How to Keep Your Customers with Email Marketing in the Travel Industry

In the travel industry, there are numerous opportunities to send emails to customers at various stages of their journey, from vacation planning to post-trip follow-up.

The primary goal of email marketing in the travel industry is to establish a trustworthy relationship between the agency and the client and to transform the customer into a loyal supporter.

The benefits of e-marketing in the travel industry are numerous:

• Promptness: E-mail is the best way to quickly inform customers about new travel offers, such as last-minute deals.
• Cost-effectiveness: With a well-maintained customer database, e-marketing can significantly reduce marketing costs.
• Customer loyalty: Customized e-mail campaigns that target specific customer segments can increase open rates and minimize unsubscribes and spam reports, leading to more loyal customers.
• Feedback: E-mail marketing allows for direct communication with customers, enabling feedback and improving customer service.

Now, let’s move on to the actions that can be taken to achieve maximum conversion and meet the expectations of travel subscribers.

Gather an email list

One of the most important tasks is to build an interested audience email database. The simplest way to do it is by adding a subscription form to your website.

There are three types of subscription forms you can use. You can select one or use multiple forms:

• Embedded: This form can be added to any convenient location on your website.
• Floating: This form will stay visible in the same location even when the user scrolls the page.
• Pop-up window: This form will be displayed to the website visitor when they arrive or after a set time frame that you have established.

Keep in mind that travelers are more likely to join your email list if you offer them something valuable immediately, such as being the first to know about last-minute tours or receiving an immediate discount coupon.

Segment your subscription database

Simply collecting emails and sending mass emails is not enough for a successful email marketing campaign. It’s essential to segment your email database based on user interests, preferences, and status to tailor your email offers accordingly.

According to Neil Patel, a renowned digital marketer and entrepreneur, using email segmentation leads to the following statistics:

• 39% of marketers who segment their email lists achieve a better open rate.
• 28% of marketers were able to improve deliverability and increase revenue.

How can you effectively segment your subscribers?

• During sign-up: Add checkboxes to your registration form or initial survey to segment your subscribers by their interests, preferences, and demographics. For example, our agency, Quarter Billion Agency Group, segments subscribers by the three main directions of our business, each with its own sub-categories.
• Create an email preference center in your user account settings where subscribers can choose the type and frequency of emails they receive.
• Conduct polls through your mailing list, but limit it to no more than 3 multiple-choice questions with specific options that fit the needs of your subscribers.

Personalize your emails based on the data you collect. According to a study by Experian, personalized subject lines in emails result in impressive open rates in the travel industry, with a nearly 40% increase in open rates.

Elaborate a strategy of triggered e-mails

Triggered emails are automated emails that are sent in response to a subscriber’s action or inaction in the travel industry:

• opt-in,
• room booking/ticket purchase,
• subscription to a blog,
• opening an email or clicking on a link within an email,
• an instance of long user inactivity is when a user has not engaged with your website for an extended period.

By sending messages that respond to a subscriber’s actions, you can generate a more favorable response. Smartinsights compared essential metrics of triggered and typical marketing mail-outs and found that the open rates of triggered e-mails are twice as high as those of typical ones. Here is an example of a triggered e-mail campaign for a travel agency.

How about some sample triggered email ideas for the tourism and travel industry.

A welcome email

You can automate the delivery of a welcome email immediately after a user confirms their sign-up. This email can serve as a warm greeting to the new subscriber and can include suggestions for filling in their personal information or an inspiring message showcasing the world’s top hotels.

Tour or hotel browsing history

In some cases, a user may search for a tour on your website, but doesn’t make a decision right away. To encourage them to make a purchase, consider sending a reminder email about their saved tours or hotel watch history.

Alternatively, while the user is still on your website, offer them the option to sign up for email alerts when prices for their selected tours or hotels change.

If the user has not yet made a purchase, you can try to win them back and increase conversion by sending a personalized discount email within 1-2 weeks. However, be sure to include a time limit on the offer to avoid the risk of the subscriber forgetting about it.

Reservation Notification

Notification emails during the tour package arrangement process serve to keep clients informed about the progress of their booking and purchases, ensuring a swift and secure process. An order notification email should be sent immediately after a client has selected a tour and provided their passport details through the order form.

To instill confidence in the client, the notification email should include an order number, details about the tour, and all necessary documents such as the contract, booking form, travel advisory, and carrier information.

Self-reminder

It’s also important to send such emails when a traveler has registered on your website but hasn’t visited it for a while. In this case, you can send a heartfelt email expressing how much you miss them. You can send such emails once a month, increasing the emotional intensity with each subsequent email.

Make A/B test

If you have multiple ideas for a letter and can’t decide which one is the most effective, use an A/B test. This test is designed to develop an email that achieves the highest Open Rate, Click Rate, and conversion rate.

To conduct an A/B test, create emails with different subject lines, images, calls-to-action (CTAs), or text. Then, select a criterion to determine the best option.

How to Select Mailing Time

When selecting the best time to send your emails, it’s essential to conduct tests and tailor your approach to your subscriber base. If your target audience is primarily B2B with many corporate email addresses in your database, sending emails during business hours is more likely to be effective. However, be mindful of time zones to avoid sending emails outside of business hours.

Plan several email campaigns at different times and days and monitor the opening rates to determine the optimal time for sending your emails. Remember that what works for one audience may not work for another, so always cater to the needs and preferences of your clients.

Establishing the Best Email Frequency

Determining an optimal mailing frequency is crucial for effective email marketing. While some emails are sent automatically in response to user actions, you should also consider manual email campaigns.

Create a detailed email calendar and coordinate it with your content marketing, events, and important dates. Start by sending a slightly higher number of emails than you normally would, and then monitor your open rates and conversion rates. If you notice a decline, it may be time to reduce the frequency of your emails.

Alternatively, consider giving your subscribers the option to choose their own preferred mailing frequency through their account settings or a survey. This way, you can cater to individual preferences and potentially increase engagement.

Discussing Templates for Your Emails

How can you create an attractive email? Instead of hiring a designer and programmer, a more efficient option is to utilize one of the many email marketing services readily available in the market.

Benefits of using email marketing services include:

1. Uploading and segmenting lists based on your specific criteria.
2. Personalizing emails by using the names in your database.
3. Using ready-made templates or creating your own from a variety of available blocks and elements. For example, Mailchimp offers a range of elements that can be added to your emails.
4. Planning email campaigns in advance and scheduling mail-outs for specific days and times. Some services also offer optimization for the best mailing times.
5. Reports on delivery, open rates, click rates, and unsubscribes.
6. Adjusting the number of emails sent to different audience segments.

In summary, most email marketing services offer a free trial that enables you to evaluate the features and select the one that aligns with your business requirements.

Keep in mind that the ultimate goal of emailing is to enhance subscribers’ loyalty to your brand and motivate them to exclusively use your services. Hence, test, experiment, and choose the most effective ways to communicate and draft emails.

Additionally, remember to sign up with us at the top right corner of the blog to receive updates on exciting articles on travel marketing.