Travel companies can learn from mobile mistakes in other industries

Over on iMedia Connection, Jordan Greene provides some great advice for any brand considering it's first mobile project and illustrates his points using case studies from well known brands including Foot Locker and Ralph Lauren. Although the studies are from other industries, nevertheless these are lessons that every travel company should heed.

Jordan suggests that many companies who've gone down the mobile path have been seduced by the hype and have chosen to invest in a branded app, rather than develop a solid mobile strategy first. Often this decision is driven from high up in the organisation, where the assumption is held that everyone has an iPhone or Blackberry and therefore it's imperative that the brand has a presence on one or both of these platforms. But, Jordan points out that the reality in the US (and I'm sure in Europe too) is that over 75% of mobile users do not have smart-phones.

Jordan also suggests that many brands having decided they need a mobile presence, then decide to work with teams who don't understand mobile and are learning on the job. My take on this is that Jordan is referring to brands giving the mobile project to their design agency to run with.

We've seen examples of this in travel, and particularly with airlines producing first generation mobile web-sites. These sites often look great, but to what purpose? Who is the target audience? When and under what circumstances will they use the site? How will the site generate a return on (the one would assume, considerable) investment?

Yet, mobile and travel were made for each other.

Mobile offers a phenomenal opportunity for travel brands to engage their customers when they are travelling. It's an opportunity to share relevant, timely information which customers truly value and to tap into the impulsive behaviour of travellers to boost ancillary revenue. This is mobile CRM for travel companies.

But, creating this type of dialogue requires thought - it's harder than building a first generation mobile web-site or mobile application. It requires domain knowledge. You need to understand the traveller's itinerary. You need to understand why the person is travelling. And, using this knowledge you need to preempt what information the traveller needs now ... at this current stage of their trip. It's about aggregating useful information, then filtering this information to deliver a highly personal, contextual experience.

This is the true value of mobile in travel.

So, yes engaging customers in a compelling, personal dialogue takes more effort than building an unpersonalised, generic, albeit pretty looking first generation mobile web-site. But, this is exactly what smarter, forward thinking travel companies are looking to do. They're looking at where and how mobile fits into their overall customer contact strategy. They see that mobile allows them to bridge the communication gap with their customers when they are travelling. And, they know that by bridging this gap they can enhance their service and boost their revenue ... and this gives them a return on their mobile investment.