Ms. Horwell

Mobile Technology

Mobile Marketing - A New Frontier for the Hotel Industry

By Vanessa Horwell, Founder & Chief Visibility Officer, ThinkInk & TravelInk'd

We live in a society that prides itself in doing everything bigger, faster, and stronger. Today, you can buy a car that practically drives itself, see real-time video streaming from almost anywhere in the world via the Internet, and take your pick of hundreds upon hundreds of shows on TV—not to mention the beauty of TiVo. But what seems to be one of the biggest game-changers in the world of marketing and technology is smartphones.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) said in its latest annual report that it expects there will be over 5 billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide in 2010. By the end of 2009, that number had already reached 4.6 billion subscriptions, or a 67% global penetration rate, with over 70 economies that have a 100% penetration mark.

And the audience of travel consumers is an especially mobile audience - research conducted by PhoCusWright shows 75% of frequent business travelers — those making at least five trips a year — are smartphone owners. Roughly half of frequent leisure travelers have smartphones.

So what does this mean for hotel and hospitality company marketers?

The staggering number of mobile phone users worldwide indicates that mobile marketing is not only a practice worth looking into, but arguably, the new frontier of hotel marketing for every hotel from Paris, to Philadelphia, to Phuket.

So let’s start at the beginning…

What is mobile marketing?

Mobile marketing is the process of delivering marketing messages to a customer’s mobile phone. Mobile marketing messages can be delivered in two ways:

• SMS – Marketing messages delivered by SMS are sent via text message to a consumer’s mobile phone. The messages must be short and to-the-point as SMS messages can be a maximum of 160 characters long. SMS marketing messages are text-only messages and don’t allow for any graphics or formatting to be used in the message. All mobile phones can receive SMS messages, making it an ideal marketing tool for companies looking to reach a wide audience.
• MMS – Marketing messages delivered by MMS are also sent via text message to a consumer’s mobile phone but unlike SMS, MMS messages are able to include embedded images, formatting or even video, making the messages much more interactive and interesting. MMS messages are also restricted to a maximum length of 160 characters. Unlike SMS messages, the advanced technology which offers the ability to include extra formatting and visuals is not supported on all mobile phones; only smartphones – like the iPhone, Blackberry and Android – are able to process and receive these messages effectively.

Why mobile?

Mobile marketing is still a (relatively) new marketing medium – at least in North America --but it is already a multi-billion dollar per year industry worldwide, and continues to grow each year. Mobile budgets are expected to grow between 100 to 150% this year, according to industry bible Mobile Marketer, and it’s no longer considered a niche or fad.

Mobile offers a degree of engagement with customers that is impossible to achieve through other media. Importantly, brand recall is very high - with survey results as high as 51%, with 96% remembering the call-to-action from the message. That is unheard of in many marketing channels! In a July ‘08 survey by the DMA, Mobile Marketing: Consumer Perspectives, SMS campaigns were found to be the most successful mobile ad medium. 70% of those surveyed had responded to a marketing text message, whereas only 41% had responded to a survey and 30% to email offers.

Not only is it effective, mobile marketing is very inexpensive when compared to the other most popular marketing tactics. And as you can see from the numbers above, the ROI earned from mobile marketing is also very high so it’s definitely a fantastic marketing medium for hotels to consider.

Build Relationships

More than a strategy based on traditional media, a mobile strategy is based on a complex and active relationship between the seller and the consumer. A successful mobile marketing strategy creates confidence through disclosure and accessibility, one-to-one interactivity, and clear information security. To achieve these, provide the information customers need and evidently list privacy policies, as well as offer options of how (by channel or medium) and how often (weekly, monthly, other) they want to be communicated with, or if they want to be communicated with at all. Rather than pushing information out, pull information in to learn how customers want to be interacted with.

Creating a Mobile-Friendly Website

Just like when surfing the Web on a traditional desktop or laptop computer, there are a wealth of opportunities interact with consumers via the Internet on a mobile device. By simply having a website, consumers can view information on any given hotel via their mobile phone. Here, they can see property pictures, read hotel information including onsite amenities and rates, and even book a stay.

When putting together a mobile marketing campaign, however, it is imperative that a hotel’s website be mobile-friendly. What does this mean? Regular websites aren’t usually automatically condensed to be viewed on a mobile device—mobile devices usually have less speed and memory than a regular computer. Therefore, if a hotel’s website isn’t set up for mobile use, many aspects, including—and quite most importantly –the ability to make reservations won’t work properly. And with so many people currently using their mobile devices for just about everything— a recent Nielsen study found that 40% of iPhone users accessed the Internet on their phones more than they used a desktop computer - this is definitely a feature that hoteliers must have as a fully functioning feature on their mobile website.

This is the same for online OTAs. Because consumers are using websites like Hotwire, Orbitz, Expedia and many others to book hotel rooms, it is important to be affiliated to OTAs who also have mobile-friendly sites. This will not only make it easy for a hotel to receive mobile bookings through its own website, but through a number of other channels as well.

Mobile Coupons

Today, a mobile coupon most often consists of a coupon code that can be redeemed online, via phone or in-person when booking a hotel stay. Here’s an example of a mobile coupon message: “Looking for a place to vacation this summer? Visit us at PROPERTY NAME and get 10% off 3+ day stays. Use code 3DAY10 when booking online or over the phone.” The actual coupon code is the code 3DAY10, which a guest can enter before checking out online or can state over the phone to the reservations team.

Mobile coupons appeal to consumers’ value-conscious attitudes and offer an opportunity for hospitality marketers to engage their customers and encourage action (i.e. booking!) through a highly effective and cost-effective means of reaching new and existing customers. In fact, a study by Juniper Research estimated that by 2011, businesses worldwide would be sending out nearly 3 billion coupons to mobile phones, which will be redeemed for $7 billion worth of discounts.

Location-Based Mobile Marketing

To make mobile marketing even more targeted and even more effective, hotels can use a customer’s smartphone GPS to send out location-specific messages, increasing the chance that they will choose to book with your property. Because the hotel booking window is shrinking drastically, this is a great way for hotels to reach consumers who want to book at the last minute. Surprisingly, this is a large percentage of travelers: Priceline said 58% of customers with mobile devices were within 20 miles of their hotel when they made the booking — and 35% were within just a mile. Here’s an example of how location-based mobile marketing works:

• Let’s say that you were a small hotel chain with a presence throughout the US and you wanted to market to travelers when they arrived in your area. By using a location specific mobile service, your mobile marketing provider can send messages to the people on your database as they approach one of your hotel locations. So as Customer A approaches JFK Airport (where you have a hotel just outside of the airport property), they will receive a text message that reads: “Looking for a place to stay near the airport? Book a stay with PROPERTY NAME JFK Airport, using code 10PEROFF and you’ll get 10% off your entire stay.” As they are right nearby, they will be much more likely to book at your hotel as they now have a discount code in the palm of their hand to redeem for their stay.

Foursquare: Just Another Method of Social Marketing

And let’s not forget social media, which could be one of the fastest growing methods of marketing that can be equally successful in the realms of both online and mobile marketing. Social media is a great way to interact with consumers, first as an outlet to promote hotel specials and packages, announce hotel happenings, and run contests; and second to conduct polls, surveys, and gain feedback from customers by initiating conversation among social media followers.

At this point, most of us—especially those who work in marketing—are familiar with the worlds of Facebook and Twitter, and the benefits they have for different marketing initiatives. But there’s a new kid on the block, and his name is Foursquare.

Foursquare, a location-based social application, is quickly becoming popular with mobile phone users and is also a great way to market a hospitality business to consumers. Foursquare allows users to publicly “check-in” into a number of locations, including stores, restaurants, and yes, hotels. “Checking-in” enables a Foursquare user’s followers to see these locations and find out about places they want to visit. Additionally, many businesses are using Foursquare as a marketing tool by rewarding Foursquare visitors who “check-in” with special coupons and rewards, as well as giving special perks to visitors who “check-in” to the same location frequently.

Marketing Through Other Social Applications

Mobile users are regularly creating applications—which can be used on different smart phones like Blackberries, iPhones and Androids—to make it faster and easier to find nearby shops, restaurants, and hotels. Currently there are more than 20 major mobile directories that draw information from Website databases. These include Google Maps Mobile, Yellow Pages Mobile and Yelp Mobile—all databases where hoteliers should definitely have their hotels listed.

While apps like Google Maps and Yellow Pages can give consumers access to the exact location and contact information to your business, apps like Yelp allows customers to rate your establishment and provide a first-hand review on their experience. Tons of other apps like this are being created every day, which quickly can give your hotel recognition and reputation among users. Hotels can even create their own customized apps where they can allow users to do a variety of things, including accessing general information from the hotel’s website, as well as other fun things like finding nearby attractions, restaurants and hangout spots recommended by the property itself.

The possibilities with mobile marketing are seemingly endless. As more businesses begin to embrace the mobile medium as a legitimate marketing portal—and as consumers become more comfortable with using these technologies to when making their hotel decisions— the more mobile marketing will flourish as a bona fide business driver.

Chief Visibility Offer, ThinkInk & TravelInk’d Vanessa Horwell is the founder and Chief Visibility Officer of ThinkInk & TravelInk’d, a public relations and visibility firm that shuns press releases in favor of storytelling. She has spent the past 18 years working with companies in the US, UK and Europe, developing successful campaigns and strategies for their brands. Ms. Horwell is a senior level strategist who works with companies in North America, EMEA and Asia-Pac in developing winning media campaigns, building relationships with influencers, and improving visibility through a unique style of public relations. Ms. Horwell can be contacted at 305-749-5342 or vanessa@thinkinkpr.com Extended Bio...

HotelExecutive.com retains the copyright to the articles published in the Hotel Business Review. Articles cannot be republished without prior written consent by HotelExecutive.com.