Email Communication in the Hospitality Industry "How-To" During COVID-19 - May 28, 2020 - Inte Q
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Email Communication in the Hospitality Industry “How-To” During COVID-19 May 28, 2020
Important Notes • Today’s webinar will be conducted in listen only mode to minimize background noise. • The webinar is accessible through computer speakers (VoIP) only. • Please check your speaker volume to confirm your audio is working.
Webinar Tool Overview 3
Meet Our Presenter:
Hand Icon
Click here to raise your hand.
The presenter may ask you to
do so periodically. Jason is an experienced digital marketing
professional, spending the last 20+ years
managing communication strategy, email
Questions marketing operations, messaging strategy,
Chris
JasonDuncan
Sisley
Submit questions for the
presenter here. Questions will
and customer journey mapping.
Chief
be Marketing
President,
answered in Den Officer
Aviary
a follow up
email after the presentation.
4
Meet Our Presenter:
Jason is a digital marketing expert, managing
communication strategy, email marketing
operations, messaging strategy, and customer
journey mapping for top brands in multiple
Jason Sisley industries for more than 20 years.
President, Den Aviary
Jason’s hospitality marketing experience spans
more than 10 years with top brands, including
Marriott, Orbitz, and Great Wolf Lodge.
What You Will 5
Learn
• Hospitality email marketing dos
and don’ts during COVID-19
• Email volume in the travel and hospitality
sector has been cut dramatically. Should you
cut back? Who should you be targeting?
• Trends regarding industry spam complaints for
COVID-related mailings
• We’re seeing increased search traffic for
travel. Should you lean in?
• How are Travel and Hospitality brands
communicating at this time?
Current State 6
In the Travel & Hospitality sector,
marketing volume has been cut
dramatically, highlighting that the
hardest hit industries largely
pressed pause on marketing
campaigns.
After a big email week to talk about
what their responses were to
COVID-19, brands in this industry
have understandably taken a step
back from promoting near-term
travel or bookings.
Trends in Travel Communications
1 Travel messages sent at this time garner mixed reviews from recipients.
2 Open and engagement rates for most mailings remain very high.
Our Industry insights indicate spam complaints for COVID-related mailings are high as well,
3
indicating that some people just don’t want to hear about it.
Brands we’ve talked to are seeing increased searches for Fall travel and may lean into that
4
as a way to start getting people to start booking trips again.
Email Marketing During COVID-19 8
However the business is managed, now
is the time to be disciplined and
consistent.
You must have a very focused data-driven
approach to your marketing activities.
Make sure you’re investing in your highest
performing segments first and make sure
your email marketing activities are
measurable.
Email Marketing During COVID-19 9
DO DO NOT
• Protect your deliverability • Send mass COVID-19 emails if you do not have
• Maintain a relatively reasonable frequency anything critical and valuable to say to your
• Use engagement as a guide customers
• Send email to subscribers who are not engaged
• Send to the most engaged customers at a similar with your email
frequency, but don’t forget about your lapsed
• Engaged = opened or clicked one of your emails
customers
within the past 9 months (at a maximum).
• Maintain email content best practices Mentioning your business is suffering
• Minimal copy, clear CTAs, • This is impacting all companies and sectors
• Maintain a high live-text to image ratio • Displaying desperation does not result in positive
metrics
• Keep information on other mediums for • A global pandemic may or may not be a business
information that is not time sensitive opportunity for your brand
• Utilize Facebook, Instagram, or your website if • Use email very carefully and make sure your
you are announcing new hours, for example message is timely and helpful to your subscribers
• Avoid damaging brand sentiment, customer
engagement and sender reputation with irrelevant
messagesWhat is Email Deliverability… 10
…And why is it so important in uncertain times?
• Email deliverability is the measurement of overall program reputation, your ability to maintain high inbox
rates and take preventative action based on signals from the ISPs.
• Deliverability is a major issue for brands, especially in times of crisis due to a high rate of fraudulent
emails. ISPs are simply protecting their customers.
• Brands rely heavily on digital communications and want to know that these communications will reach
their intended recipients.Deliverability: A Major Concern 11
• The increase of COVID-19 emails and decrease in
engagement is a huge deliverability problem
• People are more selective in the emails they
open related to the coronavirus
• Decreased engagement leads to more unsubscribes
and spam reports
• Email providers will begin to filter these emails into
the junk folder
• Some email providers can’t handle the increased
traffic of emails, causing delays in delivery
• Above all, work to avoid deliverability issues vs.
reacting to them when they occurAudience 12
Inactives Don’t Exist (At the Moment)
• The hospitality industry relies on customer data
to send the right message to the right people at
the right time
• You may find that active customers with your
brand aren’t very active right now as they are
not traveling
• Don’t mark them as inactive
• Not interacting with your content does not
mean they are truly inactive
• The changing social and economic
environment requires us to view active and
inactive recipients through a different lens
• Becoming inactive may have nothing to do
with your brandEmail During Times of Crisis: Best Practices 13
Anything online right now will be consumed (and scrutinized!)
more than ever before
• Now is not the time to try to force brand equity, but it’s important to maintain it with your customers
• Be thoughtful with your communications and pay attention to what your competitors are doing
• Don’t make big, broad changes (creative, content, volume, frequency). Make small changes over time.
• Keep an eye on your signals:
• Monitor deliverability and how ISPs are responding
• How is your messaging resonating with your best customers and your less active customers?
• Who should you ultimately be emailing?
• Shift your email marketing goals and success metrics to focus on retention
• Actively measure your results & learn for future communications
It’s not the time to become invisible and hope for the best14
Hospitality: Moving out
of COVID-19
RESONATE WITH FALL TRAVEL
PLANNERS
• Create a list of refundable trip options
• Offer Money-Back Guarantees when travelers
book now
SCRUTINIZE YOUR PROGRAM
• Consider opportunities to retool your programs
in ways you couldn’t when you were going full
speed ahead.
• Take a step back - how you can change
course or cut back on things that you would
have a harder time doing if volume was still at
full capacity.
•In Summary ARE YOUR EMAIL
15
CAMPAIGNS REACHING
1 MEASURE and closely monitor your email CUSTOMER INBOXES?
deliverability rates.
Find Out with Inte Q’s
Ramp down your volume if you’re
2 decreasing your send frequency/weekly
Email Deliverability Audit.
volume. Inte Q brings together comprehensive deliverability
features to protect your sender score, we can help you
Listen to your customers react based on
3 their engagement. Be relevant.
boost delivery rates and optimize inbox placement across
your entire email list.
MEASURE and monitor activity from your
4 most engaged customers and those who have
become less engaged during this time.
Ramp up your volume when returning to Deliverability Real-Time Stay Valuable
5 “normal” and continue to MEASURE email
Metrics Reporting Informed Insights
deliverability.
To learn more, or to schedule your deliverability audit,
contact Karyn Speckels@kspeckels@inteqinsights.com16
Resources
Articles
https://emailkarma.net/2020/03/coronavirus-and-the-prominence-of-email-fraud/
https://www.emailmonday.com/guide-crisis-email-marketing/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/22/business/coronavirus-emails.html
https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-emails-from-companies-may-not-be-calming-to-customers-11584957184
https://www.business2community.com/email-marketing/covid-19-emailing-best-practices-in-times-of-crisis-02296953
Deliverability
MxToolBox: http://www.mxtoolbox.com
MailTester: https://www.mail-tester.com/
Talos Reputation Check: https://talosintelligence.com/reputation_center
Competitive Analysis
Mail Charts: http://www.mailcharts.com
Content & Design Ideas
Really Good Emails: https://reallygoodemails.com/You can also read
