• by Todd Wilson , September 8, 2014

In the past year, I’ve written about the importance of Social, Mobile, and even wearables, and the role they’re all playing in travel marketing today. I haven’t spent much time discussing email, however – the foundation of any digital strategy that continues to deliver year after year, despite being declared dead more often than disco. Every time the bloom falls off the promise of a new, “sexier” channel or strategy, email is still there – innovating, driving tremendous revenue, and proving again and again that a smart email program can deliver results like no other. 

Unfortunately, many marketers send their emails without any real strategy at all. As a result, they’re letting a cornerstone of their entire marketing program atrophy while they could be making it the strongest and most profitable performer in their portfolio. These marketers understand that they need a promotional email, an abandoned cart email, transactional communications, etc., so they build them, send them … and forget about them. They check the boxes and send the campaigns, but they don’t target, they never test and optimize, and they simply count on email to continue to drive a steady (and steadily declining) stream of revenue year after year. 

The Travel industry is unfortunately guilty of this approach as well. I’ve worked with many clients who have never walked through their own customer email user experience – much less explored how their email user experience fits into their entire customer experience between Mobile, Social, websites, and personal customer service. When we show them their poor (or absent) welcome and on-boarding process, the irrelevant promotional messaging, the browse abandon messages that are delivered after a purchase has been made, and more, they’re stunned. And when we test a targeted, customer-centric approach to email against their existing, “check the box” strategies, they realize the opportunity they’ve been missing for so long. 

Email strategy for Travel is a far different beast than email strategy for Retail or CPG or other industries as well. Leisure travelers don’t purchase travel the same way or with the same frequency they purchase shirts or shampoo; as a result, promotional email campaigns for travelers with content and cadences similar to Retail promotional email campaigns fall flat, and subscribers end up ignoring the campaigns or unsubscribing completely. When Unroll.me listed their most unsubscribed email programs for 2013, Expedia was one of the top 10 most unsubscribed overall – and the vast majority of the rest, from Ticketweb to Pro Flowers, were from other companies with products or services you probably only purchase a few times a year at most. 

In order to succeed over time, Travel email programs need to create a unique balance of experience, content, and promotions to continue being welcome in customers’ inboxes (and smartly fill the gaps between travel bookings). A few months ago, I wrote about how some Travel companies have done a fantastic job of providing great content via their Social strategies. These same companies also do a great job of balancing experience and content with promotions, all while promoting a brand lifestyle that their subscribers want to be a part of (and are therefore more likely to aspirationally post to places like Facebook and Pinterest for their friends). 

I like to tell my clients that email may not be sexy, but it has a wonderful personality – and even though some marketers may spend too much time chasing new, exciting channels, email constantly endures and thrives and gets better with age. Every industry and every company requires a unique email strategy to succeed – but especially Travel. A great Travel email program will drive sales, deliver an experience, sell a lifestyle, and recognize that the Travel purchase cycle requires a unique approach and cadence to keep customers engaged. And if you can master email in your marketing strategy, you’ll have the foundation in place to make your approach to Social, Mobile, and other channels stronger and more customer-centric as well.