Travel Webpage Content Design
Scope: West Bengal, India
Capstone Project - Content Strategy Specialization Certificate, Northwestern University, 2017 (by Coursera)
Introduction
This project was based on a fictional story of three friends, who had just completed their graduation. They planned to travel together before getting on with their lives. But soon they realized that the online travel landscape was cluttered with an overwhelming amount of content that was poorly curated to meet the consumers’ needs. Dissatisfied with the current offerings, the three entrepreneurial-minded travelers decided to launch a website that could be any traveler's guide for interesting locations around the world. It would feature content curated and experiences reviewed by people who really knew about the locations, cuisines, people and culture and were willing to share their knowledge.
They finalized the following:
Company name: Wish I Was There
Tagline: The insider’s guide to anywhere.
Mission statement: For the worldwide traveler or the local resident who is looking to get valuable insiders’ knowledge about destinations across the globe or in their backyard, Wish I Was There connects the user with people who know the area best, based on shared interests and priorities.
Launch Plan: Eventually, premiere worldwide, both online and via a mobile app.
Finally, they needed some sample pages of the website to share with the potential investors. So they decided to host a worldwide idea submission event with a group of selected Content Strategists and we had to assume that we were one of those selected individuals. Our task was to:
Develop a detailed content strategy for "Wish I Was There”.
Choose a location where we had lived and worked and create a regional home page for the website.
Note: This project involved detailed content analysis, strategy and design for the fictional brand, Wish I Was There. Typically, in a real project this would be a teamwork. However, for the purpose of the capstone project for the Content Strategy Specialization Certificate, each of us had to complete this project single-handedly. It aimed at training us on the gamut of skill required to be a part of such a team. I have tried my best to do justice in presenting the expanse of my work on this project, as concisely as possible, under the following topics.
Research & Analysis
Though I had the mission statement and the underlying brand objective to start with, I still needed to identify the brand character to create a compelling story. The first step was to identify the location and find out how "Wish I Was There" could blend into the culture, have an edge over the existing players in the market and make way into people’s hearts, seamlessly. To know more about the place, people and the market, I gathered as much information as I could from reliable sources online like, the West Bengal, Department of Tourism and the 15th Indian National Census database.
Why West Bengal?
Since the sample webpage was meant for the investors, it had to showcase the scope and impact of the idea. Therefore, remaining true to my roots, I chose the place where I was born and brought up: the state of West Bengal in India.
The people of West Bengal are called Bengalis. They are characterized as opinionated intellectuals, who are emotional about their food, literature and culture. Bengalis are equally passionate about cricket, and soccer, which they call “football”. They celebrate Christmas and Durga Puja, the biggest Bengali festival, with equal grandeur and enthusiasm. Hence, the capital city, Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta) is lovingly known as the “city of joy”. Kolkata was also the capital of India during the British colonial rule. Therefore, the juxtaposition of rich colonial architecture and modern skyscrapers add a beautiful charm to the city. Overall, West Bengal is a beautiful culmination of color and chaos, providing an opportunity to create a visually attractive home page that could induce the right amount of curiosity.
Who is it for?
People are the foundation of any User Generated Content (UGC) platform. So defining the target audience was crucial to designing a webpage by the people and for the people. Firstly, it was important to find a common ground between the local people, who would create the content, and the brand objective that will motivate them to visit our website and contribute. Secondly, I had to create a brand awareness and design a webpage that would attract the travelers, who would want to consume the content that was created.
Thus, I created a content strategy and designed a webpage for two groups of audiences:
Contributors: These were the local people, who would help create the content. They know the local food, culture, transportation and so on. I had to persuade them to not only visit the website, but also to add value by creating meaningful content.
For the purpose of this assignment, I assumed that the primary market segment for the Contributors were the literate urban population of West Bengal, which was around 22 million people. But the secondary market segment comprised of anyone visiting the website, who had lived and worked in West Bengal at any point in their lives and was willing to contribute to the West Bengal page of the website. Thus, every Explorer was a potential Contributor for one or more regional pages.
Explorers: These were the global physical travelers, who would consume the content. These are people from all over the world, including other parts of India. They are curious to know from the locals, to get an unbiased opinion about the place they want to visit. This platform could provide them an opportunity to directly interact with the local people, in this case, the people of West Bengal, post their queries, hear from them and seek their suggestions on everything from food to transportation to security to the hidden treasures that are often missing from some of the popular travel websites.
For the purpose of this assignment, I assumed that the primary market segment for the Explorers were the domestic and international tourists visiting West Bengal every year, which was around 71.69 million people. However, the secondary market segment comprised of anyone planning a trip to West Bengal or wanting to know more about the place, which could be a bigger number than the ones actually visiting the state each year.
Who are the existing players?
We are living in the digital era, where information is readily available to everyone, anytime, anywhere. The travel industry in West Bengal is no exception. Specially, with a high influx of domestic as well as international tourists, the West Bengal travel industry has a strong digital presence. In the year 2015, West Bengal had the 8th highest domestic tourist arrivals in the country with 70.2 million visitors and 5th highest international arrivals in the country with 1.49 million visitors, contributing 4.9% of the entire Indian tourist visits.
As an Indian and being born and brought up in West Bengal, Kolkata, I picked up a lot of clue from how we used to plan our vacations, back in India. Additionally, I interviewed a group of my Indian and global traveler friends to find out which websites they would refer to today, before planning a trip to India or West Bengal. As per my findings, apart from the Indian and West Bengal government’s travel and tourism websites, there are other major national and international players that provide direct and curated information and data about the state of West Bengal for interested domestic and international tourists. Here are some of the top existing players:
Thus, the challenge was to create a content strategy and design a webpage that would surpass the competition by:
Engaging both the Contributors and Explorers through an empathetic and interactive user experience
Leveraging the local resources to provide honest, concise and meaningful information to the Explorers
Creating a community of passionate travelers and inspirational travel ciceroni
Strategy
Value Proposition
The value proposition of "Wish I Was There” was in its people factor. We are living at a time and age dominated by robots and automation. However, we cannot create rich user experiences by disregarding the human factor. The opportunity to directly interact with the local people and seek their unbiased suggestions are often missing from some of the popular travel websites. That is where Wish I Was There comes in to offer a more skeuomorphic experience for the Explorers and Contributors alike.
Content Strategy
The content strategy for “Wish I Was There” had to be omnichannel and planned in phases. I based the brand marketing philosophy on the three pillars: build interest, remain relevant and be truthful.
Since the business model was based on UGC, it was important to create a strong market presence before launching the brand. Thus, the webpage would be ready with valuable content that would resonate with the global travelers, while the regional pages would maintain the local flavor. The strategies could be replicated for launching the website in any destination around the world.
Here is the waterfall brand content strategy model for launching "Wish I Was There":
Goal: The primary objective during this phase is to create the initial content. Therefore, during this phase, the Contributors would be the only target audience.
Strategy: Initially, the website could be launched in the top ten most popular travel destinations of the world. Prior to the launch, it is important to create a local Contributor community in each of the identified locations. These could be the travel influencers in the respective locations, people who know the place well and has valuable opinion to share. It could include well known bloggers, food critics and travel and living journalists, but excluding any local businesses, in order to provide an unbiased content. At this point, to build their long term pecuniary interests, contractual agreements should be signed with the influencers or initial Contributors, where they could share links to their blogs and social media contacts on the website.
Goal: During this phase, all the potential Contributors and Explorers need to know more about the brand, its mission and how it could add value to their lives. The target audience would include the potential local Contributors and all the Explorers visiting the website, who could also be the potential Contributors for one or more regional pages.
Strategy: At this point, it is important to build the user’s trust, curiosity and interest. The brand needs to introduce itself and then give the users a sneak peek into the upcoming opportunity to become a part of a thriving community.
Goal: This is the time to promote the website and its value proposition to the Contributors and the Explorers, locally as well as globally.
Strategy: Now, the users need to know exactly what to expect and how to become a part of this community. Providing opportunities for clarifying any doubts via chatbots and representative videos and/or animations of the business model and the user benefits could be helpful.
Goal: This would be a continuing phase, with an objective to keep motivating the Contributors and the Explorers to use the platform to achieve their travel and community goals.
Strategy: This phase is all about sharing success stories. Inspiring stories of people using the platform should be shared through various channels, highlighting its utilitarian as well as monetization potential. Finding ways to seek user feedback and trying to improve and innovate based on the feedback is crucial to the success of this phase.
Monetization
The UGC model can be a powerful and very affordable tool too. While there can be nothing more convincing than a real person’s recommendations, it produces content for free. But from a business point of view, content creation is as important as sustenance. So monetization was an important aspect of the content strategy and webpage design. I wanted to create a sustainable UGC model that would curate local experiences and lifestyle content for a global audience, offering a unique opportunity for product partnerships. This would bridge the gap between lifestyle brands and experience economy.
However, in order to stay true to the overall essence of the brand, I kept the Contributors' reviews and posts independent of the sponsored content. For example, the webpage might feature sponsored content like Calcutta Walks but the Contributors could post their candid feedback on whether they think the experience is worth the money and their honest opinion would be available to all Explorers visiting the page.
Execution
As a part of the project, I included a high-level marketing plan to showcase how to execute the aforementioned content strategy for launching the "Wish I Was There” website:
The Webpage
Challenges
Using technology in a human way
“Wish I Was There” is a website created by the people and for the people. But we are living in a digital world that is powered by technology. Therefore, smart use of technology is crucial to creating a more relevant and meaningful people experience. It is important and common for travel websites to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide relevant information at the right time and place to the user. The entire service world is driven by a push marketing model, powered by AI.
However, the challenge is to balance the use of AI and human emotions, which is a long standing debate. I think, we could make smart use of technology to enable a more humanized user experience. For example, by using:
Chat bots to not only provide useful information instantaneously, but also to be empathetic and respectful to user needs by having a personality in alignment with the brand - The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is already on to something similar, with their virtual concierge, Rose.
Big Data and analytics to not only push products and services or measure user effectiveness, but also to identify any missing link and proactively resolve them and seek direct and indirect user feedback - The launch of Kayak Explore on Alexa is a beautiful example of how to go cahoot with AI and Big Data, to create non-intrusive, yet humanized user experiences.
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) not to take away from the real world, but to enrich the real world experience - For example, on opening the camera through the “Wish I Was There” mobile app, the Explorers could be provided with information on nearby local Expert Contributors, who chose to be available at certain times to assist the travelers in their neighborhoods. This could be in addition to providing information about nearby monuments and restaurants, which is a common practice.
Creating a people-first information architecture
I have vivid memories of my childhood, how we used to plan all our vacations sans the Internet. I share my passion and interest in travel with my father. He had subscriptions of multiple travel magazines and journals. But I remember a particular one, which stood out to me because it lacked the colorful pictures of landscape, animals and architecture. However, that was my father’s favorite. He would spend most of his time reading it scrupulously and shortlisting the places for our next vacation. I was confused as to why the most achromatic and uninteresting bundle of paper would be his favorite of the lot. Now, when I look back, I realize the importance of usability over aesthetic.
For "Wish I Was There”, where people are at the crux, it is even more important to design for the ease of use. While, the visual impact could have a first impression, it might not be long-lasting. Specially, in reference to this project, for an Explorer, who is browsing to find the safest and cheapest way to navigate through the streets of Kolkata, or a Contributor, who is planning to post a curated list of public transport options in and around some of the most visited places in Kolkata, usability will always take precedence over flipping through picturesque visuals of the city.
Therefore, when designing the regional webpage for West Bengal, the information architecture was extremely crucial. It was the closest to a working prototype that I could create for this project - a great way to provide a visual reference to the website that I had conceptualized. There was limited information provided at the beginning of the project. Therefore, I had to visualize the entire website content from scratch - from deciding on the Contributor and Explorer navigation to content hierarchy to the entire site map, it was a daunting task. To make it work, I followed some simple steps:
Organized the content, keeping the user in mind - Explorers and Contributors
Created a high-level style guide on ease of: interaction and navigation
Stuck to the three pillars of the brand marketing philosophy: build interest, remain relevant and be truthful.