Three Ways to Increase Email Open Rates

Heading into holiday email campaigns, we reflect back on the 2016 adventure travel season. Suddenly it’s time to create email campaigns designed to generate a buzz for the next year.

How can adventure tour operators increase open and click-through rates of emails sent to customers and leads? Let’s begin by exploring the travel and tourism averages.

On October 3, 2016 the MailChimp marketing platform released its annual Average Email Campaign Stats of Customers by Industry.While other marketing reports show average email open rates by company size and number of monthly emails, MailChimp’s report allows us to garner a closer look specifically at the travel industry.

According to the report, MailChimp found the Travel and Transportation Industry to have an email-open rate of 20.39% and a click through rate of 2.22%. The eCommerce Industry as a whole had a 16.69% email-open rate and a 2.41% Click through rate.

How can your company increase open and click through rates? These three suggestions may be the difference between average and stellar open rates.

Communicate Subject Clearly

Important factors in your email-open rates are the sender’s from address and the email subject line. As readers scroll through email, you’ve got just a few seconds to make a first impression before they decide to open, ignore or delete the email.

Key factors while writing a subject line include:

• Stick to 50 characters or less
• Choose a sender or from name that your demographic will recognize
• Include a clear call-to-action to entice the customer

Mobile Friendly Email

According to an October release of email analytics, Litmus noted that 56% of email is opened on mobile.

When creating emails, it’s important to consider the placement of content and pictures. A reader with an inundated inbox is likely to scan through your email, rather than reading it like a book from left to right.

In order to capture the eye and imagination of your readers:

• Use images that align with your brand
• Make sure images are no larger than 600 pixels wide
• Break up content into smaller, easy-to-read paragraphs

Create Personal Emails

Emails that speak directly to your customers have a significantly higher open rate. Resmark’s mail list functionality allows you to create mailing lists based on geography, item selection, travel dates, customer interests and more.

You also can customize emails by offering exclusive deals or insider information. Perhaps you have a new tour open in 2017. Or maybe you’d like to generate more of a specific type of business for a certain tour. Discounts can be customized to have specific reservation date that differs from the actual travel date of the promotion.

For any questions on how your Resmark online reservation system can help you target a specific audience, reach out to Resmark Support at 801-733-9548 or support@resmarksystems.com.