Ms. Utley

Sales & Marketing

Mobile & Travel – Ready? Go!

By Teri Utley, Senior Account Manager, Range Online Media

Over the last decade mobile phones have changed the way we conduct our personal and business lives. No longer just a communication tool, mobile users now need their phones as a life management tool.

The mobile community has an agenda. They no longer want to merely interact, they want to streamline their life via a tool where they can conceptualize, organize and categorize their daily life tasks. As hotel marketers we need to strategize and monetize.

Ok, enough of the words ending in 'ize'. We’ve all heard that 2010 is the year of mobile, but a better question would be “Is there a mobile strategy in place for your company?”

The term mobile produces many different definitions & each of the definitions below have been “tweaked” to define today’s mobile consumer.

Mo-bile (adj.)

1. Capable of moving or of being moved readily from place to place: a mobile user

2. Tending to travel and relocate frequently: a mobile user who travels

3. Fluid; unstable: a mobile user with no brand loyalty

4. Capable of moving or changing quickly from one state or condition to another: a mobile user searching for a hotel

5. Marked by the easy intermixing of different social groups: a mobile user posting or tweeting about their experience when trying to book on their mobile device

6. Flowing freely; opinions and reviews of their mobile booking experience

The travel industry has slowly adopted and embraced mobile as a new way of conducting business. Always focused on the ROI, mobile was previously hard to measure which resulted in some late adopters within travel and hospitality.

Why so slow? Well, many have felt that the new frontier had some hurdles to overcome before making any commitment to the technology. Others felt that it was a bit too complicated – SMS, WAP, Apps – there was a lot of buzz around mobile and many did not have resources available to gain entry; or so they thought. Expectations were small – who thought that the technology behind phones would advance so quickly?

Successful marketers will make a commitment to a mobile strategy in 2010. While still in its infancy, there are tremendous benefits for those that begin to participate. CPC rates are still low and the engines and networks are looking for participants and feedback. This is an opportunity for you to move ahead of other marketers in the mobile space and build your brand recognition to another share of the audience. With Google and Apple purchasing ad networks they are showing that this is an emerging market that they want to participate in. The huge potential is recognized and it’s an immense opportunity for advertisers.

Sure, testing is important in any channel, but making the mobile web a part of your overall strategy this year must be a priority. Google, Yahoo and MSN each offer unique advantages in mobile and as in online, search all are recommended for optimal results. Mobile will need to be viewed and used not as a stand-alone product, but rather as an extension of the brand. It’s a way of extending your offerings to a consumer that is on the go – the travel consumer.

You Have the Audience – Of Course

Consumers are ready and willing to participate, and adopt trip planning and booking apps. A recently released study from Compete shows that 4 in 10 smart phone owners believe that trip planning apps would be useful to them for travel management. Two-fifths of smart phone owners report that they use their phones for travel research. Twenty-five percent reported completion of some of their travel bookings on their phone. But the most important statistic—87 percent of Americans have a mobile device—which translates into 270 million mobile subscribers.

You Have the Opportunity – Go

PhoCusWright has predicted that US travelers will spend $76 million on direct domestic hotel bookings through a mobile device this year. The travel industry wants a share of this. Hoteliers need a share of this. So, where do you begin and what is the best direction to take? The technology is emerging and changing daily, but don’t let that deter your entry. It’s going to be easier than you think.

Consumers have accepted mobile commerce and are willing participants. Improvements in handsets and mobile sites have created confidence in the product. There is greater confidence in the security of mobile transactions. Throughout 2010 improvements will be rolling out in transaction completions and ease of navigation. The outlook for growth is great and the opportunity for mobile shopping and buying is within reach of all advertisers.

You are Ready to Begin – Yes?

Please say yes. But if you are not quite there today, you can begin with ease. Google has made it easy for you to begin with your existing traditional search campaigns. Look at what you already have for search and flip the switch to mobile. In most cases, traditional landing pages can be used. However, the recommended tactic would be to create mobile-specific landing pages that contain fewer images and are written in mostly HTML. This will aid in page loading and ensure compatibility among a wider range of devices.

You Have your Competitors – Sigh…

According to HeBS there is a strong development from hoteliers in mobile marketing initiatives for 2010. Over 27 percent intend to participate in SMS test marketing, while 25 percent will develop a mobile site and 24 perecnt will invest in an iPhone app during the year.

Maybe your consumer is not ready for an app. Perhaps they only want a streamlined booking interface. Do they want their confirmations emailed or sent via text? Knowing your options and your audience will be essential to claiming your share of the market.

You Have your Plan – Right?

Your job now is to build a strategy for how you plan on communicating with your consumers. Setting the expectations for mobile marketing is essential. Define the components of your CRM strategy. Make sure mobile is integrated into your overarching plan. Use it as an extension of your current marketing efforts to reach another customer segment.

How much are you willing to commit to mobile? Can you develop your strategies in-house or will you outsource? Will you be using your HTML site or a WAP site? Most mobile web browsers are capable of displaying HTML code, so optimization is mostly needed in regards to size and content on a single page. However, the best thing you can do for your mobile site is to utilize device detection. This will allow you to serve the best style sheet for any particular device. There are many unique resolutions for all handsets in the marketplace; device detection will enable you to provide the best user experience possible.

Look at what others are doing in the mobile space and adopt their best practices. Many of the best sites are clean and clear. The best mobile sites are simple, easy to read and navigate. Below are 6 tips that will assist you and your company in creating an optimal mobile web experience:

1. Mobile sites should be displayed as single-column pages
2. All images should be reduced in size as much as possible (screen size & bandwidth)
3. Require minimal navigation - Include breadcrumbs, “Back,” and quick links
4. Include search functionality on large sites - Minimize data collection as this can be tedious on a small device although include a privacy statement to encourage trust if you do collect data
5. Test on multiple handsets/carriers

There will be continual changes in technology and new offerings to reach your consumer are being rolled out each week. It’s going to be a learning curve for some, but didn’t we experience the same hurdles with search? Consumers are still going to have concerns about participating in mobile transactions and payments, along with concerns surrounding security and privacy. Make sure your CRM strategy includes plans to address these concerns. Most importantly, keep it simple for your consumers. They are looking to travel and want a pleasurable experience while booking. It’s just marketing...take them where they want to go.

Teri Utley is Senior Account Manager for Range Online Media, a leading search and interactive marketing agency that delivers measurable success through comprehensive, online marketing services, including paid search marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), online media placement and social media, strategic planning, performance optimization and more. Having worked with travel and hospitality clients over the last seven years, Ms. Utley has had the opportunity to participate and lead strategy in both search and media campaigns on a national level. Ms. Utley can be contacted at 817-509-0350 or teri.utley@rangeonlinemedia.com Extended Bio...

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