Learn about the most effective techniques used by leading hotels to boost direct revenue through mobile bookings growth. Avvio: http://www.avvio.com/ HSMAI Europe: http://hsmai-europe.com/

1. Top Mobile Booking
Strategies for 2016
Mark Murray & Cara Callaghan, Avvio

2. Having a mobile strategy is not a trend; it’s a vital requirement for 2016
Today we will cover:
• Mobile landscape for hoteliers in 2016
• Importance of mobile strategies
• Top strategies to grow mobile bookings through brand.com
• Using mobile to communicate the “Book Direct” message
• Top tips for mobile web design
Introduction
“Mobile has forever changed the way we live, and it’s forever changed what we expect of
brands. It’s fractured the consumer journey into hundreds of real-time, intent-driven micro-
moments. Each one is a critical opportunity for brands to shape our decisions and preferences.”
- thinkwithgoogle

3. The Mobile Landscape
1.4billion
Smartphones were sold in
2015
-7%
Time Spent per session on
Mobile Travel sites
Only 10%
Book the 1st Brand that
comes to mind
88%
Increase in Mobile
Conversion Rates
49%
Growth in Mobile Hotel
Queries
Cross Platform
46% of Mobile Travel
researchers move to desktop
to book

4. The Mobile Landscape
Jan – Jun 2014 July – Dec 2014 Jan – Jun 2015 Jul – Dec 2015
% of Traffic 24% 31% 35% 41%
Conv Rate 0.19% 0.40% 0.46% 0.53%
% of Revenue 8% 10% 12% 17%

5. Mobile Landscape - Sample Results
• New responsive website & Convert 6 went live on 21st July
• Website conversion rate has increased from an average of
35% to 55%.

6. Mobile Landscape - Sample Results
Device Conversion Rate –
Old Site
Conversion Rate –
New Site
% Variance
Desktop 1.92% 2.20% +7%
Tablet 1.80% 2.13% +18%
Mobile 0.71% 1.00% +40%

7. Importance of Mobile Strategies
• Mobile specific behaviours are creating a new consumer journey. There
is no doubt that mobile bookings are growing worldwide but that is only
part of the online story.
• Travellers are increasingly likely to use their mobile for research and
sharing. Google’s VP of Marketing, Lisa Gevelber, attributes the various
paths and interactions along the customers journey to what are now
being termed as ‘micro-moments’. When it comes to travel these
moments happen in 4 stages:
ExperiencingBookingPlanningDreaming

8. Importance of Mobile Strategies
When these moments occur your customers reach for the device nearest
for answers — you guessed it, the smartphone. Will you be there?
Percentage of people who use a smartphone.
Source: The Connected Consumer Survey 2014 / 2015

9. Importance of Mobile Strategies
Case Study: Google, in conjunction with Luth Research, analysed a purchase in real
life (Amy who planned a trip to Disney Land), highlighting the various touchpoints
along the 2 month road to the final booking.

10. Importance of Mobile Strategies
If your hotel brand is not reacting to these moments, you’re missing out on
the vital chance to connect…
•Dreaming – ‘I want to get away’ moments
•Planning – ‘I want this trip to be perfect’ moments
•Booking – ‘I want to book it now’ moments
•Experiencing – ‘I want to make the most of it’ moments

11. Importance of Mobile Strategies
Dreaming: I want to get away moments
- Provide the Inspiration

12. Importance of Mobile Strategies
Planning: I want this trip to be perfect moments
- Give the guest every opportunity

13. Importance of Mobile Strategies
Booking: I want to book it moment
- Don’t give your customer an excuse not to.

14. Importance of Mobile Strategies
Experiencing - I want to make the most of it moments
When your customer is in the moment - be of service.
Case Study: Families booking into Cheval Three Quays receive a ‘Things To
Do List’ along with George the Unicorn Teddy to accompany the smallest of
the family on any sightseeing trips.
Happy family = shared images = hotel brand growth

15. Top Mobile Strategies
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic.”
– Arthur C. Clarke (Author)
1. Be Mobile Responsive
Simply put your website and booking engine platform must be mobile
responsive. Otherwise the magic can never happen!

16. Top Mobile Strategies

17. Top Mobile Strategies
2. Incorporate Mobile Video
Video content will tell your brand story in a truly engaging way…
Online video now accounts for 50% of all content viewed on mobile.
Expected to rise to 80% by 2018.

18. Top Mobile Strategies
2. Incorporate Mobile Video

19. Top Mobile Strategies
3. Adapt your Mobile Ads
Ad Campaigns should adapt in line with the device used; decide what your
pitch is based on who your audience are.
Ads should carry a tailored message as
opposed to the ‘one size fits all’ approach.
Open up new options, targets and sales via:
• Call forwarding
• Location extensions
• App promotion
• Image ads
• YouTube
• Display
• Remarketing

20. Top Mobile Strategies

21. Top Mobile Strategies
4. Have a dedicated SEO Strategy
From April the 21st 2015, “Mobilegeddon” affected Google's ranking
algorithm to include mobile-friendly usability factors…
• A mobile responsive site is a must.
Whatever the configuration now (Responsive, Dynamic or Separate URL’s)
the main points to remember are:
• Signal to Google when a page is formatted for mobile.
• Ensure resources are crawlable.
• Avoid anything that may frustrate mobile visitors! A poor search
experience can result in a demotion in rankings (Flash video, faulty re-
directs, slow pages, unplayable videos).

22. Top Mobile Strategies
4.1 Have a dedicated SEO Strategy – Measurement & Attribution

23. Top Mobile Strategies
5. Be There When It Matters
72% of mobile hotel bookings on OTA’s are made within one day of travel.
Source: Phocurights Parsing Shop & Book
A study by Criteo and PhocusWright (The Mobile Effect) suggest that OTAs
have an advantage over Brand.com in the mobile space, but that is changing.
Increasingly travellers trust branded sites and, combined with a compelling
mobile experience, there is huge value in aggressively targeting these short
lead-time users who ordinarily book through OTA’s. How?
Always on
Multi
Channel
Incentivise

24. Top Mobile Strategies
5. Be There When It Matters
Are you visible via the Metasearch channels?
Always on
Multi
Channel
Incentivise

25. Top Mobile Strategies
5. Be There When It Matters
Tailor your ad messages. What does your Basket Abandoner see? Do your
in-market audience have an affinity to sports?
Always on
Multi
Channel
Incentivise

26. Communicate the Book Direct Message
The Journey’s End
Today we have stated that mobile bookings are only part of the online
journey – but ultimately they are our goal.

27. Communicate the Book Direct Message
The Journeys End. . . is only the Beginning
Not only in the ‘Booking Moment’ but your brand has to consider the
Lifetime Value of a Customer…
If you build it they will book.
If you build a mobile responsive site they will book.
If you build a mobile responsive site and have an all
encompassing mobile strategy they will book.
If you build a mobile responsive site and have an all
encompassing mobile strategy they will book…again and
again.

28. Dynamic Design Principles
1. Ensure your website is fully responsive and adapts to be viewed on mobile
devices of various resolutions and platforms.
1. The ‘on-the-go mind set’ of the mobile user means they will not interact with
your mobile site as they would on a desktop.
2. Ensure all call-to-action buttons are of a suitable size and spacing and all text is
legible as outlined by Googles Mobile-Friendly test.
3. Include call-to-action icons for pages most commonly accessed on mobile
devices such as Location, Contact and Reservations.
4. Minimise the amount of images and heavy code being used to ensure fast load
times.
5. Ensure all input elements such as forms and reservation queries are mobile
friendly.

29. Key Takeaways

30. Tools
Screenfly - Check how your site displays across a multitude of screen sizes.
Pingdom – Website Speed Test
PageSpeed Insights – website speed test and highlights any issues slowing
site down.
Kraken.io - If your site is sluggish, optimise images (with minimal loss of
quality) with
W3 Mobile friendliness checker
Mobiletest.me – See how your site appears on mobile

31. Thank you
mark.murray@avvio.com
www.avvio.com
Top Mobile Booking
Strategies for 2016
January 26th 2016