Once a customer has chosen your holiday rental property it’s important to try and ensure they are completely satisfied with the experience. Excellent customer service is vital in order to increase the chances of repeat bookings, in addition to encouraging word of mouth recommendations to their friends and relatives. Repeat bookings are a fantastic source of revenue and there are ways to help encourage your customers to come back year after year.
The Power of Emails
One of the best ways to encourage repeat bookings is by using email marketing. This is a direct method of communication which can be carried out with minimal effort on a regular, but not too regular, basis. You can either create your own attractive email and email lists using your regular email system such as Outlook or Windows Live, alternatively you can choose to use a specialist company who are able to make the whole process a lot simpler to manage and also have a more professional feel.
Before you begin marketing via email it’s important to make sure that you don’t send out unwanted emails, or spam. To do this you will need an opt-in system in place. Again it’s easier if you sign up with a specialist email marketing company who can take control of this for you, often with a double opt-in method to ensure the recipient is happy to receive emails from you. If you choose to try and set up your own marketing via email you will need to ask the permission of everyone before adding them to your list.
Advantages of Email Marketing
Email marketing services do cost, but the monthly or yearly outgoing is minimal compared to the advantages they can bring for holiday rental owners. The advantages of email marketing include:
- A good addition to customer service
- A great way of enticing visitors to your site to find out more about your property
- Simple communication possibilities with minimal effort
- Increases professionalism and builds customer trust
- Direct marketing to your past guests
- Improves first time sales and increases repeat bookings
Some of the more popular email marketing services are:
Top Tips on Using Email Marketing Effectively
- Improve your customer service – Once a customer has booked your holiday rental it’s a good idea to add them to your mailing list immediately. You will then be able to send out useful emails informing them of who to contact if the need any help and perhaps share a few extra details concerning the local area, things to do or telephone numbers of local services. Just keep it brief and informative for maximum benefit to the recipient.
- Create a newsletter – A newsletter is a fantastic way of reaching out to past guests and encouraging them to rebook. In the newsletter you could add information regarding special offers, local festivities and events, last minute deals and updates on any improvements made to the property. The frequency of the newsletter can be decided by you although sending out more than one a month may be off putting to some people. Stick to a monthly or bi-monthly newsletter to reduce your workload and discourage recipients to unsubscribe.
- Add details of your social media profiles on all of your direct emails – Use your email marketing to inform your past guests about your social media presence. You may be able to encourage more fans and followers to your various profiles. This is a great way of staying in touch on a more social and frequent basis, and it provides an easy way for your past guests to spread the word about your fabulous service and holiday rental through sharing on their social network profiles too.
Email marketing can be effectively combined with your website, social networking profiles and blog, by displaying a quick and easy sign up form on each. Done properly, email marketing is very effective and you should definitely consider it as part of an overall marketing strategy for your holiday rental accommodation.
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