That’s how you can win Online

With age comes great experience!

I’m 38-years-old and my dad is 65. He told me 15 years ago, and yes 15 years ago, to focus on digital media!

Another media mogul Rohinton Maloo, my uncle whom I lost at the unfortunate 26/11 shooting, had termed ‘Internet Marketing’ the next big thing, even before people had defined digital as that.

I took onto this media as I wanted to understand it and I must confess that I got connected to it instantly. Back then, I wasn’t a marketer or social media or video guy, with personal passion to be a movie star and a current ambition to make a full length feature film after I do my documentary on immigration confusion. I got into this business of digital marketing to warn and help hoteliers and travel agents to transcend their business to the much-needed next level.

With the state of affairs the hospitality and travel industry has been in last few years, I sadly state here that many have shut down, many are losing money, many have their kids do other jobs or take on other businesses.

Now, come on! You’re in travel and hospitality industry and you’re not giving online a go? Are you freaking crazy? I ask this with all due respect.

Are you freaking crazy?

Plain lazy?

Or tried a few times with crook companies and now believe that digital doesn’t work?

Who are you from the above personalities?

Did you know that 76% of travellers plan their leisure trips online? And up to 39% of the Indian business travellers make their travel arrangements including hotel bookings through their mobiles.

World’s become small with digital exposure, and if you’re not ready to invest in this medium, you aren’t getting anywhere.

I get a call a day asking “when are you doing my portal and taking my travel business online. Please remember we want to be like Make My Trip.”

Are you serious? I mean, it’s great you have that aspiration, but if you want me to make you the best, just like Make My Trip, I hope you read the story and the trials that Deep Kalra and his co-founders went through to make the Company what it is today.

It’s not all about the amount of money you can put in. How much money depends on what you need from digital.

Wait a minute! Did I hear you say “ROI”? “I want to make money and that too fast.”

If the above is coming from you, guess what! You’re on the right track. If you want to make 10 times of what you do right now, you’re not wrong in your expectations. Let me tell you that it’s absolutely possible!

4 things to do to start with digital media:

1. Find the best company in the world in your vertical
2. Get them to understand your potentials and history
3. Look at their proposals
4. Get a successful online mentor whose business is not this. Why? Because he will be unbiased and would help you choose the best partner to work with.

2 other important points to make note of:

1. Keep an in-house professional, with mid-term to senior level experience, to manage the work with a digital agency.
2. Try and close the most-trusted vendors for your digital initiatives.

Here’s a low-down on the things to keep in mind while choosing your digital marketing/web-design agency:

1. Analyse your past investments in marketing and advertising against the ROI they got you. Ask your agency for the tangible results they have delivered in the past.
2. Do a track record check.
3. Is your agency talking content, or merely harpering on the beauty of how the website may look?
4. Create short-term objectives and Plan of action and analyse performance every now and then.

You can read here in detail about the guidelines on choosing the perfect digital agency: https://www.internetmoguls.com/blog/details/your-guide-to-choosing-the-perfect-web-design-agency.aspx

Now that you’ve decided to go digital, Congratulations!

However, it’s also important that you:

• Make sure you have your domains booked for the next few years – five years, at least.
• Have your servers and back-up servers ready.
• Keep a long-term plan ready.

Today, being a travel agency, you sell air/train tickets, hotel rooms, holidays, visa services. What will get you more traction and what ROI, is for your digital agency to determine.

And for that, it’s necessary that your in-house guy and the agency are on the same page. Your personal involvement is mandatory, too. If you can't invest time on your own agency reviews, you are better off NOT hiring an agency.

Online is growing; the billions are there and you can have your share, but it needs a proper story, a proper plan and a time tested professional in-house or outside agency that will ensure results.