Email marketing an exceptional way for you to communicate directly with and market directly to potential and existing guests.
It can help you increase bookings and leverage opportunities at every step of the guest’s journey… You just have to know which are the best hotel email campaigns to send out.
To help you there, here are 4 surefire hotel email ideas that use data and timing to deliver a targeted message and yield excellent results.
If you’re not already sending out these hotel emails, you’re going to want to start asap.
#1: The “Thank you for booking” hotel email
What this email is:
This email thanks your guest for choosing to stay with you, confirms their booking information, and gets them excited for their stay. You can also use this email to collect guest information and preferences (such whether they’re on a business or pleasure trip), which can be used to send them targeted special offers later on.
When you should send it:
Immediately after the guest’s booking is confirmed, while their stay is still top of mind.
Why you should send it:
It’s the first step in building a personal relationship between your hotel and your guest — especially if they booked through an OTA. It helps reduce the risk of them canceling, and makes them feel valued before they even walk through the door. It’s also an opportunity to introduce ancillary services available at your hotel.
#2: The “Your upcoming stay” hotel email
What this email is:
This campaign gives guests all the information relevant to their upcoming stay. Possible details to include are your hotel amenities, a guide to the area, a local weather forecast, and a calendar of timely events. You want to highlight things that can make their arrival more comfortable or provide them with entertainment during their stay.
When you should send it:
A few days before your guest’s check-in date.
Why you should send it:
It’s a great chance for you to upsell your hotel’s offerings. Maybe a guest is looking for stress-free airport transfer and would be pleased to know you offer this service. Or perhaps they’re interested in spa facilities and would jump on a 10% discount on certain treatments. This email is also a way for you to let the guest know you’re looking forward to having them, as well as to use the guest details you previously collected to target them with relevant offers.
#3: The “Post-stay” hotel email
What this email is:
With this campaign, you’re thanking guests for their stay and expressing how happy you are that they chose your hotel. This is also a good time to request feedback; for example, you could ask them to fill out a survey in exchange for a small reward. You can use targeted messages in your email marketing here, to encourage guests to sign up for future offers based on their preferences and to solicit feedback on a particular amenity you know they used. You may also want to encourage your guests to leave a review or comment online — just be sure not to ask too much in one email. Decide what is most important and go from there.
When you should send it:
The day after your guest checks out.
Why you should send it:
Showing your guests that you care about their experience with you is how you build a relationship with them. What’s more, it’s your best bet for directly collecting feedback while their stay is still fresh in their mind.
Extra tip: You can monitor the quality of the feedback you generate from this email campaign by checking your hotel’s online reputation on trivago.
#4: The “Loyalty” hotel email
What this email is:
This campaign should only be sent to those guests who have subscribed to your emails, and should be highly personalized to your customer base. Tie the content of your email back to a specific detail based on their previous stay or preference you collected from your “Thank you for booking” campaign. Maybe you want to send a limited offer for reduced rates to encourage direct bookings. Or you can target everyone who lives within a three-hour radius with a special weekend getaway offer.
When you should send it:
Continuously — not so often as to risk spamming guests, often enough to stay on their minds.
Why you should send it:
These emails foster loyalty from your guests and encourage return bookings.
Depending on your CRM system and email marketing tool, there are countless campaign opportunities you can try out for your hotel. But whatever direction you ultimately take your email marketing in, you can use these four campaigns as a strong starting point.
You can find more helpful guidance on email marketing for hotels in “The Complete Guide to Email Marketing for Hotels” and way more marketing insights here on our blog.
Did you know? You can monitor your hotel’s online reputation on trivago Business Studio
