Post on 23-Aug-2014
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transcript
Tine Thygesen
- 5 easy steps to make your hotel competitive on mobile
Mobile marketing essentials for hotels
Experts in mobile travel 70+ apps, location-based, maps & CMS
Nice to meet you, we are
52% consumers used mobile device to book travelLaptop 48%. Mobile Marketer, March13
Why we are even having this conversation:
Setting the scene: The challenge that is OTA strength
What started as a great source of new guests has become a challenge:
- Transparent pricing squeeze margins- Very high commissions- Less direct relationship with guests
Status: Independent hotels online bookings: 76% OTA (70% average)24% Own sites
On mobile it’s worse. Here most hotels are losing further ground to OTAs
- OTAs: 64% of mobile hotel bookings 2012
- Hotels: 36% on own mobile sites:
Source: PhoCusWright
This is a big problem because mobile hotel bookings are growing fast...
- 27% hotel bookings already via mobile on Orbitz (fifth OTA bookings by Americans)
- Mobile & tablet hotel bookings have risen 12 fold since 2010 (PCW)
- Las Vegas already gets 30% of all hotel bookings from mobile
Q4 2013
And here comes a multiplying factorSame-day bookings
29% now book within 24h of their stay:
Same day bookings intensify problem for hotels because same-day means mobile
- 65% of mobile customers on Orbitz are booking hotels for the same day
- 70% of mobile bookings are for same-day stays (PhoCusWright)
Purpose built apps
Example. HotelsTonight: - 5m downloads- 100 employees, - $45m investment In three years. Just opened Europe office
Around 20 similar apps
Same-day bookings includes whole new group of mobile-first OTAs
Conclusion: If hotels want to turn the tide. You need to fight back- wont be easy - wont be fast- not everything will workbut it is your best chance for long term thriving
Action plan
1.Improve mobile landing pages2.Encourage time spent on your own sites3.Build more loyalty with existing guests4.Make it easier to book and buy services digitally5.Quality matters
30% of traffic on many travel sites come from mobile, serve this fast and accurately, or loose that deal.
Motivation1. People stay 2.08 min longer on optimized sites (IAT)2. Many booking decisions start on mobile and tablet, even if actual booking is on web.
Mobile-web specific behavior:- Be fast! You have 2.5 seconds for the page to load- People want to-the-point info: Booking, address, contact- Bring booking almost to the top & make easy to buy, use existing systems to avoid credit card entry
1. Optimize mobile optimized pages
The first step to grab more direct bookings is to encourage and reward people to stay longer on pages you control:
Web- Great, multiple visuals- Lots of detailed info incl. maps with local area- Review and UGC from TripAdvisor, Instagram etc.
Mobile web- See previous slide. Less images so its loads quick
2. Keep more traffic on own sites
Example of traffic retention: Use travel tips to make your website more interestingMaps and images with stories and tips for the neighborhood. Needs images or map, not just text.
‣ A content CMS (like Everplaces) can feed into content widget on your site
‣ Requires no technical skills‣ Alter via mobile and
computer‣ Updates every 24h
Use a CMS, then it’s easy to add content to web (and app)
Build on existing relations-guests-frequent guests -existing community and spread the word from there
3. Loyalty & secondary awareness from sharing of existing customersParadigm shift happening: from awareness, to inside-out marketing which is focussed on getting your existing relations to share the word. Because building awareness has become too expensive.
- Apps are a flexible format, yours can be made totally to your requirements
- Offline information, only digital communication which does not require roaming
- Ongoing dialogue with guests
- Multi language, fast and effectively
Why apps are the right tool for hotel loyalty
Trend: Right here, right now!
Apps work because people travel less prepared, therefore they need location based, practical info they can trust:
‣What’s near me now (eat, see, sleep)‣How do I find it and get in contact‣Map has become a platform where people search directly
Loyalty app functionality‣Personalized (remember their preferences)‣Easy pay (pre-stored payment info)‣ Info surrounding neighborhood‣Maps (offline/ online) based on your location‣ Info about hotel services‣Time saving (check-in, check-out)
- Centered around exact location
- Personal tips (concierge in pocket)
- Tailored to target group (in this case design)
- Distributed like the map at reception
Customized guide app by Hotel Alexandra, a service extension
Measuring success of your appMost apps that fail, fail because they’ve got wrong, non-specific goals.
A successful an app doesn’t need 1m downloads, it has to solve a problem for you:- alternative to paper brochure/map- make important info more handy- speed up check-in etc. to reduce wait
So it’s ok if apps are deleted after stay (brochure would be thrown out too), ok with low download numbers (is a loyalty tool, not awareness) - As long as they serve a purpose first.
Up-sell with mobile payments‣Pay with mobile is now going mainstream (in-app,
proximity-based, mobile pay, wallets, skype)
‣ 26bn spent on mobile commerce in app 2013 (IAB)
‣Mobile ticketing to jump the queue (check-in)
‣ Apps can be used to sell more to guests (Book massage, spa, bike, tour, table in restaurant, room service, before dinner drink, toothpaste, late checkout, internet.)
Consumer side: Must be really really easy, to combat low trust barrier
Hotel side: Avoid expensive integration till you see it works. Start quick and easy to test: 1. Initially make system which just notifies your staff. Items goes on normal bill. 2. Later integrate with finance system, or use known payment (skype, google wallet,
Easiest way to start with mobile up-selling
Notifications to service & up-sell‣ Send deals based on location
(happy hour)
‣ Built-in automatic location-based notifications
‣ Future will enable more relevant messaging, less spam
Many early apps for hotels were too poorly made to be successful, this gave a false negative experience. To make guests use your app:
‣Easy to use (not too much info)‣Visual and nice design ‣Actually solve a problem for guest
5. Quality required
Visual design example
Recap - mobile marketing essentials for hotels
1.Improve mobile landing pages2.Encourage more time spent on own sites3.Build more loyalty with existing guests4.Make it easier to book and buy services digitally5.Quality matters
The real purpose behind it all
‣ Creating great memories, and being a part of those positive experiences
‣ And nudging customers to book more, and book directly
What if it could also work for you?
Can we help?
App costs from €1500, incl. all technical management.
Everplaces will give 10% discount if you quote #epoque14
Tine Thygesentine@everplaces.com
Thank you!
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