As we head into the busy summer travel season, travel brands will be looking for ways to connect with consumers. Of course, brands are constantly chided to avoid over-communicating with their opted-in subscribers. Even after consumers have subscribed to your brand's email or chosen to "like' you on Facebook, your brand's connection with them remains tenuous, because they can break off the relationship at any time.

A major temptation for some brands is to over-communicate with customers, inundating them with offers, deals, product news, and just about anything else that marketers believe could...

Read More »

Are you a digital marketer? Do you work for a travel brand? If you answered yes, then this blog post is for you!

ExactTarget recently released Reaching Today’s Digital Traveler, a compilation of tips and tactics that are critical for digital marketers in the travel and hospitality industry. Here’s the list of tactics, plus the questions you should ask yourself to keep your digital communication strategy on track.

1. Grow Your Subscriber list

To determine why your brand might be missing out on conversations with interested and ready-to-purchase travelers, ask yourself these questions:

• Do you...

Read More »

Every industry is unique, with its own challenges and opportunities. But for marketers in the travel and hospitality industry, the pressure of delivering the right message, at the right time, via the right channel is truly next level.

To succeed in this heavily-saturated market, travel brands must create a seamless information-gathering and booking experience for their customers. If they don’t, they risk missing that very narrow window of time when travelers are ready to make their tentative travel plans become a reality (i.e., book the trip!).

In short, missing that elusive window of...

Read More »

Twitter is practically everywhere when it comes to entertainment--in music, on TV, in the film industry, and more. But how is social making an impact in the tourism industry? On a recent excursion to Las Vegas, I found myself checking into the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, and staring at something that I've rarely seen in hotels and similar establishments. It was a giant-screen TV positioned behind the check-in desk that presented, in real-time, all interactions with the @MGMGrand Twitter handle. This does a couple different things for the hotel brand:

• Guests are immediately struck by the steps...

Read More »

• Nearly 81% of B2C marketers send welcome emails to their new subscribers
• Nearly 87% of retail companies send welcome emails to new subscribers
• By comparison, only 70% of non-retail companies sent welcome emails

Welcome Email Series

• A quarter of B2C marketers send a...

Read More »

There’s a big difference between a first-class flight and a pedi-cab ride. Similarly, there are many differences between an ROI-optimized digital marketing strategy and a half-baked, unprofitable one. As a travel and hospitality brand, you’re tasked with creating a seamless booking process for your customers—or else you might miss that narrow window of time when they’re most likely to convert.

Our own Jeff Rohrs recently shared some tips for reaching the digital traveler in a blog post for Ataway Exchange, where he’ll be speaking next month. Here are five of the top tips from Jeff’s post and...

Read More »

I had the pleasure of presenting the to the 2012 TIANS Tourism Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Tuesday of this week. It was an excellent time filled with conversations surrounding social, email, and mobile marketing. 

I wanted to share my deck and get your feedback on what ways the travel and hospitality can use email, mobile, and social to drive revenue. 

Read More »

Breakout Day Was Phenomenal!

There’s no doubt about it—Day 2 of Connections filled the JW Marriott with an energy that can only be described as ORANGE!

 

With more than 8 educational tracks, 40+ breakout sessions covering topics from design to data management, and Forrester CEO George Colony’s insightful morning breakout presentation, Four Technology Thunderstorms, marketers of all backgrounds and industries were able to connect, engage, and inspire one another.

 

Plus, we kicked off our Industry Meet-ups for the first time in Connections history. With dozens of marketing professionals from various...

Read More »

What’s the last big must-go session at Connections before cocktails and the Fray? New this year—Industry Meet-ups! On Wednesday, October 17^th from 4:30 – 5:25pm you can connect with other marketers in YOUR industry. You can discuss common challenges and best practices with other interactive marketers in your space. We’ll host meet-up sessions for each of the following groups:

• Financial Services – Third Floor – Grand Ballroom 2
• Retail and eCommerce – Third Floor – Grand Ballroom 3 & 4
• Travel and Hospitality – Third Floor – Grand Ballroom 7 & 8
• Technology and Manufacturing – Third Floor – Grand...

Read More »

With the right marketing automation solution, you can automate both simple and complex marketing activities with just a few clicks from one-off to batch messaging, data movements, integrations, and report delivery.

No matter what your industry, marketing automation can simplify repetitive marketing tasks and drive more sophisticated uses of your customer data. For example:

• Financial services: Back-end operations like account statements, low-balance alerts, and lifecycle marketing campaigns
• Technology: Subscription renewal programs, interactive account reminders, and product updates
• Manufacturing:...

Read More »

If there’s one word successful email marketers live by, it’s relevance. And there’s perhaps no industry more closely tied to relevance than travel and tourism email marketing. When you’re the vehicle a subscriber chooses to use to plan their getaway, it’s not just about knowing who they are - it’s about using that knowledge to ensure each communication speaks directly to the subscriber.

If you’re in the hospitality and tourism email marketing space and are looking to get started (or revamp) your programs, here are a few quick steps you can take to make it happen:

Practice an Open Boarding Policy ...

Read More »

We know the travel and hospitality industry is competitive. That’s why we’ve put together industry-proven ideas on ways to bring more travelers to your site, drive online transactions, and grow your business in our new Travel Marketing Services Whitepaper.

It’s always been important to send relevant messaging to your customers and prospects. What’s new in today’s landscape, though, is the amount of subscriber data that marketers can use to create personalized, effective one-to-one travel email marketing.


Watch your Hospitality And Travel Marketing program take flight as we teach you how to:

• Conve...

Read More »