Latitude Travel Services – Blog

This is of course ABSOLUTELY no surprise to me, yet manyof you still dont have your accommodation products and tour websites on mobile friendly platforms.

Google has hailed the London Olympics as the first multi-screen Olympics with games related searches on mobile devices and tablets during the first week up ten times on the previous seven days.

In Australia the percentage of Olympic related searches made on mobile or tablets in the first two days of the world’s biggest sporting event hit 45%. In Japan 55% of searches were made on mobile devices, with the US at 47% and UK at 46%.

“As users watch TV, or watch their laptops at work, they’re searching for information about athletes, sports, events and records –  on their tablets and smartphones. In fact, at some moments during the Games, there have been more searches performed on tablets and smartphones than on computers,” Google said.

During the opening ceremony, searches on mobile devices for Paul McCartney soared in line with his performance of Hey Jude.

Google also found that in popular tourist island destinations, search on tablets were almost as equal to those made on smartphones, which it says is different from other countries where smartphone shares is significantly higher than tablet. It attributes this to the “tablet-toting tourists”.

Take note of this article all TOURISM stakeholders! Its not rocket science, yet you still dont get it. – Guy

Selling should be less important to marketers than building relationships with customers, Responsys CMO Scott Olrich has told B&T.

Olrich believes the face of marketing will undergo big changes in the next decade – with relationship-building to come first, and acquisition second.

“Historically, marketers spent a lot of time on acquisition marketing and driving people to the top of the pile,” he told B&T. “A lot of money has been driven into search. But the most advanced marketing organisations in the world are looking through a different lens. They are relationship first marketers, acquisition second.

”Olrich (pictured), who is in Australia for the Responsys New School Marketing Tour, said the whole concept of marketing needs a rethink. “Marketers need to rethink their strategy, their budget and their marketing mix around the fact that consumers are now choosing which messages they want to receive and how they want to receive them.”

The search engine marketing (SEM) days are over – Olrich argued that long-term competitive advantage needs a lot more than just good SEM. It needs customer experience.

Using the example of Sydney’s Apple store, he said: “They didn’t build the store to sell products – they built it to build relationships. Apple is not advertising the iPhone any more either, it’s advertising the iPhone experience.

“These companies that are putting the relationship first, versus acquisition, are thriving. This is a major shift we are going to see in marketing in the next 10 years. Marketers need to invest in the experience customers can have on their website or app.”

Display is also fast becoming all about relationships. Customer data, such as purchase and browsing history, can be used to target consumers on third-party sites. And data from social media is critical – such as consumers’ birthdays on Facebook, which can be used for special offers and promotions.

But there’s a lot of digital marketing out there, so companies need to do something different – but engaging – to stand out, Olrich explained.

Whole Foods supermarkets, for example, has an app that allows the consumer to select a product and the app will generate a recipe to use that ingredient. “It’s trying to create value and convenience and it’s about creating a better experience,” Olrich said.

He added: “Kmart Tyre and Auto Service in Australia is doing a lot of really thoughtful communication, letting consumers know when it’s time for their car’s service or tyre check.

“It’s about being thoughtful and relevant. If you have information on the consumer and you have built a relationship, you can leverage from that.”