Mobile marketing

There are estimated 2 million Internet users, but as many as 5 million mobile phone users (January 2011) worldwide. It is a huge global reach for any company, isn't it? In the EU, however, you need a permission from a recipient if you want to send a promotional text. The opening rate of SMS promotion texts is very lucrative: 90% of the people read company text messages (cannot be even compared to the e-mail opening rate).

Many services move into mobile phones:

• mobile optimized web pages
• m-services

For example, Estonia has been in the forefront of m-services already for many years:

• m-parking
• mobile public transportation tickets
• mobile payments
• m-banking
• m-teacher
• m-neighbourhoodwatch
• m-library

The list is endless, because mobile phones can be used for so many other services. The technology is there.

Mobile optimized webpages. As people leave bookings and information search until the very last minute, then usually the information is checked on mobile devices, therefore, companies should critically think if their webpage doesn't have a mobile-friendly version, then this is the last chance to do it. Companies can check how mobile-friendly their m-page is on howtogomo.com or W3C mobileOK Checker.

SoLoMo (social-local-mobile) or some may talk about SoLoCo (social-local-commerce) refers to a more mobile-centric version of the addition of local entries to search engine results. SoLoMo emerged as a result of the growing popularity of smartphones and provides greater local precision to search engine results than what's available via a PC. The GPS technology integrated into smartphones and tablets provides more accurate geo-location results than the "IP mapping" approach necessary for home/office PCs. 47% of smartphone users are heavy users of social media, 54% use maps. Companies should really turn that knowledge into their advantage :) To a marketer, SoLoMo is a complete paradigm shift -- instead of pushing messages to a user via a TV commercial, radio or online advert, the message in pulled as a result of the users' location and activity on social networks. Dramatic shift, isn't it? The best example of this is a social check-in service like Foursquare, which would exist without the idea of location. So how far are we then from local advertising? There is Groupon, but that's basically it. There is plenty of room for development :)

Combining mobile & reality. We use QR codes and hide all sorts of information under them (additional info about a product, animal in the cage, voting platform, etc), we use bluetooth to transfer data, we track the closest ATM/shop/restaurant by LBSs (location-based services), we even explore augmented reality on mobile devices.

There are many examples of location-based services. Geofence is the digital equivalent to surrounding your business with a circle of greeters, welcoming customers to your area. It uses a virtual boundary set around any location and alerts mobile users as they cross it. How can a business benefit from this? For example Starbucks uses this service. If a person crosses a Starbucks geofence, they will receive a message from their location-based app highlighting an offer, coupon, or just a reminder to stop by. This messaging is more relevant to a user and more effective for a company. "Care for a cup of coffee?"

How should mobile marketing be used in hospitality industry?

1. pre-trip -- info sent on e-mail, by SMS
2. during travel, at commodation
• check-in
• schedule check & changes
• luggage info
• up-selling, cross-selling
• premium boarding/seating, pre-purchased meals & drinks
• lounge & club access
3. post-trip -- feedback questionnaire by e-mail, new sales offers