Markets are becoming mobile first and giving brands huge potential to reach out to travellers, but are many still missing out by failing to reach consumers on their smartphones?
Creating a mobile messaging service is effective, so why aren’t more brands doing it? This is the question posed by a new report from EyeforTravel and German-based software multinational, SAP. The research finds that 83% of travel brands that have automated messaging services are more effective at increasing customer satisfaction. However, just 41% of the brands surveyed are currently harnessing these services. It’s not all bad news though as 20% report that they are developing the capability to do so.
Delving deeper into the roll out of possible mobile messaging routes, a similar story emerges about the lack of communication between brands and travellers. Just under a third reported that they had developed an app, 29% could reach customers with mobile messaging or push notifications and less than 25% can send text messages. Simply put, this means the majority of travel brands are not communicating effectively via mobile. Although email remains a bright spark on the horizon, even here, only 40.4% of respondents said there were optimising for mobile.
- 87% of US travellers find travel notifications useful
- 83% of travel brands that have automated messaging services are more effective at increasing customer satisfaction
- 40.4% of travel brands have mobile optimised-email
- 29% can reach customers with messaging or push notifications
This isn’t good news because, as the research notes, not only do travel consumers increasingly resort to mobile to research their trip and while they are travelling, they also want to be reached! In fact, 87% of US travellers said that they find travel notifications useful, with trip status updates the most popular but also discounts and pricing widely sought after.
According to the research there are two clear ways that the travel brands could perform better:
