Our world is becoming increasingly digital with each passing day. As a travel planner, you can leverage the evolution of digital technologies to improve the way you communicate, particularly through email. It’s a great way to instantly connect with your audience and establish relationships that will be both long-lasting and profitable.
Of course, sending individual messages from your mail program will always be an important part of working with clients. But there’s more you can do to make email work well for you. I encourage investing in a blast email platform that will allow you to create multiple campaigns to advertise various trips and communicate with the passengers who sign up for them.
Before you start sending blast emails, though, you need to have a solid strategy in place. Start by creating a communication plan for each of your tours. Each tour should have an initial marketing email sent to your entire list; from there, you can narrow your communications to focus on those who have booked the tour to keep them engaged and informed. This helps build some excitement around the trip, as well as some word-of-mouth buzz that might bring in new customers.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to the kinds of emails you should plan for each trip.
An Announcement Email
Your itinerary is planned, your marketing materials are ready, and it’s time to announce your tour to the public. Create an engaging email that offers your brochure and a reservation form (or a link to a reservation form on your website). Ensure your email has all the information customers need to make a decision about whether to attend. Keep your subject line short and to the point but also make it eye-catching. Ensure the body of the email isn’t too wordy and that it’s easy to find the tour, dates and pricing. Configure the brochure and registration forms as links or attachments. This will help the email stay clean and not overwhelming with information.
Hype Emails
Once your travelers start signing up for a tour, create a separate email list for those who have registered. Send them periodic “hype” emails with fun facts and countdowns until tour departure. This will keep them engaged, build anticipation and hopefully inspire them to spread the word about their upcoming tour. Word of mouth is the best way to increase your business. Also, the more you communicate with your travelers, the stronger your relationships become.
Pre-Departure Meeting Emails
You will likely offer a pre-departure meeting for a big trip, so announcing that meeting via email is another way to get your travelers excited. Create a slogan for your meeting and include it, along with date and time info, in an attractive email. Try creating videos or including pictures in the email, which will help increase meeting attendance. If your departure meeting is a webinar, record it. If the meeting is in person, take lots notes and share the information in a follow-up email. It’s easy to miss or forget something that was discussed during the meeting, and this will allow customers to scan back over the information to answer questions that might have already been asked.
A Final Documents Email
There was a time when tour companies sent final documents for a tour by mail, but increasingly they are sending that information electronically. You may have some customers that would still prefer to receive those packages by mail, but email cuts costs for everyone and ensures travelers get information promptly. If you choose to use email for final documents, put a positive spin on it by telling your travelers how much faster they get their information. Be clear and to the point with your final documents email and try including some packing tips.
A Tour Director Email
The final documents email doesn’t have to be the last time you touch base with your travelers before the tour. When you’re just a few days away from your upcoming tour, and everyone is excited, find something lighthearted but exciting to communicate with your travelers. A great example would be a note from the tour director or a link to a video about the destination. Even better would be a video from the tour director expressing their excitement to get to know everyone, as well as the parts of the trip they are most looking forward to.
Creating great relationships with your travelers is the best way to grow your business, and great relationships require frequent communication. Engaging emails can help with that.
