Email Marketing for Hotels: 8 Emails Your Guests Want to Read Share: Async Labs Date Published 19 May 2021 Categories Blog Reading Time 5-Minute Read To stand out in the sea of offers and successfully run a hotel, you need an effective marketing strategy, this is why email marketing for hotels is so important. By sending emails, you communicate with your customers and build a relationship with them. Invest your time in sending personalized and relevant content especially if you’re doing email marketing for hotels. Your guests will feel valued and want to book with you. Let email marketing become an essential part of your hotel’s marketing strategy and make an unforgettable customer journey! Although email marketing today is still underrated, it is still the best way to communicate with your guests and stay connected to them. Here is the step-by-step guide on how to do email marketing the right way, increase visibility, and get more bookings! How Do You Write an Email That People Will Read? Start With a Mailing List and Choose an Email Marketing Tool When starting with email marketing, it is essential to create a database with your guests’ email addresses. Before creating email marketing campaigns, you need a list of subscribers who have agreed to receive your emails. Check your booking records or guest book and import email addresses from your existing data. Be aware of GDPR and send emails only to people who have opted to receive emails from your hotel. Then choose an email marketing tool that will help you create and send newsletters for free. One of the most popular tools used today is Mailchimp. It is easy to use and an excellent tool for scheduling your emails, and the best way to send emails to many people at once. 1. Create Newsletters The most popular form of email marketing is a newsletter. The newsletter you send should be short, informative, and accompanied by images. Send them news about your hotel, special offers, send vouchers, inform them about local events, and other exciting things they might be interested in. The newsletter includes an address with contact information, links to web and Facebook pages. When sending a newsletter, make it simple and valuable for your readers. This way, they will grow to trust you and look forward to the emails you send to them. You can send the newsletter weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Even if you don’t have anything to sell, communicate with your customers regularly. 2. The Confirmation Mail First impressions are the most important. Make initial contact with your guest to build trust. The “confirmation email” is a hotel introduction email with all necessary information and details about the guest’s stay. It includes: The arrival date Check-in and check-out times The type of room guest reserved Number of nights booked Prices with taxes, resort fees, etc. Directions to the hotel Restaurant hours 3. Preference Email Sending the preference email is the best way to show your guests that you care about their experience before they even come to your hotel. In this email, you can provide additional information about the service you offer, such as spa treatments, airport transfers, local tour experiences, room upgrades, or any other service you can provide to the guests. You can also communicate about their preferences and ask them about specific needs, wishes, and requirements your hotel can do to exceed their expectations and make their stay unforgettable. 4. Pre-Arrival Email Build trust and get upsells by sending your guest a reminder 1-2 days before arriving at your hotel. This might be a formality, but sending a pre-arrival reminder email is a part of an efficient email marketing strategy. Trust me, your guests expect it, and they want to know what to expect. Example: 5. Post-Stay Email After guests check out of the hotel, you will send them a bill and get the opportunity to thank them for staying at your place. Post-stay email is an excellent opportunity to thank guests for their stay and ask them for their feedback. The best time to ask the guest for feedback is 24 hours after the guest checks out. When writing post-stay emails, always give an extra personal touch to it to stay connected more with your guests. 6. Include Images Make your emails engaging and encourage your guests to open them. Write compelling copy and include visually attractive images of your hotel and landscapes. Content is essential, but people usually remember 80% of what they see and only 20% of what they read. Write clear benefits and send relevant messages with short and direct subject lines to attract the reader’s attention. Give your subscribers information they are looking for and encourage them to take action, in this case – to make a reservation. 7. Call-to-Action Use short and clear CTAs to encourage guests to “act now”. One way to do it is to request guest feedback in exchange for discounts or invite for booking directly on your website in exchange for vouchers. Example: Hope this guide will help you create your most successful campaign. But if you want to focus more on your tasks and maintain the quality and high level of service for your customers, leave the marketing strategy to professionals. For any further information on email marketing for hotels, read our full article “Email Marketing for Hotels: 8 Emails Your Guests Want to Read”, and feel free to reach our marketing team at hello@asynclabs.co.