Travel firms losing customers through bad email
Only 30% of email marketers in the travel sector are using subscriber information and behaviour data to target customers with pre-stay and post-stay messages, leading to lost revenue and brand differentiation opportunities, according to a research report from StrongMail.
The research, carried out by email marketing analyst and Relevancy Group CEO David Daniels, found that 42% of travel marketers have plans to integrate social media into their email marketing programmes during 2010, while only 28% are analysing the social influence of their subscribers and using that information to target email campaigns. Another one-third also said they planned to embrace this technique during the coming year.
The study report, entitled 'Connected Marketing for Travel Providers', is based on a survey of email marketers from mid-to-large size companies in the USA and UK, and discovered that companies using technology to target customers' preferences and behaviour were generating nearly twice as much revenue from their email marketing programmes.
The top three email marketing imperatives for the travel industry in 2010 were cited as:
- Increased email deliverability rates (38%);
- Integrating email and social media (37%);
- Improved targeting of programmes (35%).
The study noted that the travel industry continues to be plagued with customer churn, amplified by customers opting not to travel abroad during the recession. As a result, the top three email marketing challenges cited for 2010 were:
- List turnover (32%);
- Email deliverability (29%);
- Frequency management (28%).
According to Daniels, "Travel marketers could benefit significantly by leveraging customer data to send more targeted messages throughout the customer lifecycle, and they should seriously evaluate whether their existing email marketing technology and expertise can make this approach work."
The report has been made available for free download from StrongMail's web site - click here (free registration required).
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