It’s no secret that the tourism sector is fiercely competitive, especially post-pandemic where staycation demand remains high. So what do you need to be doing in terms of Digital Marketing to make your tourism business stand out? Here are our top Email Marketing tips to help captivate your subscribers, increase loyalty and give bookings a boost!
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The great thing about email marketing is that if you have a potential customer’s email address, they’ve already expressed some sort of interest in your business. Email marketing is a channel that allows you to extend the customer experience beyond their reservation dates, from pre-booking to post-adventure.
It’s good news in terms of ROI too: on average, email marketing sees a return of £35 for every £1 spent. If your subscriber’s list is on the smaller side, platforms like Mailchimp offer free plans up to 2,000 subscribers to help get you started. Invest your time in implementing the below tips to harness the power of this channel:
1. Welcome New Subscribers
Congratulations – you have a new contact! Roll out the red carpet with a warm greeting and information to encourage your subscriber to find out more about you. According to Experian, welcome emails that are sent in real-time have a significantly higher open rate and click-through rate versus those sent with a delay, so ensure you automate your welcome email to trigger as soon as someone subscribes.
2. Gift Ideas
Send emails including tourism ideas on the build-up to gifting holidays such as Valentine’s, Mother’s Day and Christmas to encourage bookings. Capture information such as a subscriber’s birthday so you can tempt them with a tourism treat prior to this date.
3. Testimonials
According to Tripadvisor, 93% of travellers say their booking decisions are heavily influenced by reviews. Save your subscriber searching the web and deliver some straight to their inbox, highlighting several testimonials from happy customers and providing a link to read more.
4. Provide Inspiration
Showcase your USPs: why should someone eat at your restaurant over all the other options? What great things does someone have on their doorstep when they stay in your holiday cottage? Partner with other non-competing tourism businesses in the local area so you can feature their restaurant in your email and they can feature your holiday cottages in theirs, for example.
5. Give Incentives
When it comes to tourism, customers tend to search for the best deals rather than favour a particular brand, hence loyalty can be a hard nut to crack. However, there are methods you can use to encourage loyalty and repeat business: Segment your audience to those who have previously purchased and send emails offering exclusive discounts and offers. Consider introducing a loyalty scheme or even a referral scheme.
Implement these tips into your email marketing campaigns to not only attract but also retain subscribers to your tourism business.
Here at InSynch, we have a wealth of experience with boosting businesses, especially in the tourism sector. If you’re ready to take your Digital Marketing to the next level, book a FREE 121 consultation with one of our experts and join us for our FREE Tourism webinars this April.