Mobile Marketing in Hospitality

How Big is the Mobile Marketplace?
Worldwide mobile communications usage has increased dramatically since 2001 and the Mobile Web is expected to surpass the traditional Web within the next 5 years. Mobile Marketing Facts:

• The number of cell phone subscribers has surged nearly 25% annually for the past eight years.
• Mobile penetration stood at 12% in 2000 and has grown to reach over 60% in 2008.
• There were 4 billion cell phone subscribers worldwide at the end of 2008, according to the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) - compare this to fewer than 1 billion in 2002.
• Around the world more people use their mobile phones than PCs to access the Web because mobile phones are cheaper and easy to carry around (”constant presence”).

The number of mobile phone lines in the U.S. has already surpassed the number of land lines in the U.S. More than 90 percent of U.S. population has a mobile device of some sort. US Mobile Phone

Subscribers 2008-2013: millions % Penetration

• 2008 270.3 88.9%
• 2009 280.8 91.4%
• 2010 291.2 93.9%
• 2011 298.4 95.2%
• 2012 302.0 96.1%
• 2013 308.7 96.7%

eMarketer, May 2009 New research from EyeforTravel shows the average number of Americans who browsed the Internet via their mobile device grew by 61% in 2008 vs. 2007. eMarketer estimates 26.3% of mobile phone subscribers will log on to the mobile Web at least once per month in 2009, for a total of 73.7 million mobile Internet users.

Why Should Hoteliers Care?
The promise of "immediate, anywhere and anytime" Internet access, instant information and transaction capability, location-based services and personalization are the key advantages of the mobile Internet.

A recent Nielsen Mobile poll found that in 2008 only 9.2 million US mobile subscribers purchased goods or services with their handset. Yet now, mobile customers are becoming at ease with the idea of m-commerce.

How serious is the demand for mobile services in the travel space? A recent report by PhoCusWright projects mobile bookings to reach $160 million in 2010 alone. Sixty-seven percent of travelers and 77% of frequent business travelers with Web-enabled mobile devices have already used their devices to find local services (e.g. lodging) and attractions. Another poll by Harris Interactive, conducted April-May 2009, shows that 71% of US adults felt that it was safe to make a purchase via a mobile phone. Forty-three percent of respondents are willing to purchase hotel rooms and 40% tickets for travel via their mobile devices.

In other words, hotel guests—past, current and potential—are increasingly becoming mobile-ready, and hoteliers have to respond adequately to this growing demand for mobile services. This is the reason why all major hotel brands, travel suppliers and OTAs have mobile Internet initiatives in place, including mobile brand websites and mobile applications including iPhone apps, m-CRM and mobile marketing.

HeBS’ Mobile Marketing Services Include:

• Mobile-Ready Hotel Website Design and Development
• Mobile-Ready Booking Engine Integration on the mobile site
• Mobile Reservation Tracking and Conversion Reporting:
  • Via the mobile booking engine
  • Via the special 1-800 number on the mobile site
• Mobile Search Marketing (Google Mobile, Bing Mobile, Yahoo Mobile, etc)
• Mobile SMS/Text Marketing
  • Create and Grow the Hotel Op-in M-List (customer cell phone list)
• Mobile Banner Advertising
• Mobile Interactive Contests and Sweepstakes
  • M-Coupons
  • Shortcode promotions
• Mobile CRM (M-CRM)
• Mobile Apps
• Location-Based Services (LBS) Initiatives

Mobile Marketing Case Study:
Browsing on hotel mobile websites is becoming more and more popular among mobile customers. Number of mobile site visits, January-July 2009:

• Regional midscale hotel brand 79,500
• Multi-property resort company 22,279
• Regional multi-property hotel company 14,379
• Luxury Spa resort in Florida: 9,917
• Boutique Hotel in San Diego, CA 4,286
• Full-service hotel in Seattle 1,891