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Have you ever gone on a long road trip with the intention of driving straight through, only to stop for the night a couple hours from your destination? Or perhaps attended a party and decided you were too tired to drive home? Chances are you’ve probably used your smartphone to locate a nearby hotel while en route to your destination. In fact, the results of a recent survey estimated that approximately 50% of mobile users booked their hotels on the go. Here’s how one online travel site is using this knowledge to connect with potential customers where they are, and here’s what you can learn from their case study.
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When you think of Priceline.com, their catchy jingle and William Shatner probably come to mind. Many people are familiar with the company, and have used their website in the past to negotiate prices and book vacations. Priceline.com made their debut online back in 1998, and grew in popularity with their unique “Name Your Own Price” offering. Travelers who were hoping for the best deal on trips flocked to the site to name their price on things like hotel rooms, car rentals, and airline tickets. Today, budget-savvy vacationers continue to use the site to track down the best deals online.
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Priceline.com is quickly positioning themselves as a leader in the mobile travel space. And they are doing so by focusing their mobile efforts on a very specific target audience – an audience that is vastly different from their target audience on their traditional website. The Priceline.com traditional website prides itself on targeting a wide variety of consumers. The mobile app specifically targets smartphone users who make unplanned bookings at night while on the go.
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The Priceline.com app offers some unique features for the mobile user. Most importantly, it gives users who are on the go the option of booking an Express Deal, which helps them get a good deal while avoiding the bidding process completely. After all, who wants to spend time bidding when they pulled over in the dark just trying to find a hotel where they can spend the night? The app also features a Tonight-Only Deals feature, which allows mobile users to find nearby hotels offering special deals for last minute customers. More traditional features such as flight booking and rental car reservations are also available for mobile app users.
If their mobile strategy seems unconventional, let’s take a step back. How many times have you been just too tired to continue driving? Most likely you were driving somewhere at night, and you probably pulled over to try to find a hotel using your smartphone. The Priceline.com mobile app caters to this audience by providing them with a quick and easy way to book a hotel on the go.
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The success of the Priceline.com app is rooted in the company’s deep understanding of their target audience. If you are interested in using mobile to laser focus your marketing efforts in order to reach your customers, Instant.ly can help you get started today.