Newsletters and email advertising “are the opposite of dead”.
That was the message of top digital travel firms Momondo Group and Secret Escapes at this week’s Travel Distribution Summit.
“There’s a misapprehension that newsletters are dead or unsexy, but the crucial difference is that newsletters have moved on and are now more personalised and relevant,” said Hugo Burge, chief executive of Momondo Group.
“Newsletters are a thriving part of the Cheapflights business – it’s profitable, it’s growing quickly and we’re getting smarter at making the content more relevant.”Cheapflights has more than 10 million opt-in users.
“We’re finding that more and more partners want to work with us on this,” said Burge.
“Performance-based advertising, which was so successful in the early days of online marketing and search, is now available in newsletters.
“You’re inspiring users to take trips they hadn’t considered and it’s a very exciting area.
“Emails have moved on – 70% or 80% of our newsletters are read on a mobile which means people actually have more time to read emails because they can browse on the bus.”
Alex Saint, chief executive of Secret Escapes, added: “We get complaints when customers don’t receive their email.
“People love getting good emails but hate getting crap emails – with good content they will open your email time after time because it’s fun.
“It’s about developing a proposition which you can really deliver on.
“We focus on transparency and are religious about making sure all our prices are checked many times during production.
