Top Mobile Booking Strategies for 2016 | Avvio & HSMAI Europe

Top Mobile Booking

Strategies for 2016

Mark Murray & Cara Callaghan, Avvio

Having a mobile strategy is not a trend; it’s a vital requirement for 2016

Today we will cover:

• Mobile landscape for hoteliers in 2016

• Importance of mobile strategies

• Top strategies to grow mobile bookings through brand.com

• Using mobile to communicate the “Book Direct” message

• Top tips for mobile web design

Introduction

“Mobile has forever changed the way we live, and it’s forever changed what we expect of

brands. It’s fractured the consumer journey into hundreds of real-time, intent-driven micro-

moments. Each one is a critical opportunity for brands to shape our decisions and preferences.”

- thinkwithgoogle

The Mobile Landscape

1.4billionSmartphones were sold in 2015

-7%Time Spent per session on Mobile Travel sites

Only 10%Book the 1st Brand that

comes to mind

88%Increase in Mobile Conversion Rates

49%Growth in Mobile Hotel Queries

Cross Platform46% of Mobile Travel researchers move to desktop to book

The Mobile Landscape

Jan – Jun 2014 July – Dec 2014 Jan – Jun 2015 Jul – Dec 2015

% of Traffic 24% 31% 35% 41%

Conv Rate 0.19% 0.40% 0.46% 0.53%

% of Revenue 8% 10% 12% 17%

Mobile Landscape - Sample Results

• New responsive website & Convert 6 went live on 21st July• Website conversion rate has increased from an average of

35% to 55%.

Mobile Landscape - Sample Results

Device Conversion Rate –Old Site

Conversion Rate –New Site

% Variance

Desktop 1.92% 2.20% +7%

Tablet 1.80% 2.13% +18%

Mobile 0.71% 1.00% +40%

Importance of Mobile Strategies

• Mobile specific behaviours are creating a new consumer journey. There is no doubt that mobile bookings are growing worldwide but that is only part of the online story.

• Travellers are increasingly likely to use their mobile for research and sharing. Google’s VP of Marketing, Lisa Gevelber, attributes the various paths and interactions along the customers journey to what are now being termed as ‘micro-moments’. When it comes to travel these moments happen in 4 stages:

ExperiencingBookingPlanningDreaming


When these moments occur your customers reach for the device nearest for answers — you guessed it, the smartphone. Will you be there?

Percentage of people who use a smartphone. Source: The Connected Consumer Survey 2014 / 2015


Case Study: Google, in conjunction with Luth Research, analysed a purchase in reallife (Amy who planned a trip to Disney Land), highlighting the various touchpointsalong the 2 month road to the final booking.


If your hotel brand is not reacting to these moments, you’re missing out onthe vital chance to connect…

•Dreaming – ‘I want to get away’ moments

•Planning – ‘I want this trip to be perfect’ moments

•Booking – ‘I want to book it now’ moments

•Experiencing – ‘I want to make the most of it’ moments


Dreaming: I want to get away moments

- Provide the Inspiration


Planning: I want this trip to be perfect moments

- Give the guest every opportunity


Booking: I want to book it moment

- Don’t give your customer an excuse not to.


Experiencing - I want to make the most of it moments

When your customer is in the moment - be of service.

Case Study: Families booking into Cheval Three Quays receive a ‘Things ToDo List’ along with George the Unicorn Teddy to accompany the smallest ofthe family on any sightseeing trips.

Happy family = shared images = hotel brand growth

Top Mobile Strategies

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic.” – Arthur C. Clarke (Author)

1. Be Mobile Responsive

Simply put your website and booking engine platform must be mobileresponsive. Otherwise the magic can never happen!



2. Incorporate Mobile Video

Video content will tell your brand story in a truly engaging way…

Online video now accounts for 50% of all content viewed on mobile.Expected to rise to 80% by 2018.


2. Incorporate Mobile Video


3. Adapt your Mobile Ads

Ad Campaigns should adapt in line with the device used; decide what yourpitch is based on who your audience are.

Ads should carry a tailored message asopposed to the ‘one size fits all’ approach.

Open up new options, targets and sales via:

• Call forwarding• Location extensions• App promotion• Image ads• YouTube• Display• Remarketing



4. Have a dedicated SEO Strategy

From April the 21st 2015, “Mobilegeddon” affected Google's rankingalgorithm to include mobile-friendly usability factors…

• A mobile responsive site is a must.

Whatever the configuration now (Responsive, Dynamic or Separate URL’s)the main points to remember are:

• Signal to Google when a page is formatted for mobile.

• Ensure resources are crawlable.

• Avoid anything that may frustrate mobile visitors! A poor searchexperience can result in a demotion in rankings (Flash video, faulty re-directs, slow pages, unplayable videos).


4.1 Have a dedicated SEO Strategy – Measurement & Attribution


5. Be There When It Matters

72% of mobile hotel bookings on OTA’s are made within one day of travel. Source: Phocurights Parsing Shop & Book

A study by Criteo and PhocusWright (The Mobile Effect) suggest that OTAshave an advantage over Brand.com in the mobile space, but that is changing.

Increasingly travellers trust branded sites and, combined with a compellingmobile experience, there is huge value in aggressively targeting these shortlead-time users who ordinarily book through OTA’s. How?

Always onMulti

ChannelIncentivise



Are you visible via the Metasearch channels?

Always onMulti

ChannelIncentivise



Tailor your ad messages. What does your Basket Abandoner see? Do yourin-market audience have an affinity to sports?

Always onMulti

ChannelIncentivise

Communicate the Book Direct Message

The Journey’s End

Today we have stated that mobile bookings are only part of the online journey – but ultimately they are our goal.

Communicate the Book Direct Message

The Journeys End. . . is only the Beginning

Not only in the ‘Booking Moment’ but your brand has to consider theLifetime Value of a Customer…

If you build it they will book.

If you build a mobile responsive site they will book.

If you build a mobile responsive site and have an all encompassing mobile strategy they will book.

If you build a mobile responsive site and have an all encompassing mobile strategy they will book…again and again.

Dynamic Design Principles

1. Ensure your website is fully responsive and adapts to be viewed on mobile devices of various resolutions and platforms.

1. The ‘on-the-go mind set’ of the mobile user means they will not interact with your mobile site as they would on a desktop.

2. Ensure all call-to-action buttons are of a suitable size and spacing and all text is legible as outlined by Googles Mobile-Friendly test.

3. Include call-to-action icons for pages most commonly accessed on mobile devices such as Location, Contact and Reservations.

4. Minimise the amount of images and heavy code being used to ensure fast load times.

5. Ensure all input elements such as forms and reservation queries are mobile friendly.

Key Takeaways

Tools

Screenfly - Check how your site displays across a multitude of screen sizes.

Pingdom – Website Speed Test

PageSpeed Insights – website speed test and highlights any issues slowing

site down.

Kraken.io - If your site is sluggish, optimise images (with minimal loss of

quality) with

W3 Mobile friendliness checker

Mobiletest.me – See how your site appears on mobile

http://quirktools.com/screenfly

http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/

https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights

https://kraken.io/

https://validator.w3.org/mobile/

http://mobiletest.me/

Thank you

[email protected]

www.avvio.com

Top Mobile Booking

Strategies for 2016

January 26th 2016