What if we tell you that out of all forms of marketing email marketing gives back the loftiest return on investment (ROI)? The average return that one gets through email marketing stands at a staggering 36 USD per dollar spent. This figure is clearly very impressive, especially if you are owning a small to mid-level travel agency.
Since a majority of the public decides to go on a tour well in advance of the starting date, as the owner you would get plenty of time to send would-be clients emails of all sorts. These electronic mails will contain alluring travel offers, aiming to bring potential clients over to your side. But to grab the benefits of email marketing, you would first need to know how to increase email open rates for the upward progress of your company.
This Pathfndr article will give you the opportunity to learn the nitty-gritty regarding email marketing and its plus points. You will get to know about the kinds of emails companies send out and how effective they are in bringing in clients.
How Does the Travel Industry Utilise Email Marketing to Generate Revenue?
It is common knowledge that most people in the world love to see new places. Saving enough money to travel around the globe remains a priority for a plentiful number of people worldwide. Seeing as travelling is one of the most important aspects of a person’s life, it goes without saying that almost everyone will be ready to splash the cash for a great travel offer.
But in order to realise the dream of globetrotting the planet, one should have valuable information about travel offers, safety, and other related trends. So, how to make sure travel enthusiasts find genuine information about distant places? This is where email marketing makes its grand entry. Even though social media has made huge inroads into the lives of so many, a bigger chunk of the populace still picks emails as their choice of getting trustworthy travel data.
The latest surveys have revealed that close to 58 % of the population check their emails before any other medium of communication. In other words, emails take precedence over even social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
How to Increase Email Open Rates: A Step-By-Step Guide
Now that we have made it clear that email marketing is a very powerful weapon for generating interest and revenue for your travel and tour company, it is necessary to create a solid email marketing plan to secure its benefits. To ensure you make the most out of email marketing, you have to be thorough in sending out the right message to your consumers. Not only do you have to send the correct message, but that has to be accompanied by an adequate format and delivery timing. Let us check out what types of emails increase the chances of you receiving a larger number of inquiries for your travel services.
The Welcome Emails
Perhaps the most vital type of email that a travel agent should send their client is the welcome email. This is a sort of email that should be sent to all new signups to your brand. A wide array of online surveys indicate that over 82 % of email users check their welcome emails. The percentage makes welcome emails highly successful in ensuring you capture your clients’ attention the moment they start checking their emails first thing in the morning.
You should take advantage of this high conversion rate to appeal to your customers about all that your agency is bringing out for them. This could be unique travel deals or some offbeat information about your brand. Another useful trait of welcome emails lies in their ability to remind clients to set their preferences concerning segmented emails.
Emails Sending Invites to Connection
This second form of an email is essential to set the tone of your engagement with your prospective clients. Once you have sent the welcome emails, you need to follow it up after a few days with a second email. This second email should be sent with the intention to inform your clients about the channels through which they will be able to know more about the kind of travel business your company is involved in.
The contents of this email will have sections asking the clients to join the social media platforms of your travel company. This particular exercise allows clients to be aware of all that you are busy doing to push your company forward. An active travel entity is more likely to be an attractive prospect for potential customers.
The Milestone Emails
Next in the queue comes the milestone emails, which let travel operators reward clients with special offers for a birthday or other holiday celebrations. These emails are a perfect way to remind clients of various loyalty rewards or anniversary deals.
The Newsletter Emails
Newsletter emails enable travel agents to bestow clients with fantastic travel ideas, and news about the travel industry, along with information pertaining to the newest travel packages and allied services.
The Informational Emails
The informational emails are the ones that allow the travel agency to update and inform their clients about the developments in relation to the services in which they have invested their money. These emails could also be used to alert clients to help them make the correct decisions.
You have to craft informational emails in such a way that will allow your customers to remain constantly well-informed about the minor or major changes in their travel itineraries. Apart from scheduling updates, informational emails can also be used to make clients aware of bad weather conditions in the destinations they are supposed to go to in a matter of a few days.
The Confirmation Emails
As soon as a client has booked a service with your travel agency, it is paramount that you send them a confirmation email. Confirmation emails have the maximum email open rates and are the best possible means to catch the attention of clients.
So, with the details of the travel package that has been booked, you can attach supplemental deals and offers. Since the chances of confirmation emails being opened and checked thoroughly are almost certain, you ought to make the most of the opportunity.
The Thank You Emails
The last category of emails that a travel agency sends to a client is the thank you email. These extremely important emails are crafted with the task of letting your clients know that their involvement with your company is highly appreciated. You can also use these sorts of emails to request your customers to spare a little time to leave feedback.
It is vital to note that any travel company can improve by leaps and bounds by taking cognisance of customer feedback. In order to make the most of email marketing, and subsequently increase open rates, you should make it a habit of sending out emails to your clients on a regular basis. At least once a month you must make it a point that all your loyal clients get to know what your company is coming up with within the next phase of the year.
Try not to forget the holiday seasons, annual marketing fairs, and business events. These are the occasions when people are most likely to be observant of noteworthy travel offers.
How to Increase Email Open Rates?: Concluding Remarks
There is no doubt that email marketing generates a good amount of business for travel agencies. But unless and until one makes their clients actually open and read those emails, the ultimate goal remains inchoate. This is where you can apply your resources and make your emails as appealing to the audience as possible. Producing effective emails for marketing purposes is not as difficult as it may sound.
So, with a basic insight into the whole process, you will be equipped to dish out interesting emails. Since the percentage of email open rates is directly linked to online marketing, you will require a sound knowledge of the same. On that front, you may try and learn how potential clients find services online, and you can manoeuvre moves to make sure your emails get the level of attention they deserve.
Always try reinventing methods to elevate the design of your business emails. Setting aside email templates for the various types of promotional emails is an absolute necessity if you want to be ahead in the email open rate charts.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the theme ‘how to increase email open rates’, focus on taking your travel marketing skills to a whole new level. To do that, you have to keep exploring more blogs on the Pathfndr website. You will find a range of blogs covering a host of crucial topics related to the travel and tourism sector.
And in case you are on the verge of creating your very own travel portal, feel free to use Pathfndr’s comprehensive AI-powered travel operating system. We guarantee you will enjoy working with the superior navigation modules of the site.