Email marketing is a much more personal way to communicate with your guests than ads, and it’s one of your strongest – and least expensive! – ways to drive direct bookings. We’ve put together a guide to help you:
- Build a strong email list
- Send emails that get real bookings
- Build long-term guest relationships
When hotels get started with digital marketing, often the first thing they look at is advertising on social media and large search platforms like Google. Without a proper website funnel, however, that traffic won’t convert to the high numbers of bookings you’re looking for.
Your hotel’s funnel chiefly comprises of:
- Your offering: rooms, services and facilities packaged in different rate plans and special offers
- Landing pages for those rate plans and special offers to drive traffic towards
- Emails to connect to guests, promote special offers, and encourage repeat bookings
Search engines and social media drive traffic (organic and paid), landing pages capture leads, and email nurtures those leads in a personal way and sells to them when the time is right.
Today, we’re going to focus on emails.
Email plays an integral part in your funnel. It’s a much more personal way to reach out than social media, and there are also billions of users.
Email is nearly 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter together in the acquisition of customers. It’s targeted towards people who already want what you have, and email is also under your control. Social networks are evolving rapidly, but the basics of email remain consistent, even as methods for sending them become more sophisticated.
Let’s take a look at those email marketing basics – sometimes, they’re all you need to build a strategy that will bring guests through the door.
When They Sign Up, Tell People What They’re Getting:
Telling people what you’re giving them seems obvious, but the clarity of your message can get lost when you try to be too creative.
