The following is a post from Lindsey Molnar, Marketing Manager for TIG Global.
By now, you have probably heard the buzz surrounding mobile marketing. And if you aren’t sure if it’s right for your company or if it’s really going to take off, the statistics around this new medium are staggering. According to eMarketer, in 2008 the mobile market generated $648 million in ad sales. By 2013, it is expected to soar to $3.3 billion in the U.S. and $24 billion worldwide. Currently, over one third of Americans use their handheld devices to read e-mail and browse the web, and mobile search in the U.S. is expected to nearly double from 28.8 million users in 2008 to 56 million users by 2011.
If these estimated numbers aren’t enough to encourage you to take mobile marketing seriously, the latest revelation from Facebook will certainly help. Facebook recently announced via its blog that 100 million of its users are now accessing the site regularly through their mobile devices. Whether it’s through m.facebook.com or touch.facebook.com, this means that nearly 25% of Facebook users around the world actively access the social networking site from the palm of their hand, anytime, anywhere. And to throw one more number at you: according to Nielsen, in December, Facebook ranked as the third most popular mobile site, falling just behind Google Search and Yahoo! Mail.
What does this mean for hotels and destinations?
The milestone announced by Facebook is yet another reminder of just how engrained social media has become in our behavior and how big mobile marketing is becoming. These numbers further prove that consumers are, in fact, constantly connected. With more and more users attached to mobile devices, hotels and destinations can take advantage of this and benefit from our “instant access” society.
Hotels and destinations should use this opportunity to grasp the attention of these tech-savvy consumers. If your budget does not allow for a full mobile marketing strategy to be implemented, you can certainly take advantage of the growing Facebook user group at little to no cost for your hotel or destination. If you aren’t on Facebook yet, it is free and only takes a few minutes to setup a fan page for your hotel or destination. If you already have one, be sure your company’s Facebook page is updated consistently. Now is the perfect time to reward loyal fans and attract new ones by offering Facebook-only specials. These specials, along with any other marketing messages, can be pushed out through Facebook to your fans, which in turn can be accessed immediately via their mobile devices. Also, remember to include a link to your mobile website, if applicable, on your hotel’s or destination’s Facebook page, and vice versa.
If your budget does allow room for a mobile marketing strategy, the best place to start is to create a simple, yet optimized mobile website for your hotel or destination. You can then move on to building opt-in databases as well as creating text message (SMS) and location based marketing campaigns that take advantage of the GPS technology embedded in mobile devices. With the use of mobile devices on the rise and the ability for consumers to interact with your brand no matter where they are, the opportunities are endless.
Interested in ramping up your mobile strategy? TIG Global offers a full suite of design and interactive marketing tools to get your brand noticed. Click here to learn more, or give us a call at 301-841-4700.
