By Guestfolio
Sending targeted emails to your guests and subscribers isn’t just a pipe dream anymore, it’s happening all around us, and 2016 is the year for you to fully embrace it! As new technology solutions emerge that offer a single view of your customers it is easier than ever to engage your guests effectively. To make it as simple as possible for you, we’ve compiled a few simple steps for you to follow when you next come to sending out a campaign. Remember, it’s not just about targeting the right person, it’s also about communicating your message and your brand through that email in the best way, so, always follow brand guidelines on design and wording before you get started:

• Make your message and offer succinct and easily requestable: It should be obvious to the recipient what you’re trying to promote and what they need to do to take advantage of the offer. Large buttons and clickable images are effective – trust us, flattering pictures of your destination always work wonders.
• Make sure the offer is relevant to the audience: Send an off season offer to guests who have previously stayed during those dates to entice them to return, or perhaps send to those without children who may be able to travel during non-peak times.
• Keep your subscriber lists clean and up to date: This means checking that your lists have not been ‘inherited’ from elsewhere and that all your subscribers have been obtained according to government regulations.
• Use smaller, more targeted lists for each campaign: Target according to the content of the email and you will see a big jump in click-through rate. The more relevant the message the less likely the recipient will unsubscribe.
• Manage your dropped and bounced email addresses: To prevent too many bounces or drops, we recommend ‘cleaning’ your lists after every email campaign is sent. Your email marketing provider should remove these automatically from your subscriber lists but if not, simply cross-check the bounces/drops against your list following completion of the campaign.
• Stay clear of the SPAM filter: Here are some top tips for keeping your email campaign out of the automatic SPAM filter. These points in combination with the above points will keep your emails safe and relevant for the reader.