NB: This is a guest article by Brian Fitzgerald, vice president of digital strategy at O'Rourke Hospitality.
Over the last few months I have been very disappointed by hearing several hotel Internet marketing companies dismissing mobile applications as part of a hotel’s mobile marketing strategy.
Frankly, I feel as though these companies are downplaying mobile apps because they don’t have an app solution. They seem to be trying to fit every hotel into the solution set they have available to sell.
Full disclosure, we make mobile app products. However, the goal here is not to convince you that you need an app.
Your hotel may benefit from a mobile app or a mobile app might be completely wrong for your hotel, this is a decision that you need to make yourself.
My aim here is to make sure that hotels have the full breadth of available information when they are making decisions about their mobile marketing strategy.
So, let’s review some of the realities of mobile apps:
1. Apps are NOT expensive
If you were to try and build an app from scratch, on your own, through a company that doesn’t have a lot of app experience, then yes it could be expensive. However, this approach is not your only option.
There are options out there for you to build an app for a nominal setup fee and an ongoing monthly subscription fee. If you are part of a collection of hotels this can help to reduce the cost even further by sharing the setup and monthly fees across the collection.
2. Apps can be build for cross-platform
Another misconception that I’ve seen is that when you are building a mobile app you need to build separate apps for each platform.
This is no longer the case as there are now technologies that allow developers to build an app once and it is created for both iPhone and most Android versions.
What about Blackberry you might ask? Blackberry’s market share continues to plummet. According to data from Gartner, Blackberry’s market share dropped from 13% in Q1 of 2011 to 6.9% for Q1 of 2012.
It doesn’t make sense to invest in a platform like this.
According to the same Gartner data, Android and iPhone combined represent 79% of the market, so it makes a lot more sense to build it once and address 79% of the market.
3. Apps and mobile websites are two completely different things
In today’s world consumers are going to use whatever channel and whatever device they want. The Think With Google studies from Google report that the average travel shopper uses 10.2 information sources before buying.
The studies also report (big surprise) that more and more of those sources are mobile. What is being ignored or missed by many is that some of those sources are mobile apps.
An additional study from Think With Google highlights that, in the US, the average smartphone user has 28 apps installed and has used 11 of them within the last 30 days.
What this data tells me is that there is indeed an app audience for the travel industry, in addition to the mobile web audience. I believe that if you want to properly address all of the channels that consumers are using for research, you need to consider BOTH a mobile website and a mobile app.
4. Apps have better features and functions than mobile websites
The next level for mobile in the travel landscape is twofold, 1. Truly enhance the guest experience 2. Enhance it across all stages of the customer journey (pre stay, during stay, post stay).
This is where apps, at least today, have a leg up by being able to offer features and functions that can’t exist through a mobile website. There are already a handful of mobile app offerings out there that integrate with PMS systems.
This means that guests can check-in, checkout, receive messages, order room service and request housekeeping services all through a mobile app on their smartphone. Apps also allow for features like keyless guestroom entry through technologies like OpenWays.
Last, but certainly not least is the functionality of push notifications that apps have. This means that you can send a push notification post stay to remind past guests about your property or you can send them a push message when their extra towels have been delivered.
These push messages help keep your hotel top of mind when guests are not on-property and help keep guests informed when they are.
5. Marketing your app is easy
Could you spend a ton of money marketing your app? Sure. Do you need to? No.
There are plenty of simple, grassroots methods that can be used to market your app. Here are 15 ideas, that cost little to nothing, on places and channels where you could promote your mobile app
- a banner on your website homepage
- a Facebook post
- a Twitter post
- an email blast
- a press release
- a YouTube video
- your email signature
- guest confirmation emails
- post stay emails
- folio printouts
- a lobby poster
- an elevator poster
- an in-room tent card
- a message on the HSIA login screen
- coasters in F&B outlets.
Doing all or some of these tactics will easily increase downloads of your mobile app.
Summing up
Overall, make sure that you evaluate every opportunity and gather all the available information. Don’t make the mistake of taking one company’s opinion as the final answer.
I hope this post achieved my goal of helping to make sure that hospitality professionals have ALL the necessary information as they plan their mobile marketing strategies.
Look forward to your comments and discussions.
NB: This is a guest article by Brian Fitzgerald, vice president of digital strategy at O'Rourke Hospitality.
NB2:Mobile app explosion image via Shutterstock.