You want to welcome people from all over the world to your luxury destination, and you know that people always fall in love with it once they arrive. But first you have to sell them your destination and persuade them to visit.
One way to do this is by using an email blast.
This will get your message into the inboxes of as many people as possible in a short space of time without you having to spend a fortune.
Supposing you already have a list of potential customers and previous customers, here’s how you can use an email blast to market your destination to them.
Segment Your List
While email list segmentation can become quite complex, for this email blast you should consider simply segmenting your list into two groups:
- Previous customers
- Potential customers
These are two very different groups, and as such you will probably get better results by tailoring your message to each. This is not an essential step, but it’s worth doing as it won’t take long and could generate a better response rate.
For previous customers, you could talk about how they must be missing your destination, the fun they had, and all the good times that they could experience again. For potential customers, you could focus on tempting them to escape their routines by booking a stay in paradise.
Offer Something of Value
Email blasts work best when you provide recipients with a very good reason to respond. A discount on their stay is the obvious choice — and the most effective — because everyone loves a special offer.
But you have to be careful. Do you really want people to associate your luxury destination with budget prices?
If you opt for a discount, don’t make it too much. Perhaps stick to about 10%. And don’t do it too often — you don’t want people staying on your list purely because they are holding out for your latest mega discount.
Use Urgency
Urgency is a powerful persuasive tool that has been used in advertising campaigns for generations. And you can use it too.
In the same way that everyone wants to get something at a discount, no one wants to miss out on something good. If you’re offering a 10% discount on a one-week stay, make sure this is only open to the first 50 people to reply, or only run it for 24 hours.
Don’t give people a chance to put it aside for later. When that happens, you’ve as good as lost them. Encourage them to act in the moment.
Use a Tempting Image
Luxury travel is one of those niches where a picture really does tell a thousand words. You have seconds to capture your recipients’ attention, so make sure you do by using a large, stunning image.
Find the very best image you have of your destination — ideally one in which a guest is relaxing in the sun having the time of their life. You want every one of your recipients to look at that image and think “that should be me”.
Draw Them in with Descriptive Language
While the image is what will capture the attention, don’t let it do all the talking. Once the image has got their interest, draw them in with language.
“Imagine the scene…” is always a good way to start, or “Picture yourself on a golden beach, the waves lapping at your feet…”
Using this kind of language will raise the temptation and communicate very clearly that you’re offering a luxurious experience. And you don’t ever need to lie about anything — just emphasise the positives.
Personalise Your Email
People want to be treated well and made to feel special — especially regarding a luxury vacation — so make sure you personalise your emails (with advanced personalisation options, email automation from Moosend is perfect for this kind of thing). Use first names, send the email from a real person with a photo, and reply personally to any questions. It’s easy to do, but it makes a big difference.
Use the Open-Loop Method
A major challenge of email marketing is that it is very competitive. Many emails will be ignored completely, and you need to stand out in the inbox to get noticed.
One way to do this is to use the open-loop method. This is essentially a way to encourage opens by suggesting there is something good inside the email.
For example, for your email blast, you could use a subject like: “The one simple way to make your dream vacation come true.”
What is this “one simple way?” When the recipients want to find out, you’ll see a higher opening rate — and getting people to open your email is half the battle.
Send Visitors to a Landing Page
Make sure you create a dedicated landing page for your email blast, and make it as easy as possible for targets to show their interest.
Make your call to action (CTA) a clickable link in the email to visit the landing page, then use this to sell them on the idea even further and get them to sign up.
Ask them to fill out their telephone number to book a call, then call them directly to discuss their vacation. If you prefer to take bookings online, you can set your landing page up to reflect this.
Test Your Blast
Consider sending two versions of your email blast, perhaps with each one using a different offer or a different subject line. Email is something that you can test very quickly, particularly since it’s easy to find out how many people have opened your emails and how many clicks to your landing page each email has generated.
Since email is a cost-effective way to market that you are likely to use again, it makes sense to gather data from every email you send. Find out what works and what doesn’t work so you have more data to use in future campaigns.
Consider Sending Emails More Regularly
An email blast is an effective way to market your luxury destination on a one-off basis, but if you find that email is working for you, start using it more regularly.
Send out regular news emails about the latest happenings in your part of the world, always with the aim of making it sound exotic and tempting. Talk about the seasons, recent events, local festivals, local cuisine and culture, upcoming highlights, etc.
Basically, make sure people on your list are consistently being sold a tempting travel experience — so when they are ready to book a vacation, they will think of you.
- How to Market Your Luxury Destination with an Email Blast - 17 July 2018
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