How to ride the mobile engagement wave

How can the hotel sector best leverage the emerging trends in mobile technology? Nigel Shanahan MD of Customer engagement experts

Rapide has five top tips

1. Use video to gain a competitive advantage
A recent study from IBM found that 81% of consumers are using their mobile phones as a way of deciding which brand to purchase from on the go.
A picture tells a thousand words, a video tells a story: one of the most important factors for consumers when deciding where to stay is the quality, cleanliness and comfort of your hotel – but words can only say so much. By including video tours of your hotel rooms and facilities on your mobile website you can differentiate yourself from your competitors, allow prospects to have a virtual tour of your hotel, and entice passing custom.

2. Use text messages to send timely booking reminders
A text message reminder the day before a guest is meant to arrive at your hotel is not only a way of ensuring that they remember to show up, but it’s also a way of providing excellent customer service. As well as the initial reminder message you might also like to offer your guests an interactive map so that they can find their way to your hotel, or the option to reserve a table in the hotel restaurant.
By using mobile reminders and up sell messages Premier Inn have reduced their no show rates by 21%, and have significantly increased the amount of guests who choose to dine in their restaurants.

3. Use the real-time nature of mobile to gather your guests’ feedback instantly.
By gathering your guests’ feedback as they’re experiencing a service you’ll not only increase the accuracy of the information they offer you but also get the chance to make things right if they’re not. By allowing your guests’ to express their feelings through a text message, sent conveniently to a 5 digit short-code, you’ll show your guests you’re taking a proactive approach to their customer care as well as being able to act on feedback as soon as it is received. Gone are the days of paper comment cards which at best are time consuming to process and at worst remain unread altogether. Offering your guests the option to share their thoughts by tweet or email can further enhance this service.

4. Use location based services (LBS) to help guests’ get the most from their stay

Location Based Services (LBS) hold a lot of potential for the hotel industry. (LBS) allows guests to let others know where they are by ‘checking in’ to a location via their mobile phone. Once they have done so other ‘checked in’ guests can then communicate with them, set-up face-to-face meetings and find points of interest around where they are staying. Employees of the hotel can also engage hotel guests in conversation and offer enhanced service delivery.

5. Use mobile marketing to turn one-time guests in to repeat customers
Creative mobile marketing campaigns have been proven to encourage guest loyalty. As early as 2009, Hilton Hotels reported a 40 to 1 ROI ratio from their own mobile initiatives. Text messages which alert customers to offers tailor made to them or that mark an anniversary of their last stay can be very effective. Successful marketing is all about timing and with statistics showing that an average email is read within 48 hours and the average text message within 4 minutes it is clear that mobile engagement is the way forward.