Panelists at the third annual Hotel Data Conference have shown that though it is important for hotels to begin taking part in mobile to obtain more bookings, it must be done properly or there is a risk that guests could be lost.
Five primary tips were identified for hotels that would like to take advantage of mobile marketing to their best abilities:
1. Get started with mobile – according to principal and CEO Vikram Singh of Evision, though mobile is currently quite a small part of the website traffic in the hotel industry, it is currently experiencing exponential growth. He said “that should be a call to action for all hotels right now.”
2. Focus on mobile commerce – though it is important to have a mobile friendly website, the most important goal should be enhancing the booking engine for mobile devices.
3. Fewer bells and whistles is better – when it comes to booking engines and mobile websites the more simple and straight forward they are, the better. Crowded graphics and other visuals slow down download times for wireless and may turn customers off so that they will head to the competition, instead.
4. Provide real time engagement for customers – hotel owners are advised to leverage the real-time abilities of pre-arrival, such as welcomes, pre-visit information, updates, and offers, as well as after the guests arrive.
5. Watch for negative reviews – pay attention to what customers have to say and take care of bad reviews before they reach sites where other customers will see them. Singh recommends that signs be posted within hotels that give a number to text if a problem should occur. Staff at the hotel should always monitor that account so that the issue can be addressed immediately.
