Email marketing is an important aspect of hotel digital marketing. Current statistics show that more than 8 out of 10 people will open a welcome email, generating 4x as many opens and 10x as many clicks compared to other types of email.
Here at UP Hotel Agency, we are able to carry you through the whole process from building the email sign-up software and promoting sign-ups to creating and implementing killer email campaigns to drive those sought-after direct conversions.
Here are our top tips for getting the most out of your email marketing.
Email Purpose
Having a clear strategy from the beginning will help obtain sign-ups and keep people from unsubscribing. Potential readers need to know exactly what value they are getting from signing up to your mailing list. The purpose of your hotel’s email marketing could come under one of the items listed below:-
- Staying top of mind to retain brand awareness
- Advertising new services/offerings
- Promoting offers and discount codes
- Displaying USP’s
- Providing information
- Providing courses
- Getting started – Used when someone needs to set up their account with you
Incentivise Sign-ups with the added bonus of a Case Study
Increasing your mailing list can be hard, so we’ve put together some ideas to help incentivise sign-ups.
- State that people who sign up to the mailing list will gain subscriber-only benefits, such as discounts or being first in the know for upcoming events, offers or products.
- Discount codes are a great way to entice people to sign up and retain them. Send out an automated welcome email with the coupon code or offer for happy recipients.
- Free monthly products or courses will keep people signed up to your emails, because who doesn’t love free stuff?
- Hosting a competition where people enter by adding their email can dramatically boost your mailing list. Remember to always stay within GDPR guidelines when going down this route – if you’re unsure, we’re here to help!
- Believe it or not, some people really enjoy filling out surveys. Creating a survey is another great way to increase your mailing list and get some top tips for your hotel too!
- Provide value-added content exclusive for subscribers that there is a hook for encouraging sign-ups. As an example, this could include sending out weekly top tips related to your niche.
Case Study: Point A Hotels
Point Hotels have taken email sign-ups to another level. By signing up to their site with your email address and a password you get a bunch of benefits across all hotels, perfect for multi-property brands.
Contact us to get your sign-up form set up too!
Push to potential readers
Now that you’ve settled on the incentives to join, you need to be strategic in getting the email sign-up form in front of potential consumers. There are many different avenues you may go down to do this, here are some of our favourites:-
- Google ads extensions allow you to add email sign-up forms to your google search ads, following on from this you can create an ad which links directly to your lead form.
- Social media – Use a link in your bio, which you can make reference to grid posts or add a link in your stories that takes you straight to the form. You can also run competitions on social media that make signing up for the newsletter an entry requirement.
- Website banner and sign-up box in the footer.
- Website pop ups which happen within 3 seconds of someone landing on your page.
- Social Ads. Facebook has a feature where you can add sign-ups as the CTA on the ads. This will take you directly to a form page on your website.
Make sure that whatever avenue you decide to go down, you clearly list exactly what the consumer will get in return for a sign-up and how it will benefit them.
Welcome Email
Now that you have your mailing list, it’s very important to send out a welcome email. This is a great way to really introduce your brand and what you can do for potential consumers. Some people may not fully understand your brand or what you offer, so this is a great chance for you to really promote yourself and push potential customers to convert.
A welcome email can be automatically sent as soon as someone signs up to your mailing list, regardless of whether or not you’re launching a separate email campaign.
So, how do you structure a welcome email?
We have put together a winning formula to keep subscribers engaged to reduce the risk of unsubscribers.
Firstly, you need to make sure your welcome email is relevant to your overall strategic goals. If you are focusing on providing discounts and offers, make sure the theme of the email fits your strategy by a). Providing an offer displayed very clearly, b). Explaining they will get an offer every x day/weeks/months and C) and having the graphics to match that.
So, how do you structure a winning welcome email?
- Say Thank You.
First, you need to say thank you to your new subscriber. Make them feel special and let them know how grateful you are.
- Introduce Yourself
This should be done in a few sentences. Be clear and to the point. What do you offer, what problems can you solve, and why will it benefit the potential consumer
- Email Purpose
If you aim to regularly post offers, you must state that so people won’t mark you as spam. Give them incentives to stay, by explaining exactly what they will get.
- Deliver The Goods
If you used an incentive to get the sign-ups, then you need to deliver what you have offered here without too much fluff. If you seduced them with a discount code, put it here. If you promised them a document/resource, have a download button here. They are likely to click on this right away, which is why you need to get your point across above this.
- Add Contact Information
Have hyperlinks and icons which link straight to any social media, contact forms and your website’s URL. Become as accessible as possible.
You should now have all the tools you need to push out attention-grabbing campaigns that drive conversions – woohoo!
Sounds complicated or you just don’t have time to work with all the moving parts? We can help with that! Contact us to learn more about the services we offer.
