Email marketing campaigns are an effective way for hotels to connect with their target audiences, deliver messages and share information. But how do you get your email noticed and opened in an email overload? Incentives are the answer. Through the targeted use of attractive incentives, hotels can not only ensure that their emails are noticed, but also encourage recipients to take concrete actions, called conversions, such as booking a hotel stay.
Incentives for increased bookings
Small incentives can be a powerful motivator for many people. They are based on the psychological principle that small rewards lead to greater commitment. Using incentives in email marketing can help grab guests' attention, get them to open the email, and motivate them to take a specific action. A well-chosen incentive can be the difference between an email being ignored and a successful conversion.
Incentives are a proven tool in many industries, especially in e-commerce where almost everyone has encountered incentives. In the hotel industry, however, incentives have yet to reach their full potential, even though they are an excellent way to convert prospects into guests. Whether it's a discount on the room rate or an upgrade to a better room category, incentives create tangible value and a sense of urgency that significantly influence the guest's decision-making process. Incentives are particularly effective with first-time bookers and those who have shown interest in a hotel but have not yet made a reservation. Especially for these potential guests, who are not yet familiar with the details of the hotel's offer, an attractive incentive can facilitate the booking decision.
Incentives are a proven tool in many industries, especially in e-commerce where almost everyone has encountered incentives. In the hotel industry, however, incentives have yet to reach their full potential, even though they are an excellent way to convert prospects into guests. Whether it's a discount on the room rate or an upgrade to a better room category, incentives create tangible value and a sense of urgency that significantly influence the guest's decision-making process. Incentives are particularly effective with first-time bookers and those who have shown interest in a hotel but have not yet made a reservation. Especially for these potential guests, who are not yet familiar with the details of the hotel's offer, an attractive incentive can facilitate the booking decision.
Incentives as the key to lead generation
Incentives also play a crucial role for hotels in generating leads to attract new guests to the hotel. Using social media ads, pop-ups on the hotel's own website or landing pages, visitors can be encouraged to "exchange" their contact details for an incentive, usually vouchers. Vouchers are seen as an additional incentive that significantly increases the number of leads generated.
Once a potential guest leaves his or her contact information with the hotel and expresses interest, there is an opportunity to follow up with these potential guests through targeted communications, even if the incentive is not redeemed. Through targeted email marketing and other communication channels, the hotel can maintain contact and regularly provide prospects with relevant information, special offers and personalized content. This can generate future bookings and build a long-term relationship with the guest.
Once a potential guest leaves his or her contact information with the hotel and expresses interest, there is an opportunity to follow up with these potential guests through targeted communications, even if the incentive is not redeemed. Through targeted email marketing and other communication channels, the hotel can maintain contact and regularly provide prospects with relevant information, special offers and personalized content. This can generate future bookings and build a long-term relationship with the guest.
"In general, incentives in marketing achieve a higher conversion rate. However, it should be noted that while a large proportion of recipients are aware of the incentive, only a relatively small proportion actually redeem it. Nevertheless, the mere presence of an incentive often leads to a higher conversion rate and thus to more bookings.
- Stefan Gasser, Web Software Manager
The success of using incentives to generate leads should not only be measured by the number of coupons redeemed. The redemption of incentives confirms the effectiveness of the marketing activity. However, if only a few of the incentive vouchers issued are redeemed, this does not necessarily mean that the activity was not successful. Even though the incentive is the right one, it is often forgotten, especially if there is a long time between the conversion/booking and the actual stay. In this case, the incentive has no effect on the price offered. For this reason, it is important to evaluate marketing activities holistically, including inquiries, bookings, booking sales and return on investment (ROI) achieved.
Conclusion
Incentives are a powerful tool in email marketing, especially in the hospitality industry. They help increase inquiries and bookings, stay with the guest throughout the lifecycle, and improve lead generation. Even if not all recipients redeem the incentives, the mere presence of the incentives can positively influence the decision-making process and increase the likelihood of a booking. The targeted use of incentives is a promising way for hotels to increase the success of their email marketing campaigns and build long-term guest relationships.
This process can be simplified by implementing marketing automation, such as ADDITIVE+MARKETING AUTOMATION, specifically for hotels. The software enables hotels to integrate incentives into email campaigns. Through automation, hotels can send personalized emails to their guests based on their preferences, past bookings or other demographic data. This makes incentive programs easier to execute, saving valuable time and resources. In addition, marketing automation provides the ability to automatically respond to specific actions, such as starting a series of emails after a guest signs up for a newsletter. The generated contact information is also used to guide prospects through automated, personalized emails before, during, and after the booking process. In this way, future bookings can be generated and long-term guest relationships can be created.
This process can be simplified by implementing marketing automation, such as ADDITIVE+MARKETING AUTOMATION, specifically for hotels. The software enables hotels to integrate incentives into email campaigns. Through automation, hotels can send personalized emails to their guests based on their preferences, past bookings or other demographic data. This makes incentive programs easier to execute, saving valuable time and resources. In addition, marketing automation provides the ability to automatically respond to specific actions, such as starting a series of emails after a guest signs up for a newsletter. The generated contact information is also used to guide prospects through automated, personalized emails before, during, and after the booking process. In this way, future bookings can be generated and long-term guest relationships can be created.
ADDITIVE supports hoteliers with innovative marketing software in the field of marketing automation for hotels and as a professional partner in digital hotel marketing.
Schedule a no-obligation consultation with an ADDITIVE representative to learn more about the possibilities for your hotel.
