There’s no Business like Web Business to Do Business!

In the distant past before internet (when was that? LOL), a word of mouth referral was one person speaking to another in conversation over a meal or on the telephone to recommend different airlines, hotels, etc. for business travel and leisure travel.  Now with internet, social media, mobile apps, texting and so many ways we connect to each other, word of mouth has taken on an entirely new meaning and scope — whether it’s business travel or making the best chicken soup!

The web is a confusing place for marketing because technology keeps changing.  Businesses need to keep pace.  Business travelers and leisure travelers alike are no exception to the interesting statistics now showing up in market research, as to how they search, research and make buying decisions these days.

Take a look at these statistics:

1. Google says…the average traveler conducts 9.5 research periods on the web and visits 22 travel related sites before booking.

2. Facebook epitomizes the six degrees of separation that is giving “word of mouth” a whole new definition!  Friends of friends may make a positive post about a business or service they’ve obtained on their Facebook wall and voila!  Friends of friends of friends see that post and decide they too will use that vendor or service provider.

The opposite is most definitely true, as related about one business blogger who felt the power behind the pen (or the computer keys, as the case may be)!

Social networking is growing quicker than is the travel industry itself, according to PhoCusWright, and good content is king!  Mobile apps?  You betcha!  PhoCusWright also states that 72% use a combination of mobile websites and apps; 28% leisure travelers who use web only, do so, on mobile websites.

Let’s face it, if you are a business owner who has not moved your marketing onto the web in the fullest sense of the word you will get run over as powerfully as was the railroad way back when.

The web and mobile web have completely changed everything about how to promote your business.  It can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how you do business and how you use it.  Since we’ve been marketing on the web strategically business has grown steadily.