EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES FOR TRAVEL MARKETING
Transcript of EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES FOR TRAVEL MARKETING
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES FOR TRAVEL MARKETING
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 2 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
EMAIL MARKETING IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
If you are a travel marketer, you are always looking for better ways to reach your
customers in a unique and effective way. WhatCounts is here to help! The purpose of
this eBook is to provide tips and best practices to help you improve your email and other
digital marketing practices. When you have finished this journey, you will know how to
apply lifecycle marketing principles to travel and tourism marketing.
Pack your marketing bags! You’ve just booked a trip with WhatCounts for a tour of the
best travel marketing how-tos.
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 3 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
CONTEXT
THE SEARCH ENGINES HAVE WON Google is doing its best to monetize the travel industry. Would you go to a specific CVB
or destination website to get information for a vacation, or would you simply type a
query into the search engine bar to find out basic information about a destination?
It is more important than ever for marketers to have engaging, updated content in their
emails. This is because people want authentic information upon which they can rely.
WHAT SHOULD MARKETERS DO? First, marketers should engage subscribers in all
phases of the travel cycle, including pre-trip, during
the trip and post-trip.
Next, marketers should identify the audience with
whom they are engaging and what message they are
sending to that audience. For example, is there a
clear message of what you want that audience to do
when they have received your message?
Travel marketing is all about communication with
the right person, at the right time, with the right
message.
As a result of travel marketing, your goal is to get people to use your company’s services
or buy your company’s products before, during or after their travels. It is important to
make it easy and attractive for people to find your company, as well as to receive and act
on your messages.
DID YOU KNOW More than 25 percent of desti-
nation website traffic is coming
from a mobile device today.
62 percent of mobile device
traffic comes directly from
mobile search, and 90 percent
of that mobile searching is done
via Google.
Source: Travel 2.0 Consulting
Group/ The Mark Report
(www.travel2dot0.com)
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 4 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
THE ONE QUESTION EVERYONE ASKS
“WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?” People want to know what benefits they will receive from your marketing proposition.
For example, picture your marketing as a gift bag. If your customer opens that gift bag,
and there is nothing inside, he or she will be turned off and turned away from your
company. This attitude applies to every stage of the travel process:
• The idea, when someone considers going on a trip.
• The plan, when someone figures out where he or she is going on a trip.
• Time spent on the trip.
• The aftermath, or return from the trip.
• The return and your potential reactivation of the customer.
HOW NOT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION Descriptive approach, which is telling rather than showing: “This is what the product is.”
The descriptive approach focuses on quantitative features of a product or service. For
example, this phone has this screen size and can hold this much memory.
HOW TO ANSWER THE QUESTION
Aspirational approach, which is showing what the product or service can do: “This is
what you can do at this destination or with this product.”
The aspirational approach focuses on what the person will experience when they use a
product or service. For example, this phone is going to make you feel in control and
important.
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 5 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
THE FIVE PHASES OF TRAVEL MARKETING
THE IDEA When someone starts to think about taking a trip, everywhere in the world is a
possibility. People make decisions based on what they want to do and what is available
at different places.
At this stage, your information needs to be prominent and easy to find. You should do
this by having strong SEO content and a presence on social media. Your messaging
needs to be present whenever and wherever people are looking for your products or
services.
EMAIL SIGN UP Put your email signup anywhere that you can. Include it on your homepage, online
forms, emails and newsletters. Make sure the ask is in the top half of the webpage and
stands out. Also include it on your email signature - an unexpected, but significant,
place to garner a subscriber. Consider including an option to sign up on social media
pages, as well.
SOCIAL MEDIA Why is social media a great place to post information? Because over 50 percent of
people decide where they want to travel by browsing social media sites and 76 percent of
them post travel updates and photos on social media. This encourages other people to
try the same products and services.
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 6 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
CYCLICAL TRAVEL MESSAGES Travel is not seasonal as with other eCommerce items. This is because people may travel
year round. However, people may have cyclical travel schedules, when they travel to a
certain place at the same time every year.
BE UP FRONT When you ask for a sign up, state what the subscriber is going to get out of the emails he
or she will receive. Is it going to be travel tips, updates, deals or perks?
BE THERE BEFORE THE SALE Set expectations for your readers about your email marketing:
• Frequency- daily, weekly or monthly
• Day- the day of the week they will receive these emails
• Time- evening, morning or afternoon
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 7 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
EXERCISE BEST PRACTICES FROM THE START From address
• Have a from email address that is legitimate and tells readers who you are. Done
consistently, good from addresses build trust with subscribers.
Subject line
• Personalize it with travel topics and destinations.
• Keep it short so it can be easily read and understood.
• Make sure it is relevant to the content of the email.
Pre-header
• Having a text preview makes your email stand out in a crowded inbox.
• Make it a call to action.
• Make it interesting enough so if images aren’t turned on, the subscriber will want
to read and see more.
GATHER YOUR INTELLIGENCE If marketers don’t collect anything else from subscribers, they should at least collect zip
codes. Then they can send readers targeted emails that have to do with the areas in and
near which they live.
You can also monitor the search queries people are using to find your company. Use
these keywords in your marketing copy to boost your SEO.
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 8 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
THE PLAN
STAY RELEVANT DURING THE PLANNING PROCESS Be awesome. How?
DRIP CAMPAIGNS
Drip campaigns are a great strategy and possible to set up if you are a WhatCounts
client. Please contact your Technical Account Manager for more information.
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
Get people to sign up for your newsletters. Travel is not always a single-visit purchase,
and you can offer subscribers tips, tricks and insider information that will keep them
coming back to you for more.
HOLIDAY EMAIL CAMPAIGNS
Employ holiday email campaigns, and not
just for the standard holidays. For
example, you could plan a campaign for
people to travel to Louisiana and purchase
something on the day the Louisiana
Purchase was signed. On the right is a
holiday email that Alaska Airlines sent out
to its subscribers (design by Shaw + Scott):
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 9 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
SEGMENTATION
Don’t forget about segmentation. Target people’s interests when they sign up, including
psychographic information and specific types of travel in which they are interested. Now
you can send more targeted emails and drive engagement.
PRE-TRIP INFORMATION
If you know a customer’s travel dates, then send pre-trip emails reminding him or her to
locate his or her passport. Send packing lists and create lists of things to do and see
while travelers are at their destinations.
STAY IN TOUCH
When the trip is over, you can send customers emails asking for reviews of where they
visited, the hotel they stayed in and the restaurants they visited.
You can also ask them to connect with your company on social media and share stories
and photos of their trips.
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 10 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
THE TRIP
YOUR WORK ISN’T OVER When the traveler leaves for his or her trip, your job is far from over. Since travelers are
using their mobile phones more and more, you can send them text messages for special
offers or deals at their destinations. Connecting with them via social media to see how
the trip is going is also a good idea.
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 11 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
THE AFTERMATH
THE CHAPTER IS OVER, BUT THE STORY DOESN’T END After the trip is over, build loyalty so customers keep coming back to you. If you have
discounts or specials of your own, offer another company’s deals to subscribers,
monetizing your emails by selling ad space. You can also join affiliate programs to offer
complimentary products and services.
MAINTAIN GOOD LIST PRACTICES
How do search engines rate inbox placement? By the engagement those emails receive.
To do this, marketers must properly segment their lists. Building segmentations is
possible in the WhatCounts platform:
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 12 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
CONSTANTLY TEST If you aren’t testing your emails, you are not doing email marketing well. Different
aspects of the same email need to be changed once in a while in order for those emails to
stand out to readers. This is what testing is for, and it is easy to do in the WhatCounts
platform. Testing gives you specific direction about where you need to go with your
email marketing.
Make sure you give subscribers the option to update their preferences: how, when and
what kind of emails they want to receive. Also, make it easy for readers to opt out of
receiving communications from you.
Below is a sample of the A/B testing that is available through the WhatCounts platform:
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 13 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
PREFERENCES Make sure you give subscribers the option to update their preferences: how, when and
what kind of emails they want to receive. Also, make it easy for readers to opt out of
receiving communications from you.
DON’T FORGET: WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?
• A subscriber’s inbox is crowded, so remind them why he or she signed up for your
emails.
• Travel is cyclical; create messaging that speaks to the possibility that a subscriber
may not be traveling for another year.
• Have someone who’s been disengaged for a while? Offer them a discount or deal.
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 14 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
THE RETURN
If you’ve done your job right, you’ve inspired people with the idea of travel. At its core,
travel is aspirational, so you want people to come back from their travels with the idea of
wanting to do more and see more of the world. At this point in your messaging,
emphasize how much more there is for your customers to do and see.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Email has a place in every phase of travel email marketing.
• Be everywhere.
• Gather as much information as you can: The more personalized your emails are,
the more effective your marketing will be.
• Never stop testing.
• Now is the perfect time to email, especially for travel marketers!
LEARN MORE
Want to learn even more about effective strategies for travel marketing?
Watch the free webinar!
EFFECTIVE EMAIL STRATEGIES
Copyright © 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. 3630 Peachtree Rd. Toll Free: 1.866.804.0076 16 All Rights Reserved. Suite 900 Email: [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30326 Website: www.whatcounts.com
ABOUT US
WhatCounts provides data management, software,
and services to marketing professionals seeking to
deliver smart personalized digital messages to their
target audiences. Each day our team partners with
over 800 customers to leverage email, social media,
mobile devices, and the web to drive revenue. We
believe that smart marketing equals personalization
which requires marketers to have the right data, a
content strategy and automation. Using smart
technology, some of our customers are seeing email
marketing ROI as high as $200 returned for every $1
invested. We’re headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia,
with offices in Seattle, Sydney, Baltimore, and other
regional locations. Learn more
at http://www.whatcounts.com/.
WHATCOUNTS, Inc.
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Suite 900 Toll Free: 866.804.0076
Atlanta, GA 30326 Fax: 404.995.8611
www.whatcounts.com
Email: [email protected]
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