EMAIL

MARKETING BEST

PRACTICES

B A C K T O B A S I C S

Maintaining a quality email list requires a two-pronged approach. First, you need to clean up

what you have. If a subscriber hasn’t opened oneof your emails in six months, a year, or more, it’s

time to send a re-engagement campaign. Inaddition to removing inactive users, you need toensure the quality of new subscribers. Make sure

that your sign-up forms are asking for theinformation you’ll need to personalize and

segment going forward.

Email marketing is a vital part of any hotel’s CRM efforts, but for many,it remains a complex, uncharted landscape. The good news is, it’s not ashard as it seems. These days, a wide array of user-friendly platformsmake it easy to maintain and manage an email list, design collateral,automate sends, and gather analytics. However, it’s important to keepsome important best practices in mind.

#1. YOU'RE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR LIST

#2. SEGMENT AND PERSONALIZE

Being able to differentiate between your customers, such as those thatstay on business and those that come for a family vacation, for

example, will allow you to send news, information, and relevant offersthat will resonate with them. You can expect to see a significant increase

in engagement as a result. 

To go a step further, we highly recommend personalizing your emails.From simply including a user’s first name in the subject line to tailoringcontent based on gender, age, location, or behavior, personalizationalmost always leads to higher engagement. Try using personalized

emails to thank customers after booking, upsell add-ons before arrival,or invite them back after completing their stay in order to show that you

value their business.

© 2019 | Phone: 212.752.8186 | E-mail: success@nextguesttech.comAddress: One Penn Plaza, 48th Floor, New York, NY 10119

#3. KNOW YOUR GOAL AND MAKE IT CLEAR

There are many reasons to send emails to yoursubscribers. Different campaigns are designed to

funnel traffic to specific web pages, drivebookings, generate engagement, or accomplishother goals. Whichever result you have in mind,make sure you’re clear on the purpose of yourcampaign, and resist the urge to try too much.

Sticking to one goal will not only promote betterresults, but it will make it easier to analyze data

and optimize future campaigns.

#4. CONTENT IS KEY

Having a good offer or bit of news to share with yoursubscribers won’t go far if you don’t make it interesting.Your subscribers are likely receiving emails from a widerange of businesses, so the competition for attention in

their inboxes is fierce. As a result, the quality of content inmarketing emails has increased significantly over the past

couple of years. This doesn’t mean you should beintimidated, but it does mean that you need to give your

content the TLC it deserves.

© 2019 | Phone: 212.752.8186 | E-mail: success@nextguesttech.comAddress: One Penn Plaza, 48th Floor, New York, NY 10119

#5. A/B TEST, ALWAYS

A/B testing is not just a good idea, it should be considereda necessary part of any email marketing campaign. The

idea is simple: You send two different versions of youremail, such as one with emojis in the subject line and onewithout, and you see which one performs better. Not onlywill you systematically optimize your collateral, but you’ll

learn about the preferences of your subscribers anddevelop best practices for the future. Every element of youremails can be A/B tested, from the length and wording ofsubject lines, preheaders, and body content to the look of

your design, imagery, and CTA buttons.