Hotel Email Marketing has generated impressive results for the industry. With the average ROI of $40 on every $1 you spend and the average open rate of 21%, it is fair to state that this marketing tool can be a beneficial organic booster for every marketing manager’s arsenal, but what most marketing guides never address one vital question
What encourages visitors to SUBSCRIBE?
Unfortunately, many hotel newsletter forms lack creativity, specificity, and appeal. In this article, we will explore five steps to make your hotel newsletter sign-up more enticing, efficient, and distinctively tailored to your hotel business.
Let’s share some Examples:
Our team analyses more than 50 hotel websites per day and the trends we have recognized the oversaturation of headlines such as SPECIAL DEALS or Let’s keep in Touch or Join our Family. When evaluating your marketing tools, it is very important to remain realistic and to ‘jump in the shoes’ of your customers.
Is my Hotel Newsletter Sign-up Boring?
Is my Hotel Newsletter Sign-up aggressive with offering Deals or Promotions?
Is my Hotel Newsletter Sign-up a replica of the thousands in circulation?
If the answer is YES, there is no secret to being LESS boring or LESS aggressive, but the only solution is changing the strategy. Your Hotel should use Email Marketing to inform, engage, and utilize and not to OFFER, OFFER, and OFFER.
There is a high chance that your Hotel has recognized the trend and the numerous hotels doing the same and simply implemented it because, WHY NOT? The reality is that it is much easier to find BAD Newsletter Signups than GOOD ones that actually offer a personalized approach and have a clear strategy based on their Brand Story.
A Good Newsletter Signup
For example, like this:
Having gained insight into the potential structure of your new hotel newsletter, let’s analyze and reverse-engineer the five elements that set it apart from conventional newsletter forms.
- Give your Newsletter a CAPTIVATING Name:
What is the difference between naming and not naming your newsletter?
The distinction between an unnamed newsletter and a named one is comparable to receiving an unmarked package versus an Amazon package with a recognizable logo, secure packaging, and a genuine product guarantee. While the former leaves recipients uncertain and skeptical, the latter instills confidence, authenticity, and trustworthiness. By giving your newsletter a memorable name, you elevate it from a generic communication to a trusted and exclusive experience, ensuring that subscribers feel secure and valued.
In addition to increasing the number of hotel newsletter signups, giving your newsletter a name offers additional benefits:
- Stand out in your readers’ inboxes
- Be more easily remembered
Moreover, if your goal is to cultivate a community around your brand in the long run, naming your newsletter becomes crucial as it contributes to fostering a sense of belonging and identity among subscribers.
2. Humanize Your Newsletter by Featuring Your Staff:
Studies consistently demonstrate that content featuring people tends to generate better conversion rates. Consider highlighting a different staff member each week or month, allowing readers to become acquainted with your team. This small effort not only makes your staff feel appreciated but also adds a personal touch to your newsletter.
Other than that, the idea of recognition, participation, and involvement is what gives your Hotel an identity. Don’t be ashamed of your wonderful staff, but be creative and play with your newsletter.
For example, use different photos for each month.
- Month 1: Use a photo of your Front Office Team
- Month 2: … your Housekeeping Team.
- Month 3: … F&B Team
- Month 4: …
Don’t forget to think about your staff. Wouldn’t they feel more motivated and appreciated if they become the ambassador of your property?
3. Formatting the famous WHY factor
Answer the question, “Why should people subscribe to your hotel newsletter?” Offering a simple “stay in touch” is not enough to entice potential subscribers.
Stop spamming your audience with the same-old-same-old:
- X% OFF
- Summer/Spring/Autumn/Winter escape
- Mother’s/Father’s/Valentine’s/Whatever-celebration’s Day special…
- Black Friday/Halloween/Xmas/NYE
To make your newsletter appealing, you need to consider what valuable content or offers you can provide to engage your audience. This requires creative thinking and a commitment to delivering on your promises. Remember, marketing cannot make a boring product or service stand out; it can only enhance what is already captivating.
As unprofessional as it seems, DON’T BE BORING.
4. Keep it Simple, Don’t be Hungry for Information
As stated, our team visits more than 50 Hotel websites per day and you would be SHOCKED how many signups look like this:
The last thing you want to do is make your newsletter look like a Citizenship Application Form.
It’s just a Newsletter, you only need the Name and Email. That’s pretty much it.
5. ‘Soften’ your Call-to-Action (CTA)
The language you use in your newsletter’s call-to-action can significantly impact conversion rates. Studies have shown that less committal CTAs tend to perform better.
Instead of using strong and demanding phrases like “Subscribe” or “Sign Up,” consider using a softer and friendlier approach such as “Try it out.” This approach reduces the perceived commitment and increases the likelihood of sign-up.
Timing is Everything
Consider the example of Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
During Christmas, many people choose to stay home and celebrate with their families, resulting in a decrease in travel and hotel bookings. In contrast, for New Year’s Eve, there is a noticeable shift as individuals tend to travel and seek special experiences to welcome the upcoming year.
This example highlights the importance of understanding seasonal trends and leveraging them in your marketing strategy.
While Christmas may not be the ideal time to attract travelers, you can focus your efforts on creating unique offerings and promotions specifically tailored to the New Year’s Eve crowd.
Designing exclusive packages or hosting special events for New Year’s Eve, you can cater to those who are actively looking for memorable experiences to celebrate the occasion.
The key takeaway is to recognize the different travel behaviors during specific times of the year and align your marketing initiatives accordingly.
By adapting your strategies and capitalizing on the opportunities presented by events like New Year’s Eve, you can differentiate your hotel and capture the attention of potential guests seeking exciting experiences during those specific periods.
How to Position my Newsletter Signup?
The final consideration revolves around the placement of your newsletter form.
This decision holds significant importance, and you have two options: a static form, typically located at the bottom of your hotel’s homepage, or a dynamic placement like an exit-intent popup that appears when a visitor is about to leave the page, aiming to retain their attention.
Determining the optimal placement requires analyzing statistics and conducting tests. Your statistics will provide valuable insights into user behavior and engagement, allowing you to assess which approach generates better results.
By monitoring metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and bounce rates, you can evaluate the effectiveness of each placement option.
Every hotel website is unique, and what works best for one may not necessarily be ideal for another. Therefore, it is crucial to test different placements and closely analyze the accompanying statistics.
Ultimately, by continuously assessing and optimizing the placement of your newsletter form, you can maximize its visibility and improve the chances of capturing visitor attention and increasing sign-ups.
P.S. Don’t forget to Mobile-Optimize your Newsletter Signup Positioning
CONCLUSION
There is only one thing worse than overcomplicating Hotel Marketing, oversimplifying it by blindly copying your competitors.
Statistics will always go in the favor of trends, but you don’t want to limit your creativity with simplicity.
Use your Hotel Marketing to showcase your creativity, to tell stories, and to transfer the experiential value of your stay into your digital identity.
Let your competitors focus on simplicity because, eventually, the saturation will lead them to be like skyscrapers in Bangkok, all the same.
In the meantime, the story of your Hotel will rise above the skyscrapers like a rocket, giving you the ultimate competitive advantage.
P.S. We use the Solutions that we teach…
