THE YEAR OF THE

MOCALTRAVELER

Mobile and social media have now become inseparable. Smart hospitality and travel marketers can capitalize on this trend to

effectively increase sales.

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Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

The Impact of Mobile

on Travel-Related Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

The Impact of Social Media

on Travel Bookings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

The Impact of Mocal on Travel Bookings . . . .6

Developing a Mocal Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Some Helpful Tips for Creating

Your Own Mocal Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

But What About Local? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Making Mocal Pay Off as Part

of an Integrated Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

First we had the mobile traveler, and the

way we market travel changed. Then we

had the social traveler, and our marketing

tactics changed again. This year is all about

the mocal traveler. And yes, you guessed

it —the way we market travel is changing

once more. This new trend will have major

implications for all travel-related decisions,

from hotel and airline bookings to sightseeing

activities to restaurant reservations, even

local transportation.

For those who haven’t yet encountered the

term, mocal (sometimes referred to as mocial

or so-lo-mo) denotes the convergence of

mobile device usage with social media—

specifically, accessing social media from a

mobile device. While both mobile and social

media have individually influenced travel

decisions over the past decade, this will be

the year the two trends converge to become

a single, highly powerful motivator. Used

appropriately, this anytime, anywhere access

to social media via smartphones and tablets

can have far-reaching consequences for

your travel business.

To truly understand the impact of the fusion

of these two trends, let’s first look at each

one separately.

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What we refer to singly as mobile actually

includes multiple devices, with most travelers

moving between screens during the booking

process. Ericsson estimates there will be

more than 50 billion connected devices in

circulation by the year 2020. This includes

laptops, desktops, tablets, and smartphones—

and it means marketers must optimize their

messages for all these different formats.

But according to Ericsson, the really big news

happens in 2014. In North America, this year

will mark a major shift when more online

access takes place via mobile devices than

traditional desktops and laptops.

This shift is particularly notable to the travel

industry, as these mobile travelers represent

a highly desirable market. All consumers who

use mobile devices for travel services tend to

have higher-than-average incomes, and 32%

of all business travelers have booked travel on

mobile. In addition, mobile plays a particularly

strong role in last-minute bookings, with

more than 70% of reservations through

smartphones coming within a day of check-in.

Here’s what you need to know about each

mobile device in order to effectively target

its users:

The Smartphone

Smartphones have revolutionized the world,

but nowhere more so than in the area of

travel. Smartphones and their apps are

now regularly used to search for and book

transportation and hotel accommodations,

substitute for traditional paper boarding

passes, replace paper maps for navigating

a new destination, make dinner reservations,

and translate foreign words. But perhaps

most important to travel marketers, apps

on smartphones can help them hone their

marketing strategies by collecting valuable

location-based data on users.

The Tablet

Tablet adoption among travelers has

skyrocketed in the past few years, with more

than 44% of the population currently owning

one, and another 40% planning to purchase

one sometime during 2014 (PhoCusWright

Innovation Edition report). As a result,

travelers now split their travel planning

between both smartphones and tablets.

The Impact of Mobile on Travel-Related Decisions

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20% 37% 25%

Now that it accounts for 20% of all travel sales, hospitality marketers can no longer

afford to ignore mobile. In fact, 37% of consumers worldwide access the Internet

via their smartphones for travel purposes. And in 2013, a quarter of all travelers

used mobile to search, research, and purchase travel.

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But it’s not just a matter of adding another

device into the marketing mix. It’s the way

travelers use tablets that has marketers

rethinking their strategies. Mobile Web

usage nearly doubles with the use of tablets,

suggesting that less travel planning is now

taking place on a desktop. In addition,

travelers are choosing tablets over

smartphones for destination selection,

shopping, and booking.

In conclusion, JiWire reports that all devices

are heavily used for booking travel with the

process typically beginning on one device and

concluding on another. While smartphones

and tablets are frequently used for research,

the device most often used for the actual

booking is still the laptop. This means laptops

will continue to play an important role in the

marketing process, and that marketers need

to consider all three screens when assessing

their strategies.

For those who hope to use social media

successfully, it’s important to understand the

dynamics involved in the traveler’s decision-

making process. Social media gives people

immediate access to an entire network of

friends, making it easy to seek trusted advice

on travel purchase decisions. After all, these

friends already know their likes and dislikes,

and are more likely to provide honest

feedback than marketers with an underlying

motive of trying to sell them something.

In addition, messages relayed from friends

are more likely to be remembered. Recent

research shows that ads shared through

social media generate 50% greater recall.

There’s also something particularly

comforting about having friends to consult

when confronting the unfamiliar aspects of

travel. Travel is an expensive and emotional

decision. Social media helps overcome a

traveler’s fear of the unknown. Even before

the decision of where to go is made, would-

be travelers are influenced by others posting

The Impact of Social Media on Travel Bookings

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Compared to mobile, social media is a relative newcomer. Nonetheless, it has

become a ubiquitous part of our daily lives in a very short time. Penetration has

now reached 44% of the developed world. A recent survey of travel technology

professionals suggests that 75% consider establishing a presence on social media

networks “essential” to their business, and four out of five cite social media as their

most successful tool in attracting new clients.

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comments and photos of their own travels.

They see something they like and think,

“I want to go there, too.” It’s immensely

reassuring to know that someone familiar

to them has been there before.

Instant dialogue via social media also makes

it possible to stand out from your competitors

by quickly addressing complaints before they

spiral out of control. Recent findings by

Edison Research show that 42% of consumers

posting a complaint on social media expect

a response within 60 minutes. To avoid

negative publicity, marketers must stay on

top of posts about their properties, and

respond quickly and appropriately to

criticism. Expedia keeps a multi-lingual team

available 24/7 to handle its customer queries

and complaints in real-time.

Another key trend in social media has been

the shift toward more visual content. This

seems to be true regardless of the platform,

but may explain the rapid rise of sites like

Pinterest and Instagram.

In general, how you use social media to

promote your property depends upon your

brand, your audience, and the message you

hope to convey. Here’s a look at some

popular social media channels with tips on

how to best utilize them for your purposes.

Although the proliferation of new social

networks has increased competition,

Facebook still reigns supreme in the social

media universe. According to the 2012 Social

Media Report from Nielsen, Facebook

received 152.2 million visitors via PC, 78.4

million via mobile apps, and 74.3 million via

mobile web.

Even more important, 42% of the stories

shared on Facebook were about travel. This

site’s high level of engagement and overall

market penetration make it a particularly

powerful medium for conveying inspirational

and aspirational content.

Twitter is all about immediacy and real-time

responsiveness. You can learn a lot about

your market by listening to travel-related

conversations and by monitoring mentions

of your brand. Consider the example of a

diner at a London Halkin Hotel who tweeted

a picture of her main course along with a

positive comment. Just minutes later, the

hotel’s manager came into the dining room to

personally thank her. This kind of spontaneous

interaction is where Twitter excels.

More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube

and over 6 billion hours of video are watched

every month. As a travel marketer, you can put

this popularity to work by posting high-

quality video content that showcases your

property or travel-related business. Consider

giving viewers a tour of your destination’s

most interesting aspects and encourage

them to post their own videos by offering

incentives or rewards.

Pinterest has rapidly gained a loyal following

since its public debut in 2010—making it well

worth a marketer’s time and investment to

capitalize on this visually dominant social

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Pinterest

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media platform. Many travel brands now use

Pinterest for marketing tactics like posting

offer boards, encouraging customers to share

photos from their trips, and aiding future

guests in their trip-planning activities. To

make it easy for travel planners, businesses

need to ensure that their website content is

pinnable and create travel boards that

maximize the aspirational aspects of travel.

The use of photography has always played

an essential role in travel marketing. So it’s

no surprise that an app that focuses on photo

sharing would soon earn a place in the travel

marketer’s portfolio. What is surprising is the

phenomenal growth of Instagram.

New figures published by GlobalWebIndex

show that Instagram is the fastest-growing

social media site worldwide. Purchased by

Facebook, it has now followed in its owner’s

footsteps and begun selling ads through

sponsored content. To make the most of

the visual nature of Instagram, brands

should focus on high-quality, compelling

photo content.

For those targeting businesspeople, LinkedIn

remains the obvious choice. This social network

is geared to business professionals and one

of the few social networking sites favored

more by men than women. UK-based East

Coast Trains took advantage of the business

nature of LinkedIn to target commuters along

its mainline. As a result, it quickly increased

the number of followers from 700 to 4,000.

There’s no question that customer reviews

influence consumer buying behavior. In fact,

recent research suggests that consumers

overwhelmingly prefer reviews over

aggregate ratings when forming an opinion

about a potential purchase.

The uncertainty associated with travel makes

hotel reviews particularly influential. Favorable

reviews can go a long way in swaying potential

guests. Even bad reviews can be mitigated

with a quick and appropriate response, thus

demonstrating a high level of customer care.

Equally important, by monitoring reviews of

your competitors’ properties, you can glean

valuable information to help you successfully

market against them.

As of January 2014, 45 million people use

the mobile app, Foursquare, to “check in” to

businesses around the world. But Foursquare

goes well beyond the simple check-in feature.

It also provides personalized travel tips based

on other user recommendations. These user

recommendations are particularly helpful

because they’re provided by others, including

personal friends, who’ve actually been to the

same destination. One way businesses can

utilize Foursquare is by posting offers which

are buzzed to a user’s phone whenever they

check in to your location.

Although Google+ was slow to take off,

the network has quickly gained momentum.

Instagram

LinkedIn

Yelp

Foursquare

Google+

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Google+ Communities, in particular, has

garnered a great deal of interest, with

key implications for the travel industry.

Communities are groups of G+ users with

similar interests.

Many of the G+ Communities trending in 2014

are travel themed. They range from general

topics like Places to See Before You Die to

niche categories like Family Travel and Budget

Travel, as well as geographic topics like Travel

South Africa and Miami and South Florida

Events. This well-defined segmentation

makes it easy for travel marketers to match

communities to their target demographic and

develop outreach efforts to effectively

address these communities.

Although TripAdvisor is more of a review site

than a true social media platform, it’s worth

mentioning here in terms of monitoring.

Online reputation management is an essential

element in any mocal strategy to make sure

negative reviews don’t derail your well-

planned marketing efforts.

TripAdvisor

The Impact of Mocal on Travel Bookings

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Now that we’ve explored these two powerhouses separately, let’s look at how

they work together. Mobile-originated content dominates social media. This

content is then shared by other mobile users, multiplying its reach exponentially.

Any shared content that mentions, tags, or hashtags the brand name becomes

linked to that brand’s identity, positively impacting conversation around the

brand as well as its discoverability and search rankings.

Think of mocal as sticking a microphone

(aka smartphone or tablet) into the hands

of the public and asking them to broadcast

their thoughts about your brand. It’s word-of-

mouth advertising at its most powerful. Every

comment has the potential to be broadcast

and heard around the globe—impacting a

brand either positively or negatively. Your

goal is to control the conversation and

make sure the broadcast has the desired

consequences. Whether a post is in the form

of video, photography, or micro-blogging,

these broadcasts need to be channeled into

your pre-approved marketing plan.

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Marriott International Plays Games with Guests

To engage customers and attract a younger

audience, Marriott International has

developed a mobile travel game for iOS

devices. Xplor takes players on an adventure

through five major global cities as they

attempt to track down their missing Aunt

Sophia. In the process, they solve puzzles,

interact with characters, and explore each

city’s sights. “Social gaming is part of our

innovation strategy to engage customers and

attract the next generation of social, mobile

travelers and employees to Marriott,” says

David Rodriguez, chief human resources

officer for Marriott International.

British Airways Conquers Rome in a Day

British Airways recently capitalized on the

instant interaction of mocal when it sent a

travel blogger to Rome for a day. The

blogger, armed with a smartphone, explored

the city using only tips from followers on

Twitter. According to Kim Willis, British

Airways’ content strategy advisor, “Twelve

hours, 1,600 tweets and 13 locations later,

we’d found and shared parts of Rome that

most guidebooks never talk about, with many

followers contacting us to say it inspired

them to book.”

Four Seasons Melts Hearts with a Mobile Ice

Cream Social

Last July, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

hosted a digital ice cream social titled, “The

Summer of Ice Cream Love.” Hotel guests

and local residents were invited to events at

17 properties worldwide. The “Insta-Meets”

showcased the luxury chain’s culinary

prowess by featuring mouthwatering content

and encouraging guests to post photos via

Instagram. Felicia Yukich, manager of social

media marketing at Four Seasons Hotels and

Resorts, Toronto, says, “This initiative serves as

another way to create significant culinary buzz

for the brand within the social media realm,

keeping us in the ongoing food conversation.”

Developing a Mocal Strategy

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While both mobile and social media have reached the

radar of most travel marketers, few have learned to harness

the powerful combination of mocal. By integrating the two,

and treating them as one entity, brands can explore the full

range of possibilities inherent in this new medium.

How your destination utilizes mocal will largely depend on

your marketing goals and your budget. But here are some

examples of how other travel brands have successfully

employed mocal to achieve a wide range of objectives.

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Holiday Inn Express Gets Edgy with Smart Thinking Campaign

Many formerly conservative brands are now

looking to social media to establish their

brands among a younger, edgier audience.

As part of its “Smart Thinking” campaign,

Holiday Inn Express invites young travelers

to show how smart they are by posting

humorous advice on any topic via Vine,

YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. The chain

chose Daily Show comedian Jason Jones as

the spokesman for the campaign and enlists

websites such as CollegeHumor and

Buzzfeed to spread the content.

KLM Finds Mocal just the Ticket for Bookings

and More

With more than 5 million Facebook fans,

it’s not surprising that KLM Royal Dutch

Airlines is now allowing passengers to use

mocal for everything from booking flights

to seat selection, to arranging for extra

baggage. Now the airline has added

payments to the list. The airline sends a

link to customers through a private message

on Facebook or Twitter. The customer then

selects the preferred payment method to

complete the transaction. The airline also has

130 social media agents working around the

clock to answer the approximately 35,000

queries each week that arrive via Facebook

and Twitter.

East Coast Trains Employs Mocal to do

Damage Control

In addition to its use of LinkedIn to attract

commuters, East Coast Trains harnessed

the power of mocal to assuage passengers

during recent transportation delays. When

angry passengers posted complaints on

Twitter, the UK-based railway responded

by posting images of affected areas. Social

media manager Nick Wood explains, “People

are a lot more sympathetic to delays if they

can see what’s happening.”

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There are many ways to increase bookings by using mocal. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Target travelers within a 50-mile radius of

your property to increase last-minute bookings.

Share exclusive content, behind-the-scenes

information, and news about your property

specifically targeted to mobile behaviors

and situations.

Provide incentives to encourage user-

generated content (UGC) and the sharing

of content with others.

Use social networks to post updates

to your rewards and loyalty programs.

Urge guests to post live tweets while

staying at your property and to post about

their positive experiences on Facebook.

Invite guests to share photos of their visits on

Instagram using a campaign-specific hashtag.

Consider offering a prize, such as a free room

night, for the most intriguing photo. This tactic

also works well with posts and tweets.

Enlist guests in a scavenger hunt for

“treasures” around your property, and ask

them to post their findings on various social

media sites.

The most important thing to remember is

to engage your audience in a two-way

communication. Social media should promote

dialogue, not simply serve as a soapbox

to deliver your message. Encouraging a

conversation will be easy to do if you mine

the real-time location data you gain, and use

it to market to the specific tastes, needs, and

preferences of your audience. For example,

if a prospective customer is discovered at a

4-star restaurant, consider promoting your

hotel’s own gourmet menu.

Social media sites like Foursquare are ideal

for this purpose. Hotels can monitor when a

guest checks in via the app, and then review

the guest’s social media profile. By learning

more about guests, hotel staff can tailor the

guest experience to personal preferences.

Some Helpful Tips for Creating Your Own Mocal Campaign

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As with any form of social media, it’s important to not focus on the short-term

direct sell. Instead, use mocal to create a loyal following and encourage user-

generated content (UGC). The goal is to keep your brand top-of-mind when

travel decisions are made. And remember, it’s equally important to listen, too.

By monitoring what people are saying about your brand, you’ll gain valuable

insight into how to better market your property to them.

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We’ve already touched on some of the ways

this location-based data can help you hone

your marketing strategy in our infographic,

The Future of Proximity & Micro-Location

Marketing. For example, many forward-

thinking marketers are already providing

customized suggestions and targeted ads

based on a customer’s location and buying

habits. You’ll no doubt discover more ways

as you consider the specific needs of your

business or property. Just be sure to make

location-based data an integral part of your

planning process.

But What About Local?

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Although we’ve mostly focused on the social media and mobile aspects of mocal,

there’s a third component of the mix that shouldn’t be overlooked, and that’s the

“local” aspect. Thanks to GPS-enabled devices and apps like Foursquare, brands

can now use real-time location data to refine their communications. A recent article

in Inc. magazine suggests that companies will soon provide relevant information

personalized to what a customer needs, when they need it, wherever they are,

and without asking.

Making Mocal Pay Off as Part of an Integrated Strategy

Given how powerful mocal has become, you

may be tempted to forgo paid advertising

altogether. In a word, don’t. The best results

are obtained from a coordinated effort using

both paid and non-paid mocal efforts. Most

advertisers seem to understand this. Facebook

passed a major milestone, with 53% of its ad

revenue now generated from paid mobile

advertising.

Regardless of the ratio you assign to paid

vs. non-paid efforts, mocal has earned

a prominent place in a travel marketer’s

overall strategy. Look for creative ways to

incorporate this dynamic medium that are

unique to your brand. A knowledgeable

marketing partner can provide valuable

guidance. Most of all, don’t wait. The first to

recognize the potential of this powerful new

trend will move leaps and bounds ahead of

their competitors who choose to ignore it.

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