It was in 2014 that mobile
marketing became a mainstream marketing tactic. In 2015, it consolidated its
position and started getting more preference (and advertising money). However,
it is only in 2016 that mobile marketing has firmly come into its own. Nowhere
is this more evident than in the tourism and destination marketing category.
In this post, we will
attempt to understand how the humble mobile has come to become ubiquitous in
the tourism marketing industry.
The
possibilities of personalization
No other device is as
personal as the mobile. For the majority of us, it is the first device we look
at when we wake up and the last device we use before we go to bed. Through the
day it dominates our life with constant updates, calls, messages, chats etc. It
would not be an understatement to say that very few people can live without
their mobile devices.
However, if you look
beyond the near complete domination of our lives, you will notice that no other
device is as personalized as your mobile. You have the ability to customize the
home screen, add caller tunes to distinguish your callers, store your photos
and videos, use apps that are meaningful to you and even link all your social
media accounts to it all the time! What this personalization means for
marketers is that it gives them a closest-to-reality picture of the real you.
One peek into your mobile will help them identify and present options that
resonate with you. And guess what happens when you get such options time and
gain? Of course you succumb!
The
rise of the ‘moment’
Mobile is truly instant.
When you look for directions, or a restaurant, or even your friends, you are
looking for them near wherever you happen to be at that point in time. Most
searches have moved from generic queries to instant queries about the next few
minutes. Most activity searches have moved from generic activities to
activities near you. Because of the immense convenience it offers, users are
more than happy to share their personal information in exchange for immediately
useful information. Marketers can harness this to deliver custom services at
specific moments in time.
Location,
location, location
Think of the number of
apps on your mobile device that ask for your location information in order to
offer you the best results. The taxi apps need that information to find and
send you cabs nearest to you. The food apps ask for that information to identify
specific restaurants or cuisines closest to you. Even e-commerce apps ask for
your address or location information in order to estimate the time to delivery!
When consumer behavior is moving in this direction, should marketers be far
behind?
Tourism marketers should
include location information in every aspect of their online and mobile
communications. With the right kind of tagging, it becomes easier for consumers
to find and use that information – leading to greater visits and increased
spends.
New
lease of life for email marketing
There once was a time when
every digital campaign worth its salt included an email marketing campaign. But
as social channels arrived and people started spending more time on Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram and the like, email became less dominant. But does it have
to be that way? Consider this: Nearly everyone who owns a smart phone has an
email app enabled on it. This makes reaching out to them over email as
instantaneous as say any other social channel. The mobile has actually
resurrected email marketing by putting it right in the pocket of the consumer,
24/7. Use it wisely and you can gain incremental returns from it over time.
Free
Wifi – the Holy Grail
Probably the one time consumers
miss their internet connectivity is when they are travelling. The prohibitive
roaming charges by telecom operators are just one reason. However, savvy
marketers who are able to offer free Wifi can actually earn the gratitude and
loyalty of these internet-starved travelers resulting in greater usage and
repeated usage of their destination. Consumers will happily trade their email
address, phone number and even a pay-with-a-tweet/post in return for temporary
or longer term access to Wifi. And if your destination includes cafes,
restaurants, libraries, museums etc, offering free Wifi should necessarily be a
part of your digital strategy.
So there you have it. Just
5 of the many reasons why mobile marketing is critical for tourism marketers.
Use these wisely and you will earn the gratitude and interest (not to mention
business) of travelers to your destination.
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