Drive reservations with mobile-only offers
We’re sure your website developer was adamant about making your website responsive and user-friendly for your mobile users as trends the past few years have indicated a strong growth in mobile browsing. Google has shared that 50% of website traffic comes from smartphones and tablets, even sites like TripAdvisor see more than half of their users visiting through mobile devices, and Google also found that in the last year that there was a 50% increase of travel-related searches on Internet-enabled devices. So not is it only important your website plays nice with the search engines with a mobile layout but eMarketer predicted that in 2016, 51.8% of travelers would book on a mobile device as well.
Capturing those mobile bookings can be daunting if your site or online booking engine isn’t mobile-friendly, but if it is and you’re ready to incentivize those mobile bookers to book directly and immediately, here are some strategies to implement at your property:
Mobile-only promotions
Mobile-only promotions, like promo codes or add-ons, can encourage the potential guest to book right then and there instead of booking on a desktop computer later or forgetting about it completely. You can inspire them book quicker if you set a time limit or end date on these promotions too.
Mobile-only rates
Another option is to offer mobile-only rates that aren’t available on your regular site or definitely not available on your OTA listings. Be sure to tell guests to check your site on their phones for any last-minute discounts or the best rates on the go.
Mobile PPC ads
Most of your online visitors come across your site through a search on Google or Bing and with the sophisticated advertising platforms offered through the search engines, you could allocate some of your advertising budget to target mobile users and promote your mobile-only rates through your ads. These ads won’t show to desktop users and tells your mobile audience you have content on your site designed for easy readability and booking.
Of course the first step is visiting your property’s website on a mobile device and making a test booking to see what the process is like for your guests. See if there are any steps you can cut out to streamline the process or any information you can collect at a later date so they’re not scrolling through so many screens. Or, most importantly, make sure your booking engine is responsive or displays correctly on a mobile device. No guest today will want to scroll or pinch their screen to make it easy to read – they expect it to be formatted for them. Most booking engine providers offer responsive booking engines or separate mobile booking engines, just make sure yours is turned on if it’s a separate system.
You should also have Google Analytics tracking in place on your site and reviewing how mobile/tablet users are navigating your site or if they drop out during the booking process.