Email marketing is an incredibly powerful tool for travel agencies. It allows you to connect with your customers in a personal way, and build relationships that will encourage them to book travel with you.
In this blog post, we will discuss the email marketing tips that every travel agency should know. We'll cover everything from creating a welcome email to growing your email list. By following these tips, you can create an email marketing campaign that will help you achieve your business goals!
Let's get started!
Why email marketing matters for travel
Email marketing is a must-have tool that travel businesses can no longer ignore. It's an effective way to keep customers engaged with travel brands and build relationships with travel fans who might become loyal customers.
With email marketing, travel companies can directly reach their intended customer base and gain insight into customer preferences by collecting feedback through surveys, surveys, or campaigns.
Moreover, travel emails are less likely to be blocked by spam filters compared to other forms of online advertising and promotions, so you don't have to worry about missing out on potential bookings.
What's more, an effective travel email marketing campaign leveraging the right data can result in increased sales for travel companies. It also provides them with a reliable source of revenue and helps ensure their long-term growth and stability in this ever-fluctuating industry.
The travel industry is quickly adapting to the power of travel email marketing, and the results have been nothing short of incredible.
Recent research shows that travel email marketing provides marketers with a $42 return for each dollar invested, making it one of the single most efficient forms of online advertising available today.
Travel businesses engaging in travel email marketing can use tools like automated welcome emails and segmented campaigns to maximize their impact on customers while delivering personalized messages that encourage brand loyalty and engagement.
Its effectiveness has been proven time and again, and travel email continues to power growth for travel brands around the world.
How to build relationships and expand your audience
When it comes to email marketing success, the content of your newsletters is key. Your newsletter should be more than just a sales pitch for good travel deals. For one thing, its content needs to be relevant and genuinely helpful to the journey planner.
By diversifying yourself from the competition with this kind of engaging content, you’ll capture their emotional attention and be sure that they’re returning to you again and again for the valuable information. And when it comes to choosing what kind of content to offer, creativity is really your best friend!
So, put on the hat of a teacher and provide interesting educational advice. Let your subscribers learn something they didn’t before interacting with your emails.
If you offer valuable content that resonates with travelers, they’ll begin to trust you as an expert resource not just as a vendor, and that's when you'll see stronger engagement and loyalty.
You'll want content ideas like:
- Travel e-books
- Various travel ideas
- Videos and podcasts
- Travel tips
- Lists of must-see travel destinations
- Interviews with experienced travelers
- City guides and other useful information
Now, what are the types of travel email content you can use? Let's dig deeper.
7 Travel email content types for mile-high results
Say hello by sending a welcome email
Welcome emails are like the first impression for a business that can sway either way on the customer experience. It is essential to ensure that your welcome email makes the right impression and properly sets the tone for their future interactions with you.
A recent study found that welcome messages have a 42% higher read and click through rate than standard email marketing campaigns, meaning your customers are more likely to open, read, and engage with your message!
This means that your conversion rates will see a boost when using this in your marketing strategy.
Pro tip: Right there and then, don't forget to add a call-to-action button. This will influence your subscribers to take a course of action.
Give your greetings a personal touch
Going beyond basic customization with your email marketing campaigns isn't just about providing good service, it's about creating an experience. Even when customers aren't traveling, they still want to be heard and no type of communication conveys that better than personalization.
With personalized emails, travel agents can stand out in the inbox and guarantee a better return on investment.
It's no wonder why 82% of travelers believe that the most luxurious travel customer experiences come from those that take the time to personalize their communications—and those same principles go for any other industry as well.
Tour companies can tap into this powerful connection by implementing thoughtful touches in their emails.
Pro tip: To send tailored messages, segmentation is one tactic that groups your subscribers into categories based on their preferences or behavior to deliver content that's more relevant to them. You can gather data through surveys, contests, and other preferences.
Make your visuals stand out
Traveling is so much more than a place we go. It’s an attribute that not only embraces culture, food, and activities but feelings and emotions too.
Email design plays an important role in motivating readers to make travel part of their bucket list, adding more vibrancy when used with the right imagery.
Pictures invoke emotion and can show someone how others may have experienced a place before them, providing just the motivation one needs to take the trip. Visuals are irreplaceable for storytelling and help the reader stay engaged from beginning to end – tempting them to embark on a journey of their own.
They provide images that break boundaries between real-life experience, understanding, and Fantasyland.
Pro tip: By effectively utilizing images in your email design you will be more successful in getting readers to become travelers themselves.
Send travel newsletters that express urgency
Traveling can be a life-changing experience that we all strive for. It's something that everyone should take advantage of, and now is the perfect time to start planning a trip! That's why sending out travel newsletters that express a sense of urgency is key.
This sense of urgency can motivate people to act more quickly than they might otherwise, providing them with an opportunity to make their dream trip come true.
You can play with this appeal by offering limited promotions such as discounts or early bird events for special occasions when decision-making needs to happen quickly.
Pair this urgency with attractive offers and special occasions, and you've got yourself a powerful incentive! Make sure your newsletters clearly state the offerings and relevant time frames, as well as how long those deals are valid.
These simple but meaningful tactics will help boost sales from both loyal customers, as well as those on the fence about your product or service.
Pro tip: Use email coupons to boost your sale and ramp up engagement.
Provide educational content about the travel industry
Take note of your "why's." This means that knowing your goals in sharing content on your newsletter can influence the decision-making process and make people go places!
If spreading your knowledge is your goal, then crafting engaging marketing can be a great way to do so. It's important to keep in mind that when you use such marketing techniques, the content you create will only stay within the boundaries of your newsletter.
As such, it can become an exclusive resource for sharing knowledge only with those subscribed or connected to you or your business in some fashion.
This kind of exclusiveness should be used as a unique selling point (USP) to draw people into signing up for what you have to offer – and allow them to be part of a special tribe within this environment.
Pro tip: Use videos! People can remember up to 95% of a message when they watch it on video, all the while experiencing a greater emotional connection.
Engage your audience
When people are planning their next vacation, the first thing they do is talk to friends and families who have been to the same place. Why?
Hearing about someone else's experience abroad gives them valuable insight, helps us build community connections, and builds our trust in a certain destination or travel agency.
This shared attitude of experiencing foreign places together is why incorporating customer reviews into travel email marketing campaigns can be so powerful.
When readers see firsthand what past travelers thought about their trip and recommend it to others via an email campaign, companies can tap into this positive sense of community and use it to gain trust among readers.
As such, using customer reviews in your travel agency newsletters and marketing campaigns is a great way not only to garner more trust but also to add a personal touch that will capture the attention of potential customers!
Pro tip: Make it easy for your customers to leave a review and participate in your loyalty program. Read our detailed guide on how to do so.
It's time to socialize, travel agencies!
It’s amazing to see how influential social media really is when it comes to travel.
According to a study, an incredible 86% of people research a travel destination after seeing a post on social media, underlining its potency as an effective marketing tool.
The takeaway here is that if you want your message and promotions to have the maximum reach, then there's no better way than combining email marketing and social media outreach.
Doing so will ensure both parties work in unison and synergize with each other, leading to greater success down the road - not just for the travel agency but for potential new customers too!
Adding some simple social media buttons to your emails gives readers the ability to quickly share your posts across their own networks. Plus, including posts or content directly in the email itself offers greater context for the email recipient about what you’re doing online.
Pro tip: Make your travel email templates responsive and mobile-friendly as more users use their mobile phones now.
How to grow your travel email list
When it comes to digital marketing, having an email list is essential. Gaining subscribers for your list isn't as difficult as it sounds, either! With the right strategy, you can quickly grow a high-quality email list with ease.
Collecting email addresses in person
Ask people to sign up for your emails when you talk to them face-to-face. While this may be time-consuming, it's an effective way to get emails from potential customers and clients.
Plus, you can use this opportunity to give out discounts and other offers right away to incentivize sign-ups.
Thanks to the advancements in mobile technology, we now have access to an array of email collection apps that can be operated from various mobile devices or smartphones.
Collecting email addresses through your website
Pop-ups
Pop-ups are one of the most effective ways to build your subscriber list and grow an email database. Sure, they may be a bit annoying to visitors. But when used correctly, pop-ups can be an essential part of success for both large and small travel agencies.
They not only grab attention with their bold placement but also encourage subscribers to act quickly by providing them with a convenient signup option that is straightforward to use.
Pro tip: A clever marketing message in the form of a pop-up can quickly move someone from “just browsing” to engaging with your travel business.
Embedded forms
Embedded forms are a great way to collect email addresses. They are typically placed in the sidebar of a website, and they allow visitors to quickly sign up for your newsletter or promotional emails without having to navigate away from the page they’re on.
These forms are also very effective when used with other CTAs, such as “Download our whitepaper" or "Download our tips for traveling abroad".
Pro tip: Email incentives such as exclusive information and even a one-time discount can attract more people to sign up.
How to set up a travel email marketing campaigns
Define the goals
Before diving into the task of creating an effective email marketing campaign, it is essential to get clear on why you're setting that campaign up in the first place.
Ask yourself: What are your goals? Are you trying to get more website traffic, increase conversions or boost brand loyalty?
A clearly defined goal allows you to define success and measure progress along the way as well as create a focused strategy toward reaching it. If you don't set specific objectives upfront, your efforts may result in wasted time and resources.
Figuring out why you’re implementing an email marketing campaign should always be the first step as it will provide a foundation for how to launch, track, and optimize your campaigns over time.
By having your campaign goals in mind from the get-go, you give yourself a far better chance of being successful with your marketing strategy.
Build your mailing list
Now, it's time to create a mailing list. You can start with the emails that you have collected through your website or in person, but don't forget to keep adding new subscribers as well.
You can easily do this by using social media and encouraging people to follow your page, join your email list, or share posts with their own networks.
Segment the list
Once you have collected your emails, it's time to start segmenting. Segmentation is the process of dividing your list into separate categories based on common characteristics.
This can be done using demographic data (such as age or location), psychographic data (lifestyle choices and interests), or any other criteria that make sense for your travel agency.
Segmenting your list allows you to create highly targeted campaigns that will be better received by the people on your list. It also helps you to get more accurate insights into the performance of each campaign, so you can make adjustments and enhance the overall effectiveness of your marketing emails.
Decide on the type of content
Once you've segmented your list, it's time to decide what kind of content you want to send out. Depending on the goal of the campaign, you may choose to include anything from stories about past experiences and tips for traveling safely to promotional offers and discounts.
If possible, try to mix up the type of content that you're sending out to keep your audience engaged and interested.
Craft the message
Now, it's time to craft a powerful email message. Make sure that you include attractive subject lines, a captivating introduction, interesting content, and a clear call to action (CTA).
Your subject lines and CTA should direct people to where they can take the desired action, such as visiting your website or booking a trip.
Make sure to also include an unsubscribe link at the bottom of your emails and keep in mind that all emails should comply with CAN-SPAM regulations.
Test and optimize
When you're finished creating your message, it's time to test it out. Test both the content and the design of the email to make sure that it looks good and that it is performing as expected.
Then, track the results and adjust your strategy accordingly. This will help you refine your travel email marketing campaigns over time and get more out of each message.
Wrap Up
In order to succeed in the online travel and hospitality industry, it is essential to have an effective email marketing strategy in place.
As a tour operator or travel agency, this will allow you to reach out to potential customers, build relationships, and ultimately increase travel bookings.
By setting clear objectives, building a mailing list, segmenting the contacts, crafting compelling messages, and testing and optimizing your campaigns regularly, you will be able to maximize the impact of your email marketing efforts.
Now go out there and start creating powerful email campaigns that will drive travel bookings and increase revenue for your travel business!
