Are you guilty of reaching out to your guests with bland, uninspiring emails? If so, you can bet they’re ending up straight in the “Junk” file along with the heaps of other generic and impersonal marketing messages they receive everyday.
Guests crave highly relevant offers and personalised content that takes their individual needs into consideration.
So, take a look at three common mistakes below which are sure to have your audience hitting “delete” in a hurry. If you’re still using these tired approaches, it’s time to rethink your hotel’s email marketing strategies.
Email Marketing Mistake 1: Shameless Self Promotion
Vanity is always pretty off-putting, and especially to your guests.
Self-congratulatory email content that boasts about your hotel’s awards, reviews and accolades is ok in moderation, but it doesn’t really cut to the heart of travellers’ needs and problems.
The most effective marketing emails evoke emotion and inspire action. The best way to inspire action is to show how your property addresses your guests’ needs – whether it’s through the free babysitting service you offer for those travelling with young children, your discounted services for corporate guests, your links with local tour companies or something else.
Tip: Choose one benefit per email and use it to explain why your hotel perfectly meets your guests’ needs. Don’t forget to use email segmentation to target the right content to the right guest groups.
Email Marketing Mistake 2: Rambling
Your guests are busy people with hundreds of other brands and businesses vying for their attention. You have just a few crucial seconds to catch their attention with your content, so every single words needs to count. Bloated, unfocused messages which don’t get straight to the point will be banished to the trashcan in seconds.
Tip: Keep your email communication with your guests concise. However tempting it is to cram tonnes of information into each email, stick to no more than 5-6 sentences and a high quality eye catching image so your guests can understand the value you offer in an instant. Cluttered content bores and confuses your audience.
Email Marketing Mistake 3: Weak Call To Action
The ultimate aim of your marketing emails – or any other form of marketing for that matter - is to get your guests to take action.
Bearing this in mind, the biggest email marketing mistake you can make is to leave your guests unsure what they should do next.
Whatever else you talk about in your email, be crystal clear what action you want your audience to take next and the benefits they can expect if they do so.
Tip: Find a compelling way to urge guests to check out your website, social media, or make a booking, and place it in a prominent spot within the body of your email, each and every time you contact your audience.
Have you made any of these mistakes in your hotel’s email marketing campaigns? What are you doing to transform the way you communicate with your guests? Let us know in the comments below!
RELATED PAGES AND BLOG POSTS:
- 5 Simple Email Marketing Resolutions For 2017
- Boost Your Open Rates With These Tips For Better Email Intros
- Check These 5 Things Before Hitting 'Send' On Your Hotel's Next Email Marketing Campaign
