Your hotel should solicit feedback from guests after each stay through personalized emails that encourage sharing their experience online. Adding some personality will encourage more sharing online from guests who had positive stays.
This email should also feature any relevant upsells like room upgrades and in-destination activities, and prompt them to refer a friend.
Pre-Stay Emails
Your guest emails should reflect the type of experience that you want your guests to have at your hotel, which means giving careful thought and consideration when creating email templates for guest correspondence.
Your best bet for getting emails read is using an eye-catching subject line, one that’s both short, simple, and informative. Consider including hotel logo and details about check-in/checkout times as part of this subject line.
Welcome or pre-arrival emails are an ideal opportunity to build brand loyalty and generate incremental revenue before your guests even step foot on property. They can include local recommendations, room upgrades and amenities – anything that can set them up for a successful stay and maximize the enjoyment of their trip.
Email marketing allows your hotel to advertise upcoming promotions, like offering romance packages before Valentine’s Day or anniversary specials to guests. Offering targeted offers in this email can increase upselling conversion rates by 8.23%.
Email communication with guests can be one of the fastest and easiest ways to engage them, as guests can access your hotel emails on their smartphones and other devices – making it simpler for them to access important details such as booking or cancellation requests.
Always remember that email is a formal means of communicating with guests; whenever possible, try using an informal tone in your emails to them. Example: Instead of writing “I would like to invite you…” in your subject line, try “I would love to invite you…” It might make a significant impression on the guest! Sending each guest an email personalized to them by name can heighten the relationship-building process and make them feel special, increasing engagement and improving response rates. Be sure to remind guests about any key policies your hotel has implemented (such as cancellation, pet, and child policies). If these policies aren’t listed on your website already, this is an ideal chance for them to shine.
Post-Stay Emails
Like pre-stay emails, post-stay campaigns provide guests with valuable information about your property and encourage feedback from them. Furthermore, this campaign gives your hotel the chance to establish itself as a trustworthy choice among travelers in its locality.
Ideal, this campaign should run monthly to stay at the forefront of guests’ minds. A template makes this simpler by sending out similar information with changes made each time – text and images tailored specifically to your property can add that special something.
Your post-stay email should include:
As soon as your guests’ memories of their stay have settled in their minds, now is an opportune moment to thank them and express how much you look forward to having them back again. Also take this chance to introduce any exciting offers such as discounts off future stays or free upgrades that might interest them – these messages could serve as powerful incentives!
Check-In Details – A brief recap of their reservation details, such as room number and checkout/check-in times as well as a link to your guest portal where they can view/print their confirmation is also helpful.
Local Recommendations – Provide an array of handpicked recommendations and local tips and suggestions that are sure to pique the interest of your guests, such as sights to see and things to do/eat that they will find engaging and tasty. Including this information in emails sent out prior to arrival helps answer any additional inquiries from guests before their arrival reducing staff workload significantly.
Policy Information – As part of your guest experience, make sure your cancellation, pet and child policies are clearly communicated so your guests are clear about what to expect when arriving at your hotel and can avoid any surprises or disappointments upon their arrival.
Pre-Check-In Emails
Pre-arrival emails, sent in response to reservations at your hotel or registration on your website, help guests feel at ease before their stay begins. They provide clear expectations for what to expect at your establishment, reduce anxiety and uncertainty and offer them the chance to ask any final questions they might have. A well-crafted pre-arrival email should contain relevant details including booking information (date/time of arrival/departure procedures); hotel policies (including cancellation/pet policies/house rules/local events and blog posts/curated list of things to do/ curated list); room upgrades/extras such as spa treatments or breakfast vouchers/gift cards/voucher/voucher).
Email should be clear and concise for easy skimming, with paragraphs broken into digestible chunks for ease of reading. A personal note or welcome message from the hotel manager adds authenticity and makes the guest feel valued. It would also be beneficial to include a link to an extensive local guide curated by your hotel to make their trip as seamless as possible.
An effective post-stay email should include a winback offer. This incentive can include discounts or value adds on their next stay based on factors like their dates of stay or other information such as birthday or loyalty program status. Use this opportunity to promote seasonal experiences – for instance romantic packages for wintertime visitors or discounted resort rates during summertime stays.
An automated guest engagement platform integrated with your property management system is an ideal way to ensure the success of post-stay emails, allowing you to easily create templates and set triggers based on reservation data. In addition, this solution automatically gathers guest email addresses upon registration or check-in, making it simpler for you to communicate with guests after their stay, encourage repeat business, collect customer feedback and ensure repeat visits aren’t lost due to lost customers – thus justifying the necessity for maintaining contact even after guests check out.
Post-Check-Out Emails
Email marketing remains an effective tool in hotel guest retention. A post-stay email should be sent within three days after their departure to let them know you enjoyed their stay and solicit their feedback. You could also use this opportunity to promote any current promotions that could attract them back, such as a free room upgrade on their next visit or exclusive discounts for spa services or cafe services.
Subject lines should be engaging and tailored specifically to their experience; including their name will add personalization. You could use this email as a platform to drive additional revenue through upselling services such as spa treatments or activities within their destination area; airport transfers; or offering local guides curated specifically to their stay. Tracking booking patterns makes sending targeted post-stay emails even more effective!
Welcome guests with gratitude, making them feel special and appreciated, by thanking them for choosing your brand as the place they should stay on future travels, leading them directly to book through your website instead of an OTA.
As part of your post-stay email, be sure to ask guests for feedback and encourage them to write online reviews on TripAdvisor or similar platforms. Not only will this give you an insight into their guest experience, but it will also help maintain high reviews frequency which many OTAs utilize when ranking hotels for relevant searches.
As we head into the holiday season, it is crucial to have an effective guest engagement program in place that includes pre-stay, check-in and post-stay emails. An automated email platform that connects directly to your property management system enables easy automation, customization and results tracking so you can focus on providing exceptional experiences to guests of your hotel. Contact DigitalGuest to see how our guest engagement platform can assist you!