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Maritz Travel targets mobile users with Moxie email implementation

Maritz Travel Meetings and Incentives hopes to offer a mobile-optimized and frustration-free experience for its guests through email in an effort to drive more online engagement. 

The subsidiary of Philadelphia-based travel agency Maritz is leveraging Moxie's email solution system to streamline the process of customer inquiries by directing them to the appropriate Maritz agent, which will aim for a better customer experience and accommodate tech-savvy business travelers. The Moxie platform was further chosen because of its database of metrics built to handle business deals more timely via mobile.

?Mobile is an exploding communication channel and Maritz?s guests, similar to other customers, are no longer bound to a physical location or single device to engage with a business,? said Tara Sporrer, vice president of marketing at MoxieSunnyvale. ?As an example, 47 percent of consumers access the Internet on a smartphone weekly and more often, and increasingly, they are using multiple devices to engage with businesses.?

Going online
Every year, Maritz?s business numbers are about 3.5 million rooms per year and the company manages about 10,000 meetings and travel programs. With the implementation of the Moxie email client, the booking process will become much more streamlined.

The Moxie database locates keywords in email inquiries to better assist customers by directing them to the right associate as well as monitors outgoing messages to ensure quality responses and maintain accuracy across the brand?s standards.

The Moxie group claims to provide a secure experience and promises that only authorized users can access sensitive information.

While frequent travelers maintain a busy lifestyle, planning a trip can cause excess stress which can double when a company is hard to reach and not accessible. Maritz?s efforts are sure to work towards a two-way communication system between its clients and associates to make traveling more of a pleasure and less of a hassle.

Maritz?s guests should be able to access this tool within a few months.

Mobilizing travel
Entities within the travel industry have realized an up-and-coming young, tech savvy consumer and are revamping their capabilities to best accommodate them.

For example, United Airlines customers checking in for international flights can use the carrier?s mobile application to scan their passports, the latest example of how mobile is meeting flyers? demands for self-service convenience.

Still in beta, the feature permits customers to confirm their attendance within 24 hours before departure, and extends the check-in system to more touch points at virtually all airports from any location including car rental agencies, train stations parking garages, convention centers and other off-site places. As passengers seek to control more of their travel experience, they are looking to mobile for more self-service and mobile-based offerings to reduce stress during their journey (see story).

Similarly, hospitality chain Holiday Inn recently launched its first digitally led multimedia campaign that uses the power of brand advocacy by sharing its guests' unique narratives in a series of mobile-optimized Web documentaries. 

Through the Journey to Extraordinary campaign, the hotel brand partnered with organizations including Tumblr, International New York Times, Mashable, Nonfiction Unlimited and MBAs Across America to leverage their photographic and storytelling capabilities to capture the extraordinary journeys of the brand?s many guests. With digital media messages, brands can speak one on one to consumers and have more targeted and efficient conversation. Traditional media is expensive and conversely nonspecific. Digital marketing is a cost-effective way to reach consumers organically (see story).

If travel companies continue to aim for mobile, they are likely to see more overall customer satisfaction. 

?The one device that we all have with us at all times is our phones, and this applies to Maritz?s guests as well as customers in general,? Ms. Sporrer said. ?Customers expect businesses to deliver sales and service support anytime and anywhere, providing them seamless experiences across multiple devices throughout the entire customer journey.

Final Take
Caitlyn Bohannon, editorial assistant for Mobile Marketer, New York