Hotel Email Marketing: The Hotelier’s Blueprint for Successful Email Marketing
Hotel email marketing is the practice of connecting with current and prospective customers via email to attract more guests.
With over 60% of hospitality bookings made online, you need to create a smooth digital experience for your guests. And what better way to achieve this than a personal marketing channel with low costs and high engagement?
Every time you send out an email, you remind guests about the fantastic experiences waiting at your hotel. This continuous communication builds a strong brand awareness.
Email marketing also nurtures lasting relationships. It keeps the conversation going after checkout and entices them to return with personalized offers and updates. This strategy transforms one-time visitors into lifelong fans.
With that backdrop, let’s walk through the step-by-step process of maximizing your hotel’s email marketing potential.
Step 0: Lay the Groundwork for Deliverability
Your deliverability rate is the percentage of your emails that successfully reach your recipients’ primary inboxes, rather than ending up in the spam folder or bouncing back.
With so much spam sent every day, you need to show ISPs that you’re a legitimate sender if you want your email campaigns to bring in business results.
Here at Campaign Refinery, we’re experts in making sure emails hit the right spot. We’ve designed our system to boost your chances of reaching your audience.
We focus on three pillars to improve email deliverability:
- Sender reputation,
- Strategy,
- Technical setup.
Let’s quickly cover what each one entails.
Sender Reputation
Think of your sender reputation as a credit score for your emails. It’s built on your history as an email sender.
If you consistently send high-quality emails people love, your reputation goes up. But if your emails often get marked as spam, your reputation will take a hit. Keep your email list clean, send relevant content, and monitor your performance to keep your reputation solid.
Email Strategy
You can’t just blast out emails to everyone. Your messages must be targeted and match subscriber preferences. For example, send newsletters to regular readers and special offers to recent guests. This way, your emails stay relevant, engagement goes up, and you avoid spam complaints.
Technical Setup
The technical setup involves setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC protocols to verify your ownership of the domain and prevent phishing attacks.
If you’re starting with a new domain, warm it up gradually by sending a few emails at first. Then, slowly increase the volume. This helps build trust with email providers and ensures your messages land in the inbox.
Step 1: Define Your Audience
In the hotel industry, you can target either businesses (B2B) or individual travelers (B2C). Let’s look at the pros and cons of each:
B2B Customers:
- Pros: Travel agencies and corporate clients can bring consistent business since they often book multiple rooms and repeat visits. Partnering with such companies can provide a steady stream of guests.
- Cons: Building and maintaining relationships with business clients can be time-consuming. Negotiations and contracts may also be more complex.
B2C Customers:
- Pros: When you’re targeting individual travelers, you have more opportunities for personalized marketing. You can create tailored offers and experiences that appeal directly to these guests. It’s also easier to build a direct relationship with them through email marketing.
- Cons: Individual travelers may only visit your hotel once, especially if it’s a special destination people only visit occasionally. This means you need to continually attract new guests.
Despite these differences, there’s no reason you can’t target both audiences. You can balance the consistency of B2B bookings with the personalized touch for B2C travelers to keep your rooms full throughout the year.
Step 2: Build an Organic Email List
You might consider building your email list by collecting addresses from booking websites or hospitality platforms. Or, worse, you might even think about buying a pre-built email list.
Well, don’t!
These methods can damage your reputation as a sender because you’re targeting people without their consent.
Building a clean, organic email list takes time, but it’s worth it. In general, you need to attract subscribers by offering them something valuable in return for their email address.
Keep reading to discover our top recommended ways to collect valid email addresses.
Ask Your Current Guests to Sign up
Here’s a simple way to make sure potential clients get your emails: ask them to sign up when they book with you.
You can also turn your guests into subscribers by putting printed cards inside their rooms. Write a compelling copy, offer an incentive, and ask them to subscribe. To make things easier, include a QR code to help them get there faster.
Send them updates on your services or ask them to do surveys to keep them engaged even after using your services. This keeps your business fresh in their minds, and they’ll be more likely to think of you for their next trip.
Turn Your Website into an Email List Builder
Put sign-up forms on your website’s most popular pages to encourage visitors to join your email list. Offer them more relevant content in exchange for their email address.
Remember to implement double opt-in to make sure only highly interested users subscribe to your list. This way, you can improve your engagement metrics, boost deliverability, and eventually get higher ROI from your email marketing efforts.
Turn Social Media Followers into Subscribers
Hospitality email marketing works best in tandem with other marketing channels. You can use content marketing, SEO, and social media marketing to enhance the impact of each strategy.
If you’re active on social media, you’re already a step ahead. You have followers who could become subscribers to your email list. Your job is to create valuable content that encourages them to sign up to receive more.
Leverage Partnerships
Don’t worry if your social media presence isn’t large. You can still expand your reach by partnering with others.
Travel influencers and booking companies have access to a lot of potential subscribers who might be interested in what you offer. Partner with them to promote your hotel and direct traffic to your website, where you can invite visitors to join your email list.
Use Guest Endorsement
Encourage your current guests to endorse your hotel or invite influencers to stay. This can help increase your social media followers, which will, in turn, grow your email list.
Motivate people to subscribe to your email list by offering enticing rewards. Show them the benefits, such as discounts or entry into loyalty programs.
These incentives can include:
- Vouchers,
- Early check-in,
- Room upgrades,
- Free admission to hotel events,
- Exclusive deals and discounts for members.
Step 3: Segment Your List
Different subscribers have unique needs and engage with various types of content. That’s why you need an effective segmentation strategy for your hotel email marketing campaigns.
To understand user preferences and motivations, you can gather information through email surveys and sign-up forms. You can also rely on your website analytics tools and email tracking software to learn more about user behaviors.
Key data points include:
- Demographics,
- Geographical location,
- Past interactions,
- Website activity,
- Stage in the sales funnel.
Have a look at these customer segment examples for ideas:
| Segmentation criteria | Example | Content type |
|---|---|---|
| Demographics | Families, senior citizens, low-spenders vs. high-spenders | Offer specific features like activities for children or spa discounts |
| Behavior | First-timers vs. returners | A full description of the hotel vs. discounts or upselling more hotel services |
| Website Activity | Newcomers vs. loyal customers | Welcome emails vs. exclusive content |
| Purpose | Leisure vs. business | Tour offers vs. relaxing activities |
| Email response | Active vs. inactive | Regular newsletters vs. special offers and re-engagement campaigns |
Step 4: Create Valuable Content
Your email messages will fall into three categories:
- Transactional. Transactional emails are personalized messages sent in response to what your customers do. For example, they get a confirmation email when they book or details about their room after checking in.
- Promotional. These are for everyone on your email list. They talk about special deals and discounts to encourage more bookings at your hotel.
- Informational. These keep your guests in the loop and engaged with updates like email marketing newsletters or news about upcoming events at your hotel.
Your email marketing strategy should include a balanced mix of all three email types.
If you send too many promotional emails, you might annoy your subscribers into unsubscribing. But if you only send newsletter emails, you could miss out on chances to boost bookings.
When you’re writing your email content, think about where each customer is on their journey with your hotel. Pick the type of email that fits their situation best and will have the biggest impact.
The table below shows different stages of the customer lifecycle and suggests appropriate types of content for each stage:
| Customer journey stage | Customer behavior | Type of content |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Getting to your brand | ‣ Welcome emails ‣ A visual tour of your hotel ‣ “Our story” emails |
| Consideration | Comparing optionsBrowsing your website | ‣ Guest testimonials ‣ Price packages ‣ Discounts ‣ Special offers |
| Decision | Booking a room | ‣ Booking confirmation ‣ Abandoned cart emails ‣ Upselling or cross-selling services |
| Retention | Giving feedback on their stay | ‣ Follow-up questions and surveys ‣ Thank-you messages ‣ Loyalty program invitations |
Step 5: Analyze Your Performance
You’ve made it this far, and you’re ready to click launch on your first campaign. But how will you know if your campaign hits the mark?
You need to track your performance metrics to make sure your campaigns give you the results you expect.
These are the most important metrics to keep an eye on:
- Open rates: A low open rate could suggest that your subject lines aren’t compelling or that your emails are reaching the wrong audience.
- Click-through rates (CTR): This metric helps measure the effectiveness of your email content and call-to-action.
- Unsubscribe rates: Monitor how many people opt out of receiving your emails after sending an email. High unsubscribe rates can signal issues with email frequency or relevance.
- Bounce rates: High bounce rates may indicate problems with your email list quality or email deliverability issues.
- Spam complaints: This metric helps you understand whether your content aligns with your audience’s expectations and adheres to email marketing best practices.
To fine-tune your strategy, leverage A/B testing. This powerful tool lets you try out different parts of your emails to find out what clicks with your audience. You can experiment with your subject line, email content, CTA, and sending times.
Hotel Email Marketing Examples
Let’s have a look at a few ideas for effective hotel email marketing and inspire you to create emails that resonate with your guests.
Promotions and Discounts
If you want to attract more guests during the off-season, consider offering discounts and promotions. These could include reduced room rates or special deals on spa services and other hotel amenities.
Another great way to draw in guests is by introducing loyalty programs. Share the details of these programs with your current and potential customers and encourage them to sign up.
This email from Hotel June is a great example of sparking interest in the reader through visuals. The message beautifully captures the essence of fall and invites guests to enjoy the season with enticing offers. It highlights a 15% discount on longer stays, free parking, and a $40 dining credit.
Seasonal Offers
If your area is known for its seasonal attractions, highlight these in your marketing. Before the season kicks off, send out promotions, newsletters, and guides to give potential visitors all the information they need to plan their trip.
Include attractive visuals of your region and its highlights. Encourage them to find out more by adding a call to action that links to your website. There, you can showcase more images and videos to entice them further.
Vacasa showcases this approach perfectly in their vibrant email invitation. The message invites guests to lounge by the lake, embracing the beauty of spring by the water.
Special Events
Do you host special events like concerts, seminars, or art events in your hotel? Why not pitch them to your subscribers and get them to book a room for that event?
Promote events in your area, such as summer festivals, music concerts, and film events, to draw in loyal customers.
Use email personalization and dynamic content to cater to their specific interests and make each message feel more tailored. Don’t forget that birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries are also perfect occasions to attract guests.
Check out how ACE Hotel invites guests to look ahead and book a stay for the Pride event in November. Their clever use of nostalgia and a glimpse of future fun offers a compelling reason to plan early.
Pre-arrival Messages
Once a guest has made a booking, you can enhance their experience and increase your sales through email marketing.
A few days before their arrival, send them a confirmation email with their booking details, such as room number, facilities, and the length of their stay.
Suggest upselling options like:
- Room upgrades,
- Spa and wellness treatments,
- Dining at your hotel restaurant,
- Arranging airport pickup services,
- Guided tours or local attraction tickets.
The example below confirms the booking and highlights tempting add-ons such as airport pickup services and the hotel’s restaurant.
Post-Stay Emails
These emails are a great way to stay connected with your guests. A couple of days after they check out, send them a survey to gather their feedback while their experience is still fresh in their minds.
Encourage them to rate or endorse your hotel by offering a special reward in return. This helps keep the relationship going and can lead to more visits. You can also use this opportunity to offer special deals on future bookings.
Kimpton Alton Hotel uses a simple approach. They thank the guest for their stay and congratulate them on their first booking with the hotel. The email then invites them to rate their stay.
During-Stay Emails
These messages aren’t strictly necessary. While guests are staying at your hotel, they can rely on the concierge and other direct forms of communication for a memorable experience.
Still, you can enhance your service by sending emails with useful tips. Recommend local restaurants, transportation options, and tours to show guests that you care about their experience.
Why Campaign Refinery is Your Ultimate Partner for Hotel Email Marketing
If you’re looking to boost your hotel bookings with effective email marketing, you need an email marketing service with top-tier tools and infrastructure. Settle for less, and your efforts will barely scratch the surface.
At Campaign Refinery, we lead the market in inbox placement rates. So, you can be sure your messages will reach your guests..
How do we do it?
- Setup for success from day one: Right from the start, we help you implement domain authentication to enhance both deliverability and security.
- Engagement gamification: Our unique gamification features invigorate your campaigns and lift your open rates and click-throughs.
- Extensive campaign library: Quickly deploy proven email strategies from our extensive library to streamline your marketing efforts and maximize efficiency.
- Pristine list quality: We automatically scrub your list of harmful addresses, including spam traps and role-based emails.
- Advanced audience segmentation: With our robust segmentation engine, you can tailor your audience groups in countless ways.
Interested in becoming part of our elite email marketing community? Apply today to join us!
