Summary: <br> {caption}READ ME: Hotels can use email to connect with both loyal and prospective guests as the lodging industry prepares to emerge from its COVID-19 quarantine, say experts.{/caption}<br> Travel marketers should target inboxes to attract bookings from the coming pent-up demand, say experts <br> hen the coronavirus pandemic first hit the U.S. lodging industry, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-schmitt-6b30813/">Mike Schmitt</a>, owner and chief executive at <a href="https://www.clairvoyix.com/">Clairvoyix</a>, a digital marketing company in Las Vegas, advised in a <a href="https://www.clairvoyix.com/covid-19/">blog</a> that hoteliers communicate with past and prospective guests to shore up business ahead of the upcoming recovery.<br> Owners and operators may wonder what form should that messaging take; whom should they target; and how often should they reach out?<br> The most tried-and-true method of communication has proven to be email.<br> Clairvoyix has “always believe the trusted source gets the best response,” Schmitt said.<br> He advises hotel marketers who want to reach out to guests: “If they’ve done business with you before and they recognize the name in the email there’s a very good chance they’ll respond or open it or file it away for next week to look at, much more so than banner ads or mobile.<br> “It’s just something people are comfortable with, as long as they know the domain; as long as they say, ‘Yes, I’ve stayed at this property. Yes, I know this person. I feel very comfortable with that.’<br> “Just understanding that has served us very well. So, we’ve always been high on repeat guests and building loyalty through this constant communication.”<br> <br> {caption}CLICK RATES: Researching retailers’ email marketing campaigns from January through April 2020, Omnisend reports charting “substantial email marketing click rate decreases due to COVID-19.” Email open rates increased, but there was more browsing than buying during that time. “Click rates eventually rebounded and improved to where they started the year,” reports Ominsend, noting that trend was not seen in 2019. “If our assumptions are correct, we should expect to see conversion rates increase.”{/caption}<br> Capturing Demand<br> The whole point of email marketing is to drive revenue.<br> Though many people are not traveling during the coronavirus pandemic and the hotel industry is reportedly averaging 50 percent occupancy, Schmitt believes communicating with past and prospective guests is important as the lodging sector prepares for a comeback.<br> The more targeted the campaign, the better.<br> “We found over the years as social media came on strong that, for example, we’d send an email and then we’d back it up with a Facebook custom-audience campaign, using the exact same creative, using the exact same audience,” Schmitt said. “We found that to be incredibly effective.”<br> Most of the nation’s 57,000 hotels have remained open since the pandemic struck in mid-March, but are operating with skeleton crews.<br> “I think now, more than ever, with dwindling resources and money, email is the most cost-effective channel,” Schmitt said.<br> Revinate, a software developer for hotel customer relationship management, recently released results of a survey that gauges traveler intent. The company surveyed more than 10,000 people.<br> The biggest reason for the extreme slowdown in travel are government mandates that force businesses to close, restrict public gatherings and encourage citizens to shelter in place. As such, consumers with money to spend plan to travel post-pandemic to make up for what they’ve missed during the crisis.<br> Revinate’s survey found 68 percent of travelers who intend to stay at a hotel feel most comfortable booking one they’ve stayed at before. Domestic travel will rebound the fastest as 70 percent of survey respondents plan to travel within the U.S. And one-third or more than 30,
