Did you know that for every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return is $42?
Even in the social media age, Email marketing remains one of the most powerful tools to drive engagement and revenue.
This is possible only when executed with a clear strategy. In Tourism and hospitality, email marketing can be overwhelming and easy to get lost in unnecessary details.
But what if you had a clear, structured roadmap guiding you every step of the way? That’s exactly what this guide offers. With decades of experience in email marketing and automation, we’ve come up with a structured approach to help you build and measure your strategy effectively.
Roadmap for Email Marketing Strategy
1. Understand Your Audience
If you’ve checked out any of our strategies or roadmaps, you know this is our go-to motto. Say it with us: Understand your target audience.
In the tourism & hospitality sector, understanding your audience is all about knowing what they want so you can serve them exactly that.
The more you know about their preferences, like whether they’re traveling solo or with family, the better you can craft your emails. Personalization goes a great way, as this makes them feel special and understood leading to more bookings!
Try the following steps:
Step 1: Segment your target audience
Begin with identifying different customer segments (e.g., leisure travelers, business travelers, families, couples).
Step 2: Collect enough data
To execute your email marketing strategy, you need to gather data through sign-up forms, surveys, and booking details to build customer profiles and segment them accordingly.
Step 3: Create buyer personas
Develop detailed profiles for each segment, including demographics, interests, and travel behaviors to offer your customized options.
2. Define Your Goals
Think of goals like your GPS for a road trip.
Without them, you might just end up wandering around aimlessly! Setting clear goals gives you direction.
It helps you stay focused on outcomes that drive business growth. Plus, when you hit those targets, you get to celebrate your wins.
SMART Goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound objectives.
- If your goals were these,
- Increase Open Rates
- Boost Click-Through Rates (CTR)
- Grow Revenue from Email Campaigns
- This is what a SMART goal would look like,
- Achieve a 25% open rate within 3 months.
- Increase CTR to 5% within 6 months.
- Generate $20,000 in bookings through email campaigns in the next quarter.
3. Build and Optimize Your Email List
Once you’ve defined your target market and set SMART goals, you need to start inviting people in and build your email list. You can build your email list in two ways. Namely,
- Lead Magnets: Use incentives such as discounts, free guides, or exclusive content to encourage sign-ups.
- Opt-In Forms: Place sign-up forms strategically on your website, social media, and during the booking process.
Note: Regularly clean your list by removing inactive subscribers and updating contact information.
4. Create Engaging Content
In the tourism sector, People are bombarded with content everywhere every minute. To stand out of the noise you need to ensure 2 things.
- You need to speak their language and vocabulary. Only then, people will relate and connect with you.
- You need to engage them in your conversation aka. Content. Engaging content will keep them hooked throughout the mail. It will also keep them looking forward to your next mail.
Here’s how you can create engaging content for your tourism & hospitality email list.
Personalization
Use the recipient’s name and customize your copy based on their preferences and past behavior.
Compelling Subject Lines
Aim for a subject line length of 6-10 words that encourages opens (A/B test for optimization).
Value-Driven Content
Include travel tips, destination highlights, special offers, and personalized recommendations.
Visual Appeal
Use high-quality images, videos, and a mobile-responsive design to enhance engagement.
Read more: How content creation helps tourism & hospitality Industry?
Don’t forget to A/B Test your email content!
Continuously test subject lines, content formats, send times, and CTAs to optimize performance.
5. Develop a Campaign Calendar
Developing a campaign calendar gives you more structure, than winging it along the days. At the same time, it is not rocket science. There are only 3 things you need to include and specify when you are developing your Campaign Calendar.
Frequency
Plan how often you will send emails (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly). Test to find the optimal frequency for your audience.
Campaign Types
Include a mix of newsletters, promotional offers, travel tips, seasonal campaigns, and customer feedback requests.
Seasonal Themes
Align campaigns with holidays, travel seasons, and local events to increase relevance.
6. Implement Automation
Email marketing strategy & campaigns can look like a tedious task. Not so much when you incorporate automation into your plan. Email automation covers all the little things (Auto-send) and the big ones (Automated data collection). Investing in a good email automation tool can save you so much time in the long run.
Of all these years working with the tourism and hospitality industry, here are the 3 things we found work.
Welcome Series
Set up automated welcome emails for new subscribers, introducing your brand and offering a special discount.
Booking Reminders
Automate reminders for upcoming bookings and pre-arrival information.
Post-Stay Follow-Up
Send automated thank-you emails post-stay, along with requests for reviews or feedback.
7. Measure and Analyze Performance
Now that all the emails are in place and the campaign is up and running, here’s how you measure its efficiency.
Key metrics to keep track of:
Open Rate
Target 20-25% for general newsletters and higher for targeted campaigns.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Aim for 3-5% depending on the type of email.
Conversion Rate
Track bookings generated from email campaigns; aim for 1-2%.
Unsubscribe Rate
Keep it below 1%.
8. Optimize and Iterate
By optimize and iterate, we mean measure, rinse, and repeat. For businesses in tourism and hospitality, here’s what we suggest is the best and simplest way to optimize your email marketing campaigns.
Regular Review
Conduct monthly performance reviews to assess which campaigns are performing well and which need adjustments.
Adjust Content Strategy
Use insights to refine your copy based on customer feedback, preferences, and behavior.
Adapt to Trends
Stay updated on industry trends and adjust your strategy accordingly to meet evolving customer needs.
Quantifiable Goals & Timeline
If you are looking for quantifiable expectations and a roadmap to kickstart your email campaign, here’s the flow.
- Week 1: Set up an email marketing platform, define goals, and build a segmented email list.
- Week 2: Launch the welcome series and first promotional campaign. Aim for at least a 25% open rate.
- Week 3: Start A/B testing subject lines and content; measure CTR and engagement.
- Week 4: Implement automation for booking reminders and post-stay follow-ups.
- Week 5: Analyze campaign performance; adjust frequency and content based on metrics.
- Week 6: Aim for increased revenue, targeting bookings from email campaigns.
With these steps, you can create an effective email marketing strategy that drives engagement, bookings, and customer loyalty in the tourism and hospitality industry. Regularly measuring performance and adjusting your tactics based on data will guarantee continued success over the long run.
Still confused?
Want expert hands involved in your email marketing? No worries, we’ve got you covered. At Spinta Digital, a leading digital marketing and branding agency based in Chennai, we have over a decade of expertise in email marketing with an average of 25% CTR for our clients across various industries. Let’s collaborate to take your email marketing efforts to the next level. Reach out to us today.
