Mobile marketing Peter Varlow, Tourism Connect and Andrew French, TXT4 TMI Hot Topic, Leeds, 20 June 2007 Engaging with visitors before they move and on the move Tourism Connect ©

Tourism Connect Mobile marketing 1.Overview of mobile 2.To-do list 3.Using SMS to gather data 4.Some examples

Tourism Connect Tomorrow’s TIC? Everyone’s personal companion Nearly every visitor has one 3 billion of them, and rising (GSMA, June 2007)

phone print reader er address book diary radio alarm clock texter spreadsheet camera music player word processor live TV information pusher satnav games console web browser bill payer video player Tourism Connect ENTERTAINMENT INFORMATION COMMUNICATION UTILITIES

Tourism Connect Why are they so important? Everyone has one They go everywhere They know where they are Connect by voice, text, or bar-code They’ll do more to make the world a ‘global village’ than the Internet or the PC has done

Tourism Connect But….? PCs are for work, mobiles are personal They’re slow – so far They don’t know exactly where they are – YET Expensive to use Tiny screens, tiny keyboards

Tourism Connect Key factors Mobile marketing is different, it’s… about using a person’s personal space about entertainment about working within a short attention time

Tourism Connect 3-year plan Decide what services to offer to what markets SMS Mobile website Digital guidebooks and podcasting Satnav Live call services The right partners The right content Build up subscriber list Invest in your keywords and shortcodes

Tourism Connect Mobile website First steps: Text-only (also best for speed for non-3G users) ‘Portal’ service »Enquire by live call and »Enrol to SMS service »Links to selected pages of your main website »Links to small selection of other mobile sites, especially transport Second stage: Push and pull: eg Traffic analytics Integrated with CRM database. mobi domain

Tourism Connect Satnav The single most important portal into tourist information? 3m GPS phones in Europe in 2006, 70m by 2010, 300m globally (IMS Research) How to get your info on satnav: Top quality info Via VisitBritain

Tourism Connect Podcasting For walking tours, in attractions, and holiday planning guides Natural extension of VIC/TIC skills and function Know your visitors Know your attractions

Tourism Connect Podcasts can be seriously boring! What makes a good podcast? Make it “soundseeing”: use a fun, lively professional broadcaster or a local celeb Use a qualified Guide for a professional itinerary Use VIC staff to research the facts Ambient sound and music to bring it to life

Tourism Connect Get enough podcast users to make it worthwhile Integrate podcast content with main product database: The podcast gets mentioned every time the product page is served on your website Updating is automated Register with podcast directories eg

Tourism Connect How do I produce podcasts? Decide the key audiences and products. Be specific Plan a series, with regular new ones Ask a production company for proposals. Typically, costs vary from £100 to £2,000 Include in marketing partner deals Look for distribution first, then production Production: Plan and script in-house Record using a professional, £100 to £2,000 Video will become more important

Tourism Connect Further information Mobile user stats European Travel Commission’s New Media Review GSM Association (GSMA) representing over 700 GSM mobile operators across 218 countries Mobile sites to see Some travel sites: A good text-only site: M-commerce: How mobile-ready are you? Test your site at Mobi domains: DIY podcasting: or Forthcoming ETC-UNWTO E-marketing Handbook

Tourism Connect Mobile marketing Engaging with visitors before they move and on the move