Email Marketing for Hotels: The Ultimate Handbook by RoomRaccoon

Email marketing for hotels is a vital part of your guest communication strategy. Guests are always on the move when traveling, but one thing you can count on? They’ll have their phones practically everywhere they go. 

As reported by the Daily Mail, “According to figures collected by a screen lock app, the average user actually checks their phone around 110 times a day.” Some institutions have an even higher number depending on where in the world study participants are located.

This gives hoteliers the perfect opportunity to communicate via email! Have you got a special offer to present, or want to send a post-stay email? RoomRaccoon’s PMS offers personalized guest communication (a document module) that is simple to set up and easy to maintain.

Marketers have the unique ability to contact their guests personally through emails. With someone checking their phone over 100 times daily, they will see your notification. But remember, with 100s of notifications – your email has got to grab their attention. In this blog, we’ll be exploring the ins and outs of email marketing for hotels

What is Email Marketing for Hotels?

Email marketing for hotels uses email campaigns to promote your property and build guest relationships. It is also great for maintaining a strong digital presence with past guests. You can do this by running hotel marketing campaigns post-stay. What is excellent about hospitality email marketing is that you can experiment with the tone of voice.

Hotel email marketing helps to build relationships with guests pre-stay, during their stay, and post-stay. An example of email marketing in hospitality could be a post-stay survey or a pre-stay dietary requirement. With RoomRaccoon, you can set up pre-stay emails triggered by your customized booking engine – but more on that later! 

Since RoomRaccoon is an all-in-one solution, you can also say hello to your new customizable booking engine and dynamic channel manager. Your new suite of hotel management software will enable you to streamline your processes and revolutionize your email marketing with guests.

How to Create an Effective Hotel Marketing Strategy

Email marketing for hotels can be simple and effective with the right hotel email marketing strategy. First, you’ll need to determine what goal you want your email to achieve. Hotel email marketing can help create new relationships, foster goodwill, and increase return visitors.

Simply decide how you want to set up email marketing for your hotel. Of course, there are some non-negotiables or best practices you’ll want to follow for your hotel content marketing. We will cover some of the most important emails you want to set up for your hotel. Remember to use these hotel marketing ideas with personalized email campaigns with special offers for the best result. 

What are some examples of special offers? Your hotel could offer a special Valentine’s Day dinner and stay. You could also celebrate your property’s anniversary or a special national holiday with a discount code. Flash sales are also a great way to grab traveler’s attention and people who just can’t resist a good deal.

If you’re looking to get started with email marketing, we’ve got a great resource to get you started. We’ve got free hotel email templates guaranteed to optimize guest communication. Download our hotel email guide today and start communicating with your guests effectively!

Our Top Tips for Writing an Effective Email

Writing a good email can be the difference between an email that gets lost in a pile of notifications and getting active engagement. It’s essential that your email grabs the attention of your guests rather than falling to the wayside.

Because RoomRaccoon is always looking out for your success, we’ve got some email tips for you! We’ve rounded up some of our best writing tips from our in-house team for your email creation.

1. Use a clear subject line (avoid ambiguity).
2. A cheerful greeting helps set the tone.
3. State the purpose of your email concisely.
4. Save Abbreviations should be for SMS communication.
5. Include a call to action for your guests.
6. Add a positive closing remark.
7. Check your spelling & grammar carefully.

Remember always to double-check your email content to ensure everything is in order. Typos and errors can be easily avoided when you take the time to give your email a final check. 

6 Email Marketing Campaign Ideas

Let’s go over some of the basic email marketing campaign ideas! These emails can help build the foundation of your email strategy. We’ll be covering email marketing ideas from pre-stay to post-stay. Remember to bookmark this tab the next time you want to run an email campaign.

Booking Confirmation

Once a booking is confirmed, the customer can start preparing their journey. As a hotelier, we recommend sending a booking confirmation immediately after a booking arrives. As a result, the guest can be sure that the hotel received the booking. 

Make sure to include arrival and departure dates & times in your email. You can also show some of your brand personality in this first contact point. Is your hotel super serious and luxurious? Or do you have more of a humorous and family-oriented hotel? This is your first impression in a prospective guest’s inbox. Make it count!

It is also good to show what the guest has booked and provide clear guest expectations. It’s also optimal to include photos of the reserved room and pictures of the facilities and highlight the pre-booked arrangements. A map with the location and accessibility of your hotel is also a good idea to mention in the booking confirmation.

Booking Confirmation Returning Guests

Guests who have visited your hotel before and enjoyed their experience offer an excellent opportunity to capitalize on it. Have you ever wondered why guest retention is so vital? According to the Harvard Business Review, “acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one.” And at RoomRaccoon, we’re all about helping you earn more revenue!

So, you’ll likely want to provide returning guests with the best experience possible. For them, you can set up an email that looks slightly different than new guests. Thus, ‘Welcome back, Mr. Jones’ is more personal than ‘Welcome Mr. Jones’. You can also offer the same upsells the guest purchased on their last stay with data from RaccoonUpsell.

Did you know that with RoomRaccoon’s hotel reservation software, your guests & bookers’ information is stored? Your guests’ preferences and any additional information from their previous stay will be available when they book their next holiday. This makes staying on top of the guest experience simple and easy!

Email Before Arrival

Setting and living up to guest expectations is critical in a world where your property is always up for online scrutiny. You determine the anticipation of your guests as a hotelier. Therefore, we encourage you to send relevant and helpful emails before the guest arrives. 

Most travelers today also expect the convenience of online check-in a day or two before arrival. Statistics show that it reduces check-in times by over 60%, which has made online check-in a non-negotiable for hoteliers and hospitality businesses worldwide. There’s also a guest registration form that can retain information like flight numbers, dietary requirements, and preferences.

Depending on how far the guest books in advance, you can send an email 14, 7, and 3 days in advance. In these emails, you can inspire people with things to do in the area. This could be a local market or a restaurant your hotel has a great relationship with. Remember to include activities that will enhance your guest’s stay and keep them coming back for me!

You can also add enticing up-sells. You don’t have to put them in the first email you send, but including them in a follow-up email is a good idea. Think of package deals or special offers that need the attention of your guests. 3 days before arrival, you can, for example, take note of the weather. Advertise an indoor activity in rainy weather or an outdoor activity if the weather forecasts are sunny.

On-Property Mail

On-property mail gives you the opportunity to welcome your guest to the hotel digitally. You can warmly welcome your guests and explain how your hotel runs. Imagine getting an email seconds after check-in with your Wi-Fi password and the times meals are served!

That would be impressive for a guest traveling for hours. The idea of these email campaigns is to create a genuine connection with your guests. A great way to build a good rapport with new guests is to make the visitors feel special. An email has a nice personal touch without intruding.

Send an email when someone arrives early in the morning. The guest feels the hotel is thinking of them, which makes them feel extra welcome. You can explain services, times, and facilities in a second email that day. You can easily and quickly inform your guests of relevant matters in and around the hotel. 

After Departure Mail

An email to close off your guests’ experience is just as important as your first email. You can thank guests for choosing your hotel and say you hope to see them soon. You could also ask the guests for feedback on their experience at the hotel. Remember, not every guest can have a magical experience every stay, so be mindful that you only ask for a review if the guest had a positive experience. 

A great way to encourage a repeat stay is by asking if your guest would like to place a direct booking for their next visit. You can include a special offer if your guests need a nudge in the right direction. A promotion or a discount code for future reservations is a great way to achieve repeat bookings.

Pro tip from RoomRaccoomn: send your mail within 30 days. Some OTAs may create a temporary email address that forwards your emails to a guest. This temporary address often expires after 30 days, and you don’t want to miss out on potential bookings.

Advertise Local Events

Suppose an event takes place near your hotel. Like a festival, a public holiday, or a market in the city. Let people know exactly what is happening and where. They may pop into your hotel for a drink or even book a night’s stay. When fantastic events are nearby, why not capitalize on the opportunity to turn hotel visitors into paying guests?

 As a result, guests are better prepared for their journey and, most importantly – excited to visit. Most tourists are eager to be informed by locals about what to do to get the inside scoop. And who can provide better activities in the area than a local hotelier?

Bonus Info: Master Upselling 

Upselling is an integral part of your email marketing strategy. It is specifically helpful as it helps your hotel diversify its revenue streams – with no added cost! Your hotel already has a list of prospective guests; the best time to upsell is before guests arrive. The excitement is mounting, and paying for add-ons is a problem for the future. 

Our intuitive upselling tool, RaccoonUpsell, helps you to market your add-ons. Make your upselling strategy customizable and automated with RoomRaccoon. If you’re looking for the ultimate guide to mastering RaccoonUpsell, you’ve come to the right place. Learn how to diversify your revenue streams with our latest upselling brochure. 

Get Started Today

Hotel front desk software enables you to craft compelling and customized email marketing. If you’d like to know more about getting started with small hotel management software, please check our pricing packages.

Email marketing will continue to play a crucial role in hotel communication. By leveraging technology, emails offer a powerful way to keep guests well-informed and engaged at every step of their travel journey. 

Email marketing not only boosts revenue but also helps hoteliers to understand customer preferences and satisfaction. These valuable insights enable hoteliers to make changes that contribute to an excellent reputation.

Try out a hotel booking software that prioritizes your hotel and its guests! Book a demo with one of our hospitality experts to find out how we can help you and your hotel. We look forward to chatting with you and taking your business to the next level. 

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