In the travel business, you’re not just selling a space, a hotel room or a seat. And building a solid email marketing strategy for travel business or blog you have to know that first of all you’re selling an experience, a dream, a moment to remember, an adventure and an escape from daily life.
You already have your stories laid out for you – you just need to package them in the right manner and on the right channels. So, today I’ll talk about email marketing ideas for travel businesses.
Every contact is an opportunity to ask people for their email address, so make the most out of them.
Add a link to your signup form in your and your colleagues' email signature, ask for permission when you are talking to your customers at your office or on the phone.
Explain what readers will receive in your newsletter so that they know what to expect. For example, promise that they will be the first to know about your new offers and special prices.
You may even offer a one time discount to entice your customers to opt-in to your email newsletter.
Visible sign-up form
Have a VISIBLE and short sign-up form on every page of your website. The default for many companies is to bury their email signup form somewhere on the bottom of their homepage. Try moving it to the top.
Sign-up form from Jetsetter:
Give incentives
Just like with any other offer, you need to give your prospects a good reason to say YES.
Few ideas what may entice to subscribe to your newsletter
Sign-up form from Travel Planet:
Shhh, shhh, no words.
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. A picture might be enough to want to click the link and get to know more.
An image is a powerful tool to convince your customers to act. Let’s say you are selling plane tickets to Nice in France. What will you include in your newsletter? Price. Date. And… Photo of sunset in Nice. That will greatly help your customers to imagine what they can get if they purchase the ticket. It’s much easier to sell sunsets than flight tickets, right?
However, there are more ways how you may approach email marketing.
Valentine’s Day offer from Shadows of Africa:
Mercury Himalayan Explorations sent the email with several suggestions for the long weekend:
School holidays is perfect timing to offer a family trip to discover Africa:
Airbnb sent me information about the tour after I’ve booked an apartment in Paris:
SleepOUT always includes some interesting facts about their destinations:
Photos from the tour with Caravane Liotard:
View from the tent in Kashmir if you travel with Himalayan Adventures:
Did you imagine yourself on the yacht? Great pictures and description from Lomond Yacht:
That’s a great email from Lonely Planet that you can’t stop yourself from clicking on it (here’s the link to the blog post ‘Worst Travel Advice’)
Our customer that organizes trips to India wrote a newsletter about Omelette Man of Jodhpur. The guy claims to go through several thousand eggs a day and has been doing his thing for over 30 years. A story is a creative way to connect with your readers. I shared the email with all my colleagues and retold the story to a bunch of my friends.
SleepOUT includes unique accommodation options that they offer together with traditional hotels. This is an awesome way to stand out and be remembered by your readers:
Add a P. S. – using a P. S. has been a staple of top print copywriting techniques for decades. Adding a P. S. is a proven way to get more clicks on your email marketing campaigns. Make it relevant, mindful and always include a call to action link.
What results could you expect from sending a single newsletter? The average open rate for the travel industry is 31% open rate and the average click-through rate is 5%. Are you doing better? Congratulations and keep going on!
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