Thursday, November 20, 2014

A textual, original duo rendition of Hallelujah (photos with lyrics caption)





Photo-Video on how #LeonardCohen 's #lyrics to #Hallelujah may foster a more meaningful relationship with God or perhaps with a loved one

Michel Bonin plays Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah with Angela Campbell Live ...

Friday, May 30, 2014

Ten Tips for Canadian tourist operators to be found early by travelers of Japanese, Chinese and Korean origin

The following Ten Tips are based on Michael Bonin & Associates association with Japan Advertising, CanadaJournal.com and its (Travel & Leisure) MUST GO™ Directory of Canadian tourist operators and destinations. That is in a competitive environment where metrics are increasingly dominated by the Analytics of the top search engines and social networks serving Northeast Asians and their Diasporas.
TIP #1  Web platforms of Canadian traditional publishers and their directories in Northeast Asian languages are likely to be visited at the early stage of the travel planning process. For example, over half of the 413,000 surfers who accessed the in 2013 (over 34,000 unique monthly visitors) had an IP address located outside North America.
TIP #2  On average, five percent of unique views recorded on a Mini-Web (landing) Page hosted on the MUST GO™ Directory eventually generate leads before conversion occurs. Search on popular engines that first land on the directory pages can play a critical role in driving conversions later down the lead funnel path. This comes as feedback from organizations among the hundreds present on the directory since the creation of its online version in 1999.
TIP #3  Content of Mini-Web (landing) Pages is accessed for organizations either listed in the MUST GO™ Directory or advertising with a display banner on it. Such a page is often where a particular lead originates from before it becomes an inquiry, a registration, a booking, a sale.
TIP #4  The apparent inefficiency of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns to convert in Northeast Asian languages may be explained from the use of existing search engine technologies:
-  At best, their algorithms offer a measure of productivity (metrics) that focus the kpi on an attribution of leads traceable in a funnel through a conversion path (inquiry, free download, booking, registration, etc).
-  At worse, PPC reflect inefficiencies from common fraudulent clicks affecting campaigns in parts of Asia (the well known 'water armies').
More efficient than PPC models, Cost-Per-Thousand (CPM) Impressions models account for lead generation when no click occurs, a common phenomenon at the early stage of the trip planning experience before action is taken, when attention and interest must be raised.
TIP #5  Algorithms used by Google in the West and namely Baidu in Northeast Asia, provide the merest insight into the customer experience and its conversion path. Confined to the metrics of search ad and organic search listing, their attribution models measuring leads from the last action or reporting multi-channel funnels would require to be validated by asking actual visitors (what) had been their search process. With virtual journeys quite complex, the latter sometime last up to a year in the case of oversea/long-haul travel.
Tip #6  Prospects of Northeast Asian origin will first browse to establish a preliminary list often systematically, of country, region, accommodation, attractions, restaurants, events etc more likely to be booked, visited or attended. That is well before they finally act by communicating with travel agents or tour operators. Somewhat less likely, they may contact directly tourist operators and destinations. That is if they can overcome what may appear in general as shyness in the stereotyped Northeast Asian character but is more likely some natural apprehension to be addressed in a foreign language most are unfamiliar with or uncomfortable to practice.
Tip #7  When asked to list or rank the tools used to plan a trip, travelers * of Northeast Asian origin can barely recall accurately (whether aided or unaided) where they may have originally come across a particular mention or even an extensive content profiling a tourist operation or destination they have since reached. That is particularly true if the virtual tools used words in a language foreign to them like English.
* Ranking gets even more evasive among leisure travelers. Digital content now available supersedes legacy sources easier to recall like newspaper ads or brochures from travel agents. The quantity of virtual word-of-mouth through multiple social sharing, such as clicks on 'Weibo like button', 'Google+ Japan button', etc, added to bookmarking, makes for less reliable expressions of personal appreciation through a simple recall of used sources.
Tip #8  Tourism organizations with display banner ads on traditional publisher's web platforms or placing content on listing in directories such as the MUST GO™ should discount as unreliable and incomplete the number of direct inquiries they have received from surfers. The latter need first to FIND preferably in their own language and COMPARE content posted on generic websites, directories as well as social media platforms. That is before they EVALUATE their short list, respond to a Call-to-Action and eventually commit their yen, yuan or won.
Tip #9  When evaluating digital marketing success among middle classes of Northeast Asian origin, a different set of criteria may apply than among those of Western culture. As first or second generation of travelers to the West, they generally go through a more elaborate trip planning process online before considering long-haul travel beyond their East Asian borders.
Tip #10  In terms of macro indicators of the Canadian tourism industry performance, the data should rely more on key-index focusing on the number and quality of actual visitors of Northeast Asian origin attracted over at least a five-year (rolling) period. Outside Western countries from the Northern Hemisphere, any shorter time frames are increasingly subject to unforeseen circumstances like natural and climate-related events, man-made disasters, medical scares, currency fluctuations, short term effect of travel visa policy changes across countries, etc.
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For more on THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY and the SOURCE OF TRAFFIC ON MINI-WEB (LANDING) PAGES hosted on the directory published by Japan Advertising in Northeast Asian languages, check my presentation for Rendez-vous Canada 2014 available on Google Doc by following these links:
Understanding  the  customer  journey  beyond  Search  Engine  Analytics
How Canadian tourism organizations can be found early in Japanese, Chinese and Korean