Brief:

• Mobile hotel bookings have doubled since Red Roof launched its mobile-focused website redesign on June 9, the hotelier’s president Andrew Alexander told Mobile Marketer. Mobile conversions increased 98%.
• Red Roof’s new “Along-a-Route” tool uses a “double ping” system to identify which direction a mobile user is headed and serve up its nearest hotel properties. Frequent guests can log into their mobile account for the tool to recognize properties they’ve stayed at in the past.
• The company partnered with digital consultancy SapientRazorfish for the site refresh and is also developing chatbot messaging and voice-assisted booking features, Alexander said.

Insight:

This year, 57.5 million U.S. adults will use a smartphone to book a trip, up 14.1% from last year, according to a June eMarketer study. Red Roof’s recent efforts aim to reengage previous customers or people who are already familiar with the brand, particularly when they’re on road trips.

“Most of Red Roof’s travelers are driving, and they want to know what’s in front of them, not what’s behind them or what’s way out from the highway,” Alexander said of the brand’s new mobile geolocation feature, which can also serve up personalized content like preferred properties and booking habits when guests log into their account on a smartphone.

More brands than ever are beginning to serve up personalized content. Ninety-six percent of respondents in an Evergage survey said that incorporating these customized digital content or features helps to advance customer relationships.

Red Roof also enlisted paid mobile advertisements and a summer sweepstakes as part of the initiative. To engage users and reward frequent travelers, the hotelier is giving away “a valuable prize per day,” according to a press release from the company. Its loyalty program members who stay at one of the chain's 500 properties from June 1 to August 31 will automatically be entered in the contest, a move that further incentivizes consumers to join Red Roof’s RediCard loyalty program and book a room during the peak summer travel season.

However, Red Roof’s main focus, according to Alexander, was to freshen up its mobile site.

“By revising the web site to be faster, fresher and have new features, it’s people’s first impression of us,” Alexander said. “This ‘digital front door’ is becoming more and more important in customers choosing us over our competitors.”