the net result

the net result

this week: mobile marketing

Every fortnight, Karen Gee from eDreams.com helps agents and operators to get the most out of the Internet

Every fortnight, Karen Gee from eDreams.com helps agents and operators to get the most out of the Internet

You’ve probably seen the adverts for WAP phones on TV and my, don’t they look inspiring?

You’d think you could sit on a bus surfing the information superhighway on your mobile in much the same way you do on a computer.

Unfortunately that is quite a long way from reality.

The true story

Aside from the shortages of some handsets, the key problems are the time it takes to download information, the overall lack of content or information and, of course, the cost.

Let’s look at these points individually and in detail.

The shortage of handsets is a major problem and probably due to the advertising campaigns starting sooner than was ideal for the manufacturers.

Some models are out of stock and have been for some time. It seems the manufacturing process and the advertising campaigns were somehow out of sync and they were surprised by the level of public interest following the campaigns.

Once you have a handset, the next problem is the download time. It’s takes a long time and you frequently have ‘drop outs’ i.e. the connection suddenly fails for no reason mid-way through your call. This is very frustrating.

Limited content

The next disappointment is the very limited amount of content.

The portals and other information providers have been very slow to develop information sites for WAP.

Obviously it’s not a case of taking a Web site and simply opening it up to WAP access, it needs to be stripped and redesigned to suit the small-sized mobile screen and its limitations. Very few companies have done this yet which is both a surprise and a disappointment to first time users.

Despite this, the biggest surprise is the price which is still the standard mobile rate of pence per minute.

The way forward

That said, I am actually a big advocate of WAP phones as I do believe they will be an extremely useful tool, but in three years’ time when all these usage problems have been satisfactorily resolved.

There are two main customer groupings for this new technology.

Firstly, young people who are in the market for promotions and are happy to receive messages and offers being pushed to their phones.

Secondly, businessmen looking to make flight bookings and check flight information while on the move.

Text messaging

One of the interesting mobile marketing opportunities available is SMS, or text messaging.

It’s currently a massive growth area particularly with youngsters who have made it a real craze.

In the UK, over a million text messages are sent each month. Given the proliferation of mobile phones, this looks set to continue.

Text messaging is ideal because it is cheap, admittedly slow to type (unless of course you use www.quios.com) but fast to send and is ideal for users in meetings as it doesn’t disturb.

Functionality

You can set up notification groups for late offers and push last-minute deals out to them with a dedicated phone number or you can advise them about an offer that’s just started, or a special promotion that’s running.

The benefit of this is you are more likely to reach people out of office hours than you would using e-mail.

Customers tend to carry a mobile phone with them at all time, though the same isn’t true of computers which are accessed from work or home.

So the mobile revolution is set to continue. Will you be a part of it?

&#42 Given the number of people asking me questions following my breakout session at the ABTA convention, it is clear many of you are looking for general advice on Internet and new media matters.

Send me an e-mail with questions and topics you would most like me to cover in future issues of Travel Weekly and I will gladly do so.

Marketing opportunites: agents can advise customers about special offers and promotions using WAP or SMS facilities