Reaching Today's Digital Traveler

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As a travel and hospitality brand with a passion for serving your customers, we know you won’t settle for mediocre digital marketing. We understand that acquiring subscribers, delivering timely, personalized offers to on-the-go travelers, and building customer loyalty are at the top of your list.

The chart on the right shows the assortment of channels and technology that digital travelers use, showing their penchant for staying connected and interest in various platforms.

Travel brands must create a seamless information-gathering and booking experience for their customers, or they run the risk of missing that narrow window of time when travelers are most ready to convert their tentative travel plans into a purchase.

In this guide to reaching today’s digital traveler, we’ve compiled five powerful tips to optimize your digital marketing efforts and connect with your customers where they spend the most time online. These five tips can help fuel your customer lifecycle, automate your operations, and improve your ROI—whether your customers are angling for the best prices on a weekend in Tahiti or the most inclusive hotel packages for visiting clients.

Accessed the Internet Through the Mobile Phone

Uploaded Pictures of a Holiday on Your Social Network

Updated Your Social Network Status to Keep Friends and Family Updated

Used a Mobile App to Find Attractions or Activities

Downloaded Mobile Apps Specific to a Certain Destination

51%

39%

34%

33%

26%

Technology Used While Traveling According to Internet Users Worldwide / Jan 2013

Source: TripAdvisor, “Trip Barometer” conducted by StrategyOne, March 6, 2013

Reaching Today's DIGITAL TRAVELER 3

Grow Your Subscriber Lists 1

Looking to engage with consumers, create social buzz around your promotions, and attract repeat customers? Of course you are! But you may need to broaden your reach by acquiring more subscribers who have a keen interest in your travel brand’s offerings.

To determine why your brand might be missing out on starting a conversation with interested and ready-to-purchase travelers, ask yourself these questions:

• Do you promote digital engagement on your website with high-visibility email opt-ins, social sharing buttons, and real-time promotions and updates?

• Are you asking for travelers’ email addresses at the point of sale?

• How easy is it to find your email opt-in form on your website, and how quickly can an interested traveler complete it?

• Do you include an email opt-in form with every first purchase? (You should.)

HOW TO GROW YOUR SUBSCRIBER LISTS

If acquiring more subscribers is a priority for your business, the best place to start is by analyzing where your consumers are already engaging with your brand. For example, perhaps your travel agency’s website gets the most traffic on the webpages that feature family-friendly vacations. Be sure you have an easy-to-fill out email subscription form on that page—and let people know that they can expect to receive family-oriented email communications from you.

Then, determine how to best enhance that customer’s experience and drive interactive engagement from there.

Here are a few tactics you can add to your subscriber acquisition plan to

fuel opt-ins and list growth for your brand:

• Tell Them Why. Make sure your customers know why they should give you their information. Are you going to provide them with budget travel tips? A weekly photo newsletter of picturesque travel destinations? Tell them, and follow through with that promise.

• Ask for the Opt-In. Include an email opt-in form as a tab on your Facebook page.

• BenefitfromWaitTimes.Promote your email opt-in and SMS messaging programs wherever customers are waiting (for example, at the baggage check if you’re an airline, or check-in if you’re a hotel). Make sure it’s easy to sign up for these lists via a mobile phone.

• GoDigitalwithReceipts. If you have a brick-and-mortar store (like a travel agency office or a cruise ship gift shop), offer to send in-store receipts to consumers via email.

• UtilizePhysicalReceipts.Not quite ready for digital receipts? Then focus on including a digital call-to-action on your in-store receipts to encourage travelers to become digital subscribers.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Potential travelers are already interested in the promotions, packages, and services that your company offers. Make it easy for them to subscribe to your communications, and promote your email list to potential customers as the top place for valuable promotions and news from your brand.

Reaching Today's DIGITAL TRAVELER4

Preferred channel for Travel alerTs overall 15-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 Plus

Email 43% 40 43 42 44 40 47 40

Text messaging (SMS) on a cell phone 25% 25 34 26 31 26 14 8

Telephone 18% 10 11 20 10 17 27 42

Direct mail (letters, catalogs, postcards, etc.) 3% 7 3 2 4 3 2 2

Facebook 3% 6 5 6 2 4 0 0

Mobile App 2% 4 0 3 4 0 1 0

Twitter 1% 0 2 0 1 1 0 0

LinkedIn 0% 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Source: 2012 Channel Preferences Survey, February 2012 • N = 1,481 US Online Consumers, age 15 and older exacttarget.com/SFF

Of all the message types surveyed in our 2012 Channel Preference Report, travel alerts are where companies should offer consumers the greatest variety of opt-in options. With consumer preference distributed across email, telephone, and SMS, brands that offer all three options will stand the greatest chance of pleasing their customers.

Brands tackling alert communications may also see an interesting phenomenon develop: consumers who request alerts through multiple channels. Why the duplication? Consumers may not know which channel will have their attention at the moment an alert posts. As a result, they do something rare in today’s environment—invite companies to over-communicate. If you find your brand in that situation, resist the temptation to expand the content beyond the alert the consumer has requested—at least not without obtaining express permission beforehand.

http://www.exacttarget.com/SFF


Deliver Relevant and Timely Messages 2

By nature, travelers are on-the-go types, so relevancy and timeliness is key when it comes to delivering their messages. Some customers travel several times a month, while others may plan one large-scale excursion every few years, so it’s crucial to interact with them on the right channel at the right time. Provide your subscribers with valuable information in a timeframe that is consistent and keeps you top-of-mind, but is never overwhelming.

To avoid overwhelming or irritating your subscribers, ask yourself these questions:

• Do you generally see a substantial number of unsubscribes after you send a message to your subscribers?

• Has your deliverability rate been falling?

• Are your social media messages (i.e., tweets and Facebook status updates) being heard? When you ask an open-ended question, do fans and followers reply?

HOWTOIMPROVEMESSAGERELEVANCYANDTIMELINESS

There’s a simple difference between sending targeted promotional messages and “batch and blast” emails: one is relevant and the other isn’t. Be sure you are relevant with these tactical tips — this will help you keep your messaging on track.

• EmailDesignisCrucial. Evaluate your email design to make sure it’s appealing and user-friendly. Ensure your primary message and call to action are easily recognizable within the email, and use relevant lifestyle and product imagery to support your message.

• Great ContentWins. Use your messaging to provide such helpful content to your customers that they’d never consider unsubscribing. Whatever your niche, let your customers know that you have your finger on the pulse of travel, and they will, too — if they book with your brand.

• Test to Determine Right Frequency. As all travel brands know, it’s vital to be the company with the best prices and the most attractive options at the precise moment when a customer is debating a purchase. Sending frequent messages is acceptable if you have something meaningful to say. Work first on driving relevancy with each message, then test to determine a send schedule that balances the goals you’re trying to achieve with the value of each message.

• AlternativeConversionOptions.Some travel and hospitality purchases have especially lengthy buying cycles (like a honeymoon or other higher-cost vacation). Offer customers alternative conversion options such as “last chance to book” alerts, price change alerts, or free flight/room upgrade alerts to keep them engaged.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Determine how to make your communications relevant, and then start to integrate data to further refine your messaging. Remember, you don’t have to tackle all three at once. Just because you know that someone is interested in booking a cruise for a family of ten doesn’t mean they’re ready to commit today, so keep your communication valuable and steady if you want to be the brand they choose.


Cross-channel marketing helps you reach an individual at the perfect time, which is imperative to booking a week-long vacation or last-minute business trip.

Be better than just relevant—be personal. Consider these questions and how they relate to your personalized customer interactions:

• Does your social media manager have regular, personal interactions with your social media fans and followers?

• Does each person who asks a question on social media or via email receive a personalized reply? (What about those who have a complaint, like a delayed flight or a cruise canceled due to weather?)

• Are you constantly collecting new data about your customers?

HOWTOGETPERSONALWITHINTERACTIONS

Capture as much personal information as you can about each person who engages with your brand. Store that data in a centralized hub so that all of your communication is perfectly suited to the traveler’s future plans.

Personalize Your Interactions

25% of people unsubscribe from permission based emails because the content hasn't been relevant to them from the start.*

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Modern marketing software allows you to get personal, so take advantage of it with these strategies for increased personalization.

• PreferenceCenterSupport. In your welcome email, link to a preference center where you can invite customers to tell you about their interests.

• UseSimpleDataFirst. Use simple data points like purchase history, home base, and desired travel destinations to deliver personalized content for your customers and an improved experience.

• Target With Relevant Content. Consider a traveler who’s been researching flights from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. The traveler receives an email from one airline with a subject line advertising a limited-time discount on tickets from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. He also receives an email from another airline that merely promotes special rates on all flights. Which email do you think is more likely to be opened?

• Focuson theSecondLayer ofData. Drill down into your data points even further. Does this customer normally visit your resort’s special discounts page, or do they usually flip through the romantic getaways page? This data can help you decide whether you should promote your discount codes or couples’ spa amenities to them.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Every piece of data you collect creates a more customer-centric message and makes content extremely compelling. Digital travelers are being bombarded with marketing, retargeting, and cross-channel campaigns, so get noticed as the travel brand who remembers and respects their personal preferences.

*ExactTarget's SUBSCRIBERS, FANS, & FOLLOWERS: The Social Break Up


Automate the Travel Customer Lifecycle 4

Reaching the digital traveler-a person who’s already multitasking and on-the-go—takes thought and time. In the marketing world today, both are limited resources. You simply can’t afford to think about where each individual stands in the sales funnel.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, imagine bringing effective messaging to travelers at every stage in the customer lifecycle and supporting them along the way.

Are you taking advantage of these opportunities to keep in touch with your travelers? Ask yourself:

• Do travelers receive automated communications according to their travel preferences at every stage of their buying cycle?

• Would a prospective customer receive any retargeted messages from you about the hotel packages or travel destinations they were browsing, or would your brand fall off their radar screen when they leave your site?

• Do you have a shopping cart abandonment strategy? (Follow-up question: Is this strategy effective?)

HOWTOSIMPLIFYANDAUTOMATEYOURDIGITALMARKETING

It’s possible for you to reach your customers effectively while saving time and resources by automating your personalized communications to each customer. Welcome emails, booking confirmations, cart abandonment programs, pre- and post-travel notifications, and cross-sell/upsell opportunities can each be automated to your customers' unique engagements with your company.

For example, you can provide a relevant packing list prior to a customer’s trip or a weather forecast of their destination—without even thinking about it.

Spend less time planning and more time optimizing your automation strategy with these easy-to-implement automation plans.

• Automate Special Offers. Automate promotions by sending anniversary coupons to your subscribers or promoting seasonal specials.

• Send Travel Confirmations Automatically. Send text and email confirmations to acknowledge booking reservations, trip updates, or cancelations.

• AddYour Upsells. Keep your customers aware of any trip-related offers like upsells or cross-sells through live offers that end with the promotion's expiration (or when inventory runs out).

• SendRemindersAboutIncompletePurchases. Encourage visitors to complete their purchases for sightseeing attractions or car rentals through automated cart-abandonment programs driven by your web analytics data.

• Create Automatic Loyalty Program Notices. Keep in touch and build stronger relationships with your customers by automating email or SMS notices that inform them of their loyalty program point accruals.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Interact with your customers at every stage in the purchase lifecycle by automating your digital marketing processes. Frequent travelers and dream vacation planners alike need to be nurtured along the road to an eventual booking, so take the micro-level thought out of your communication plans and automate your way to better conversions and more engaged digital travelers.


Increase Customer Loyalty5

Frequent fliers are a buzzwordin the travel industry—with good reason. Travel customers are one of the best audiences to retain as loyal customers! That's because they’re highly likely to re-book with your brand if they loved you the first time, thanks to the larger investment of a car rental or hotel booking versus a smaller-ticket item.

Evaluate your current customer loyalty status with these questions:

• Are you currently rewarding return customers with airline points, free hotel stays, or another perk relevant to your industry?

• If so, are you giving away these perks often? (If not, it’s an indicator that your customer loyalty is declining.)

• Do social media comments often start with, “I’m a longtime fan/customer of [your brand name here]…”?

HOWTOTAPINTOCUSTOMERLOYALTY

With travel customers, building loyalty is an especially useful tactic to increase word-of-mouth sales. After all, who goes on an exciting trip and doesn’t tell anyone about it? Nobody.

Make sure you receive and reward digital traveler loyalty. Here are a few approaches:

• BeQuick toCommunicate.Pay attention to everyone who interacts with your brand on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, and other social platforms. Reply to them, acknowledge them (by “favoriting” their tweets, “liking” their posts, and so on), and always thank them for their business.

• GetData Involved.Assess customer loyalty and interactions with your brand via a real-time reporting tool, such as ExactTarget’s Interactive Marketing Hub®. Use this data to decide whether you need to make your loyalty program a bigger part of your messaging or if you’re on the right track.

• Have Friendly Offers Ready. Use your staff and brand to create friendly customer service experiences in-store or online. Translate that value through welcome emails, discounted cross-sell offers, or social media outlets.

• Stay Prominent on Every Channel. The more visible you are to your customer, the more loyal they’ll be. Engage with digital travelers by providing a Facebook coupon, loyalty reward point updates via SMS, and keep a relevant, steady stream of content in their inboxes.

• BecomeaTrustedResource. Use social media to comment on popular travel and hospitality topics that your customers are talking about, making your brand a content resource they’ll return to regularly.

THE BOTTOM LINE

If a traveler is happy with your brand’s loyalty program and overall customer service experience, they’ll also be happy to share information with family and friends about the great time they had using your service while away from home. Incentivize this desire to share with a loyalty program that simplifies sharing and saving.


Reaching the Digital Traveler: Success StoryExactTarget works with 200+ travel and hospitality clients to produce the top digital marketing solutions for brands in the industry. Check out a success story from a client who used ExactTarget to sail through common marketing challenges using our streamlined and sophisticated marketing software.

Celebrity Cruises Automates Interactions with ExactTarget and Adobe SiteCatalyst

Working with marketing technology consulting company Acceleration, Celebrity Cruises identified many ways to refine its customer communications—and drive higher revenue for the company at the same time.

The booking funnel within celebritycruises.com allows visitors to put reservations on a 72-hour hold before expiring. Using Adobe SiteCatalyst, they monitored website behavior and saw that many visitors who were placing the cruise deals on the 72-hour hold weren’t returning to book the cruise.

With the ExactTarget and Adobe SiteCatalyst integration, Celebrity now operates a sophisticated remarketing program to draw visitors back before their 72-hour hold expires. Celebrity has seen great success with its acquisition and upsell remarketing programs, including an 18-20% rise in conversion rate of “on hold” cruises to bookings and a 21% average click-through rate over a six-month period.

“After performing a detailed evaluation and receiving stellar references, it was a clear decision to utilize the combination of Acceleration service, ExactTarget, and Adobe SiteCatalyst technology to provide the best solution for maximizing the return on our digital marketing investment,” says Brian Powell, Associate Vice President, Direct & Loyalty Marketing at Celebrity Cruises.

It was a clear decision to utilize the combination of Acceleration, ExactTarget, and Adobe SiteCatalyst to provide the best solution for maximizing the return on our digital marketing investment.

Visit exacttarget.com to learn more.

http://www.ExactTarget.com