How to Use Email Marketing For Travel Agency

This blog looks at the critical considerations for travel email marketing and provides tips for optimizing your efforts.

Email Marketing For Travel Agencies

There is no denying that the essence of travel and hospitality is in the experience of the stay. But that is only possible if you can get a customer to book. The right marketing strategy has the power to put travellers in the shoes of an experience before they commit.

High-quality visuals, stories, and customer reviews can paint a picture of the experience that awaits. Email marketing is often a key element of this strategy.

Travel email campaigns are targeted, creative and personal. They give email marketers the ability to think beyond conventional promotions and build relationships with potential customers.

However, peak campaign performance is only possible if you understand every customer’s context and user journey. For instance, about 69% of all travel emails today are read on mobile devices. So, creating a mobile-friendly experience is of utmost importance.

Why Is Email Marketing Important In The Travel Industry?

Email marketing is an effective tool to keep customers engaged throughout the booking process. Here are the key benefits that make email marketing important for travel businesses:

1. Inexpensive, Quick, And Simple To Set Up

Email marketing is an inexpensive yet effective way of reaching out to potential customers. Setting up campaigns requires minimal effort and time, with no delivery costs for emails sent out.

With the right email list, you can start engaging with your target audience at a fraction of the cost compared to other digital marketing channels. Moreover, a powerful email marketing campaign can be set up in a matter of days or even hours if you have the resources, such as an email template, ready to go.

All this translates to higher ROI and faster results.

2. Increases Brand Loyalty And Awareness

Travel emails are a great way to build trust and loyalty. When sent with the right frequency and content, they make customers feel special about your brand.

With every email, you can reinforce your brand values and educate customers about the features of a product or service. For instance, you can inform people about the importance of pre-booking or discuss local attractions and activities in the area they are visiting.

By sharing regular content that genuinely helps readers, you can instil a sense of trust and confidence in your brand that your competitors may find difficult to replicate.

Moreover, email marketing helps to keep customers informed and engaged throughout their journey with you. This, in turn, leads to increased brand awareness and recognition.

3. A Customized Approach

Using email personalization and segmentation techniques, you can deliver customized emails that offer relevant offers or discounts to customers who have already shown an interest in your products.

This puts you in a better position to drive conversions and improve sales.

You can also send surveys and feedback requests to customers. This helps in understanding customer preferences and developing better strategies for the future.

For example, a survey can help you understand the kind of content your customers are interested in or what type of discounts they prefer. This ensures that your travel emails are always tailored to their actual needs and wants.

4. Email And Social Media Integrated Together

Integrating email and social media is a great way to increase your reach. Social media channels are perfect for engaging with customers and building relationships, but email is the best channel for conversion.

For example, you can use social media to share updates about new destinations or discounts and then direct users to a landing page that captures their email addresses. This ensures that your conversion funnel is optimized and you have a steady stream of warm leads.

5. Reaching The Correct Segment

Segmenting your email list is one thing. But targeting the right segment is another. Email marketing for tourism can help you stand out in a sea of competitors by quickly A/B testing differing segments and optimizing for the correct target audience.

This helps you to quickly identify the right messaging and audience segmentation, which will increase conversions. Additionally, you can use email segmentation techniques to assess customer behaviour and send out more personalized messages that add value to their experience.

12 Actionable Tips For Travel Email Marketing

Email marketing can be an effective tool for your travel business with the right approach. Here are 12 actionable tips for travel email marketing to help you get started:

1. Nail Your Welcome Emails

Making a good first impression is crucial. And in the ruthless world of digital competition, you might not get a second chance to do so. Customers must receive a welcome email when they sign up or subscribe to your travel list or platform.

Welcome emails are reported to have an open rate of 91.43%. They can include videos, exclusive deals, a sign-up form, or simply a kind greeting to begin the client relationship on the right note. An eye-catching visual, along with compelling content, is all that makes the difference and sets the tone for further communication.

You can make your welcome email more appealing by:

• Presenting your core values
• Providing a special discount offer
• Including a video tour of popular travel destinations

2. Segment Your Demography

Customers with similar traits can be grouped together via segmentation. For example, you may segment your email list based on client interest, location, purchase history, customer type, and other factors.

To get more demographic segmentation options, gather more information from the audience throughout the sign-up process. However, be cautious with this because soliciting too much information may deter individuals from signing up at all.

By doing this, you can easily configure your campaigns and guarantee that each message is relevant to every reader. Engagement will increase when you send emails that speak to the subscriber’s specific travel needs and wants. After all, studies suggest that segmented email marketing generates a click-through rate that is 90.7% greater than non-segmented efforts.

3. Automate Emails for Fast Response Times

When time is of the essence in travel, automated emails can help you respond quickly and accurately to customer inquiries.

For instance, when a customer books a ticket, you can send an automated email to confirm their booking. You can also automate emails for customer feedback surveys, promotional offers and discounts, loyalty points reminders, and more. These are not only time-saving but also cost-effective.

Another Example of Automated Emails is travel emails during the holiday season. It’s the textbook definition of doing the right thing at the right time. Readers are in the holiday mood and ready to travel around with their loved ones.

So automating the delivery of holiday-centric email designs, giving them special packages or limited-time offers, or telling them which destination is ideal for visiting based on past purchases can go a long way to boost engagement.

4. Be Generous With Travel Ideas

Providing consumers with authentic information about possible travel destinations will engage them and build curiosity. You can include ‘Did You Know Facts’ about a particular city in your email campaigns, along with videos and pictures.

This will increase the chances of the customer getting back to inquire further. Travel ideas could include:

• City guides
• Tips on different types of travel
• Top places to eat listicles
• Things to do per month
• Hotels nearby

5. Create and Market A Loyalty Program

A customer loyalty programme is a promotional tool that acknowledges and compensates customers that engage with or make repeat purchases. Under this, your business may award points or benefits that give out badges and promotes them to greater levels of loyalty.

Giving your customers an incentive beyond your products or services is a great tactic to make them return for more. Repeat customers are more profitable as they spend 67% more than first-time customers. Free goodies, prizes, coupons, or special privileges like first access to new products are examples of benefits that could lure customers in.

6. Inspire Urgency with Limited Time Deals

Create a sense of urgency by using scarcity to persuade customers to take action now. Inform them that your offer is only valid for a short period and that you are doing something unique for them by providing a discount.

The tight deadline should be such that it encourages subscribers to act fast. Include the time and date the offer expires. To make it look even more creative, add an email countdown timer to the bottom of the email to remind them to hurry up before time runs out.

7. Capture and Share Testimonials

Consumers claim that online reviews influence their purchasing decisions 93% of the time. Create and send marketing emails that include endorsements from satisfied customers. These could take the shape of videos, reels, images, or reviews in writing.

Furthermore, you can also share a customer’s experience while they are on the trip with you. Encourage them to post about their experiences on social media and share them with a custom hashtag that uniquely signifies your brand. For example, if you’re a tour operator, create a hashtag like ‘travellingwithXYZ’, where XYZ is your brand’s name.

This will create a sense of community and bring them closer to your brand. People are more likely to trust your services if they see social proof of satisfied customers. By doing this, you build your readers’ trust in your brand, making them opt for your holiday package over your competitors.

8. Include Videos to Showcase Travel Experiences

60% of travellers who watch videos on social media use them to guide their decisions, whether they pick a tour operator to book with or a destination to visit.

As a travel and tourism brand, you can leverage videos that tell stories about positive customer experiences to win over your audience and ultimately generate leads.

Focus on the story you are conveying. By creating a captivating narrative, you will be able to engage viewers on an emotional level. The more engaging your story is, the more likely your viewers will take action.

You can find free and affordable stock videos that you can use to showcase the beauty of a destination or life on board a cruise. Alternatively, you can create your own videos and add them to your email.

Whatever the case, remember that timing is everything. According to research, you generally have7 seconds to create an impression on a customer before their attention is diverted, and you risk losing them. Hence, strive to create short videos that are captivating enough to keep the viewer engaged until the CTA.

If you already have a long video ready to go, consider breaking it into smaller, more attention-grabbing chunks of content.

9. A/B Test Your Subject Lines

A/B testing allows you to assess how version A of something – for example, your email subject line – performs compared to version B. This test helps you to identify which version of the subject line will get a higher open rate. Through this, you can determine what works best for your target audience.

Up to 50% of your chosen contacts will receive an email with the subject line A, while an equal number will receive an email with the subject line B.

The email subject line that has received the most opens after a predefined period of time is deemed the winner. The remaining contacts who weren’t included in the A/B test population are automatically emailed the winning subject line.

A/B testing is an effective tool that removes ambiguity from what will intrigue customers and gives tangible data to back up your decisions.

10. Always Opt for Mobile-friendly Email Designs

A mobile-friendly approach to email design ensures an adequate user experience on small screens. This prevents the user from zooming in and out to view content. They also make it easy to navigate emails from a mobile phone.

Optimizing emails for smartphones requires the same consideration as designing a mobile-responsive website and booking process, which you have likely already been working on.

Given that nearly two-thirds of travel customers use their smartphones in every part of their journey, including the booking process, you can no longer ignore the importance of mobile-friendly emails.

To do this, you can:

• Include a single-column layout with images,
• Use buttons and CTAs that are large enough to click on without needing to zoom in
• Ensure the loading time of emails is less than 2 seconds.

When designing emails, it is also essential to consider the end-users’ devices and operating systems. You can use an email marketing platform to test emails on different devices and browsers before sending out the final version.

11. Offer Customized Deals (based on browsing data and preferences)

There is no denying that customized deals improve customer engagement and boost sales. They show customers that you are paying attention to their needs and appreciate that they have chosen your brand for their travel needs.

You can begin by collecting information about their interests and browsing history to offer customised deals. For instance, if you collect data about customers’ browsing habits, you will know what type of holidays they would be interested in and offer deals tailored to their needs.

You can also customize your deals with customer preference data from previous bookings. For instance, if customers book a certain type of accommodation or destination on multiple occasions, you can offer them special discounts for their next booking.

12. Leverage A Winning Email Design Philosophy

Your email design should be clean and professional, with images that grab attention. The layout should remain consistent to ensure familiarity. Remember that consistency builds trust and makes your emails more recognizable.

Use visuals to increase engagement, such as high-quality images highlighting a destination’s or hotel’s features. Also, keep an eye on the text-image ratio to ensure that emails are easy to read.

Finally, make sure your calls-to-action (CTAs) are clear and concise. It is essential to make the most of your limited space using effective CTAs, so customers know what to do.

By leveraging a winning email design philosophy, you can ensure that customers retain their interest in your emails and move through the conversion funnel of your booking process.

Types of Emails You Can Use for Travel Marketing

1. The Warm Welcome

Welcome emails have the highest delivery, open, and click-through rates. Your welcome email should thank your audience for associating themselves with your brand.

It must be warm, inviting, and informative. As soon as subscribers sign up, send them a welcome email to let them know who you are, the brand’s mission and what to expect from your business.

It is a part of onboarding emails that help users get acquainted with the brand. In return, this will help the audience build trust in the organization.

They can also be set up to be automatically triggered. So when someone signs up, they get a welcome email right away.

Engagement statistics degrade when they are not automated. Automated welcome emails may have an open rate of more than 85% and a click-through rate of 29%. Open rates fall to 52% when delivered manually, while click-through rates fall to 12%.

A double opt-in, an introduction to your company, and a reminder to set their email preferences can all be included in a welcome email.

2. The Newsletter

Informational newsletters work best. They are not salesy and don’t push products and services beyond what subscribers would want.

90/10 is one suggested formula for newsletters: 90% information and 10% advertising. Less is more in the appropriate proportions, and instructional content will typically generate more engagement than product copy.

The newsletter is a flexible format that may be used to:

• Offer news about the travel industry
• Introduce a new benefit or service
• Announce your most recent packages and tour options
• And give travellers suggestions for weekend getaways.

Here are 24 Newsletter Ideas to keep your audience engaged and generate revenue.

3. The Seasonal or Milestone Offer

Use a seasonal offer to remind people why they should be travelling. Seasonal offers, such as holiday packages and summer discounts, could help customers get in the mood to travel.

You can also use milestone offers to bring customers back. For example, if someone hasn’t been on holiday for a while, you could email them a special deal to entice them to book a future trip.

Promotions centred around holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or even long weekends are not uncommon. Campaigns for Diwali/ Christmas break and summer vacations are also popular. These campaigns should always focus on the customer’s interests first, as they will appreciate a chance to save money on their adventures.

Although conversions are the apparent objective, the goal should be to develop customer relationships. Marketers should put the customer first and build trust between them and their brand by communicating sincerely, offering discounts, and providing valuable information.

4. The Booking Confirmation

A booking confirmation email simply confirms a customer’s action. When a traveller purchases your travel package or makes a booking through you, they should receive a confirmation email.

These emails help affirm the customer’s purchase and provide helpful information like check-in times, hotel locations, and other information they should know. This can develop a trusting experience by establishing a relationship and encouraging confidence from the minute they book.

Setting up automated booking confirmation emails means guests will have all the required information at their fingertips. Also, passengers frequently examine these travel agency emails more than once; they have almost unrealistically high open rates.

With those open rates, pursuing more conversion and income opportunities is worthwhile. Consider cross-selling or upselling other travel packages or services or including a list of your most travelled destinations at the end of such emails.

5. The Informational Message

More than 75% of customers believe that educational content influences decision-making. The objective here is to present yourself as a caring and supporting brand to your current and prospective clients.

You can forewarn travellers about adverse weather, tourist attractions, or scheduled events before they arrive. You could also help them with booking, packing, and other details of their trip. Other topics for informational emails can include safety tips, travel advice, and culinary recommendations.

The content should constantly be engaging while serving a purpose. It should not be promotional but rather informative. You should focus on what the traveller wants to know and develop content beyond what subscribers would expect.

These emails should also be sent regularly, as customers tend to forget about the offers, discounts, and services. You can also re-engage your customers with ideas for their next trip through these messages.

6. The Thank You Email

Beyond mere thankfulness, expressing gratitude will foster stronger customer relations. Clients abandon a brand in roughly68% of cases because they feel the company doesn’t care about them. Thank You emails can increase loyalty and dissuade them from searching elsewhere.

Additionally, a 2% increase in client retention might have the same effect as a 10% cut in costs.

Thanking a customer gives you a reason to interact with those who haven’t been around in a while, allowing you to continue the dialogue with those who only frequently or seasonally make purchases. Maintaining these dialogues will also enable you to establish your brand’s personality, something customers will value.

A Thank You email should be personalized and direct, with genuine content that doesn’t sound fake or robotic. It is also essential to consider the kind of journey a customer had and strive to make them feel appreciated for their business.

Along with the thank you note, consider providing beneficial recommendations for a product or service. It could be a list of the top sights in the city for which they recently made travel arrangements.

Maybe it’s a special eBook on how to extend the life and uptime of the travel gear they just bought. Ensure the information is genuine, helpful, and valuable to the reader. Alternatively, consider including a link to a survey to collect feedback that you can use to improve the services your brand offers.

7. The Loyalty or Referral Program Email

Frequent travellers will appreciate being a part of an up-to-date loyalty program. You can design the scheme to be point-based or just offer flat discounts on specific services. Rewards for attaining milestones and birthday surprises are other excellent features. A referral program driven by your loyalty program may also assist you in expanding your email list and increasing your conversion rate.

This type of email aims to entice the customer with offers and exclusive deals. They should feel like they are being rewarded for their loyalty and that you value their patronage. Not only will this help build relationships that last over time, but it can also encourage customers to recommend your services to their friends and family.

8. Notifications and Updates

Compared to advertising emails or newsletters, email notifications get greater attention since they include information that a user has asked for. They can include tailored offers and timely reminders about upcoming events or service changes.

Owing to the high open rate, the server’s reputation is enhanced, and future email deliverability is improved. Sharing updates will also help to reduce any potential adverse effects of the downsides of travelling, like flight delays or lost baggage, by providing the customer with information regarding their itinerary.

9. Drip-fed Promotional Campaigns

An Email drip campaign is a series of automatic emails sent to website visitors after they perform a particular activity or activate a behavior-based trigger. You can decide how many emails and at what rate to send them for any particular activity. These emails can be personalized by including information about the contact, such as their name and their actions.

Example: You can set up abandoned cart emails for customers who add an item to their online basket but do not complete the transaction. You may also set up an email series to remind customers of offers they may have missed.

Example: You can also set browse abandonment emails for visitors who browse your products / services but dont make a purchase.

Example: You can also set an upsell email series for clients who have bought a certain product / service.

10. Survey Emails

Survey emails are a great way to collect customer feedback and gain insight into their needs. This will enable you to make focused improvements while measuring current customer satisfaction levels.

By understanding how satisfied customers are with your services and their experiences when using them, you can come up with ways to improve. For example, if many customers are dissatisfied with baggage handling or a lack of Wi-Fi in their hotels, you can begin to look for ways to rectify the issue.

Additionally, customers are more likely to be responsive if their feedback is valued. Sending out survey emails at regular intervals will help you stay on top of the data, enabling you to make quick adjustments and increase customer satisfaction.

Here are some handy tips to follow:

• Survey emails should be well-crafted with clear objectives, incentives for participation, and simple language that is easy to understand.
• When including questions, try to keep them as objective and specific as possible.
• Asking open-ended questions can lead to more insightful answers and require more time to analyze.
• You should also consider the order of the questions and ensure they are relevant to each other. This will help keep participants engaged until the end of the survey.

20 Travel Email Subject Lines That You Can Use

Subject lines are the holy grail of email marketing, as they are the first thing email recipients will see. One of the most critical aspects of successfully engaging your target audience is crafting a compelling subject line. Here are twenty travel email subject line ideas to get you started:

1. 1.Ready for Takeoff – Get the Inside Scoop on Our Travel Deals
2. 2.Live and Explore – Uncover Unique Destinations With Brand Name
3. 3.Adventure Awaits – Let’s Make Your Travel Dreams a Reality
4. 4.The Journey of a Lifetime – Find Exciting Deals on Your Next Trip
5. 5.Travel in Style – Luxury Getaways Just A Click Away
6. 6.See the World Differently – Experience Unique Adventures With Our Holiday Deals
7. 7.Planning A Vacation? Don’t Miss Special Travel Offers!
8. 8.Pack Your Bags, Adventure Awaits!
9. 9.Going Somewhere? Let Us Guide Your Way!
10. 10.Discover Unforgettable Destinations You’ll Love
11. 11.Dream Big, Travel Far – Explore Our Best Offers Now!
12. 12.Vacation Mode On – Our Consultants Have the Answers You Need
13. 13.Your Ideal Vacation Awaits – Plan Your Getaway with Us
14. 14.Ring in the New Year with Exciting Adventures!
15. 15.Dreaming of a White Christmas? Find Snowy Escapes Through Our Agency
16. 16.Turn Vacation Fantasies into Realities with Us
17. 17.We Make The Skies Your Limit – Soar to Exciting New Destinations!
18. 18.Jet Set Around the World – 7 Amazing Deals Here!
19. 19.Make 2023 The Year of Travel – Here’s How!
20. 20.Don’t Miss Out – Secure Your Vacation Deal Now!

If you want to get more ideas then check our 200+ Welcome email subject lines article here.

10 Travel Email Templates To Inspire Your Campaigns

Email campaigns are essential for any travel business looking to capture new customers and engage existing ones. Here are ten examples of effective email content that you can use to inspire your own email campaigns:

1. Minimalistic Dual-Tone Product Design Template

This template is an excellent example of how minimalism can grab attention right from the get-go.

With a bag pack image in the first fold, visitors are immediately reminded of their own travel aspirations.

And with the simple yet effective use of dual-tone colors, this design can stand out from other emails and draw attention to itself. Great for anyone in the travel products category.

2. Hotel Promotion Email Template

This template is perfect for any hotel or resort business looking to capture new customers.

With its refreshing design that emphasizes experiential pictures and a strong CTA centred around a great promotion offer, this email ensures that visitors are enticed by the copy and encouraged to take action.

3. Newsletter Template

An eye-catching newsletter template that literally puts the reader in a state of wanderlust with its design philosophy and copy.

This email is best used for any travel business that wants to showcase customer testimonials and the most popular adventures.

And a compelling copy at the end persuading users to book their next trip is an impressive touch.

4. Urgent Travel Deals Template

With its use of vibrant colours and a thoughtfully-crafted list of travel destinations and packages, this email ensures that visitors are engaged without overwhelming them with too much information.

The focus here is on urgency, and the email gets its point across without feeling overly salesy.

5. Destination Promotion Email Template

This email template emphasizes its minimalistic design and bold imagery to draw attention to particular destinations.

The Newsletter format lets readers learn more about the destination and other aspects of traveling, making it a unique blend of information and promotion.

6. Black Friday Travel Email Template

This template is perfect for any travel business looking to drive conversions and sales on Black Friday.

Its big, bold design philosophy preserves the brand’s colors at its core, while the prominent CTA and product grid helps customers quickly sift through the top deals and discounts.

7. Travel Essential Products Template

This email template is ideal for any business in the travel essentials products category.

It’s attention-grabbing product grid makes every product stand out, with the recommendations being showcased being spot on.

Text CTAs at the bottom encourage readers to explore as per their needs.

8. Unique Travel Design Templates

Certain templates tend to stand out, and this does exactly that.

Its unique first fold and simple list of possible travel destinations make this email an excellent pick for any travel business looking to engage with its readers in an innovative way.

The template packs every possible detail, including testimonials, destinations, and even travel tips.

9. Premium Product Travel Email Template

This email template is perfect for showcasing premium travel products.

The focus here is on full-width product images accompanied by minimal text.

The cohesive design grid helps the reader browse through each product with aesthetic ease that is hard to find. And the simple CTA at the end ensures that the reader takes action.

10. Multipurpose Travel Email Template

This template is great for any travel business looking to showcase multiple products, destinations, and discounts.

It even features informational blogs that help customers put everything into perspective.

With its use of sections and subtle color palette, this template ensures that the reader’s attention is divided between all the available information.

Email Marketing And The Importance Of Automation

Email marketing and automation are essential in any travel business. They help businesses keep in touch with customers, send personalized messages, and even nurture leads. With the right tools and software, businesses can create workflows to automate mundane tasks such as email list management, lead segmentation, content delivery, and more.

Email Automation also helps ensure that emails are sent to the right people at the right time. By understanding customer behaviors and preferences, businesses can deliver timely emails with engaging content that will convert.

Here are some actionable tips to help you automate your email marketing efforts with ease:

• Create personalized emails for each customer segment on your list.
• Utilize automation to trigger relevant emails in the customers’ journey at the right time.
• Leverage user data to create dynamic content based on each user’s preferences.
• Use A/B testing to test different email campaigns and optimize for maximum results.
• Analyze customer behavior to identify powerful marketing opportunities and create better campaigns.
• Incorporate automated surveys into your emails for improved feedback collection.
• Automatically respond to customer queries in real-time using AI chatbots.
• Monitor emails for deliverability and conduct regular cleanups of invalid or duplicate contacts to ensure optimal performance.

By leveraging the power of email marketing and automation, businesses can improve their customer relationships, increase sales, reduce costs, and ensure no valuable opportunity is missed. Making the most out of automation tools and techniques can help travel businesses create effective email campaigns that drive positive results.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. How To Create Catchy Travel Emails?

Creating catchy travel emails can be done by following some simple steps:

• Craft an enticing subject line that stands out from the crowd and is short and snappy.
• Personalize your emails by including the customer’s name and other details.
• Use visuals such as pictures or videos to capture the reader’s attention.
• Keep content short and to-the-point, focusing on one key message at a time.
• Include a call-to-action to encourage readers to take the desired action.
• Use A/B testing to test different email elements and optimize them for maximum results.
• Segment your audience according to their interests and needs and send them relevant messages.

Q2. How Beneficial Are Emails For Travel Businesses?

Emails are a powerful tool for travel businesses, as they can help to reach a wide audience quickly at a minimal cost. They provide an easy way to engage customers, drive sales, and build relationships. Emails are also an excellent way to collect customer data which can be used for market research and targeted campaigns. As such, emails are an invaluable tool for travel businesses looking to maximize their digital success.

Summary

With these tips, you should have no problem creating an effective email marketing strategy for your travel business. Implementing these strategies and leveraging the power of automation will ensure that your emails stand out from the competition. Key concepts discussed in this blog include:

• Email Marketing In The Travel Sector
• Why Is Email Marketing Important In The Travel Industry?
• Actionable Tips For Travel Email Marketing
• Types of Emails You Can Use for Travel Marketing
• Travel Email Subject Lines That You Can Use
• Travel Email Examples To Inspire Your Campaigns
• Email Marketing And The Importance Of Automation
• FAQs