By Parag Vaish, VP of Consumer Marketing
Email marketing is an increasingly popular, effective way to promote products and services within the travel industry. Why? It’s surprisingly easy to deploy for the high rate of return on investments that businesses reap.
“…There are new offers coming out all the time,” explains a property manager in California, “To stay competitive, I need to keep my customer base informed of new arrivals; otherwise, they might go elsewhere.” This is the edge that email marketing, which offers an efficient means to quickly inform an entire customer base of industry trends, emerging technologies, web tips, promotions, and new products, ultimately provides.
And don’t be fooled into thinking that print promotions and snail-mail ads have the same tremendous marketing power as email: Abby Weaver, a marketing director, confirms that business owners really do see better results with email marketing than with more traditional methods.
So when you’re ready to implement an email marketing campaign for your business, take these things into consideration:
The Message
Focus on family bonding, enjoying the outdoors, and the other priceless aspects of vacation rental. The home itself is not the only thing the customer is paying for; he or she is paying for memories. Is your company the one that can provide the best potential for a genuine, good time?
Creative Description
Be thorough; don’t skimp on detail and use positive language to showcase the very best attributes of your vacation homes. Supplement your text with images (but guard yourself against spam restrictions – more on this later).
Timing
Reach your audience when they are planning their vacations – Tuesdays and Wednesdays tend to be ideal.Avoid sending emails on holidays. Check out this article for a calculator to determine the perfect frequency for your marketing emails, and always send them on time.
Offer/Price
Reach every member of your audience by always including a mention of your lower-end priced homes. Consider including exclusive printable coupons – customers will be attracted by the prospect of good deals, and the popularity of the coupons will give you a clear gauge of the effectiveness of your marketing campaign.
Approval
With internet threats increasing, it is more important than ever to ensure that your business is in compliance with strict spam laws to prevent failed delivery of your marketing emails. Create a 100% opt-in list. Though your email will indeed be received by fewer people, the rate of delivered and opened messages will dramatically increase. Don’t include JavaScript or Flash, which may be blocked by some email domains. Images significantly aid in your marketing efforts, but balance your newsletter with about 50% images and text in the event that they, too, are blocked by some domains. Most importantly, inform your ISP about your marketing activities so that they recognize your bulk mail as legitimate and don’t disconnect you for spamming.
For a full list of email marketing tips and secrets, visit this information page.
Escapia has just launched the EscapiaNET Marketing Alliance and the EscapiaNET Marketing Exclusive. These programs are designed to offer you an entirely performance based email marketing campaign. We’ll build the graphic, work with you on the message, and launch the campaign to your past guests at no cost unless you receive bookings. To learn more, please contact Frances Donegan-Ryan at 206-832-0226.
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