The A.G. Thomson House has an email signup on their website.http://thomsonhouse.biz/
Last week we looked at blog strategy ideas for tourism websites. Today, we’re going to expand on that idea and talk about something that goes right along with blogging and that is email marketing.
Something I wish I had done earlier for each of the blogs I work on is building the email list and setting up an email program. There is no better way to promote a website and its content. People often talk about social media like Facebook and Twitter, but email marketing is actually easier and more effective in my experience.
So my advice to you is to start that email program right away. Get a service setup to send emails. Put some signup forms on your website and start experimenting with different templates and designs.
Take time away from your social media pages to do this if you have to find time. It’s worth it in the long run to have an email list rather than followers, fans or likes.
With that said, here are some tips to get you started.
1. Create a Weekly Photo Series
People love to have something to look forward to. As a travel business you realize that your industry is very visual. Something you could add to your weekly emails is a photograph. Call it the “Seen Around Town” series or something like that. Focus on unique images from around your city. People will love seeing the photos you take. You don’t necessarily need to take a photo each day. Take lots of photos one day and get enough for a month or more.
This would be great for tourism sites, bed and breakfast sites and other travel sites.
2. Share Local Stories
The best part of visiting a new place is learning about the non-tourist locations. There are always the monuments and the sights to see in every city, but most people want to go where the locals go. As a travel business person you are in the unique position to provide some really great content that people want to hear. You’re always plugged in to the latest stories from around town. Share those stories in your email and entice those subscribers to visit.
3. Make Sure All Clients Sign Up
When clients are leaving your place of business (I’m thinking of bed and breakfast locations and similar type business) make sure you’re asking for their email address. Let them know that they’ll receive updates like photos from around the city and other stories about the city. If they loved it they’ll stay in touch with your newsletter and probably schedule a future trip.
4. Automate Blog Emails
The easiest way to setup an email program is to automate the email design with your blog posts. You can create a basic email design template in nearly every email provider setup. From there you can automatically pull in your most recent blog posts and send them off to subscribers.
5. Re-use Website Content
You can do this with the automated blog content from point #4, but there is likely other content on your website that you can re-use in your emails. It could be a testimonial or a story. You could share your own story in a series of emails where you talk about your love affair with the place you’re living in and why people should come and visit. If there is content like that on your site you can jut re-use it in your emails to save time and still be interesting in the eyes of the subscribers.
6. Share Stories from Real People
A story is something people love. I’m not sure what it is but people love reading stories. Ask your customers to share their stories with you and then ask if you can use their stories on your website and in emails. Keep the language the same in the story and don’t change a thing (except maybe a couple grammar mistakes). People love to hear the real stories from the real visitors that are just like them. They’ll want to have the same experiences when they visit.
7. Create a Highlight Destination Series
Again, people love series of emails. You can create the photo series and along with that you can create a featured destination in your city or town. Talk about a local business or attraction. Share the details about the place and really sell it to the subscribers on your list.
On top of this you could even partner with the business to cross-promote your website and theirs. Send the email to both of your lists in and effort to raise the profiles of both organizations.
8. Answer Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions are part of nearly every business. There are always questions people have. You can probably think of questions visitors have asked you voer the years. Answer those questions in your emails. If someone has had it there is a really good chance that your subscribers have the same question.
9. Incorporate Social Media
When most people do this they’ll ask their subscribers to follow them on Facebook or Twitter. You can do that, but take things a step further and use the content from your social media locations in your emails. Maybe there was a great comment on your Facebook page or a photo shared with you on Twitter. Use that content in your emails.
10. Ask for Feedback
One area where some businesses really excel is asking for feedback from subscribers. Any time you can send out a survey or just ask for email replies you’ll be doing something to help your business. There is always something to learn and people usually respond really well when this is done via email.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the ways you can use an email marketing strategy to benefit your travel business. Use these ideas to get yourself started or to tweak your current program. From there use your imagination to make your email program the best in the travel industry.
