2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. How are small businesses using mobile technology?
3. Mobile apps in the tourism industry: Facts and Figures
4. How can SMEs promote their services with AppsBuilder?
4.1. Offer incentives
4.2. Simplify booking procedures
4.3. Take your customer service mobile
4.4. Get local
4.5. Leverage the power of social media
4.6. Provide additional services
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3. INTRODUCTION
Being social is absolutely core to human nature. Nowadays social is
mobile. Think about the last time you left your house without your keys,
wallet and… mobile phone?
Yes, mobile is the new hotspot for being social.
Not only 50% of all searches is taking place via smartphone1, but
mobile apps have also become a powerful customer relationship
management tool, being increasingly used by professionals and
SMEs to boost client retention and improve the quality of their
customer support.
While they used to be a simple static window for business owners, apps
are nowadays an effective bidirectional means of communications
between customers and service providers, with amazing returns in
terms of profits and client loyalty.
For small business owners, building a strong mobile presence means
more visibility among mobile users, additional sales channels and the
chance to be easily geolocalized by existing and prospect clients.
In other words, giving mobile technologies a miss is putting your business
in jeopardy.
1) http://iminmarketer.com/top-5-reasons-why-small-business-apps-are-a-necessity/#
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4. HOW ARE SMALL BUSINESSES USING MOBILE
TECHNOLOGY?
According to the Federation of Small Business, there are 4.8 million small
businesses in the UK as of April 20122 .
Small businesses have embraced mobile/social advertising, however,
unfortunately, a paltry sum have seen mobile apps as a significant
opportunity to break out from the clutter.
How are SMEs using mobile technology?
How so? One of the most cited reasons is that businesses don’t quite
understand how effectively mobile apps could be used to promote their
business. Moreover, they find building apps an expensive and timeconsuming process.
2) The World Travel Market (WTM) Industry Report and Global Trends Report
Nielsen: Global Consumers’ Trust in ‘Earned’ Advertising Grows in Importance
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5. Here comes AppsBuilder, the innovative do-it-yourself platform that
allows any user with no coding skills to create, manage and distribute
their own apps through several promotional channels.
As business people ourselves, we know how tough it is to run a business,
deal with customers, supervise staff, manage your budget, etc., that is
why, when it comes to creating your app, we want to make things as
simple as possible.
You will not have to worry about hiring technical staff or installing
several programs on your computer; AppsBuilder is the only tool that
combines 3 main functions in one single platform:
Create native
apps and mobile
sites
Promote your
services across all
mobile devices
Engage your
audience
on the go
In this ebook we will show you how to exploit the potential of mobile
apps and drive new revenues to your business.
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6. MOBILE APPS IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY:
FACTS AND FIGURES
There was a time when people used to travel
around the world with guide books, maps and
different awkward printed material; that era has
died out. The future is always on: it is portable
and always in your pocket in the form of a
smartphone or a tablet.
According to Euromonitor International, over 50%
of European customers will use smartphones to
make holiday bookings in the near future.
As a result, the relationship between travel and technology has
become closer than ever, with more and more businesses turning to
mobile apps to promote their services and reach customers in a more
personal way.
But what does this mean for the tourism industry? Mobile apps have
become small businesses’ best ally, both to acquire new customers as
well as to retain old ones. This is why tourism enterprises have to adapt
to this new technological shift and make sure they are able to reach
their customers in the mobile environment and become active part of
their digital lives.
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7. In order to get a sense of the scale of the mobile phenomenon in the
tourism industry, we have collected some statistics3 and insights to give
you a more concrete idea of what the mobile revolution means for the
tourism industry.
% OF LEISURE TRAVELLERS USE THEIR SMARTPHONE
WHILE ABROAD
% HAVE USED MOBILE APPS TO FIND HOTEL DEALS
% HAVE DOWNLOADED MOBILE APPS SPECIFIC TO
UPCOMING VACATION
% POST VACATION PHOTOS ON A SOCIAL NETWORK
% CHECK IN TO A LOCATION WHILE ON HOLIDAY
% UPDATE THEIR FACEBOOK STATUS WHILE ON
HOLIDAY
3) The World Travel Market (WTM) Industry Report and Global Trends Report
Nielsen: Global Consumers’ Trust in ‘Earned’ Advertising Grows in Importance
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8. Top five uses of smartphones while travelling:
TAKE PHOTOS
USE MAP FEATURES
SEARCH RESTAURANTS
SEARCH ACTIVITIES
AND ATTRACTIONS
CHECK IN PRIOR
TO FLIGHT
As it can be seen from the above figures, mobile apps have a huge
influence on travellers’ choices and leisure activities, not only while on
holiday, but also in the pre and post-holidays stages. In fact, mobile apps
are used for multiple searches before setting off and for sharing photos
and reviews upon their return.
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9. HOW CAN SMEs IN THE TOURISM SECTOR PROMOTE
THEIR SERVICES WITH APPSBUILDER?
It is now clear that providing your business with a mobile app is an
amazingly effective way of boosting your services’ popularity, acquiring
new customers and improving your customer care.
2010 Cone Consumer New Media Study clearly shows how the mobile
presence of a company positively affects its reputation and brand
awareness among potential customers.
Moreover, given the fact that
mobile devices have become
a daily presence in our lives,
over 60% of people admit
preferring to interact with
a brand in a new media
environment, which in 61%
of cases ends up in a stronger
connection with the brand
itself.
Companies that have a strong
mobile presence and regularly
interact with their customers
in a new media environment also have more chances to increase their
revenue streams, as 59% of people admit being more likely to purchase
products and services from businesses operating mobile.
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10. Companies and brands can benefit from egaging with new media
users:
I AM MORE AWARE OF A BRAND IF I CAN INTERACT
WITH IT IN A NEW MEDIA ENVIRONMENT.
63%
I AM MORE LIKELY TO SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT THE
COMPANY OR BRAND ACROSS MY OWN NEW MEDIA CHANNELS
IF I CAN INTERACT WITH IT IN A NEW MEDIA ENVIRONMENT.
62%
FEEL A STRONGER CONNECTION WITH A BRAND IF I CAN
INTERACT WITH IT IN A NEW MEDIA ENVIRONMENT.
61%
I FEEL BETTER SERVED BY COMPANIES WHEN I CAN HAVE
A CONVERSATION WITH THEM IN A NEW MEDIA ENVIRONMENT.
60%
I’M MORE LIKELY TO PURCHASE THE COMPANY’S OR BRAND’S
PRODUCTS OR SERVICES IF I CAN INTERACT WITH IT
IN A NEW MEDIA ENVIRONMENT.
59%
IF I FOLLOW A COMPANY OR A BRAND ON ONE OF ITS NEW
MEDIA CHANNELS, I AM MORE LIKELY TO FOLLOW THE
COMPANY ON ITS OTHER NEW MEDIA CHANNELS.
59%
Now that you are aware of all the benefits that mobile apps can bring to
your business, don’t miss out on the opportunity to build your mobile
presence with AppsBuilder, the fastest and most cost-effective way to
propel your business to new heights!
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11. 1. OFFER INCENTIVES
Travellers love bargain! According to a recent study on mobile customers’
behaviour, the main factor influencing users to engage with an online
company is whether they can offer incentives such as special deals,
discounts, coupons or additional services specifically devised for app
users.
When deciding whether to engage with company or brands via new
media, users look for the following types of company/brand interactions:
77% OFFER ME INCENTIVES (E.G., FREE PRODUCTS
OR SERVICES, COUPONS, DISCOUNTS)
46%
SOLVE MY PROBLEMS / PROVIDE PRODUCT
OR SERVICE INFORMATION (E.G., CUSTOMER
SERVICE)
39% SOLICIT MY FEEDBACK ON PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES
28% ENTERTAIN ME (E.G., PROVIDE ACCESS TO
PREMIUM CONTENT)
26%
DEVELOP NEW WAYS FOR ME TO INTERACT
WITH THEIR BRANDS (E.G., WIDGETS, MOBILE
APPLICATIONS, ONLINE GAMES, CONTESTS)
ME (E.G.
21% MARKET TOADDS) BANNER ADDS,
TARGETED
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12. With AppsBuilder you can easily create coupons to advertise your special
deals, time-limited offers and provide your customers with amazing
discounts. In-app coupons allow you generate dedicated content and
establish a deeper relationship with your app users, and keep them
coming back.
Moreover, you will be able to link your app to your PayPal account in
order to manage in-app purchases; alternatively, you will be free to
redirect your customers to your website to complete the
check-out procedures.
Thanks to AppsBuilder’s Geolocalization feature you can customize
deals to users location, so as to order and present your content based
on user’s proximity to the target area. This system makes sure that you
engage with your audience at their convenience, without sounding too
intrusive.
Check out our blog for step-by-step instructions on how to set up
in-app coupons with AppsBuilder.
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13. 2. SIMPLIFY BOOKING PROCEDURES
Let’s face it, we all feel the time squeeze of work-life. No one derives
pleasure from filling long, mundane booking forms. This is particularly
true for the mobile world, which is a world of instant gratification, where
users’ attention span ranges between 3 and 5 seconds.
Users turn to their smartphone to receive immediate responses and
results; they expect your app to simplify searches and booking
procedures.
Providing a speedy and smooth booking process will give your customers
one more reason to use your services.
Mobile customers expect to play an active role in
company life as well as to easily get in touch with
a business to ask information or leave a feedback.
That is why creating feedback forms is an
exceptional opportunity for all app owners to get
precious feedback on their app, spot the services
that need to be implemented and offer users
an alternative channel to complain rather than
posting comments on the web.
AppsBuilder’s form generator allows you to create fully customizable
in-app forms to gather users’ feedback and details and enable mobile
bookings just by tapping an icon.
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14. 3. TAKE YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE MOBILE
The mobile industry is all about flexibility. By providing effective customer
support features, tourism enterprises can better manage relationships
with their customers, and eventually turn them into brand advocates.
Customers often miss their flights or find that their hotels are
overbooked, and it’s right at these crucial crunch times that they have
the power to make or break your brand.
AppsBuilder’s wall chat allows customers
to exchange in-app messages with you
and other users, therefore it offers you
an excellent opportunity to show how
effective your customer support is. Your
customers will always remember how easy
it was for them to reach out to you in their
time of need and how swiftly you could deal
with their problems.
You can use your in-app wall chat to
engage customers and encourage them
to exchange opinions and ask for advice
from previous customers. This way you
will be able to create social communities
around your business and strengthen
your company’s reputation through peer
reviews.
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15. 4. GET LOCAL
Prepare your customers by listing the hot spots of their holiday
destinations. Local maps, emergency contact numbers and helpful local
phrases will ensure your customers will return to your app even after
making their booking.
All the content generated through AppsBuilder can be geotargeted so as
to be presented to your customers based on their proximity to the target
area. This will allow your customers to receive relevant information when
they most need it and encourage them to check in regularly to your app.
The power of mobile is that it creates a bridge between physical
and digital experience, as it happens with custom maps. You can use
them to help visitors locate your premises and provide relevant tourist
information on the area surrounding your hotel or restaurant.
This way your mobile app will serve two crucial purposes: it will not only
promote your business facilitating its location, but it will also enhance
the level of customer services provided by your hotel or restaurant, thus
generating a positive word of mouth about it.
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16. 5. LEVERAGE THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is a «must» for any kind of business, as you have to be
present where your customers spend most of their time. Social
networking is a friendly and effective way to engage your customers,
keep in touch with old clients and encourage peer review and sharing.
Whether they have just had an exquisite dinner at your restaurant or
they’ve been amazed by your hotel’s rich breakfast buffet, give them a
chance to post it on Facebook or Twitter via app and share it with other
users.
AppsBuilder gives you the chance to integrate your social profiles into
your app to create a lively buzz around your business.
Thanks to the new promotional tool Social Share, you can now
promote your app on your social profiles in just a click. From a
single panel you will be able reach all your contacts on Facebook,
Twitter, Google + and LinkedIn and inform them all about your
awesome app.
However, never underestimate the importance of high quality
content. To fully leverage the power of social media, make sure
you regularly post relevant and engaging content, such as photo
galleries to showcase your premises and facilities or maybe some
amusing videos to introduce your staff and the people who will
take care of your customers’ wellbeing.
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17. 6. PROVIDE ADDITIONAL SERVICES
Customers really appreciate when you go out of your way to do
something that is not required of you. When you offer a differentiated
service you are not only making their lives easier but you are also eliciting
reciprocity - an obligation to return back.
Use your app as a powerful channel to establish a two-way dialogue
with your customers and offer them dedicated services that can only
be enabled via app. This attitude will make your customers feel counted
and encourage them to spread a positive word-of-mouth around your
products and services.
AppsBuilder offers a wide range of widgets
to implement your app’s functionalities
with weather forecasts, directions, currency
converter, discount calculator, tip calculator
and many others, all right into your app!
More functions will translate into more value
to your app, thus more reasons to come
back to it!
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18. CREDITS
MOBILE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES
Tips, News and latest trends to create crossplatform mobile apps for
iPhone, iPad, Android devices and HTML5 WebApps; and promote
your services across your mobile audience.
http://blog.apps-builder.com/
HIRE A PRO: DESIGN SERVICE FOR MOBILE APPS
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our hands! With Hire a Pro you can finally get your app customized
down to the smallest details, without having to lift a finger.
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Reach all devices
Create native apps and mobile sites perfectly
viewable on any type of mobile device
Promote your services
Reach your mobile customers and spread
the word about your products and services.
Engage your audience
Keep in touch with your audience on-the-go
through our in-app tools for customer
relationship management.
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19. Need help with your
app design?
Take it easy and
Hire a Pro!
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