Hop Aboard the Search Express

As Max Starkov writes in an article at Hotel Interactive, the hotel industry is the perfect candidate for managing customer relations via mobile devices. "Using the mobile space to provide intelligent, unobtrusive and highly personalized services convinces customers that this is their service," says Starkov. And one of the hot tools hoteliers are using to boost customer service to a new level? Mobile search.

"More and more people are browsing the mobile Internet via their mobile devices and are being exposed to Google mobile ads, which results in visits to the hotel mobile site or reservation calls via the 1-800 number," Starkov reports.

And hoteliers aren't the only ones seeking the rewards of mobile search advertising. Starkov notes that eMarketer projects mobile advertising will rise from $648 million in 2008 to $3.3 billion in 2013. And Forrester projects mobile marketing to grow through 2014 at a rate second only to social media.  We repeat: If you haven't already done so, it's time to board the mobile express!

Here's how. An excellent first step in launching a mobile search campaign, says Starkov, is to create a mobile site, which will serve as the "gravitational" center for all your future mobile marketing efforts. Next, he advises, consider these tips for working in the mobile space:

• Create short but appealing marketing messages.
• Avoid "ugly" tricks Internet users have rejected such as bait-and-switch paid-search campaigns.
• Seek advice from a mobile-ready direct marketing firm.

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