Marketing is a beast to tackle. There are so many different ways to go about it, and it can be overwhelming at first. When it comes to marketing your vacation rental, email is an incredibly important channel to take advantage of. Whether you’re targeting those who have already stayed with you or the potential guests who have just browsed at your site, emails are a great way to get your vacation rental booked! But how do you make sure that your email marketing is effective? Here are a few tips for your vacation rental email marketing strategy that are sure to get you more bookings.
Email Newsletter Design
It’s true that you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, however, we tend to do it anyway. This is especially true for your emails! As soon as someone opens up your email, they’re judging it. So, it’s important to make sure your email is designed well and aesthetically pleasing! Play up on your brand colors and make sure to use white space, so that you’re not overwhelming the reader with too much clutter. Your email should be simple, and therefore, easy to navigate. This way, readers will be able to easily access things like your website, blog, social media, etc. If your emails are overwhelming and unappealing, people are going to be less willing to open the next one. And when they’re unwilling to open your emails, they will likely unsubscribe from your list, which does not get you more bookings.
Write Interesting Subject Lines
Before your subscribers open your emails, they see the subject line. The subject of your vacation rental email is how people determine if they are even going to open it or not. So, when you are writing your email subject lines, think about your own inbox, what do you hate and what do you actually open? With subject lines, there are a few tips to keep in mind:
- Chances are, funny, cliff-hanging, or interesting subject lines are the ones you are more inclined to open. So keep that in mind when you are creating your email subject lines.
- Don’t just simply state the topic of your email, give people a reason to open it! Leave them wanting more. Being a little bit dramatic with your headline can even pull interest in.
- Keep your subject line short, about six to ten words is optimal.
- According to Lyfe Marketing, “questions and numbers are proven to get you a higher click-through rate if done right”.
- You’ll want to shoot for reaching at least the average open rate for your emails, which is 21.33% according to Mailchimp. Play around with different kinds of subject lines to see which works for your vacation rental business.
Always Have a Call to Action
Just like with social media, engagement is important in emails too! One surefire way to get your email readers to engage is to include links like to a recent blog post, a way to book a stay, or relevant news/events in your area! Make sure to have a call to action button with something like “book a stay now” or “read more” on it to encourage readers to explore further. You’ll want to track your click-through rates if you are including links and CTA buttons. Keep in mind that the average click-through rate is 2.62% (Mailchimp), so you’ll want to aim for at least that.
Make Sure Your Emails are Mobile Friendly
Everything and everyone has gone mobile. Which means, your emails need to as well. Make sure your emails are mobile-friendly with email marketing platforms like Mailchimp. Clear, uncluttered emails are easier to make mobile-friendly, and therefore, have a higher chance of being opened and engaged with time and time again.
Email marketing is super important to not only turning first-time guests into repeat guests but as a way to create a relationship with potential guests and encourage them to book a stay! There are many things you can do to make your emails as effective as possible, but most importantly, make your emails simple and interesting. Have you found any email marketing tactics that work tremendously well for your vacation rental? Let us know in the comments!
