“Infographics were so last year.” Nonsense

Guest post by Mark Fleming – Manages SEO at Kuoni

Ahh the infographic, beautifully modern in its conception but are we over-subscribed? Does Google hate them? And more importantly should we care?

A while back I attended an excellent digital marketing conference which will go nameless (hint - it’s in Brighton and it’s about SEO!). Between keynotes I was ‘working the room’ (standing around having a drink) and overheard some SEO folk discussing infographics.

The SEO bods concerned were chatting about those they had seen and produced, when one of the group exclaimed “infographics were so last year”. I know it was a serious remark as I earwigged the rest of the conversation – that’s ‘networking’ right!?! But seriously, this comment really resonated with me, there was more to this comment.

I should probably go back a step as some of you may be shouting at the screen exclaiming “what the hell is an infographic?”. Simply, it is some information portrayed in the form of a graphic, also known as (WARNING: buzz word) ‘data visualisation’. If you spend any time online, you have most definitely seen one, even if you don’t know the jargon.

Infographics have seen an evolution in advancement from static graphics to animated offerings, and we now see them modernising the feel of printed media, too. But is this volume and duration of exposure a reason not to use them? In short, no.

There are stirrings that Google may discount infographic links, but this shouldn’t halt you either. You shouldn’t be producing an infographic to solely gain links (really!). If the content is of a good quality standard and engaging enough it will gain links, but you should be concentrating on spreading your message through the best possible medium. As a tip Google will probably be looking at social signals and the amount of pick-up your offering receives so, as with all content, make it as good as you possibly can.

So where does this leave us?

- If you have the skills and/or budget create something people will love. Some of these animated offerings are getting exceptional pick-up and being hugely shared, but that’s not to say a static infographic won’t still work.

- The Google-infographics talk continues, but I feel they will be focusing on devaluing poor quality content that isn’t gaining traction through social and other sites, however one to keep an eye on.

- If you have some data, an idea and the creativity to produce something engaging which offers insight to your audience, produce it, engage with your market, let people talk and share it.

Finally I wanted to raise two points before its back to the day job for you;

1. Always use the best medium to convey your message, don’t fear being unfashionable!

2. Never be so busy looking at the next medium to convey your message that you overlook the perfect medium which is here now.

Oh one last thing, should you wish to make deliciously engaging infographics but don’t have a designer or budget check out this site http://infogr.am/ where you can make your own, I would however suggest you remember there are a lot of infographics out there and for yours to work it needs to be better than the others! Quality over quantity my friends.

Mark can be found on Twitter at @MarkFlemingSEO

Pinterest: the pin-up of travel?

by Steve Keenan

Lynette Crisp, Head of Marketing at Visit Kent, today asks on Linked-in: “Are any destination marketers seeing any real results from Pinterest?”

It’s a question many Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) are asking. Less than nine months since the site came out of beta, Pinterest has been widely discussed - but few have gotten to grips with its potential.

Not surprisingly, the best results have been achieved in North America. Nancy Marshall of The Maine Office of Tourism says: “In the past few months, Pinterest has driven more traffic to VisitMaine.com than Twitter.” (Find 40 US states using Pinterest).

Strong visuals, with deep links, are a natural for a destination looking to show off its best side, in photos and video. And according to one commercial website, powerofpinning.com, Pinterest is now generating more referral traffic to websites than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined - hence the latent desire among DMOs to get on board.

Monique Wells was another marketer, based in Paris, who used a Linked-in discussion board to gather users’ thoughts on the site four months ago. The feedback convinced her - and four days ago, Discover Paris went live. The site followed hot on the heels of another DMO site - Visit Holland and joins other newcomers, including Queensland.

But while DMOs are now harnessing the potential, other sectors in travel have not been so quick to pick up their pins. Bloggers have been better than most, but their efforts have often meant simply switching from Flickr to post their images. On a tweet-out this morning, Thailand-based blogger Timo Kiviluoma suggested: “Narrow your scope. Get a several boards. Pin regularly.”

Beers and Beans is streets ahead of most bloggers, with nearly 10,000 pins posted - and 10,000 followers. It’s a mix of her own images and others and I’d be astonished if it hasn’t led to commissions and other work. And new social travel site Trippy.com was so taken with Pinterest that it wholeheartedly copied the look in building its own pages.

Users should be aware that some images and links are being copied by spammers who re-link to their own sites or viruses. The Linked-in discussion launched by Discover Paris contains some useful advice on using low-res pics, and watermarking photos (try www.picmonkey.com).

But with 82% of Pinterest users being women - who make most travel decisions - the potential is too huge to ignore. Of those in travel actively using Pinterest, some are overtly commercial, like Club Med which features only its clubs - whereas others, like Virgin Atlantic’s new site, cleverly bases its photography on the cities that the airline flies to. Say’s Virgin’s Maxine Sheppard: “When I pay it attention, we get some traffic off it. It’s one of those things where you need to maintain it consistently to get benefit.”

Expedia attempts the same on a much grander scale while Abercrombie & Kent Villas mixes in its own commercials with repins from other sites. Others use it well simply for inspiration, such as The Travel Channel and Travelocity.

But it is noticeable that perhaps the biggest beneficiaries, tour operators, are barely out of the blocks. You’d have thought that this group, having established copyright but already in possession of images used for brochures and adverts, would be on top of the game. One enthusiastic user is UK-based operator, Destinology - others would benefit from following its example.

I also enjoy the eclectic boards on Toronto-based Trufflepig Travel. But perhaps my favourite is Croft Global Travel in Virginia, USA, which not only has wish lists but entertaining boards on travel gear, apps, books, waterfalls - and licence plates. Go browse.

More links:
How to use Pinterest to drive more traffic to your blog

Travel timelapse in the UK

by Steve Keenan

I received an email last week from DorsetbyNight with a link to a timelapse film made across the county. What a pleasant surprise.

The film, as it suggests, is a project to to show county landmarks and locations at night - and is a prelude to a larger collaboration highlighting the fact that Dorset is the only county in the UK without a city, which enhances stargazing. You can find out more on the project’s Facebook page.

I commented on how much I enjoyed the film, particularly the lighthouse shot, and got a response from filmmaker Stephen Banks, who works for Bridport-based PR firm Watershed - “Hope videos like this help boost the tourism trade in Dorset.”

I hope so too. It’s one of my favourite counties, being from Southampton and having worked twice in and around Bournemouth. And it seems Dorset might be a hotbed for budding time-lapse filmmakers - here’s a lovely short from Lulworth, filmed this summer, and another, from Matthew Clark of the Dorset coastline.

Timelapse films are two-a-penny but good ones aren’t. One of my all-time travel favourites is Mt Teide on Tenerife but I’ve rarely come across few showing the UK well.

Events are easier to cover - take a look at the Latitude Festival and Jubilee Pageant seen in a recent Guardian travel article - but destinations do not seem to have been in the past.

But is there a whiff of change? On doing a bit of research, I’ve noted a few filmmakers out and about in the UK this summer experimenting with the format - or a least a mix of film and timelapse from David Matthews in a beautiful film of Buttermere Lake in Cumbria. I was also taken with the first clips - from Upper Swaledale in North Yorkshire - from what is promised to be on ongoing project in the Dales.

And, heavens above, another stargazing film - this time from Penwith, Cornwall - shot in July. And another Cornwall film, a part-Tiltshift beauty from Padstow, filmed this Easter.

At this rate, I can see a map of the UK being pulled together by VisitBritain. At least. Or a competition. Or maybe a time-lapse blogger trip. Hang on, I think I may have an idea going here…

* Let me know the UK time-lapse videos showcasing destinations that you rate in the UK

London 2012 was the socialympics

by Mark Frary

A lot has been made about the 2012 Olympics being the first social Games. It is not strictly true – Facebook was founded in 2004, YouTube in 2005 and Twitter in 2006 – but it is certainly the first Olympics we have experienced since social media reached mainstream acceptance.

Twitter share a few stats about its Olympics after the closing ceremony. It said that there had been 150 million tweets about the Games over 16 days.

Perhaps inevitably, the most tweeted about participant was Usain Bolt. The Twittersphere was tweeting at a rate of 80,000 tweets per minute (TPM) during his retention of the gold medal in the 200 metres, slightly more than were tweeting about his triumph in the 100. Bolt ended up as the most discussed athlete of the Games, ahead of swimmer Michael Phelps and diver Tom Daley or, as he is often known on Twitter particularly to admirers of that toned physique, #nom Daley - nom being slang for good looking.

Andy Murray’s victory in the tennis created the third biggest frenzy of the Games - at 57,000 TPM.

The Games were also a social media success for individual athletes. Young Mr Daley added half a million followers to his Twitter account since the beginning of July, while Jess Ennis added 400,000. Mo Farah doubled his follower count too after his double long-distance golds.

There were also some surprises – football was the most tweeted about sport at the Games, generating more than 5 million tweets, perhaps an indicator of its wide global appeal.

It wasn’t all about sport – the most tweeted about act at the Closing Ceremony was the Spice Girls who generated 116,000TPM as they emerged from five London cabs.

Search volumes at Google also spiked during the Games. Japanese gymnastics gold medallist Kohei Uchimura generated 420% more searches in London than in Beijing four years ago. Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar also drove huge search volumes – up 375% on Beijing.

In the UK, the most searched for athletes were Usain Bolt, Jessica Ennis, Michael Phelps, Victoria Pendleton and Andy Murray.

YouTube was powering the live streaming of events for NBC in the US and the IOC. In total, more than 20 million hours of video was streamed during the Games for NBC and tens of millions of streams on the IOC channel. Interestingly, 44% of those streaming the Games did so using a mobile device, says YouTube. More than half of those viewing were watching simultaneously on TV and online.

These statistics really bring home how London 2012 really was the Socialympics. But how did brands fare? Official Olympic sponsor Visa’s YouTube channel was one of the most popular – its adverts and athlete training videos generating more than 47 million views during the Games.However, one of the most talked about subjects on Twitter were the guerrilla-marketed Beats headphones being sported by many athletes. Social media has started to make the official sponsorship system look very creaky indeed.