Mobile Marketing for Business Travelers

It’s every marketer’s dream to have a captive audience. Well, if it isn’t every marketer’s dream it’s at least my dream. I’m not saying that I want to go all “Clockwork Orange” on an audience, forcing ads on them with grim, unrelenting efficiency; what I want is an audience that is open and receptive to seeing and interacting with ads, with little else to do but consult their screens, conduct research, read the news, or look at sports scores.

The way I see it, the business traveler is just such a captive audience. The marketer that best realizes this and responds properly will be best poised to take advantage of this fact.

Recent research reveals that 95% of business travelers carry a smart phone, 64% carry a tablet. The truth is, business travelers are probably the best connected consumer out there. The majority of business travelers admit to juggling 3–4 devices on the road, toting a laptop along with their mobile devices.

But if you’ve even spent a fraction of the time that I’ve spent in airport terminals, you’ll know it’s the smartphone that reigns supreme. The terminal is the business traveler’s domain and you know them on sight: smartly dressed men and women sitting next to a roller suitcase and computer bag, sitting primly with a strong back, their head slightly inclined, faces lit by the faint blue light of their phones.

It’s their lifeline, their calendar, their tie to the office, their link to friends and family. It’s never far from them. According to the research, the average business traveler checks his phone 34 times a day when on the road. If you need confirmation, take a look at your fellow travelers next time you’re at the airport (that is if you can tear yourself away from your own phone).

Mobile Marketing and the Business Traveler: Opportunity’s Knocking

An article in Target Marketing Magazine reports that business travelers are “among the highest earners in the business traveler segment. They have large amounts of discretionary income, and tend also to have families.”

The average business traveler takes 5.4 trips per year so the opportunity is vast. The Target Marketing article goes on to say that frequent business travelers are partial to discounts, freebies, sales incentives, rewards program. Ads that help them take the legwork out of finding the best deals on airfares and hotels will reap the greatest rewards. What’s more, the business traveler has company money to spend (both on himself and likely his client): restaurants, bars and local entertainment venues would do well to take note.

Finally, remember that much of the business traveler’s time is downtime. A sales call, for example, may be an hour long while the rest of the time is spent waiting for flights, traveling in taxis, sitting in lobbies. And again, the smartphone is in hand. These are the times to serve the most relevant ads. I’m sure you’ll agree that there are few things more boring than an airport terminal, especially after you’re flight’s been delayed. If the ad is relevant, entertaining and/or useful it is quite likely to get a click.

Targeting the Mobile Marketer

To reach the business traveler, your ad tech company should combine 3d party data with geo-targeting. Voltari understands that by targeting self-identified “frequent travelers” and combining that with geo-targeting that includes airports and hotels we can serve ads to a wide array of business travelers. Given the intelligence built into our system, we can target them at the airport or after they’ve left. Depending on the nature of the ad, careful thought should be given to the timing.

Because the mobile marketer uses a vast array of devices, it’s also might be beneficial to spread your ads across these devices. Again, your vendor should help you identify when this is the most viable. Ads that demand a quick response may not benefit from cross-device retargeting, but ads that offer goods or services (like rewards programs, membership discounts, etc.) might benefit from being seen even when the business traveler is back at home.

Learn more at Voltari’s blog.