Email Marketing Best Practices The National Hotel Marketing Conference 2018

Staffordshire | 5th July 2018

Sofia TappaGeneral Manager EMEA at Revinate

● Hospitality Technology

● Email Marketing

● Electronic Distribution & Connectivity

● Account Management & Implementations

Mathias SalebornDirector at Luxury Hotel Partners Ltd

● Sales & Marketing

● Revenue Management

● Brand Strategy

● Business Development

Today You Will Learn...

Why hotels should practice email marketing

How to ensure your emails get delivered

How to create campaign that engage

How to maintain your database

3

How to measure success

Email MarketingDead or alive?

Number of Email Accounts

5

Predicted in 2021 4.1B

3.7B Worldwide today

Source: Radicati Group

Consumer Acceptance

6

3x higher conversion rates than social

media, with a 17% higher value in

the conversion

of consumers prefer promotions

through email, compared to 17%

through social media

Sources: MarketingSherpa, McKinsey & Company

72%

Advantages and GoalsWhat’s in it for hotels?

Advantages

Reduces Cost of Bookings

Leverages Your Assets

Get Results Quickly

8

Easily Measurable

Goals

Create and Increase Brand Awareness

Drive Traffic to your website

Boost Repeat Business & Inspire Loyalty

9

Drive Revenue and Profits

The Customer Journey

Customer Journey Map

1. INSPIRATION 2. RESEARCH

3. BOOKING

5. ON-PROPERTY 4. PRE-ARRIVAL

6. POST-STAY

SocialMediaEmail Blog

Email Surveys Reviews

Email Reviews Social Website

SearchReviews Online Ads

OTAs

Email Phone

Email Social

11

Stage 1: Inspiration1. INSPIRATION 2. RESEARCH

3. BOOKING

5. ON-PROPERTY 4. PRE-ARRIVAL

6. POST-STAY

Inspiration

13

Put your PMS data to work

• Send relevant messages to “Smart Segments” trapped within database

• Stay top-of-mind year-round

• Reward loyalty with exclusive offers

• Sell, sell fun!

Average open rate 18.5%

LOW DEMAND DRIVER

REAL CUSTOMER EXAMPLES

LAST-MINUTE LOCALS OFFER

Stage 3: Booking1. INSPIRATION 2. RESEARCH

3. BOOKING

5. ON-PROPERTY 4. PRE-ARRIVAL

6. POST-STAY

Booking

15

Reinforce your brand from the start

• Build guest enthusiasm with clean, on-brand confirmations

• Use dynamic content to send unique content and images from one email to each recipient based on PMS data (e.g., rate code, room category)

Stage 4: Pre-Arrival1. INSPIRATION 2. RESEARCH

3. BOOKING

5. ON-PROPERTY 4. PRE-ARRIVAL

6. POST-STAY

Pre-Arrival

17

Set the tone for a memorable stay

• Leverage guest enthusiasm for upcoming stay

• Drive ancillary revenue through upsells and upgrades

• Promote on-property amenities and destination activities

Average open rate of 57% (60%+ when “upgrade” included in subject)

PRE-ARRIVAL (UPGRADE) PRE-ARRIVAL (INFORMATION)

Pre-Arrival Letters

18

57%Average

Open Rate

15.5%Click-Through

Rate (CTR)

Send pre-arrivals 3 days and 7 days before check-in for the best open rates:

7 days

60%3 days

60%

6Days

Before

5Days

Before

4Days

Before

2Days

Before

1 day

45.65%

CHECK-IN

Upsells and Upgrades

19

61.3%Average

Open Rate

30.2%Click-Through

Rate (CTR)

5% higher than emails without upgrade subject lines

The best-performing pre-arrivals use the word ‘upgrade’ in the subject line

17% higher CTR than emails without ‘upgrade’ CTA

Include an actionable CTA

Stage 5: On-Property1. INSPIRATION 2. RESEARCH

3. BOOKING

5. ON-PROPERTY 4. PRE-ARRIVAL

6. POST-STAY

On-Property

Stay connected with guests when it matters the most

• Send personalized welcome message

• Mitigate negative reviews by providing management contact details

• Drive ancillary revenue with offers on amenities

• Communicate ‘need-to-know-now’ information

Average open rate of 48%

21

Stage 6: Post-Stay1. INSPIRATION 2. RESEARCH

3. BOOKING

5. ON-PROPERTY 4. PRE-ARRIVAL

6. POST-STAY

Post-Stay

Turn guests into advocates and third-party bookers into direct-for-life customers

• Express gratitude and keep guest engaged, even after checkout

• Incentivize OTA guests to book next visit directly

• Solicit guest feedback

Average open rate of 33%

30-Day Winback Campaigns

24

33%Average

Open Rate

2.41%Click-Through

Rate (CTR)

Send winback campaigns 7 days and 2 days after checkout

7 days

44.7%Average

Open Rate

6.6%Click-Through

Rate (CTR)

2 days

43.9%Average

Open Rate

4.2%Click-Through

Rate (CTR)

Deliverability Optimize email deliverability and avoid spam filters

Deliverability is declining

Emails delivered in 2014

Emails delivered in 2015

Emails delivered in 2016

79%

82%

76%

26

Emails delivered in 2017 77%

Sender Reputation

Database Maintenance

Key Factors

27

What is Sender Reputation?

It’s like your credit score

It’s a trust indicator used by mailbox providers to

determine which emails get delivered and which

emails go to SPAM. Based on the following factors:

• Complaints from recipients

• Inconsistencies in sending patterns

• List accuracy

• Subscriber engagement

• Content

28

Why database maintenance matters?

20% A bounce rate over 20% can

dramatically harm your

deliverability and ISP reputation

Sources: Act-On, Exact Target

30% of subscribers change email

addresses annually

29

List Hygiene & Email Acquisition

Clean your contact lists regularly to maintain a good sender reputation

• Remove generic addresses

• Correct misspelled domains

• Remove duplicate addresses

• Remove inactive users

• Capture missing emails at the front desk

• Encourage visitors to opt-in on your website

• Avoid purchased lists

30

EngagementGetting recipients to interact with your content

Low Engagement Hurts Sender Score

68% of consumers delete unwanted email

Source: Hubspot

58% of consumers unsubscribe when they get unwanted email

49% of consumers mark unwanted email as spam

32

Segmentation Email Anatomy

Engagement Key Factors

33

Segmentation drives higher engagement and revenue

20% Higher open rates

Source: Revinate, 2017 Customer Data

70% Higher click-thru rates

73% Higher revenue per recipient

34

Leveraging data to build targeted audiences:

1. Number of Stays

2. Room Rate

3. Families

4. Room Types

5. Channels

6. Rate Codes

7. Stay Date Ranges

8. Check-in/Check-out Dates

9. Geography (Country, State, City)

10. Total Spend

11. Language

12. Food and Beverage Spend

35

36

Optimizing Open Rates

69% of email recipients report email as spam solely based on the subject line

33% of recipients open an email based on subject line alone

Sources: Convince and Convert

37

Subject Line Tips

Use a minimum of two of these in every subject line to ensure your it’s appealing.

Curiosity

Urgency

Relevance

Value

Emotion

38

Subject Line Tips

Things to avoid• All caps• Exclamation points• Being too “salesy” • >45 characters• Getting cut-off at an awkward place • Awkward pre-headers

39

The principle of scarcity“Early access just for you!”

1

40

Social proof is a motivator“Everyone is talking about it”

People respond to personal relevance “We’ve got a dish just for your taste”

2

3

3 Secrets of Human Behaviour

Email StrategyPlanning your email calendar

Three Categories

HolidaysSeasonal Automated

42

Before You Press SendHow to make sure you campaigns go out with zero errors

Campaign Checklist

44

Measuring Results

Final Thoughts

“The future is permission marketing and the privilege of delivering anticipated, personal

and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them.”

Seth Godin | Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur and Blogger

46

Q & A