Sharing tips and tools the tourism community can utilise to create wildly successful email marketing campaigns for the intrastate traveller.
1
PLAN
Same same, we start with a Plan.
1. Who is your audience?
2. What value are you offering them?
3. What action do you wish them to take?
4. When will you send the communication?
5. What goals will define your success?
Download this Planning Worksheet for completion as you progress through this process.
2
STRUCTURE
It's all about balance.
While consumers like variation they also like familiarity. Structure your email content into blocks for each issue. For example:
1. Welcome (to the season)
2. What's new
3. Something to share
4. Past Blog
5. Offer (limited time)
6. Traveller Content
7. Competition entries and winners
Click below for some examples of structured email templates for tourism.
3
CREATE
Now it's time to shape your content within the above structure.
While it's great to offer a deal... readers will place greater value on content that enriches their experience.
How to cook Flathead on the open flame
5 stunning short walks off the beaten track
5 winter cocktails with Tassie Gin
5 alley bars you won't find without us
Click below for a handful of fresh angles.
4
CAPTURE
I use the following tools to capture my video:
1. iPhone 11 Pro
2. BigVu App as a teleprompter
3. Osmos Mobile Gimble 3 to stabilise my shoot
4. Canva.com to create graphic
It's also critical to understand the basics of filming in terms of light, angles and movement.
Click below to view last months post on Content Generation.
5
CHOOSE
Now your content is ready we need to choose a platform and build your email.
There are many mail platforms to choose from. MailChimp and Active Campaign are popular or utilise your website host, such as the Wix email platform I'm using for this communication.
I have linked a comprehensive review below.
6
CLENSE
Now the fun starts.
Collating and cleaning your contact list may just be the biggest barrier to your first email campaign.
Export and collate your emails into an Excel spreadsheet from your booking system, previous email platform, Outlook or anywhere they live
Collect other emails as available from partners and past promotions
Clean the data through BriteVerify (link below) or similar
Convert to .csv and import into your mail platform.
7
BUILD
Let's build your communication.
Your target audience is set. Content is captured and you're a wizz on your chosen platform.
Let's design a template and build an email. The following link from Mailchimp walks you through a step by step process. Remember to follow your structure from step 2.
8
SHARE
Let's get this out there.
I convert my email campaigns to a website blog and share on social media to maximise reach. This delivers fresh content to my website and additional reach as you share your blog URL into your Facebook and Instagram pages. It's also possible too email a blog but you often have reduced flexibility in design.
If you have partnered to create content, perhaps with a local chef or walking guide make sure you send them the URL link so they can send to their own databases and post to their own social media. The following link to my Inspired Blog holds articles on content sharing.
8
LEARN
Saving the most important step for last.
The systems are free and ready for analysis. Your mail software will have open and click rates. Your social media pages will have insights on the take-up of your blog post and Google Analytics tracks number and quality of website visits.
Successful and lasting database marketing programs will learn from reactions to previous communications, always refining and improving. See article below from Active Campaigns.