Social interactions are hugely influential on travel customers when they are looking a sorting out a holiday/trip, with recommendations from friends having more weight than a piece of advertising. This can also be thought of as your customers influencing their friends and effectively becoming ambassadors to your brand.

For the travel industry, the local aspect of SoLoMo is obviously important due to customers wanting to know information about where they are going or wanting to discover information once they are at the physical location. 1 in 3 searches done from mobile phones in 2011 had local intent, meaning that people are looking for information from their immediate area.

Back in September we said the 26% of the western population had a smartphone and that the number of people owning them was increasing by 3% each month. New predictions suggest that percentage of people owning smartphones will go beyond 50% in 2012. Add the fact that the mobile phone is one of the few personal possession that travel customers take on their holidays, you now have an extremely strong reason to engage with your customers on mobile devices.

As we look into 2012 and beyond we can see that travel customers are accessing information and sharing their experiences in real time from their location aware smartphones and tablets.

SoLoMo Strategy

Mobile websites and applications need to be robust, cater for all sizes of smartphone screens and have clear navigation. It is also important to has cross channel consistency because it is likely that visitors to your website might of been on your desktop site or seen your social media presence and will expect to navigate around your mobile site in a similar fashion to the desktop and for it to have the same aesthetics.

For local, the most important action is to make sure that all the location information about your hotels, attractions or destinations are correct. Without correct local information any strategy you implement will be immediately ineffective. Once all the geo-location information is correct then, thanks to location aware devices, your mobile website or application can access the user’s location in order to provide then with the most relevant information for their area. This could take the form of showing the user where your nearest hotel is, information about the local area or public transport information.

With a robust mobile website that can provide location based information the next step would be to integrate social functionality to allow users to easily share the information they have found or use services like Facebook connect to create a more personal mobile experience. Social media integration can go further than just sharing experiences, it can help users to ask for recommendations from their friends through the likes of Facebook and Twitter, rate a product.

Although we’ve talked briefly about SoLoMo as a whole package, they can also easily exist separately and paired together in order to achieve your business objectives. If you would like to discuss SoLoMo in more depth and how it can work for your organisation then please get in touch.

Tablet adoption by consumers has been on the rise since Apple launched the original iPad in 2010 and although they currently represent a small percentage of online browsing this study shows that, compared to smartphones and traditional computers/laptops, tablet users were the most valuable online customers in 2011.

During 2011 tablet visitors delivered an average conversion rate of 2.3%, which is considerably higher than the conversion rate from Smartphone visitors (0.6%). Traditional computer and laptop visitors still delivered the best conversion rating of the three, but at 2.5% the difference is minimal.

What makes tablets the most valuable of the three devices is the Average Order Value (AOV). Tablet visitors, on average, spent £79 ($123) per transaction, which is 54% higher than Smartphone visitors, who on average spent £51 (£80). The AOV from tablets was also 21% higher than that of traditional computers/laptops visitors, who spent an average £65 per transaction.

What tablets mean for online retailers

Despite representing the smallest percentage of total visitors to a website the study showed that the number of tablet visitors is rapidly increasing. The percentage of tablet visitor went from 1% to 4% during 2011 and the report A Portrait of Today’s Tablet User predicts that the number of users will increase a further 23% in 2012. The report also put the average tablet owner in the 18-34 age range and came from a household with above average incomes. So all together this means that some of your most affluent customers are accessing your website on their tablets and this trend is growing. It is also worth noting that mobile traffic to retail sites double in the same period.

So the retail sector must now consider the fact that a one-size fits all strategy to mobile optimisation might no longer be the best method.

“Mobile” must now be split into “Smartphone” and “Tablet” when it comes to a retail website and e-commerce website, due to tablet and smartphone visitors not having the same objectives when visiting the website. Tablet users are 4 times more likely to purchase than smartphone users and when they do they spend over 50% more, so their value is also not equal.

As tablet adoption increases retailers should look into how best to provide an engaging customer experience for tablet users. With an effective strategy a tablet optimised experience should generate a higher ROI, whether it’s a tablet optimised website or a native/hybrid app.

If you would like to discuss anything mentioned then please feel free to get in touch. You can also read the full Adobe Digital Marketing Insights report here.

If you’re a Foursquare user you probably already know that the mobile application has regular updates to help the service evolve from simply checking into a location to help people share their experiences, create recommendations and earn rewards. With this latest update to their website Foursquare are hoping to improve the way you discover new and interesting things in your area.

Foursquare updates

Live Map

The most notable change is the addition of a map that shows locations and your friends near to where you last checked in that automatically updates. The locations displayed on the map are also colour coded to show which places are trending (yellow), popular places (blue), places with offers (orange) and if you’ve created any lists then places in them will be shown as green. Users can then drag the map around and zoom in and out in order to see other locations.

Time related suggestions

The new map also features a “Suggestions” box which provides the user with suggestions depending one what their friends have done in the area. This isn’t anything new but now the suggestions box also takes into account the time of day, for example if a location is popular for breakfasts it will be promoted during the early hours compare to restaurants in the evening.

List searching

With the previous website you were able to search for people and places, now though users are able to search for lists, such as “Best restaurants” in order to discover what other people recommend.

Other small changes:

• You can comment and see comments on the homepage.
• Brand pages now have a section on the homepage.
• Improved usability on tablets.

The new website also lays the ground work for Foursquare to launch further updates and features more easily in the future, so we can expect more to come.

Potential further update

The updates Foursquare have made are great at helping users discover more in the local area but I would love to see a feature that would allow you to search for a city then look at what is hot before arriving at that city, say for a holiday. Although this is possible by zooming out of the map and then zooming back in I believe that a search feature would hugely improve this process. It can only be a matter of time before Foursquare develops from discovering cool things around you to discovering cool things to where you’re going.

We look forward to future Foursquare updates.

If you’re a Foursquare fan and are interesting in where we go then you can follow KMP Digitata on Foursquare.

My first impression of the Google+ pages is rather an underwhelming one and I’m left questioning why we waited so long for this update. On the surface the new Google+ pages don’t appear to be any different from profile accounts and then after I played around with the new pages I also found out that the functionality isn’t that different either.

Here is a list of differences between Google+ Profiles and Pages from Google:

• Pages can’t add people to circles until the page is added first or mentioned.
• Pages can be made for a variety of different entities whereas profiles can only be made for people.
• The default privacy setting for elements on your page profile is public.
• Pages have the +1 button.
• Pages can’t +1 other pages, nor can they +1 stuff on the Web.
• Pages can’t play games.
• Pages don’t have the option to share to ‘Extended circles’.
• Pages don’t receive notifications via email, text, or in the Google bar.
• Pages can’t hangout on a mobile device.
• Local pages have special fields that help people find the business’ physical location.

So the majority of differences is that Google+ Pages are restricted from using many of the Google+ functions but on the other hand they have a +1 button. It makes me wonder what has been done over the past few months and I can only hope that Google has a lot more up their sleeves for Google+ Pages.

Something I would like to see in the near future is the ability to customize the pages, much like how Google allow companies to do fun and exciting things with their YouTube Pages. Even just the ability to change the background would be welcome!

A feature that Facebook has that Google+ Pages desperately needs is the functionality to have multiple admins managing the page. As well as this we are again left frustrated by not having vanity URLs. Surely this isn’t too much to ask!

A nice feature Google have included is called Google+ Direct connect where users can search for Pages from their search box by adding a + at the start of their search to view the Google+ Page and the company or brand logo is shown in the drop down. Although this is a nice feature I’m unsure whether it will change how people search. Instead it would be better to have the logo appear without the need for the + or for the Google+ Page to appear in a promoted location somewhere in the SERPS, with some of it’s latest updates (this would involve being a verified account or more likely coming at a cost).

There is bound to be more on the way…..there has to be if brands are to embrace Google+.

View the KMP Digitata Google+ Page

The potential of QR codes is huge, with their ability to blend together online and offline marketing but so many times I’ve got the feeling that during a marketing meeting someone piped up with the comment “QR codes are cool, maybe we could use them for something”, then they are shoehorned into a campaign where they don’t naturally fit. I believe this poor shoehorning method could be part of the reason for many people disliking QR codes.

The major issue behind QR codes is not their functionality, instead it’s the experience they provide after the user has scan the code and that is purely down the marketers. They are meant to provide an extra content that is otherwise unavailable in the format where the QR code is promoted.

The worst case I’ve ever seen of using QR codes in the image to the right, which has become quite a famous QR failure, where the QR code is used to provide the user with a code that they then have to write down and post to a physical address.

Other issues facing QR codes is that their designs are not the most attractive and that many Smartphone users are still unaware of what they are and what they need to do, meaning many QR campaigns still require instructions.

If you’re interested in doing some marketing with QR codes here is a brief best practise guide;

QR Code best practise guide

• Keep the design simple – Although QR codes are unattractive applying colour and other designs to them can reduce the number of scanners that can read it. You want to keep it as open and available to as many people as possible.
• Make it mobile – People scan QR codes from their mobiles, so if you’re linking to a website make sure the website is mobile optimised.
• Provide Value – You want people to engage and scan your code so provide incentives such as special offers or exclusive experiences, such as trailers/videos.
• Make it easy – Be aware of where your QR code is placed. Make it easy for the user to spot and to scan.

We would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on QR codes, so please leave a comment below or tweets us @KMPDigitata

Smartphone users tend to be permanently connected to each other and the web (excluding some network black holes around the country) mean we are communicating with one another and accessing information like never before. The three most popular activities on Smartphones doesn’t actually include making and receiving phone calls, instead they are (in order of popularity, from ComScore):

1. Sending text messages
2. Using the web browser
3. Using downloaded applications

ComScore states that Google holds dominance over the mobile operating system (OS) market, with their Android OS taking a 41.8% share. Apple is in second position with 25.5% of the Smartphone market. Both of these operating systems are seeing continued growth in the industry, whereas the likes of RIM (Blackberry), Microsoft and Symbian (Nokia) are all losing ground to the big two. Nokia and Microsoft are hoping to strengthen/increase their marketing shares from 1.9% and 5.7% respectively, by combining efforts but it will take a huge effort to make a dent in Google and Apple’s dominance.

These stats show that companies should look into whether there are mobile opportunities for them and more importantly how to approach it. Downloadable, native applications are a popular method of providing users with mobile experiences but the development of such applications tends to focus on a single platform/OS meaning many users might be neglected. However, once an app is installed a brand will be seen regularly on the users home screen. Native applications are particularly useful when access to devices such as the devices camera or microphone are required.

The alternative to native applications are web apps and/or a mobile optimised website that work will a variety of mobile browsers. Mobile websites are, more often than not, a scaled down version of the desktop site that are more focused on key tasks. Because of this it can make sense to design a mobile website before a new desktop version safe in the knowledge that the small screen will focus the content and design around the brands key objectives and user journeys.

Mobile strategy

Statistics are great and we can learn a lot from them but what does that mean for you and your business? Well, we’ve been working closely with a number of our clients to develop their mobile strategies and establish how they can best utilise this ever increasing channel. As with most strategic planning it is important to gain insight from your analytics to gauge which mobile approach is best suited to how customers are engaging with you digitally.

In the case of Manchester Airport we were able to identify that a large number of people accessing the website were doing so from iPhones and subsequently, that they were predominantly looking for flight information and directions to the airport. This analysis meant that a native iPhone application was the ideal starting point in Manchester Airport’s mobile strategy.

Conversly, with Renold the analytics showed there was an even spread across the mobile browsers and devices being used to view the Renold website, meaning a mobile optimised website was the better option.

What’s your mobile strategy? If you’d like us to help, don’t be afraid to drop us a line to discuss it in depth.

The constant development of better mobile devices and the improvement of data coverage by the mobile networks have been the driving force that has made mobile web browsing one of the fastest growing digital activities over the past 2 years.

Some organisations, such as Morgan Stanley, believe that mobile web browsing will take over desktop browsing as soon as 2015. Here at KMP Digitata we felt it was the right time for us to update our own website to cater for this change in browsing habits and interaction, not to mention the fact that we finally managed to find some time between client projects to squeeze it in.

The new KMP Digitata mobile website isn’t a scaled down version of the desktop site, instead we opted to keep all the same content and build it within the same WordPress install. For the mobile site we designed a new navigation and page templates that were more suited to mobile screens. Using a simple User Agent Detection script we are able to define which WordPress theme is displayed, depending on the browser used, reducing the need for a sub-domain, such as m.kmp.co.uk.

Mobile optimised websites are a small part of our expertise in mobile. We’ve recently launched a mobile site for Renold Plc and are currently in the early stages of developing a mobile experience for Manchester Airport. In addition to this we have also built mobile applications Manchester Airport and their regional airports, with other apps in the pipeline.

This latest mobile update is just one of many that are still to come for the KMP Digitata website to keep it up to date. We would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on our new mobile website, either leave us a comment below or tweets us at @KMPDigitata.

Renold is an international engineering group, that produces a wide range of precision engineering products, operating in nineteen countries worldwide. The principal activities of the Group are the manufacture and sale of industrial chains and related power transmission products.

The digital revolution is growing at such a pace that many companies are struggling to keep up with the astronomical rise of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, however, Renold were able to identify an opportunity for them to utilise mobile at the correct time. As with many websites these days Renold was experiencing more and more traffic to their website from mobile devices so it was an obvious decision to create a site designed specifically for mobile devices.

The new mobile site will not only be used as a mobile optimised website for incoming web traffic but will also become an important tool for reps out in the field when large brochures and spec sheets are not ideal as well as on the factory floor during client/customer tours.

The new Renold mobile site

The challenge of creating the new mobile site came from trying to host the whole Renold product range in a clear, easily navigated site that would work on a wide range of mobile devices.

To make the user’s experience of the site as easy as possible, the search feature is emphasized to help the user avoid navigating through the menus. Although the search box is a key feature the menu is kept simple with the Breadcrumb Navigation at the top of the page so that the user knows the path they took to arrive at their current page and reduce the need for the back button.

Product pages on the website were of vital importance, so they contain an image, brief description and most importantly a link to download the stat sheets, which then open in the mobile device’s document viewer, making it easier to read and keep it with them rather than repeatedly visiting the Renold site to see the information.

The mobile device allowed us to create a more engaging “Find Us” page with links that open up map and navigation options within the device and in doing so help users not only find out where the offices are but also be navigated to them (dependant on software on the device). Users can now find their closest office, view it on a map and then get directions to the location all on the move.

David Turner, Marketing Communications Manager for Renold Plc. said of the new site:

Renold is determined to pursue innovation both as a manufacturer and service provider and we’re the first industrial chain manufacturer to launch a mobile site. KMP’s team kept the structure and design simple to make it quicker and easier for our customers and sales teams to access product information while on the move. We’re very pleased with the result.

This new mobile site is an exciting step forward for Renold who understand that mobile is quickly growing into one of the most important digital sectors and they are now perfectly positioned for the further increase of mobile devices used to view the web.

Visit the new Renold Mobile site here and if you’re interested in mobile strategy then feel free to contact us to discuss it

TravelMole.com is the first online community for the Travel and Tourism Industry, established in 1998 and has developed into one of the largest online travel communities. This year’s UK Tourism Web Awards was TravelMole’s eighth awards ceremony. The purpose of the awards is to reward and promote examples of the best websites in the UK travel industry and to hold them up high as shining examples.

Some big names in the Travel industry attended the ceremony in London on Wednesday, such as Emirates, Jet2 and Eurostar. It was Trek America that won the hotly contested “Best use of Social Media” with Trek America Live because it was recognised that social media sat at the heart of the company’s marketing and that it all stemmed from the Social Media Portal where past, current and future Trekkers are able to share their experience and advice with one another.

It’s great to see Trek America being rewarded for putting their faith into the ambitious Trek America Live project that has generated outstanding ROI and keeps going from strength to strength. We now look forward to working on future award winning projects, so watch this space.

The winning entry was for TrekAmerica’s Ultimate Road Trip and the viral Facebook application we created at the heart of it.

The reasons given for winning this award was the campaign’s “Expert knowledge of the target audience, strategy to encourage engagement and the outstanding results it achieved”.

We were up against some stiff competition in this category, including promotions for brands such as ASDA and Cobra beer so we’re delighted to have won. We were also nominated for “Best Social Media Campaign” for the same work.

We are regularly nominated in these types of awards for the work we do and it’s worth noting that great work comes when working for clients, such as Trek America who are willing to put their faith in an idea and devote resources to social media and digital channels when competing with budget for more traditional marketing endeavours.

All that’s left now is to decide where the award will be proudly displayed.