BOOKING RECOVERY EMAILTHE PERFECT

When to send the first email

the sUBJECT LINE

the EMAIL CONTENT

TAKEAWAY: SPEED MATTERS Re-engaging the customer within the first 60 minutes of an abandoned booking increases

your conversion rate. Speed is an essential part of a booking recovery email campaign, with a

51% drop in performance after 24 hours.

How long should you wait to send an email when a customer has abandoned a hotel, flight,

ferry or holiday booking? Here are the average conversion rates from a selection of 100

global travel brands grouped by sending time:

What should you include in the subject line to ensure the email gets opened? Here are the

average open rates from a selection of 100 global travel brands grouped by content:

What should you include in the email content to ensure customers go back and complete their booking?

Here are the average click through rates for different links across a selection of 100 global travel brands:

2013 Travel Edition

30 mins

45 mins

60 mins

1-4 hrs

4-24 hrs

+24 hrs

5.3%

5.2%

4.9%

3.7%

3.1%

2.7%

$ $ $ $ $ $

$ $ $ $

$ $ $

$

$

$ $ $

$ $

$

$

$ $ $ $ $ $

TimeFROM ABANDON

CONVERSIONFROM SENDRATE

TAKEAWAY: TESTING, TESTING, TESTINGTest different content within your subject line to achieve the best open rates possible. A

combination of company name and booking details is a safe bet to ensuring an open rate of

over 50%.

48%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

COMPANY NAME

54%

BOOKING DETAILS

42%

PERSONS NAME

48%

URGENT TONE

42%

CUSTOMER SERVICE TONE

TAKEAWAY: ONE small STEP...Good email creative is essential to optimizing a booking recovery campaign. The most

successful emails make it easy for customers to get back to the website as quickly as possible,

using a variety of links and options. Clear and simple calls to action such as ‘Complete Your

Booking’ consistently perform best.

7%

BOOKING DETAILS

10%

RECOMMENDATIONS

12%

COMPLETE YOUR BOOKING (INTRO)

31%

COMPLETE YOUR BOOKING

1.9%

SOCIAL LINKS

0.1%

UNSUBSCRIBE

10%

TEXT HYPERLINKS

8%

PROMOTIONAL BANNERS

8%

CONTINUE BROWSING

2%

cLIENT lOGO6%

NAVIGATION BAR

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AVERAGE OPEN RATE (%)

% = Click Through Rates