Mobile, tablet, desktop: what strategy should your hotel have?

Key words: IT, digital marketing, hotels

Over the last few years, tablets, smartphones and other digital tools have become extremely commonplace in our society. Nowadays, as users even own several of these devices, they are called “multi-device” or “multi-screen” users.

Further, all of these devices are directly connected to the Internet and users are mainly using this primary function. It means that there is now more than one way to book a room, collect information and provide feedbacks. In a word, Internet users’ booking habits have quickly evolved. Consequently, the hospitality industry, as much as other industries, can’t solely rely on their official website but has to adapt to the emergence of new screens.

Indeed, based on the Google Traveller 2012 Study, travellers are more and more using these digital tools to organize their stays: per this study, smartphone searches have increased by 31% between 2011 and 2012, as well as tablet searches which have raised by 17% over the same period. Further, as the time spent on these devices has increased, consumers are mostly using digital information today.

Then, the author (Sebastien Felix) points out the fact that each of these screens has specific usages and goals. In fact, we don’t use our smartphones for the same reasons we would use our laptop. For instance, regarding the search of information, consumers are mostly using smartphones (for 65% of its usage) rather than tablets (only 4%).

Managers have to understand the multi-screen users’ habits too. Basically, when looking for information, there are two different behaviours: users can either start their research on one type of device and finish it via another kind of screen (e.g.: smartphone à desktop).

Or, they can use different devices at the same time too. As showed by the following graph, this is the most common behaviour among multiple-screen users.

 

After this review of the current market, here are some tips for hotel managers to design their communication strategy:

-       The starting point is to think about an overall strategy to be implemented through all communication channels. Internet users should be able to find the same information no matter which device they use.

-       Smartphones should not be at the core of your marketing strategy: Indeed, although smartphones are the most common device to be used, many bookings are not turned into real sales but abandoned.

-       Cross-devices experience should be emphasized;

Finally, the article aims at helping hotels’ managers to shape their marketing strategy, by explaining the different kind of Internet users and behaviours they could have to face. Nowadays, focusing on smartphones is not enough; multi-screen users have taken the lead. Managers have to embrace this new trend in order to design a strategy that would match the Internet users’ needs. Moreover, these marketing tips are definitely relevant, as they have been provided by WIHP – a hotel marketing agency, specialized in e-marketing tools for hotels.

The article can be found on: http://www.wihphotel.com/mag/2012/mobile-tablet-desktop-what-strategy-should-your-hotel-have/

Written by: Hélène Roudeix & Laura Rulens