Dr. Mohammad Abu Kausar University of Nizwa Yatra’s yatra Dr. Mohammad Abu Kausar University of Nizwa

Yatra Today Over 100,000 Page Views per day Over 1 million registered users Over Rs 1,100 crores Sales Over 600 employees Over 10 offices in 10 cities Voted as the most used website for Travel – Juxt Consult Top 100 Start up’s in Asia – Red Herring. Best Online travel Agency 08 – Galileo Awards

Flash Back

Market Scenario 2006 Makemytrip, Cleartrip, Travelguru had a headstart People used Travel sites to look up fares but booked on airlines sites Low cost airlines had made people getting used to booking online IRCTC was fueling the same too Skepticism about booking online – security of the transaction, credit card limits, credibility of the company

Task at hand Last to enter the market – how to make a dent 0 to 60 – in no time Land grab

Marketing Plan Category Strategy: Our Strategy: Do print. Print works. Do TV. TV works better. Do Online. Online drives traffic.

Online Marketing Plan Search Engine Marketing – to generate transactions Google Adwords Display Advertising – to add to the TV activity Yahoo Rediff Sify MoneyControl IBNLive Emailers

Benefits of Online Marketing Learnings intuitive data driven high spillage low spillage Benefits of Online Marketing spray-n-pray aim-n-shoot one-way two-way how many (reach) who (targeted) Traditional Online

Learnings Set objectives Define target audience Prioritize markets WHO is more important than HOW MANY Prioritize markets Metros vs Tier I, II, III North India vs South India South Delhi vs East Delhi Set Budgets %age of Gross Sales/Net Income (Rule of thumb: 3rd of net income) Choose media basis Long Term - Brand building Short Term - Lead generation/Transactions

Learnings Set Outcomes Short term Long term Number of visits to the site Number of calls to the call centre Number of walk-ins to the retail outlet Long term Market share Mind share Vallet share Word-of-mouth share

Understand Consumer Behavior Plan online marketing keeping in mind that the new consumer has  Scarcity of time: Ease of navigation - less clicks/hyperlinks… Connectivity/download problems - less graphics Scarcity of attention: Short, simple, easy to understand message… Say more in less Scarcity of Trust: Do not mislead, over promise, hide costs Give what you Show

Net Net What to expect from online: High on ROI: Pay for Performance Start-Stop at will Reach national as well as international markets Dynamic customization – change creative real time Quick results – need more traffic immediately, SEM is way to go Behavioral/Contextual/Geographical targeting Data base collection Very very measurable

What lies ahead…

Social Media Marketing Socialize on the web: Youtube, Flickr, Orkut, Facebook, Linkedin, twitter Word of mouth Targeted Indefinite shelf life Time is the only cost Direct and immediate feedback

Marketing on Mobiles WAP sites SMS 2.0 Right message at Right place (point of sale) Location specific (GPS) – highly personalized advertising Mobile coupons Higher conversions

Video Ads The new TV (specially on News and entertainment sites) Advantages Click to Play Captive viewing High Click throughs Customize - overlays

Happy Clicking.