Growing your hotel’s email list can be difficult. While cultivating quality subscribers over a disengaged mass quantity should still be a priority, you may be missing opportunities to grow your numbers with people you know are already engaged.
NB: This is an article from Blue Magnet
Who are these people? Take a look around, these people are your hotel guests! They are already interested in your hotel because they are staying there.
While digital methods of collecting subscribers are important, on-property methods of collection have an advantage digital does not: in-person interactions. Positive in-person interactions between guests and your staff can encourage people to sign-up. In fact, according to a 2017 Harvard Business Review article, an in-person ask can be 34 times more successful than text-based communication.
By implementing the following on-property methods we are discussing today, you can increase your number of email subscribers.
Check-In
Most of the methods applicable at check-in are dependent on offering an amenity or gift to the guest that is not already complimentary. Since they have little to no experience with your hotel yet, asking for a sign-up without an incentive at check-in does not reap the social benefit of a positive stay like during the check-out process. Therefore, if you want to try a sign-up method at check-in, incentivizing the guest helps start their stay positively and gains you a new subscriber.
For example, you could offer a complimentary morning coffee or tea, a complimentary item from your grab-and-go market, or a small memento from your city (think coasters, keychains, etc.). Ultimately, the item only needs to be something the guest does not already receive during their stay and is low-cost to you.
On-Site Dining
Another huge opportunity to connect with your guests and gain an email subscriber is through on-site dining. In this context, it is still best to incentivize the guest in order to gain their signup. When choosing your incentive, you can even create an opportunity for further food and beverage income! For example, offer some form of a “coupon” usable upon next purchase. The offer could be a buy one get one deal, a free appetizer, or another type of meal upgrade.
Check-Out
A positive guest experience will help the likelihood of a signup during check-out the most. Therefore, ensure the guest has had a positive experience before asking them if they would like to sign up for email offers and exclusives. This should work naturally into your staff’s check-out process at the front desk, as they typically ask how the guest’s stay was. If the guest replies positively, make sure the staff member has been briefed on suggested ways to ask for a sign-up.
Events at Your Hotel
While you should not throw events specifically to gain email subscribers, hosting community or industry events at your hotel is a must regardless. So, take advantage of the events you host! Make sure your hotel has a table with an email sign-up opportunity. To incentivize sign-ups at the event, you could again offer a “coupon” for on-site dining. This way, event-goers have further reason to sign-up and have an additional touch-point with your hotel. You can also use your table at the event to promote any meeting or event space offers you are currently running.
Most importantly, as you gain sign-ups, make sure you note what event they came from. This is incredibly helpful when segmenting your subscriber lists, as you can then deliver more relevant content to your subscribers. Hosting a wedding expo? Create a segment out of the email addresses you collect here to send romance specials and wedding packages to. What about a networking event? Send that segment details on the great meeting space you offer.
What You Need
So, what about the actual sign-up process? You have a few different options, and, pen and paper is always a last resort if it is five minutes before your event. However, there are more integrated options to make the sign-up process seamless for you and your guests.
We recommend investing in an individual, optimized, and responsive landing page. This page would exist as a page of your independent website, but would not be visible in the menu. Rather, staff would use a direct link to pull up the page. If possible, you could have tablets with the landing page pulled up. You could then place the tablets at the front desk or at your event table. This is a visual cue that lets your guests know you have an email sign-up without even telling them. From there, the guest could easily click into the form and type in their email. Simple!
If a landing page is not currently an option, there are also third party apps that could be used.
On-site collection methods are worth the effort.
While this list of methods is not all-inclusive, these ideas should provide a starting point for collecting subscribers at your hotel. These methods can highlight features of your hotel like on-site dining, amenities, and events while also gaining subscribers and creating loyalty reinforced by positive in-person interactions.
