Orlando Hotel Marketing executives are no longer Teflon Dons. Working with tighter budgets and tighter markets under heavier scrutiny to deliver results, heads of marketing departments are in the hot seat and need to get more mileage from every penny spent. So many savvy Orlando hotel marketers are turning to e-mail marketing and looking for more effective ways to use it.
(If executed properly, email marketing can build your strongest customer base in the most inexpensive way.)
This shift toward online distribution requires Orlando hotels to develop a comprehensive email marketing strategy. One which will establish a more interactive relationship with their customers.
The hotel faces even further challenges when it comes to Quality, permission-based email lists which are scarce and expensive, and the glut of email in in-boxes is impacting response rates.
So it puts even more pressure on growing and improving in house email lists.
Savvy Orlando hotel are using a variety of methods to obtain more permission-based email addresses from existing customers and targeted prospects. The challenge, of course, is obtaining these email addresses in a climate in which people are increasingly reluctant to accept more overtures from online marketers.
To help you along I have assembled approximately 13 techniques that have proven to be effective. While many may sound familiar, relatively few Orlando hotels can say that they have exploited all or even most of these.
I have found the secret to capturing higher levels of email addresses is a coordinated and consistent use of a variety of methods in combination.
I suggest Orlando hotel circulation marketers try to test and implement each of these methods over time, as resources allow.
PROMOTE AND DISPLAY YOUR WEBSITE IN EVERY POSSIBLE VENUE. Some hotel chains find it more effective to create individual websites for each of their properties. Others believe they achieve better branding from a centralized website. Whichever method you decide to use, remember the key to driving site traffic is making sure that website address is printed on every piece of anything that is going out of your hotel, including stationery, promotional mail, display ads, premiums, bills, envelopes, insert cards. napkins, beverage cup and any other ancillary materials.
CREATE YOUR OWN FREE E-NEWSLETTER AND WORK TO PROMOTE IT HEAVILY. This will become one of your primary sources of email addresses. While you might think this is an expensive proposition it's not. The editorial and delivery costs are outweighed by the bookings generated from embedded ads and the cost savings on acquisition of new customers.
Side note: To serve its purpose, an Orlando e-newsletter must offer useful, timely and relevant content. The most effective ways to get people to sign up for the e-newsletter are to promote it in your print publications and insert opt-ins all over your Web site.
RUN SOME SORT OF SWEEPSTAKES AND TIE IN TO PROVIDING AN EMAIL ADDRESS. Like many marketers, I have found that people will gladly supply email addresses in return for the chance of winning a sweepstakes. "I have discovered that the prize doesn't necessarily have to be impressive," "In fact, some campaigns achieve excellent results with sweeps offering a prize like an ipod many or even a popular book." To maximize response, I suggests changing the prize regularly.
Legal note: hotels do need to be vigilant about ensuring that every promotion adheres to all legal requirements, so when in doubt Check with your legal council -- And in any case make it clear that no purchase is required for entering.
BEGIN YOUR OWN VIRAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN. Viral marketing has been around for years and is definitely not a new concept. Recognizing that it's been around and successful for years should embolden every hotel to attempt a viral campaign of their own. (Side note, I've seen very small Orlando hotel use this very effectively to compete with larger hotels)
The most obvious method is promoting the "forward to a friend" feature. Orlando hotels can use the forwarding method at the bottom of every issue of their e-newsletter. Furthermore to make life a little easier for the hoteliers, theirs software available to track the volume of forwards, as well as the number of e-newsletter sign-ups.
Another effective viral technique is offering an incentive or reward for each new email address generated by an existing subscriber. Offering additional sweepstakes entries or may be a $1.00 credit towards their next stay; or just about anything you can think of we'll work.
I must emphasize how important it is to make sure that the initial email contact to these new prospects is forwarded by their friends, rather than sent directly by the hotel. "You don't want people to feel like they're being spammed.
ASK FOR EMAIL ADDRESSES DURING CUSTOMER SERVICE CALLS AND PHONE CONTACTS AND EVEN DURING CHECK IN. This can be a very effective way to get permission-based email addresses from your Orlando hotel visitors. To maximize response and avoid privacy issues, make sure that the customer is clearly informed about how you will use the email address. (let them know it will only be used for the hotel's use only and will not be shared with any third parties).
TEST AN EMAIL ADDRESS REQUEST ON THE CHECK IN FORM. It's worth trying. Upwards of 60% of your visitors will fill in the e-mail information with no further prompting.
TEST PROMOTIONS ON INVOICES AND STATEMENTS. Printing a promotional message on the invoice and then tie it into a reason to join your e-newsletter.
TEST AN E-APPEND SERVICE. Introduce your company to prospects, and support your other marketing initiatives. Having compilers of permission-based email addresses append these to your customer and expire files can be one of the quickest ways to achieve a critical mass of email addresses. Unfortunately, it can also be expensive.
Match rates vary tremendously, depending on how e-savvy your customers are and how clean your list is. Make sure that you pay only for email matches that prove deliverable once you've actually deployed them. Also, stay on top of privacy issues.
The guidelines of the Association for Interactive Marketing now state that use of permission e-appends is acceptable as long as marketing messages carry opt-outs or opt-ins. However, this is a somewhat gray area that could change over time.
MAKE IT EXTREMELY EASY TO OPT IN. Place a sign-up button on every page of your site, not just on your home page. Consider making it possible for people to sign up right on the page instead of forcing them to click a button. The quicker and easier it is, the more opt-ins you'll get.
USE POP-UPS & POP-UNDERS. I know, they're annoying. But they really work. You can use cookies to deliver the right messages to the right individuals. Your site can be programmed to deliver a pop-up to someone three times and then stop delivering it, or to deliver it every other time that individual visits, or to rotate a series of different messages.
OFFER DOWNLOADABLE EDITORIAL PREMIUMS. Strong downloadable premiums - particularly those offering timely content, for example points of interest restaurant reviews and so on for the visitors coming to the Orlando destination. Always have high perceived value, and cost you nothing to deliver. Again, you're offering someone a real reason to give you an email address.
PROMOTE YOUR HOTELS SITE IN ONLINE DISCUSSION GROUPS AND BULLETIN BOARDS. Look for ones that fit your property's niche. The idea is not to sell something, but to give information away. These groups are quick to crack down on sales messages, but if you're giving away genuinely valuable information like the best places to eat or places to visit, you won't get spammed or kicked off.
PARTNER WITH SIMILAR SITES. Create an opt-in offer for your e-newsletter to appear on a partner's site in exchange for promoting an opt-in for the partner's product are service on your own site. A good example of this is a local orlando transportation company. They often have their own web presence and traffic which they can cross promote with you.
The key to making this work is equal value. If one Web site is getting 10 times the traffic of the other, the exchange won't work. But as long as the sites have similar traffic patterns and exposure, this can be a great way to get more prospects in a friendly, non-competitive way.
GENERATE SOME PR. Find a news angle (some unique local event like a strawberry festival) and write a press release about it. This type of exposure can really up your bookings and intake of email addresses. If you want to track the results of your press releases, don't list your main URL in the release, so that everyone goes to the home page. You need to provide a URL specifically designated for the release.
If you have any further questions or just need help e-mail me.
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