Email marketing is an effective and inexpensive way for hotels to connect with potential guests and generate more bookings. However, results often fail to materialize. Why does that happen? And what can hotels do to improve their email marketing and finally get the results they want?
In addition to traditional newsletter marketing, there is another form of digital communication: Email marketing. While both use the medium of email, they are very different from one another. While both formats are well established in other industries like e-commerce, and complement each other, newsletters are still often used as a stand-alone measure in the hospitality industry.
In order to successfully use both forms as part of a holistic online marketing strategy, it is important to understand their differences.
In addition to traditional newsletter marketing, there is another form of digital communication: Email marketing. While both use the medium of email, they are very different from one another. While both formats are well established in other industries like e-commerce, and complement each other, newsletters are still often used as a stand-alone measure in the hospitality industry.
In order to successfully use both forms as part of a holistic online marketing strategy, it is important to understand their differences.
The Main Differences between Email Marketing and Newsletter Marketing
Both forms are an important part of a hotel’s marketing strategy, which is why it is even more important to analyze their differences in order to use them effectively and get the most out of them.
Newsletter Marketing
Newsletter mailings keep existing and potential guests informed about hotel news and special offers, and it can provide inspiration for planning an upcoming vacation. Dividing guests into different segments also makes it possible to send content that is tailored to their individual interests.
The goal here is to provide added value for guests without being intrusive. Hotel newsletters are sent at regular intervals to specific groups or segments.
Sending of newsletters is usually not linked to any triggers, such as certain events or the behavior of the recipients.
The goal here is to provide added value for guests without being intrusive. Hotel newsletters are sent at regular intervals to specific groups or segments.
Sending of newsletters is usually not linked to any triggers, such as certain events or the behavior of the recipients.
Email Marketing
Hotel email marketing allows for a very high degree of content personalization, making the email look like a personal email from a hotel employee.
The content is based on certain events - such as an inquiry or filling out a contact form on the website - and the specific guest behavior, making it very individual and highly targeted to the individual person. These emails are sent irregularly as they are triggered by the specific behavior of individual people.
Messages are sent automatically and only to those contacts who have triggered such a "send event".
The content is based on certain events - such as an inquiry or filling out a contact form on the website - and the specific guest behavior, making it very individual and highly targeted to the individual person. These emails are sent irregularly as they are triggered by the specific behavior of individual people.
Messages are sent automatically and only to those contacts who have triggered such a "send event".
Why are My Emails not Generating Any Bookings? The Most Important Reasons for Lack of Bookings and the Respective Solutions:
Lack of personalized content and segments
One of the most common reasons why emails do not have the desired effect is the lack of personalization. Due to the lack of segmentation, there are no groups that divide guests based on different criteria. As a consequence, recipients are not being targeted because the emails do not address their personal needs and interests.
- For both newsletter and email marketing to be successful, it is essential to collect data from potential and existing guests and to regularly maintain the guest database. This is the foundation for sending personalized, event-driven messages automatically. It is also the basis for future segmentation in newsletter marketing.
Even simple segmentation, such as distinguishing between regular and new guests, makes an important difference and significantly increases the conversion rate of hotel newsletters.
The Content is not relevant for its Recipients
Emails that only consist of advertising do not offer any real added value for the customer. That is why these emails are often ignored or perceived as annoying.
- The messages sent should always contain information that offers added value for the recipients and meets their individual needs. This could be hiking tips, recipes or even incentive vouchers as an encouragement to return. Prospects can also be informed about current offers, specials and news about the hotel. The content can also be packaged in an inspiring story.
The Email Design is not coherent
A layout that is unprofessional, long texts without any visual break-up and a lack of call-to-actions (CTAs) can make the emails not look appealing, and important information can be overlooked.
- The emails should have an appealing design and contain high-quality images between passages of text. Furthermore, content within the email should be clearly structured. Targeted call-to-actions motivate and encourage the reader to book.
The timing is not optimal
Even the best newsletters can miss their mark if they are sent at the wrong time. A common example for is the holiday season, as people are less likely to check their inboxes during that time.
- This point primarily applies to newsletter marketing. However, it is best to use both forms as part of your own marketing strategy, because with automated email marketing, an email is triggered by a specific event. This way, recipients always receive the content at the right time.
Basically, there is no perfect time to send an email. However, as a general rule, sending on weekdays, i.e. Monday to Friday, or on Sunday evening is preferable. Sending your emails on holidays is not ideal. The recipient's usage pattern should always be taken into account. A/B testing can help you find the best time for sending your emails.
There are technical issues
Another common reason for the ineffectiveness of email campaigns is display issues on different devices and with different email clients, as well as the fact that many emails immediately end up in the spam folder.
- It is important to ensure that your emails do not end up in the recipient's spam folder. There are many tools available that analyze emails based on various criteria to determine if they are going to be considered spam or not. Responsive design, at least on commonly used devices, is another essential point. Using a professional marketing tool helps hotels work around this common technical issue.
A Holistic Approach
A crucial part of optimizing your own concept is the integration of newsletter and email marketing into your hotel's overall marketing strategy. As part of a comprehensive approach to online hotel marketing, you can use other measures or channels such as social media to specifically expand your recipient lists, e.g. by lead generation for hotels.
Both strategies are therefore useful in hotel marketing and each require specific solutions:
For newsletter marketing, there are many different solutions on the market. It is best for hotels to use a newsletter system that is designed for use in the hotel industry and also guarantees simple and data protection-compliant management of recipients. ADDITIVE+ NEWSLETTER was developed specifically for the hotel industry and is characterized by its user-friendly operability, numerous segmentation options and the simple creation of graphically appealing newsletters.
In addition to classic newsletter marketing, e-mail marketing is also perfect for use in hotel marketing. For hotels in particular, however, it is very difficult to find a suitable industry solution that does not come with a great deal of effort when introducing the software and respects the special requirements of the hotel industry.
This is exactly where ADDITIVE+ MARKETING AUTOMATION comes in:
The software automates guest communication using specific e-mail-series. For personalizing the guest-communication based on existing guest data, the automation software uses integration to access data from your hotel PMS to automatically send the right messages at the right time. Specific examples of use cases for the automated sending of emails include booking behavior and guest data such as their last stay, an upcoming birthday or specific requests that have been made in the past.
ADDITIVE's software solutions offer hotels integrated solutions for long-term online marketing success. The individual systems communicate with each other, creating synergies that are ultimately reflected in the results, generating higher booking rates.
Would you like to learn more about the holistic online marketing system from ADDITIVE?
Schedule a non-binding consultation with an ADDITIVE representative here:
Both strategies are therefore useful in hotel marketing and each require specific solutions:
For newsletter marketing, there are many different solutions on the market. It is best for hotels to use a newsletter system that is designed for use in the hotel industry and also guarantees simple and data protection-compliant management of recipients. ADDITIVE+ NEWSLETTER was developed specifically for the hotel industry and is characterized by its user-friendly operability, numerous segmentation options and the simple creation of graphically appealing newsletters.
In addition to classic newsletter marketing, e-mail marketing is also perfect for use in hotel marketing. For hotels in particular, however, it is very difficult to find a suitable industry solution that does not come with a great deal of effort when introducing the software and respects the special requirements of the hotel industry.
This is exactly where ADDITIVE+ MARKETING AUTOMATION comes in:
The software automates guest communication using specific e-mail-series. For personalizing the guest-communication based on existing guest data, the automation software uses integration to access data from your hotel PMS to automatically send the right messages at the right time. Specific examples of use cases for the automated sending of emails include booking behavior and guest data such as their last stay, an upcoming birthday or specific requests that have been made in the past.
ADDITIVE's software solutions offer hotels integrated solutions for long-term online marketing success. The individual systems communicate with each other, creating synergies that are ultimately reflected in the results, generating higher booking rates.
Would you like to learn more about the holistic online marketing system from ADDITIVE?
Schedule a non-binding consultation with an ADDITIVE representative here:
