Did you know there are 4 billion daily email users? Not only that, but 33% of marketers send weekly emails, 26% send emails multiple times per month and 77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months.

Email really is one of the most effective and powerful ways of communicating with your customer base.

As you can imagine though, nearly half of consumers feel as though they receive too many marketing emails. This means not only do you need to be sending a highly targeted, personalised and relevant email, you also need to make your email or newsletter stand out from the crowd - and one way of doing this (a big part of the puzzle) is to ensure it's crafted perfectly. It's an art. Read on for more.

Crafting a special, succinct subject line

You might think that subject lines aren’t that important, but they are one of the most critical components of any email marketing campaign. No matter how fascinating your copy or how brilliant your design, it won’t be seen unless the subject line seduces subscribers to engage. With that in mind, here are some tips:

• Try to choose words that automatically attract the eye and ignite an urgency or communicate a benefit
  Keep it short - due to device restrictions on character length, and your guests' short attention span, short is sweet
• Be personal - personalisation is trending, and people will actively trust your message more if their own name appears on the screen
• Establish limits for the target and time - using scarcity or urgency subject lines are a great way of enticing your audience to take action
• Flag a special occasion - whether it's a traditional holiday, a jokey one (Pyjama Day anyone?) or a personal one (like your guests' birthday) flagging a special occasion is a great way of engaging people and attracting their attention to a fun or special offer

Creating your email content

• Be relevant - think very carefully about your targeted audience before creating and sending an email. If the information doesn’t give your customer real value, don’t put it in the email
• Flourish with with a human touch - use a clear and effective tone in your writing to establish an emotional connection with your audience. Be as casual or as formal as your hotel’s brand dictates, but make sure that your customer feels like there’s a real person writing the email
• Prioritise the right content - from the very beginning to the end, every line counts. Remember, you only have only a few seconds to grab their attention!
• Use “you” more than “I/we” - Why does it matter? Your subscribers are a lot less interested in you and your company than they are in how your hotel and its products or services can benefit them. So make sure you make the email about them (not about you).
• Be quick, fresh & concise - Most of your customers have about as much time to check their email as you do – not a lot

Make your call to action count

• Use active language – CTAs should start with a verb (click me)
• Create a sense of urgency of providing incentives for taking actions (book by…)
• Add value in the email and convert on the landing page
• Email subject line and content should all support the CTA
• Make sure buttons look like buttons
• The CTA button needs to stand out: colour and location matter
• Be mindful of conflicting CTAs or having too many links – these can confuse people

Net Affinity
Focused exclusively on the hotel sector, Net Affinity has collated the brightest, most commercially focused, experienced and passionate team of online marketers, account managers, designers and developers whose combined skill set ensures our clients online success and continued growth. We created this blog because we wanted to share our expertise with you, and offer you the knowledge that over 15 years experience in the hotel industry has given us.

www.netaffinity.com