found power of the consumer.
I am 4 pages into writing a new eBook. We’re working on an accompanying InfoGraphic as well. Stay tuned. I’m having a blast writing it.
In some of my research, I came across what I think is one of the best statements of the tectonic shift away from Outbound and toward Inbound Marketing that I have ever read. And it is not from a company that has anything to benefit from promoting Inbound. Here you go . . .
Shift of Power to the Consumer
Euromonitor International published a study in January titled “Online Travel: Shift of Power to Consumers” with the following synopsis . . .
The online travel revolution which has taken place in the last 10 years has led to substantial changes in the travel industry’s competitive environment. These are so significant to force companies to re-think their business models. In particular, consumers now play a much more central and active role, while technology players have become essential partners for travel companies. Customer knowledge and social interaction are key requirements to compete successfully in this new environment. (emphasis ours)
Those are heavy words. Revolution. Substantial. Significant. Force. Re-think. Essential.
Now look at the key phrases. I’ll explain some of these terms more thoroughly in the eBook, but focus on the last two sentences in particular.
“Technology players” means Google. Google is an “essential partner” for travel companies because consumers are now educating themselves via search. What are they looking for and finding when they use Google? — educational content on travel company websites. That’s content marketing. That’s Inbound Marketing. They are using Google to gain “customer knowledge” and that knowledge is influencing their travel decisions.
“Social interaction” is talking about an amplification of word-of-mouth and further customer education via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the rest. Travel companies need to be innovative and involved in the social sphere, enabling and amplifying referrals as much as possible.
Euromonitor International understands that the consumer now has better tools with which to make buying (travel planning, in this instance) decisions. Armed with these new tools, the consumer pays much less attention to often irrelevant interruption advertising. The effectiveness of those advertisements has been severely undercut because of this huge empowerment of the consumer. That’s Inbound Marketing very clearly stated.
Is that travel study worth anything? I don’t know, but they seem to think so. It costs $2,000 to download. The following download is a little more affordable . . .
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