Since 2007, Joseba is the communication director and official spokesman for Toprural.com in Europe. Throughout his more than 10 years of professional career, Joseba has developed his experience as a communication consultant for several companies in the Internet, Tourism and Leisure sector. He is a professor in the III Master of Online Marketing Techniques at KSchool.
What is changing in the Communication Strategies of companies?
In some companies, but not in all, communication strategies have evolved a lot, in particular, in the way of understanding the relationship with their audiences, measuring their actions and in reorienting and redefining the role of communication itself. Any self-respecting communication strategy must now contemplate the offline and online environment, complementing the strategies of other disciplines (SEO, Marketing, Customer Service, Web Analytics, etc.) to obtain an optimal result, and build an online reputation that helps to achieve the general business objectives.
To what extent does brand reputation influence to establish synergies with consumers?
Brand reputation is the way in which consumers perceive that brand and therefore conditions the type of affinity and relationship that the consumer has with it. The more affinity exists, the more likely the brand will be to retain the consumer, or at least to impact it. That is why it is so important that companies work both offline and online reputation.
How do we manage to give value to a company through Communication 2.0?
With a clear online strategy, measurable objectives and a well-defined action plan, it is not that different from conventional communication after all. The important thing about “Communication 2.0” is that the company assumes the challenges and risks of being and interacting in social media. Online reputation can not be controlled but the less you can work.
What is the role of social media in order to carry out results-oriented communication campaigns?
Social media helps to viralise communication campaigns and generate brand notoriety among other things. But regardless of its obvious usefulness as a channel to relate to consumers, its greatest functionality for me is that they allow us to measure results: knowing if a campaign is working or not, if it needs to be changed, and ultimately, making decisions based , not in subjective reasoning, but in concrete data.
In my opinion, the social media revolution from the perspective of communication, is not only how the way brands relate to the consumer and vice versa has changed, but also the fact that they have endowed communication with the necessary tools to be able to measure the effectiveness of their actions.
What would you recommend to someone who wants to engage in online communication? Is it difficult to get qualified professionals?
That they prepare properly and above all that they experiment a lot: the practice outside the workplace is what really determines the interest a candidate has and his suitability for a position related to online communication.
When I analyze a candidate, I do not do it solely based on the work that has been done for a client, for me it is almost as important or more how his personal brand has worked. That is what differentiates a good candidate from one who has done an express course of community manager with an 80% discount.
In a sector as competitive in Spain as Tourism What innovative strategies at the Communication level is developing TopRural?
I would not talk so much about innovating, but rather about choosing the right moment, adopting the right tools and knowing how to exploit our possibilities.
What characterizes us as a company is that we are aware of the news, that we have very qualified people who know how to detect opportunities and that we have an open mind to implement what we intuit can be good for the business.
The key to our online communication strategy is active listening and online reputation management.
But if we have come to differentiate ourselves, I believe it is by common sense, by continuous experimentation and the deep desire to do things in the simplest way possible.
You are a professor in the 3rd Master of Online Marketing Techniques at KSchool . What is your main objective as a teacher?
Openly share my experience in Toprural from a very practical perspective: explain our successes and our failures in communication. And in particular, be able to provide students with the knowledge and tools necessary to defend themselves in the management of corporate online reputation.
Is there a market demand for Internet professionals?
Definitely. Right now Internet is one of the sectors that is demanding a greater number of qualified professionals and where really there are real opportunities. I think a clear example of this is the success of Kschool.