Hotel Surveys: Three Tips for Crafting an Email Subject Line

To get the highest response rate possible on your post-stay hotel surveys, one of the variables you need to perfect is your email subject line.

Your email’s subject line has a strong impact on the success of your email campaign. A boring or overcomplicated subject line can dissuade your guests from opening the message, even if they recognize and trust your hotel’s brand. Choosing the right words, on the other hand, can convince recipients to open your emails. A higher open rate means that you’re likely to get a more survey responses, and therefore, more guest data.

1. Personalization

Consumers are expecting personalization more and more often, especially when it comes to communications from brands. Including the person’s first name has worked for some. For others, subject lines that were localized, like those that included a city name or a local landmark, saw a significant boost in open rates. For hotels, it may help to include a small detail that is specific to your property, or to your guest’s stay. For example, a successful survey email subject line for  21c Museum Hotels might be, “James, how did you like our Penguins?”

2. Know the wrong words

Finding your power words can help you hone in on the right messaging for your subject line. But, it’s also helpful to know what words to avoid. For example, words like “free,” “help,” “percent off,” and “reminder” can trigger SPAM filters, meaning your guests won’t even see your email. (CLICK HERE for a more comprehensive list of SPAM trigger words.)

3. Subject line length

The research is pretty conclusive: You should keep your subject line to 50 characters or less. Subject lines with 4-15 characters get the best open rates, by far. People scan their inboxes quickly to decide what to read, and what to delete. The shorter your subject line, the less likely you are to get glossed over.

Learn about what’s trending, review response metrics, and a look forward at hospitality reputation in our 2018 Reputation Benchmark Report. Available free for download.