With all the hype around new forms of communication, it’s easy to forget about email – but email marketing is essential for your hostel.
Maybe it seems too obvious or ‘low tech’ in comparison to recent developments like messenger bots, but email is actually a hugely powerful tool to connect with your guests (and one of the most cost effective).
Plus, your target audience love it – a study conducted last year by Adobe found that millennials are obsessed with email. More than half of those aged 18-24 check their email while still in bed in the morning and those aged 25-34 report checking email during their downtime and even on vacation!
However, email didn’t do so well in our own market research – in fact, it came out as one of the most underused forms of communication for hostels. We also found that those hostels who do use email tend to send a booking confirmation and leave it there.
Yet email is an effective way to communicate with guests at every stage of the traveller journey – whether they have stayed with you in the past, have booked to stay with you soon or have shown an interest by signing up to your email newsletter.
Here’s a closer look at why email should be included in your hostel’s digital marketing plans.
Email marketing will help you…
DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS
It’s important to keep in mind that before a traveller decides to book a stay with your hostel, they have to like and trust you. Communicating via email with your past and (fingers crossed!) future guests gives you the opportunity to build an authentic relationship with them.
Ensure you are personalising your emails with their name – you can use an email marketing platform to automate this for you. You also should include information about your destination, hostel and activities that you believe the guest would genuinely find interesting based on their booking information. Personalisation is key here.
It’s also an ideal opportunity for you to build a rapport with your guests which will translate into positive reviews and return visits.
Stat: Only 8% of companies in the travel industry use detailed targeting when sending emails – this is a huge missed opportunity.
SAVE MONEY
Email is one of the most budget-friendly options for marketing your hostel and delivers one of the highest ROI’s (return on investment) for marketers.
Using simple email marketing software – which can be relatively inexpensive – is one of the best ways to communicate personally with your past guests. It’s also been found to be one of the most valuable as you are already promoting your hostel to people who have stayed with you and who have chosen to keep in touch as they want to return.
BOOST ACTIVITY AND ADD-ON SALES
The period between a guest booking a stay and checking can be crucial in terms of your overall guest experience. Sending guests a welcome email during this time shows them that you value their decision to stay with you and you care about the experience they are going to have at your hostel.
Using information from their booking, you can personalise the email to share details about activities you think they would enjoy and add-ons like breakfast prices or room upgrades. If you can grab their attention with special ‘pre-stay’ promotions, they are far more likely to book in advance and it gives them even more reason to get excited for their stay with you – win win!
Stat: An estimated 77% of consumers prefer to receive marketing messages through emails.
BUILD BRAND LOYALTY
Reaching out to past guests with ‘exclusive’ offers is a great way to build loyalty in your brand. With more and more travellers opting to revisit destinations that they have been previously, emails like this can encourage guests to book with you again.
Show your guests you are willing to go the extra mile to reward their loyalty to your hostel by sending a personalised email sharing a discount code or freebie for their return visit.
GET VALUABLE FEEDBACK
When published on review sites and social media, guest feedback can make or break your reputation. For travellers, reviews are one of the first considerations when deciding where to stay on their next trip.
But guest feedback is also hugely valuable for your hostel. You need to know what your guests are enjoying – and what they aren’t – so you can continue improving your guest experience and address any issues that might come up.
If guests did enjoy their stay – which will hopefully be in most cases – then you can ask them to share their experience with others and encourage them to keep in touch with you via your social media channels.
Sending a follow up email to ask guests about their stay after check out is a great strategy for a number of reasons. If a guest has had a bad experience with you, this email allows you to apologise and try to resolve the issue before the feedback winds up on TripAdvisor or splashed all over your social media pages.
And don’t forget to let staff know about good feedback!
Communicating with your guests via email can be as creative and fun as you want it to be. Don’t be afraid to try out different approaches but remember, personalising as much as possible is what makes email so powerful.
Looking to get organised with your social media? Feel like you’re spending too much time planning and posting?
Get organised & efficient with your hostel’s social media on our FREE 5-day email course launching Monday 24th September.
From strategy to scheduling to content calendars – and not forgetting our all important ‘routines’ – we’ve got you covered… ⠀
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