With 89% of marketers using email as their primary channel for lead generation, consumers are being inundated with messages from brands. Will your messages be ignored or deleted or opened and clicked? The answer depends on how good a job you do at segmenting your database and sending relevant, timely emails. Generic email blasts are as passe as requiring bathing caps in the pool. These blasts not only contribute to low open and click-through rates, [...]

Airlines promote seat upgrades to enhance a flight experience, and McDonald’s has been upselling its customers for years simply by asking, “Do you want fries with that?” In hospitality, upsells enhance the guest experience while generating more ancillary revenue for hotels. The best upsell strategies to consider are segmentation, timing, and email design. Keep reading to learn how your hotel can build an upsell strategy that gets results. Segmentation for personalized upsells The key to [...]

Imagine building meaningful guest relationships, increasing direct bookings, and driving incremental revenue without hardly lifting a finger. Well, you no longer have to wonder because that is the exact value of automated campaigns or as we like to call them, “set and forget” campaigns. Here's how you can automate your email marketing campaign:   Understanding one-time vs. automated You are probably already familiar with the common one-time campaign. With a quick go-to-market time, far reach, [...]

What do successful weekly Smith Travel Research (STR) reports across regions and hotels have in common?  A well-executed group strategy, which answers the question, “What amount of group business, along with all other segments, constitutes optimal mix for your hotel?” Of all the market segments that make up a hotel mix, group segments form the strongest foundation for most hotels’ pricing strategy.   Group segment trends for 2018 1. Shorter booking windows and increasing Average [...]

We talk a lot around here about what it takes to get your emails delivered to inboxes. But hey, maybe that’s not your thing and you’d rather go to spam. No judgment here!  If spam is your goal, then definitely do these four things below. But if you’d rather your campaigns actually see the light of day, then we suggest you keep reading so you know exactly what not to do.   1. Not authenticating [...]