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9 Proven Hotel Email Marketing Examples (Best Practices)

July 8, 2022

What’s the best way to get the highest ROI from your marketing efforts?

If you said “email,” congratulations! You’ve got it right.

As a hotelier who’s been trying to get a handle on how to grow your business, you’ve probably heard about all the different ways to market: social media, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) ads…the list goes on. But there’s one channel that delivers the highest ROI of any marketing channel — email.

In fact, email marketing is 40 times more likely to acquire new guests than Facebook and Twitter. And when you consider that your hotel can send an email to its entire database at once, with one click of a button, it’s clear that this channel should be at the top of your list.

But what if you’ve never used email marketing before? Or what if you’re not sure how to set up an effective campaign? Don’t worry—we’ve got your back!

This post covers everything you need to know about email marketing for your hotel, including:

• The three most important emails to include in your campaigns
• Six email marketing tactics (and examples) for hotels
• Best practices for a successful email marketing campaign

But why? What’s so special about this channel that makes it worth all the effort?

Well, let us tell you.

What is Hotel Email Marketing?

Email marketing is a great way for hotels to promote package deals, upcoming events, discounts and more.

But what is email marketing? And how can it help you grow your business?

Email marketing is a form of direct marketing that uses electronic messages to market products or services directly to customers. It’s a great way for hotels to build relationships with their customers and keep them informed about upcoming events and promotions.

Each email you send is an opportunity to build and maintain relationships with your guests. When your guests receive an email from you, they know it comes from a trusted source— your hotel!

Email marketing can be adapted, personalized and optimized to achieve your goals. You can customize your message based on the actions taken by the recipient prior to receiving the email (for example: booking a room). You can also test different types of content within your emails: Do people respond better when you use images or videos? Does copy matter more than design when it comes to generating clicks? The answers may surprise you!

Top benefits of hotel email marketing: 

• Reach a wider audience
• Keep in touch with guests
• Promote hotel deals and specials
• Build relationships with guests

The Triple Guest Marketing Email Tactic

When it comes to digital marketing and growing your brand, email cannot be ignored. For hotels in particular, email marketing is a great way to boost conversion rates and communicate effectively with guests. 

But what are the best emails for the hotel industry? Should you send out a weekly hotel newsletter, or focus instead on post-stay communication? To achieve the highest ROI for your email marketing efforts, focus your attention on your existing guests first. 

New guests are bright, shiny and enticing, but each new guest costs five to 25 times more than an existing one. So, if you’re not sure where to begin with email marketing for your hotel, try using one of these three types of emails to connect with your existing guests.

1. Confirmation Emails

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When a guest books a room at your hotel, they should receive a confirmation email immediately. This email should include all the relevant details about their stay, such as their check-in and check-out dates, room type, and any special requests they made.

Confirmation emails have an average click-through rate of 12-20%, nearly five times more than regular marketing emails.  Use this to your advantage by including links to your hotel website and social media channels. You can also use this opportunity to upsell guests on additional services, like spa treatments or airport transfers.

2. Preference & Upselling Emails

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If you have additional services or products that would be of interest to your guests, email is a great way to upsell. For example, if you offer spa treatments, send an email with a special discount for guests who book treatments during their stay.

You can also use email to upsell guests on room upgrades. If you have vacant suites or rooms with better views, send an email offering a discounted rate for an upgrade. This is a great way to increase revenue per booking and provide your guests with a better experience.

3. Pre-Arrival Emails

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Pre-arrival emails, or welcome emails, are a great way to welcome your guests and get them excited for their stay. This email should include all the relevant details about their stay, such as their check-in and check-out dates, room type, and any special requests they made.

Pre-arrival emails are a great way to increase guest satisfaction and loyalty. For example, consider providing your guests with a map of your area in their pre-arrival email. Include local sights, restaurant recommendations and upcoming events. This way you can start providing your guests with a fantastic experience – before they even set foot in your hotel. 

On top of that, guests who receive pre-arrival emails are more likely to purchase an upsell. It’s proven that sending special offers in pre-arrival emails boosts upsell conversions by 8.23%. So if you’re not already sending pre-arrival emails, now is the time to start.

6 Extra Hotel Email Marketing Tactics To Use (Examples)

There are still several more email marketing tactics used by hotels, and it’s crucial to be aware of them. Outside of confirmation, upsell and pre-arrival emails there are plenty more templates you can put into action. 

Let’s take a closer look at some examples of hotel email marketing campaigns! 

1. Request For Feedback Emails

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Email communication is not a one-way street, it’s important to get feedback from your past guests in order to improve your hotel experience.  By sending a request for feedback, you can not only get testimonials and reviews, but also valuable insights into how you can improve your hotel experience. You can also use this opportunity to market your business by continuing to communicate with past guests and expose them to your brand.

2. Appreciation Emails

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Never forget to give your loyal guests some love and appreciation! Customer appreciation emails have a 14% click-throughrate and 42% email open rate on average, making them a powerful addition to any hotel email marketing strategy. 

By showing your past guests some love, you’re not only making them feel good, you’re also increasing your chances of bringing them back through your doors. To make the most out of your thank you emails, be sure to include a clear and concise call-to-action. Your email copy should also be personalized and specific, such as addressing the guest by their first name and including details from their stay.

What’s more, customer appreciation emails are a great way to increase the likelihood of guests returning to your hotel. Make sure to include an enticing offer, like a promo voucher for their next stay, to sweeten the deal.

3. Hotel Loyalty Program Emails

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A hotel loyalty program is a marketing strategy used by hotels to encourage guests to return. Guests who sign up for a loyalty program typically receive rewards such as discounts or free stays. Email subscribers can also receive benefits such as exclusive offers and early access to sales.

Hotel email marketing can be used to promote loyalty programs and encourage guests to sign up. Sending email subscribers exclusive offers and discounts promotes a feeling of exclusivity and excitement, motivating them to book again.

Some popular hotel loyalty programs include Marriott Rewards, Hilton Honors, and IHG Rewards Club. These programs offer guests a variety of benefits such as points that can be redeemed for free nights, exclusive discounts, and more.

4. Hotel Awarding Emails

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Customer reviews and hotel awards can be great marketing tools for hotel brands. Positive reviews from reputable sites can help improve a hotel’s authenticity, while awards can act as “social proof” that the hotel provides a high-quality experience. Using both of these can help your hotel attract more business and build trust with potential guests.

5. Hotel Event Emails

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One of the best ways to market your hotel is to take advantage of local events. Many hotel chains use hotel events as a way to attract guests and clients, and this can be a great way to get your hotel noticed. 

You can market your event online by creating an email newsletter that sends emails with details for upcoming events. You can also use local events to market your hotel itself by providing information about the hotel and its amenities. By using events to your advantage, you can increase your chances of getting more guests and clients interested in your hotel.

6. Abandoned Booking Emails

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Hotels experience booking abandonment rates as high as 85% — some of the highest abandonment rates in the ecommerce space. And this problem isn’t going anywhere. In fact, abandonment is becoming increasingly common as travelers become more comfortable booking online.

Luckily, email marketing is here to save the day (again). Along with its many other benefits, email marketing is also a great way to recover abandoned bookings. By sending timely reminder emails, you can recover lost sales and increase your revenue.

And if you’re really looking to boost revenue and maximize the ROI of your booking recovery, we recommend investing in automated email marketing software. In fact, there are tools designed specifically for the hospitality industry, like RezRecover. RezRecover makes it simple to send beautiful emails that will help you recover lost bookings and boost your bottom line.

Using a solution like RezRecover results in: 

• 55% average open rate for recovery emails
• 30% increase In average order values for recovered bookings
• $40: 1 average ROI for Hotels 

Sounds like a good deal, right? You can learn more about the full benefits of RezRecover on our blog.

3 Best Practices To Use In Hotel Email Marketing

When it comes to hotel email marketing, there are a few best practices that can help you get off on the right foot. Utilizing these practices can help you maximize the effectiveness of your campaigns and boost your ROI.

Some of the best practices for hotel email marketing include segmenting your list,  using engaging visuals and A/B testing your campaigns for maximum effect. Segmenting your list ensures that you are sending relevant messages to the right people. A/B testing helps to ensure that your campaigns are as effective as possible. And using engaging visuals helps to capture attention and keep readers engaged.

A) Utilizing List Segmentation

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One of the most important aspects of hotel email marketing is customer segmentation. By dividing your customer base into smaller groups, you can more effectively target your marketing messages and maximize your results.

There are a number of different ways to segment your customer base, but some common methods include dividing them by their location, booking history, or even their stage in the customer journey.

The benefits of customer segmentation are clear: not only will you be able to better target your marketing messages, but you’ll also be able to track metrics more easily and see which segments are most valuable to your business.

For example, let’s say you have a customer who has booked a room at your hotel for their honeymoon. You could segment them into a “wedding” customer group and send them special offers for their stay. Or, if you have a customer who frequently books rooms at your hotel for business travel, you could segment them into a “loyalty” customer group and give them rewards for their continued patronage.

B) Maximizing Visuals

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If you’re in the hotel business, email design is a critical factor in your marketing campaigns. The right visuals can make a big difference in increasing email click rates. 

You want people to be able to see your hotel and its rooms, but you also want them to be able to see themselves there. So if you have a pool or a spa, make sure that you show it off! If you have a cozy fireplace in the lobby, show it off! If there’s a room with a view of the ocean, show it off!

The more relevant your images are, the more likely your readers will be interested in what you have to offer. And if they’re interested in what you have to offer, there’s a good chance they’ll click through and book their stay with you.

Here are some examples of effective visuals or characteristics of essential must-haves in visual design to improve your hotel email marketing campaigns:

• Use images that are relevant to your hotel and target audience.
• Make sure the images are high quality and clear.
• Use images that are eye-catching and attractive.
• Use images that convey emotion and invoke positive feelings.
• Be sure to use alternate text for all images so that they can be properly displayed on all devices.

C) Start A/B Testing Campaigns

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A/B testing is a great way to optimize your email campaigns and ensure that you’re reaching your target audience effectively. By testing different email subject lines, call to actions, or even images, you can see what works best for your particular campaign. 

Want to increase your open rates, and recover bookings?

A/B test your email subject lines! In the example above, a simple change in the subject line led to a significant increase in open rates. 

We know, we know—you’re busy. But if you want to maximize your ROI on email marketing, you’ve got to A/B test your subject lines. To save time and start collecting great subject line ideas, read through the examples in our blog post 17 Magnetic Email Subject Lines.

Conclusion

Hotel email marketing is a great way to improve your hotel’s online visibility and boost bookings. By using confirmation emails, loyalty programs and upselling, you can reach more potential guests and provide them with an enjoyable experience. 

However, there are some best practices to follow in order to make the most of hotel email marketing. Make sure that your emails are clear and concise, and focus on providing value to the reader. 

Additionally, personalize your emails as much as possible to create a more engaging experience. Finally, don’t forget to include a call-to-action (CTA) and link so that readers can take action on your hotel’s website. 
And why not make things a little easier with email marketing software that can completely automate your email campaigns? That’s just what RezRecover by CartStack was designed for. Recover lost bookings and increase your revenue by up to 30% with RezRecover’s fully automated hotel email marketing software. Try it for free today!