When Tesa Totengco started her travel advisor career, she regularly emailed clients — with little expectation that it would drive results. "It was my first host agency that encouraged this,” she said. "I didn't see the value at first, but after doing it with regularity and seeing responses and inquiries from my subscribers, I realized it was another way of communicating with clients and prospects.”
Those first few email deployments were over four years ago. Today, Totengco's emails to her subscribers are simply another facet of her work week, integrated into a larger marketing strategy she oversees.
"It's a great way to inspire and connect with your subscribers and for them to think about booking travel through you,” she said. “The traction I get from email is a testament to the fact that not everyone is on social media. I find it really effective, and that’s why I pursue it."
Email celebrated 50 years of existence last year, which means it predates the internet. It has become an alternate — albeit crucial — method to communicate and holds immense potential for businesses to share their stories, products, brands and ideas. As email marketing has become an entire industry unto itself, platforms are becoming more nuanced and sophisticated, and more advisors are seeing the value of this widely used form of marketing. After all, 92% of the U.S. population uses email as a form of communication, according to Statista.
Ashley Perego, digital marketing manager for VAX VacationAccess, acknowledges this. "Almost everyone uses email, which makes it a no-brainer to utilize in your overall business strategy,” she said. "Since you can easily personalize and target content with email marketing, it allows you to efficiently and quickly build brand recognition that converts into sales.”
Not only is email marketing one of the most efficient and cost-effective tools businesses can utilize to promote growth, but it also gives businesses control of their database. Instead of Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or any other social media platform controlling the addresses and access of clients, email marketing allows you to own this information. And, your database can continue to grow along with your business.
Whether you are an email marketing veteran or still considering your options, here are some tips and tricks to maximize its effectiveness for your business.
1. Determine Your Platform
To get started, you’ll need an email marketing platform to deploy communications, along with any other tools, such as Instagram, Canva or Grammarly, that streamline and personalize your efforts. Even if you already have a platform you use, the technology driving these is constantly evolving, and your marketing should be evolving along with it.
“So many platforms have extensive capabilities to take your emails to the next level,” said Perego. "It can really be beneficial to learn as much as you can about the tools you are utilizing to make a greater impact in your email marketing while being efficient.”
Some great choices include Constant Contact, Mailchimp, Sendinblue, HubSpot and Drip. As with any technology, each comes with various features that businesses may prioritize differently. Advisors that are just starting out may want a more affordable option as they get their feet wet, such as Mailchimp or Constant Contact. More veteran users may look to powerful and intuitive platforms like HubSpot or Drip for the ability to easily personalize emails or integrate apps such as Gmail, Salesforce, Vimeo and social media to make their marketing efforts seamless.
“I also cannot stress enough how efficient and time-saving email marketing is with a decent platform,” said Perego. "Email platforms give you the ability to send one primary email with personalized content based on the various audience segments in your database. So, while you spend time curating and sending out one email, your customers think you personalized content just for them.”
2. Be Consistent
Regularity is a key element of a successful email marketing strategy. Consistency ensures that you build brand recognition and showcase to clients that you are a trusted resource and expert that they can depend on — something that often translates into sales.
“The most important question you can ask yourself when determining an email marketing strategy is ‘what strategy will I realistically be able to follow on a consistent basis?’” said Perego. “You need to make sure that whatever approach you decide to go with, you can maintain that approach long-term.”
For Totengco, that strategy has evolved to a bi-weekly email deployment. "It works with my own travel schedule, and I have found that the frequency resonates with my audience,” she said.
One hazard of sending out a consistent schedule of content is the potential to overwhelm customers. Among the top reasons users unsubscribe from lists is that the content is irrelevant, too frequent or too promotional. For email marketers, the competition for attention is fierce, and finding a balance can be tricky. There is no golden rule; each audience has different preferences and tolerances, something that simply has to be figured out, and may even shift over time.
Perego noted, "A good rule of thumb if you are just starting out on your email marketing journey is to begin with one to two times a week, and then modify your frequency based on your email engagement and your marketing goals.”
3. Develop an Editorial Content Plan
What is your brand, who are your clients and what do they need? Answering these questions will help you determine what kind of content will resonate with your audience.
For Totengco, it has taken some time to assess what works and what doesn’t, and she is constantly reevaluating her content. In addition to relevant industry news, press trip stories and a link to a blog post to feature a destination, property or experience, she highlights a customer review and talks about her next trip. "It's all meant to make my audience know where my travels will lead me and hopefully ignite their interest,” she said.
If you are feeling stuck for ideas, think outside the box and widen your net. You likely have much more content in you than you think. "I think advisors underestimate how valuable their general knowledge about the travel industry is,” Perego said. "As a business owner, many focus solely on sales and promoting deals. While that is obviously very important for travel advisors to be successful, it’s easy to forget that being a trusted resource for travel and information can be just as valuable in converting sales."
And above all else, stay true to yourself and your brand voice. It’s critical that the tone of your email messaging is aligned with existing brand communications to ensure continuity.
4. Set Up Goals, Metrics and Segmentation
Setting up goals and success metrics will allow you to measure the outcomes of your email campaigns. Most platforms have basic analytics to help you assess open rate, click-through rate, which emails end in a sale and the growth of your list over time. Use this data to improve and tweak your content, frequency and strategy.
You’ll also want to build out your email database with your client’s information to allow you to personalize content and send information that is relevant to each individual. Perego explained, "This allows you to segment your customer-base into different groups, for example, customers who mainly book trips to beach destinations or customers who have children and tend to book family-friendly vacations."
5. March On
While Totengco notes that content creation takes time and is not always easy, the effort is worth it. Beginners shouldn’t stress if their list is small or their content is brief, as neither thousands of clients nor lengthy emails are necessary for success.
Perego said, "You can have an effective email marketing strategy even with a smaller database of clients and with small bites of content and quick promotions.” The secret is to start. And, for those who already have, simply continue to do the work. After all, consistency is key.
The prize for your efforts is the trust of your clients, who will choose you when they book their next trip. As Perego observed, "Why wouldn’t they want to put their vacation dreams into your capable hands?”
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