DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY ONLINE TOURISM COMPANIES
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Vidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal 12(2) 324-336 ISSN 2319-4979
DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY ONLINE TOURISM COMPANIES
IN INDIA
T. Avhad and N. Anute
ASM’s Institute of Business Management and Research, Pune, Maharashtra
tejaswiniavhad03@gmail.com, nileshanute@gmail.com
_______________________________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT
In recent years, India is showing exceptional growth in tourism industry. The heart of digital marketing lies in the
active seeking of information process. Because of digital marketing, customer acquisition and retention has become
very easy. There is seen a boost in the business models in the Indian online travel booking industry, since the success of
IRCTC’s railway ticket purchase site. The Indian online tourism companies extends beyond travel based services to
hotel reservations, holiday package bookings etc. In this research paper researchers have studied different digital
marketing strategies and analyzed those strategies. Each of the selected travel companies have their unique strategies.
How the digital marketing strategies used by the travel companies influence their business has been discussed. After
the analysis of the digital marketing strategies, the growth opportunities and the challenges faced by the companies are
discussed. This research is based on secondary database and has a descriptive design. Findings of this research paper
will be helpful to tourism industries to design their websites and digital marketing strategies. It will help the companies
to implement some more services in their portfolio. The paper will help the companies to understand their competitors
and their performance.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Keywords: Digital Marketing, Internet marketing, Travel and Tourism, Social Media.
Introduction impact on growth of tourism industry. Not only
the travel agencies, but also International Hotel
Tourism Industry is one of the largest service
Chains are seen emerging. Staycations are on
industries, which plays an important role in the
bandwagon. To get relief from stress people
growing the economy of the country. In 2019
stay at luxurious hotels to accomplish those
India has ranked 44th position in the travel and
needs of people major hotels change are
tourism Competitive Index (TTCI) of World
offering such facilities. Overall, huge potential
Economic Forum. Tourism opens opportunities
growth can be seen in India’s Tourism
not only for hotels, but also transport
Industry. Over a period, transition from
infrastructure which includes aviation, roads,
traditional to modern marketing has occurred.
shipping, and railways. Tourism sector
The innovative technologies are having huge
increases the employment rate of the country.
impact on the field of marketing. To sustain in
There are several opportunities created by
the market adapting the technology as a part of
government to promote tourism industry. Free
marketing activities is the most crucial step.
loans are provided by government to MSME’s
Use of electronic media like web, email and
which includes tourism sector, and this will
wireless media in concurrence with digital data
help them to face covid-19 crisis. Air Bubble
which includes customer behavior, to manage
Agreements are made with almost 27 countries.
and execute marketing activities can be said as
Recently Sri Lanka is added in the list and
digital marketing. Potential customers can be
negotiation is going with Thailand. Campaigns
reached with the use of advanced electronic
are being launched by the government to boost
devices and platforms. Interactive
the potential of tourism industry. “Swadesh
communication channels have been introduced
Darshan” is one of them. Some more tourism
which has affected the marketing strategies.
policies are also being focused to develop
Targeting the expected audience with pre-
Religious Tourism. Destinations are being
designed messages, which suits the customer
added to the existing ones. India is culturally
problems and needs has become quite easy
rich, has great historical Heritages, diverse
because of digital marketing. Communication,
culture, which attracts tourists. In recent days,
data, and messaging are integrated on multiple
many different digital tools are being used in
platforms by digital marketing which makes it
travel industry for analyzing the budget,
the best form of integrated Marketing.
exploring places and bookings. This has a huge
June 2021 324 www.viirj.orgVidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal 12(2) ISSN 2319-4979
Importance of Digital Marketing in Tourism Travel bloggers and vloggers can be the
Industries biggest assets for tourism industries as they are
the major influences.
Digital platforms help in getting maximum
leads which helps in expanding the business Literature review
and so as the profit. With the help of digital Radmila Zivkovic, Jelena Gajic, Ivana Brdar,
marketing various travel deals and offers (April 2014) in their research paper they said
reaches the potential travelers than traditional that Fundamental changes are seen in tourism
marketing. Social media has a strong impact on industries due to digital technologies. It has
digital marketing. It helps in developing brand simplified understanding of decision-making
awareness. The young travelers now do not process of travel and tourist behavior. Travel
rely on the travel agent. They use digital related applications has an opportunity to grow
platforms to decide the destination and plan and tourism industry needs to understand the
their journey. Travel blogs now a days are in a motivating factors and traveler’s needs. Social
bandwagon and creating unique inspirations for media will be recognized as one of the most
different travelers. Travelers are using all the important tools in tourism marketing. It will be
digital media which is boosting the tourism used to concentrate on developing relationships
industries. Digital marketing has made it easy and adapting to tourist needs. Using social
for tourists to plan their complete journey, media tourist will be encouraged to talk about
starting from selecting the destination to and share their good experiences.
booking the tickets and hotel. It is helping not Dr. S. Praveen Kumar in his research paper
only the customers but also the tourism (November 2014) he concluded that, travelers
businesses to build their strong networks and are heavily dependent on internet as tourism is
customers. Digitization has brought great basically a service sector and is associated with
opportunities for tourism industries to a higher level of perceived risk. For travel
implement variety of digital marketing suppliers and tourism authorities, it is very
strategies, which will help them in creating important to understand traveler’s behavior, in
awareness about the company and their order to formulate efficient marketing
services. Large number of audiences can be strategies and policies which will fully exploit
reached using digital marketing. Exclusive the potential of this new channel.
offers can be provided which will inspire Anwesha Mukherjee and Manasa
travelers. Customers in any part of world can Nagabhushanam (June 2016) in their research
be connected by the means of digitization. paper they have discussed about Content
Customer’s needs and requirements can be Analysis, which can be used to analyze the
understood even before they enquire about content of social media marketing by tourism
services. “The best places to travel” is the most industries to promote their plans. Quantitative
common and most searched line on search analysis can also be made in the form of
engines by travelers does not matter if the questionnaire survey to understand how social
person is a traveler or seasoned traveler. This is media impact tourist during travel plan. This
the reason it is very important for the personnel analysis will help in understanding the 360
in tourism industries to invest in search engine view of how tourism industries use social
optimization. That helps in increasing number media to promote themselves and how far the
of visitors who visit your pages and get to travellers are dependent on social media while
know your exclusive offers. Encouraging the planning their trip.
travelers to buy your product is not the only I Gde Pitana and Putu Diah Sastri Pitanatri in
goal of digital marketing. It involves something their research paper (September 2016)
beyond it that is to get customer loyalty in the concluded that, Online Travel Agencies are
digital marketing content if the basic but stealing the market by operating on wider
essential information is added like about the coverage area internationally. For travel
maps or guides, specific tourist sites, agencies, going digital is an important factor to
transportation, rules, and regulations. It will achieve success. People are relying widely on
help the seasoned travelers and will give them social media and their content is wide and
the excitement for going with your packages.
June 2021 325 www.viirj.orgVidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal 12(2) ISSN 2319-4979
varied. More organic campaigns are needed to Shwetasaibal Samanta and Mukunda Bg in
do through visitors and local community their research paper (August 2020) concluded
keywords that should be in the campaign. that, Social media is a platform where
Avinash B.M, Dr. S. Harish Babu and awareness of destination can be created,
Megha.B (2016) in their research paper found travelers can be encouraged to plan their
that, almost 90% of people who responded the journey, brand image can be developed. Social
survey opines digital platforms as they provide media is being used widely to promote travel
quick and updated information and provides destinations and products. They also said,
easy access. People prefer to get best deals Odisha needs to have a strong presence on
offered by whichever site that shows price social media. There should be a two way
sensitivity. Customers are very satisfied with communication between the company and the
tourism services offered through digital potential customers. Customers spend a lot of
platforms and digital marketing. People will time on social media and this time can be
continue sharing their travel experience, photos utilized to create a destination image in their
and blogs using social media which will minds.
influence tourist.
Research methodology
Gurneet Kaur (June 2017) in the research paper
found that, due to digital marketing, businesses Research objectives
are reaching customers in a different way. To study the digital marketing strategies of
Digital marketing has the ability to track the online tourism companies in India.
data of consumer behavior. Few years ago, To study the influence of digital marketing
digital marketing has transformed the business strategies of online tourism companies in
of tourism industry. In tourism industry if one India on their business performance.
wants to be successful, they must maintain the
To study the growth and opportunities for
Website quality, Search Engine Optimization,
online tourism companies in India using
Email Marketing, Quality Content, Mobile
digital marketing strategies.
friendly and strong presence on social media.
To study the influence of new tends in
Due to digital marketing, businesses are
digital marketing in online tourism
reaching customers in a different way. Digital
companies in India.
marketing has the ability to track the data of
consumer behavior. Few years ago, digital This research paper is basically based on
marketing has transformed the business of secondary data. To data collection several
tourism industry. recent blogs, articles, educational websites,
Nina Siti Salmaniah Siregar, Nasrul, Yusuf, research papers, social media sites, books,
Ana Ariekaningsih, Eliyanti Agus journals, social media pages of the companies
Mokodompit, in their research paper (February selected are referred. It is a Descriptive
2020) concluded that, in travel industry, Research design.
Facebook is ruler as it gives maximum data of Digital Marketing Analysis of Selected
potential customers. The travel marketers can Tourism Companies
collaborate with their clients using Facebook
and twitter. As you tube is second largest MakeMyTrip- Basic policy of MakeMyTrip is
search engine, travel industries can use this putting customer’s needs at the top priority,
platform wisely. Blog marketing can help which helps them to gain loyal customers.
travel industry in increasing its ranking. Article They focus on brand popularity and
marketing is one of the important tool in establishment. They communicate by means of
generating traffic to the website and increasing Television Commercials, Electronic Banners
the ranks. on its websites and offline retail stores. Their
target customers are the youth of age 18-48.
June 2021 326 www.viirj.orgVidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal 12(2) ISSN 2319-4979
Digital Marketing Analysis-
(Generated by researchers, using secondary data)
Traffic generated from various sources
66.04%
31.10%
0.5% 1.00% 0.73% 0.18%
Direct Referrals Search Engines Email Social media Display ads
Search Engines- The search engine Campaigns- MMT is launching its new
optimization strategy of MakeMyTrip focuses campaign featuring Ranveer Singh and Alia
on targeting keyword so as to remain on the Bhatt. The main objective of this campaign is
top. The resulting meta-tags takes the previous to drive the attention of consumers towards
to the landing page. MakeMyTrip uses PPC online hotel bookings. The ad campaign
strategy to increase its ranking. Homepage of delivers clear message of reliability and perks
MakeMyTrip gives customers various options of booking hotels online.
for managing trips. My 20 tab enables business Email marketing- It includes welcome emails
travelers to know the corporate affairs with with welcome offers. Welcome code is made
easy modifications, Curated hotels for safe and available for users to begin their journey with
hygienic stays and GST invoice assurance MakeMyTrip. Also in the welcome mails
using their work email. Users can earn wallet several allowances are provided on flight
cash by signing in and the tap for it lies on the bookings, hotels and bus bookings with book
upper right corner itself. Various offers and now option. Also there is an option provided to
allowances are seen on the homepage of download the application which promotes the
makemytrip.com like allowances on domestic mobile applications. Reminder emails are sent
flights and bus booking. Tagline like “Zero with catchy subject lines. The description may
Penalty, Zero Worries” are used in the offers consist of landing, blogs or videos. Referral
with graphics. According to recent covid codes are also provided by mmt. About 1% of
pandemic condition the initiatives taken up by traffic to the web site comes from email
the company are highlighted on the homepage. marketing. Though it is not a big number, but if
Trip ideas are given on the homepage which the company works on email marketing, they
can guide the tourist to plan their trip budget can increase this number.
and preferred destinations. Trip money option Social media marketing- Social media
gives the facilities of travel loan personal loan marketing lies on 5th number. It has a
and insurance. All these features on the website significant presence. It can help in generating
makes it easy for the traveller to plan their more revenue. 0.73% of traffic on website
complete trip on a single click. About 66.04% comes from social media.
of traffic is from search engines, out of which You Tube- Maximum traffic is generated from
87.21% is from organic keywords. Top 5 YouTube of 39.50%. “Think International,
organic keywords are makemytrip, make my Think MakeMyTrip”; “International Trip,
trip, mmt, pnr status, flight booking. 12.79% is Only With MakeMyTrip”; “Pay at Hotel” are
paid traffic from paid keywords. Top 5 paid some of the tags used in YouTube ads. From
keywords are makemytrip, make my trip, mmt, this it can be said that MakeMyTrip tries to use
flight ticket, makemy trip. Direct Traffic- pull strategy of marketing via YouTube means
Search engines are followed by direct search of communication. MakeMyTrip has signed in
with 31.10 %. with duo, Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh.
Series of videos are seen on this platform in
June 2021 327 www.viirj.orgVidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal 12(2) ISSN 2319-4979
“to be continued” format and short stories. seen posted on Instagram. “Swipe up” option
Multiple themes can be seen in the video in the stories takes the visitor to the website of
advertises. MakeMyTrip app is promoted on MakeMyTrip. As the contact details are
YouTube ads at the end. provided on the page, it enables the visitors to
WhatsApp webapp- WhatsApp web app comes immediately contact them which can help
to the second position with 37.10% of the total company to get revenue. It creates mod for
social media marketing. direct communication. Instagram is quite
Facebook- Facebook follows WhatsApp with popular among young generation which helps
11.51%. The Facebook posts of make my trip the company to reach the students and fresh
majorly focuses on destination videos. It also employees to plan their journey. It creates and
gives the option of booking in the description. awareness and recognition among the viewers.
The Facebook posts inspires viewers for Display advertising- It lies at the last position
traveling. Facebook marketing of MMT uses in generating the traffic for website. 0.18% is
Pull marketing strategy by posting beautiful the contribution of display advertising. Top
and attractive destination post which attract the publishers are joinhoney.com, bing.com,
travellers. couponexplorer.com, zoutons.com. Top ad
Twitter- Twitter contributes 5.33%. #MyIndia networks are Vcommission, Admitad, Google
travelling campaign is been promoted through display network, Optimize.
a video featured by Alia Bhatt. CSR activities Blogs- MakeMyTrip blogs helps travelers for
and awards are promoted through Twitter. planning their next holidays and inspires them
Hashtags are implemented on timely basis by for travels. Blogs on adventures, beaches,
MakeMyTrip which helps in receiving better festivals, hotel ideas, and luxury gateways are
response. The recent #MyIndia contest is seen. “Surprise Me” is a Pandora box of
receiving an overwhelming response on surprises which has collection of blocks from
Twitter, it is trending edit will result in some selling travelogues to budget travel ideas and
leads. road trips.
LinkedIn- LinkedIn shares 4.25% in social Mobile apps- “MakeMy Trip travel booking”
media marketing. Using LinkedIn platform is the most used mobile app followed by
make my trip promotes its CSR activities and “MakeMy Trip experiences”. These
Awards. All their posts are related to social applications are present on all the major
responsibilities and their activities towards platforms including iOS, android and windows
society. phone.
Instagram Marketing- #DriveUpGetAway and Goibibo- Goibibo has introduced travel
#NearbyGetaway are the hashtags used in booking currency called “Go Cash”. They have
Instagram contents. Gateways and destinations also incorporated travel social network, “Go
are explored on Instagram. Nearby getaways Cash + rewards” which has helped them grow
initiative is promoted by this platform. Short rapidly. Because of affordable ticket prices
videos of #RoadTrippinWithRnM are also goibibo has largest consumer base.
Digital marketing analysis-
(Generated by researchers, using secondary data)
Traffic generated from various sources
55.24%
42.62%
0.50% 1.64% 0.79% 0.16%
Direct Referrals Search Email Social media Display
Search engines- The landing page of goibibo initiatives and campaigns are highlighted on
promotes its mobile application. Various the landing page. “Go Tribe” is an initiative of
June 2021 328 www.viirj.orgVidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal 12(2) ISSN 2319-4979
goibibo which aims at bringing the customers Social Media- Social media lies on fourth
of goibibo together to join all the similar young position in generating traffic. 0.79% of traffic
travel enthusiast, who can connect with each is generated from social media.
other this initiative is for oil customer and to YouTube- “Reclaim your Travel” is the
build the loyal customers. “Tribe coins” are initiative of series by goibibo where customers
offered on every booking to the go tribe star or can post their best travel contents and blogs
superstar member, which they can use to claim with goibibo and in return they can win an All-
tribe coupons. “Go cash” option gives chances expenses paid trip to “The Maldives”. Videos
for visitors to check credit balance and of this initiatives are seen on the YouTube
rewards. Out of the total traffic 55.24% comes channel. Moral appeal with
from search engines and from this 55.24%, #WeWillTakeOffAgain is the recent one which
88.75% is organic traffic and 11.25% is paid is giving a moral support to all the fighters in
traffic. Top 5 organic keywords are goibibo, the pandemic situation. Pull marketing strategy
go-mmt extranet, go ibibo, ibibo, and goibibo is used by goibibo with the combination of
flights. Top 5 paid keywords are goibibo, go different types of appeals. Variety of themes is
ibibo, goibibo flights, flight booking, and seen in the YouTube ads of goibibo. Goibibo
goibibo flights. Direct traffic- Direct website promotes itself maximum through YouTube.
visitors are 42.62%. Their share is quite higher YouTube contributes 49.33% of total social
as compared with others. media traffic. Deepika Padukone is seen
Popular Campaigns- “Go Befikar”, casting the advertisements of goibibo. The
“#BreakBhiEssentialHai”, YouTube ads contents mainly focus on the
“WeWillTakeOffAgain” are some of the recent rewards and Go Cash. They also promote “Go
campaigns by Goibibo. “Go Befikar” Stay” and their offers.
companies featuring Deepika Padukone. The Twitter- Goibibo is active on Twitter since
objective of this campaign highlights the 2009. It is used for direct communication with
brand’s promise of offering an amazing stay the customers to get their reviews both good
experience with “GoStays”. and bad. Grievances are called using this
“#BreakBhiEssentialHai” is the latest platform. Goibibo replies very quickly and tries
campaign which encourages people to have a to cover each of them. Goibibo is trying to grab
break from never ending work. It is helping the attention of cricket lovers with bade
people to explore themselves to the type of “BADE SHEHRON KI CHHOTI CHHOTI
brake they are looking for. Goibibo has BAATEIN”- #LeakedChats by goibibo. The
launched its new campaign content of Twitter follower’s similar theme as
#WeWillTakeOffAgain”. This digital like Facebook. Goibibo tries co-branding
campaign gives a message of hope and strategy on Twitter with its partner’s offers.
appreciation from the elder generation to the The brand uses 360 degree approach to ensure
younger generation, who is moving ahead in more conversations. It uses different types of
this challenging situation of covid Pandemic. hashtags to promote its activities and
Veteran actor, Anupam Kher and goibibo have initiatives, in order to build customer
come together to encourage the youth relationship. Twitter is second highest
contributing in the fight against covid-19. contributor in social media traffic. 25.73% of
Email marketing- Goibibo uses hyper total social media traffic comes from Twitter.
personalized emails to increase conversions by WhatsApp web app- 16.27% of social media
11%. User’s behavioral data and preference is traffic comes from WhatsApp.
analyzed to create the content of emails. If a Facebook- Cover page shows the image giving
person visits the website and does not make message of “Go Befikar”. “Book Now” option
any purchase within 30 minutes, then a mail is helps customers to plan or book their tickets
triggered to them. As compared with and hotels. Website and link to FAQ’s is
MakeMyTrip, goibibo gets more response from provided in the about section. Content of
email marketing of 1.64 % of total traffic. goibibo on Facebook tries to do something
extra ordinary. Define each occasion as an
opportunity to share their content with
June 2021 329 www.viirj.orgVidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal 12(2) ISSN 2319-4979
interesting hashtags. It's Facebook to keep the customer engagement alive.
communication strategy do not only focus on Goibibo tries to post compelling content in the
travelling but also try to include travelling new age marketing.
associated aspects like accommodation, places Display ads- Display ads contribute 0.16% of
to visit, culture, speciality etc. This strategy has total traffic. If worked on it, it may help in
become very effective. The Facebook content generating more traffic and more revenue. Top
of goibibo tries to create customer awareness Publishers are bing.com, look and find me,
and engagement by posting offers, destination zoutons.com. Top ad networks are admitad,
based post and basic response based activities. Vcommission, optimize.
Also the Facebook page remains flooded with Mobile Applications- Goibibo-travel, hotel,
grievances and queries. Goibibo tries to flight, and travel is the most liked and preferred
respond each of them to give proper customer application. These all are present on all
service. Its content on Facebook is experience- platforms like iOS, Android and windows
based and focuses more on emotional quotient. phone.
Facebook has very less share. Hardly 5.67 % Yatra.com- Yatra.com uses partnerships
people are reached through Facebook. promotional strategy with SBI by introducing
Instagram- Posts of Instagram is quite similar holiday-cum shopping card. They uses
to Facebook post. The post highlights orange Customer centric Innovative strategies. There
color. They try to grab attention using current are various products of yatra.com under brands
news, trends and occasions. Goibibo is creating namely TravelGuru, yatra.in. Creating “happy
awareness among people regarding the and satisfied travelers” is the motto of
individual’s social responsibilities. yatra.com. Using yatra.com, users can
“#GetVaccinated” is the initiative taken to personalize their packages, travel needs, hotels,
encourage people for getting vaccinated. It uses flight bookings according to the budget. Yatra
different types of appeals like moral appeal, has launched self-booking platform to
emotional appeal, fear appeal, humor appeal. strengthen corporate travel segment.
Goibibo on Instagram conducts basic activities
Digital marketing analysis-
(Generated by researchers, using secondary data)
Traffic generated from various sources
66.87%
29.51%
1.58% 1.59% 0.40% 0.03%
Direct Referrals Search Email Social media Display
Search engines- The dashboard of yatra.com also new locations and places are explored.
facilitates customers with a wide range of Popular, domestic and international flight
portfolio of services like flight, hotels, villas, routes are displayed on the dashboard. It also
holidays, cabs, fret etc. Offers are provides chat box to have a direct
differentiated on the basis of one way, round communication with the customers to solve
trip and multi stays. Freight services are one of their queries and guide them. Top 5 paid
the unique services provided by Yatra. “Yatra keywords are Bhuj to Pune flight, Kolkata to
special” offers are seen on the dashboard with Bangalore. flight ticket prayagraj, Dibrugarh to
allowances and discounts. “Travel Talks” Pune flight, Nagpur to Pune flight. Top 5
consists of the blogs on creative contents which organic keywords are Yatra, Yatra login, Yatra
creates and excitement among the visitors and flight booking, yatra.com and Yatra customer
June 2021 330 www.viirj.orgVidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal 12(2) ISSN 2319-4979
care. Search engine is almost 66.87%, out of WhatsApp web- Once the view were logins to
which 92.11% is the organic traffic whereas yatra, permission is asked regarding
7.89 % is paid traffic. Direct Traffic- 29.51% notification via WhatsApp. As WhatsApp is
of the total traffic is by direct means. From this most widely used, Yatra passes on the offers
we can understand that yatra.com website is and discounts using this platform. This helps in
quite popular amongst the audience. reaching maximum people. Following
Campaigns- #ReasonToTravel is the digital YouTube WhatsApp lies second in generating
campaign by Yatra which is focusing on traffic to the website of yatra.com. 20.94% of
building consumer confidence and is giving the traffic is generated from WhatsApp web.
message- “it is time to travel again”. Facebook- Yatra aims at engaging with fans
#TravelManao is another campaign which aim and acquiring new customers. Yatra wishes to
at encouraging people to do something create strong brand credibility. Yatra content
different and celebrate festivals by travelling. focuses on emotional appeal and is more
Email marketing- While logging in, Yatra 6 for personal. The theme of the Facebook page of
permission saying, “Would you like to be kept Yatra is “Miles to Smile”. Cross promotions
informed of special promotions and offers by with other brands is carried out by Yatra.
Yatra”. A welcome mail pops once logged in Special offers, allowances and promotions are
successfully. “Welcome to the world of happy posted on the page. Interesting destination
travelling” is the first line in the descriptive pictures with descriptive captions posted to
content of email. Using the phrase "Happy encourage travellers. Almost 150k+ users view
travelling", Yatra tries to describe its motto of post daily. Post on Facebook are related to
business. From the analysis, we can travel but have a special human touch. Yatra
understand, and email marketing is quite better content consists of travel, offers and co-
as compared to make my trip and goibibo. branding. Facebook is found contributing a
1.59% of people visit the website via email. significant amount of almost 16.37% of social
Social Media- Almost 0.4% of traffic comes media traffic.
from social media to the website. According to LinkedIn marketing- 7.95% of traffic is
the recent news of August 2020 yatra.com has generated from the LinkedIn platform.
launched reason to travel digital campaign Through this platform yatra.com tries to reach
which promotes travel in post pandemic world. the customers by the means of videos and post
YouTube- 10.6k people have subscribed which focuses on safety and customer’s
YouTube channel of Yatra. Yatra publishes convenience.
advertisers using rhyming content like- “Kab Instagram- Yatra introduces itself on Instagram
tak hoge ghar pe bor? Just go and Explore”. as #IndiaKaTravelPlanner. The content of
“Yatra ke sath #TravelManao” is the title line Yatra on Instagram is multi-pronged. Yatra
used in many videos to encourage people for tries to target its audience on Instagram by
travelling using Yatra. Short travel stories by posting post which explore Indian culture,
travellers are shared in the form of video on the Indian heritage, and trekking destinations.
YouTube channel under the campaign Offers and basic activities are also seen which
#RelieveHappiness. Travellers share their keeps the customers active.
experience in the form of video under this Mobile applications- “Yatra-flight, hotel, bus,
campaign. Analyzing the social media trains and cabs” and “Yatra for business” are 2
marketing of yatra.com it was studied that it mobile applications which are widely used by
mostly works on YouTube. 50.17% social the tourist. These apps are available for
media traffic to the web site comes from Android and iOS platforms.
YouTube alone. The content of YouTube ad is Cleartrip.com- “Making travelling easy” for
found to be musical. It uses Bollywood music the users is the main motto of Cleartrip.
to reach the customers with the content Cleartrip is a customer centric brand. They
focusing on the offers and the portfolio of their invest in the activities that are consistent with
products and services. It makes us understand customer’s expectations. They also ensure
that yatra uses musical appeal in advertises. ecological factors in their activities. They are
committed to prioritizing animal welfare. As
June 2021 331 www.viirj.orgVidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal 12(2) ISSN 2319-4979
far as advertising is concerned, cleartrip looks Its basic strategy is, improvise on the existing
on Return on Investment (ROI). Cleartrip uses medium.
maximum of online platform for advertising.
Digital Marketing Analysis-
(Generated by researchers, using secondary data)
Traffic generated from various sources
64.67%
33.11%
1.08% 0.63% 0.23% 0.29%
Direct Referrals Search Email Social media Display
Search engines - Top 5 organic keywords are themselves saying #travelAnywhere. “Make
Cleartrip, clear trip, flight booking, flight travelling easy” is the message which has been
tickets, online flight booking. Top 5 paid passed on by Cleartrip through YouTube ads.
keywords are Cleartrip, flight booking, flight They have also promoted the “Book now and
ticket, clear trip.com, cleartrip. Search engines Pay Later” offer in their YouTube ads.
have the greatest contribution of 64.67% of Twitter- Cleartrip has joined twitter in 2019
traffic around 81.15% is organic traffic and community of 29k follows them. Co-
whereas 18.85% is paid traffic. Direct traffic- branding strategy with the tie up companies
33.11% of people visit cleartrip.com website can be seen on twitter. The brand tweets on
directly. various topics like, venture capital, business
Emails- 0.63 % of people visiting cleartrip.com travels, Cruise travel, financial services,
comes via emails. Luxury travel. It maintains the number of 1
Display ads- Display ads also play one of the tweet each day. The content strategy tries to
important roles in generating traffic to the focus on awareness appeal that is why they
website. Almost 0.29% of traffic is generated rarely post offers. Followed by YouTube,
by means of display ads. Top Publishers are twitter lies on second position in generating
Indiatvnews.com everysaving.ae Top networks traffic by the means of social media with
are TradeTracker, which has the major 23.75%.
contribution, cuelinks, admitad and Facebook- As soon as one lands on Facebook
Vcommission. page of cleartrip cover page can be seen where
Social Media- 0.23% of traffic is generated one line quote, “The better way to travel for
from social media. After analyzing the social work” grabs attention of any business
media statistics, it was found that YouTube personnel. Strong community of almost 102.1k
contributes the major portion of 25.05% of can be seen on Facebook page. Self-
traffic generation followed by Twitter, promotional updates are made on this platform.
Facebook, Pinterest, and WhatsApp web. Cleartrip uses Facebook to increase the
YouTube- 25.05% of traffic is generated by conversion rate. Through this platform,
means of YouTube. Informative approach is cleartrip drives the audience towards its mobile
seen in YouTube videos. Musical appeal is application, which can help them to generate
used to showcase the information. Multi revenue from the same customer in future. It
branding strategy is also seen as it also helps cleartrip to retarget the customer in
promotes Flyin. Cleartrip also uses the shorts future. This strategy has helped them to attain
feature of YouTube where they promote 2.5 times higher return on investment.
June 2021 332 www.viirj.orgVidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal 12(2) ISSN 2319-4979
Facebook page of cleartrip uses travel theme Instagram- A small activity, “Stay awhile and
and humor appeal to reach maximum number explore the world with us. Share your travel
of customer. Brand regularly post its content, it photos and stories using #TravelWithClertrip
maintain the figure of around 5 post per week. can be seen on the landing page which keeps
No variation is seen in the content of post. It the customers engaged with it. 49.3k followers
follows identifiable content. They engage can be seen on Instagram. There is no great
people by destination promotions, which is difference in Facebook and Instagram content.
basic strategy used by almost all travel Stories of Instagram gives the information
companies. The company makes its presence about the current offers. “Swipe up” option
by posting the available discounts and takes one to the website of cleartrip, which will
allowances. Facebook contributes to 20.58% of help it for future use.
traffic from the total social media traffic. Web Design- Website of cleartrip is quite
Pinterest- Variation is seen in the content of decent but very informative. All the services
posts on this platform. Food specialties are are provided on the first page of the website.
explored, No offers and direct marketing is The website gives a travel guide which can
seen in the Pinterest post. Famous travel quotes help the travelers in the preparations. It gives
are seen. Memes are used for the purpose of the overall information regarding airline.
grabbing the attention. After studying the posts Mobile Applications- Cleartrip-Flight, Hotels,
of cleartrip.com’s Pinterest profile it was found Train bookings is one of the most liked
that most of their posts are promoting their application used by people. These apps are
activities related to environment. Cleartrip present on iOS and android.
promotes animal welfare activities, and this has Ixigo- Ixigo is an Indian online travel portal.
been promoted by the means of Pinterest posts. The main aim of this company is to sort out the
Overall, the profile of cleartrip on Pinterest is travel needs like booking flights, hotels, trains,
seen very colorful and attractive. 20.08% of buses using Ixigo. All the queries related to
overall traffic of social media comes from bookings of trains are answered by the Ixigo
Pinterest. app. Ixigo uses 360 degree marketing approach
WhatsApp web- 5.97% of the total traffic from to reach their customers.
social media comes from WhatsApp webapp.
(Generated by researchers, using secondary data)
Digital Marketing Analysis -
Traffic generated by various sources
78.56%
17.82%
0.62% 2.52% 0.47% 0.00%
Direct Referrals Search Email Social media Display
Search engines- Top 5 organic keywords are mentions low rates, ad extensions present, cash
ixigo, irctc login ixigo train, where is my train, back offers, ixigo money service. Out of the
train running status. Top paid keywords are total visits to this website, 78.56% comes from
ixigo, ixigo flight, ixigo flight booking, ixigo search engines, out of which 99.47% is the
pnr status, cancellation option flight. Location organic search and 0.53 % is from paid
specific ads by ixigo are found, which searches. Direct search- Website page helps in
June 2021 333 www.viirj.orgVidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal 12(2) ISSN 2319-4979
direct search of required information. Offer Mobile applications- “Cheap flight, hotels and
banners are seen which attracts the customers. bus booking- ixigo” and “irctc Train booking,
The overall features of websites are- clean pnr status, running status – ixigo” are the most
website, proper navigation, user-friendly, popular mobile applications of ixigo. These
responsive on mobile and tablet devices. applications are available for android and iOS
17.82% of people directly visit the website. devices.
Email marketing- Email marketing plays a
Opportunities
significant role in this, because almost 2.52%
of traffic is generated by means of emails. Humans are affectionate towards travel. They
Social Media- 0.47% of people visit the keep on travelling for various purposes may it
website by means of social media marketing. be career, job or destination vacations.
After analyzing the social media marketing of Technology friendly era has simplified
ixigo.com it was found that you tube generate everything, travel planning has become simple
the maximum traffic of almost 39.60%, because of technology which attract traveler
followed by LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. towards online travel companies. Travel
You tube- Ixigo uses musical appeal in its TV industries have major role in increasing the
ads. Short informative videos are seen on GDP, hence Government have issued several
YouTube channel which guides about common initiatives supporting online tourism industries.
words in different regional languages. Guiding Online travel agencies have wide portfolio
videos are posted which guides visitors which includes inbound travel, outbound travel
regarding bookings. This helps in creating and domestic travel. Wide portfolio attracts
brand awareness among visitors. 39.60% of customers towards them. Tourism industry is
traffic generated from YouTube. “Plan and fast growing and is heavily influenced by
Go” is the message given by YouTube ads. technology.
Twitter- Ixigo joined twitter in 2009 and has Challenges
23.8k followers. Approximately 2 to 3 tweets
each day are tweeted by ixigo. Co-branding Infrastructure- India lacks in good quality of
strategy is seen on tweeter. Offers and services infrastructure which affects country’s
by ixigo promoted through this platform. If international tourist arrivals. Technology and
ixigo start using hashtags, it will help them in Funding- Many small travel companies have
generating more traffic. Traffic generated from innovative ideas but lack in funding and
twitter is 13.09%. technology and hence are not recognized.
LinkedIn- Ixigo appreciates its employees Perception of India- This is one of the major
through LinkedIn. Awards and achievements challenges Indian tourism sector is facing.
are showcased through posts. 32k people There is a need to push tourism in India. The
follow ixigo on LinkedIn. 2 to 3 post per week travel marketing strategies needs to be well
is maintained by ixigo on this platform. planned in order to motivate tourism. Taxes-
LinkedIn contributes 33.13 % of total traffic India is quite expensive country for luxury
generated by the means of social media. travel. Heavy taxes affects this industry.
Facebook- Basic objectives of ixigo behind Competition- Growing competition is one of
Facebook marketing is attracting Facebook the major challenges which every company is
follower’s attention towards brand, brand facing these days. Currently, the GST rates are
awareness, drive more traffic to company reduced which will help the industry but the
website. They promote their app from ease provided by other countries for traveler
Facebook by giving the option of “use app”. has to be matched up. Companies need to have
Contents are quite similar to twitter posts. some innovative strategies in order to sustain
Facebook generate 8.90% of total traffic of and lead the market. Unable to maintain service
social media marketing. standards- In a wide range of portfolio, it is
Blogs- Several blog categories by ixigo are difficult to maintain every service. If anyone of
found which are according to the customer’s them fails to give good services, it affect the
interest. brand image. Difficulty in maintaining data-
Company collects data from various platforms.
June 2021 334 www.viirj.orgVidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal 12(2) ISSN 2319-4979
But it is quite challenging to maintain this data used to reach maximum people and build a
and use it. Companies need to install advanced strong customer base and brand recognition.
systems to maintain this data. Difficulty in Make my trip is leading the travel industry in
building loyal customers- Due to increased India. They have a strong brand recognition
competition and similar offers and allowances, and uses digital platform very wisely. Their
customers prefer the one’s which gives them content on every platform is diversified
more profit, ignoring the brand. This results in according to the audience. Many campaigns are
difficulty to acquire customer loyalty. driven by make my trip which helps in
grabbing the attention of the customers.
Findings
Goibibo works on itself according to the
The most common thing found while analyzing customer’s feedbacks. Their variety of offers
all the companies was that search engines have and initiatives are helping them to take off in
the most significant role. Maximum traffic is the market. They are building opportunities for
generated from search engines followed by themselves in the competitive market by
direct search. In social media marketing, every launching new campaigns and initiatives.
company try to work maximum on Facebook. Using digital platforms, Goibibo is trying to
MakeMyTrip is leading amongst the others. build loyal customers. It is trying to be a
Variation is seen in the themes of contents of challenger for other travel companies. Goibibo
YouTube ads, Facebook post and LinkedIn is leading in email marketing in this domain as
post. Each of them passes different messages. it uses hyper personalized mailing system.
Make my trip is using SEO wisely to rank high Yatra is dominantly working on business
which is helping them to be visible on the top travels. Yatra uses customer centric approaches
when customer searches for travel needs. on the digital platform. Yatra is also using
Goibibo is promoting Go Cash from their ads WhatsApp wisely to reach their potential
and posts. Email marketing is trying to express customers. Cleartrip has a strong existence in
its existence, as people usually check mails India as well as Qatar and is emerging in
every morning, which increases the chances Africa. Digital marketing strategies of cleartrip
that the mail will be read. Goibibo is focus on customer satisfaction and services.
concentrating on this as it is direct marketing The content on social media sites does not any
approach. Yatra.com is not working more on variation, but still cleartrip can be a strong
social media. Using social media, which is competitor in coming future. Ixigo is trying its
most used in this generation they can lead this best to create its existence on digital platforms.
industry. Cleartrip.com is trying to create its Ixigo is using LinkedIn and Facebook to
existence out of India as well, with comparison maximize traffic towards its website. There are
to others. They are promoting their mobile activities/ offers/ services, which travel
application by using Facebook. They are companies can provide like Group offers,
working equally on all social media platforms. Educational tour planning, Destination
Comparing emails and social media, ixigo is a wedding plans. Retargeting ads, Viral
step forward in email marketing. Maximum marketing, Cookies, Virtual assistant AI
focus is given on YouTube and LinkedIn technology, Bucket list option (As there is cart
platforms of social media marketing. option in E-commerce, travel companies can
Conclusion add bucket list option where travelers can add
the destinations which they wish to visit and
Tourism industry is adapting itself in the then personalized reminders and accordingly
dynamic digital world. All the Indian tourism offers can be provided to them) are some of the
companies are trying their best to build a marketing strategies which can be used by
strong existence on the digital platforms using travel companies.
various strategies. Innovative ideas are being
June 2021 335 www.viirj.orgVidyabharati International Interdisciplinary Research Journal 12(2) ISSN 2319-4979
References
1. Živković, R., Gajić, J., & Brdar, I. (2014). travel and tourism industry in India. J.
The impact of social media on Tourism Hospitality Sports, 21.
tourism. Singidunum Journal of Applied 6. Sahoo, S.S., & BG, M. (2017). Role of
Sciences, 758-761. social media in promoting tourism
2. Praveenkumar, S. (2014). Tourism business-A study on tourism promotion in
Marketing and Consumer Behaviour. Odisha. In International Conference People
3. Mukherjee, A., & Nagabhushanam, M. Connect: Networking for Sustainable
(2016). Role of social media in tourism Development (pp. 272-295).
marketing. International Journal of Science 7. Liu, X., Mehraliyev, F., Liu, C., &
and Research, 5(6), 2026-2033. Schuckert, M. (2020). The roles of social
4. Pitana, I.G., & Pitanatri, P.D.S. (2016, media in tourists’ choices of travel
September). Digital marketing in tourism: components. Tourist Studies, 20(1), 27-48.
the more global, the more personal. 8. Siregar, N.S.S., Nasrul, Y., Sriekaningsih,
In International Tourism Conference: A., & Agus, E. (2020). Social media for
Promoting Cultural and Heritage Tourism. tourism marketing. Journal of
Udayana University, Bali (pp. 1-3). Environmental Treatment Techniques, 8(1),
5. Avinash, B.M., Babu, S.H., & Megha, B. 262-264.
(2016). Digital marketing—its impact on
June 2021 336 www.viirj.orgYou can also read
