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Email marketing remains one of the most powerful tools for hotels to connect with guests, build loyalty and drive bookings. Yet, despite its potential, common hotel email marketing mistakes can derail your efforts and result in missed opportunities.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to fix the most common mistakes and improve hotel email marketing performance with actionable tips.
A common email marketing mistake for hotels that ruins the guest experience on the go.
Many hoteliers overlook mobile optimisation, resulting in poor readability and frustrated guests. This means choosing the right amount of text and also the right fonts.
Believe it or not, ignoring font choices can make emails appear unprofessional and difficult to read, causing guests to ignore them and even unsubscribe from your database.
This is one of the quickest fixes hotel marketing professionals can perform. Start by ensuring you use responsive designs and clean, legible fonts that work well on all devices.
Pro tip: Use tools to preview email on different screen sizes before hitting send.
Why generic messages lower open rates and what to do instead.
Personalisation goes beyond putting the first name of your guest at the beginning, and hotels often miss out on the opportunity to use data about preferences or past bookings to tailor their messages.
Personalised emails drive higher open and conversion rates. Why? Because you speak the guests' language and mention interesting things to them.
It is not as complicated as it might sound. The first thing you can do is go to your hotel CRM, get an overview of your data, and then start creating different emails for different cases.
Learn more about how to effectively personalise your hotel emails by using your guest data.
How to bring your hotel brand to life in the inbox
Hospitality doesn’t have to be boring and hotel communication doesn’t need to be extremely formal. You should add your brand’s voice to your emails.
The best strategy for this is storytelling. Use storytelling to create compelling narratives that capture your audience’s interest. Share unique amenities or local stories to make your emails more engaging and memorable.
Highlight guest experiences, special events, and behind-the-scenes stories to make your emails more engaging and memorable.
Here is what Maria Corpas, a copywriting expert from Hospitality and Travel, says about creating memorable emails and subject lines for guests.
Find the right balance between value and offer
Striking the right balance between promotional content and valuable information is key. Bombarding guests with promotions can cause them to unsubscribe.
Instead, mix in helpful tips, local guides, and content that provides value to your guests. For example, share local event highlights or tips on making the most of their stay, rather than just pushing upgrades or deals.
To learn more about balancing promotional and informative content in your emails, check out our article on How to create balanced guest journeys.
Choosing the right platform for the right guest message
Email is a powerful channel, but it’s not always the best option. Today, there are different possibilities and choosing the right channel is crucial to ensure deliverability and response.
To decide which channel to use, consider your audience and the type of message you are trying to send. For example, if it’s a more urgent matter or time-sensitive message, you might get better results using WhatsApp or SMS than by email.
To understand more about choosing the right communication channel for your messages, watch the tips that Isabel shares in the video below.
Still hesitante about whether that would work in your property? This is what Adrie Vreeke, CEO at Capsule Hotels shares about his experience.
Metrics that show if your emails are actually working
Failing to monitor your KPIs means missing out on insights that could improve your campaigns.
Regularly review metrics like:
- Open rates: Are guests opening your emails?
- Click-through rate (CTR): Are they engaging with your content?
- Unsubscribe rate: Are you sending too many promotions?
Use these insights to refine your strategy and achieve better results. Continuous monitoring and adjustment based on KPI analysis are crucial for the success of your email marketing efforts.
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Why testing, tweaking, and improving is non-negotiable
If something is not working, don’t just keep doing the same thing. Instead, identify the problem, test new strategies, and adjust accordingly. Successful marketers constantly iterate and optimise their approaches.
Regularly updating your tactics ensures you stay relevant and effective. Flexibility and willingness to change based on performance data can significantly improve your email marketing results.
Learn how to optimise the guest journey to enhance your strategy and discover trends shaping hotel strategies.
A/B Testing is a powerful tool to optimise your hotel marketing campaigns. This involves creating two variations of an email and testing them against each other to see which performs better with your audience.
Tip: Focus on one variation at a time, such as subject lines, email copy, or call-to-action buttons. This way, you can identify the impact of each change
If you mix too many changes, it will become challenging to pinpoint what made the difference, leading to inconclusive results.
Email marketing automation is a game-changer for hotel marketers. Automating your emails ensures that your guests receive relevant messages at the right time, without manual effort.
For example, Bookboost’s CRM allows you to create triggers to send emails right after a booking, X number of days before check-in, before check-out and more. In this way, emails will be sent without you having to change details or send them manually.
Check more ideas on triggers you could implement to your email marketing strategy here.
Email marketing is part of a well-structured marketing strategy in a hotel. But to get the right results, you need to avoid these mistakes and look for ways to stand out among the other hospitality brands.
For more information on email marketing strategies for the hospitality industry, read our detailed guide on how to effectively use email marketing in hospitality.
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Are you ready to increase your revenue and build lasting guest relationships? Take the first step today.
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