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o get into the right creative space for this article, put yourself into the mind of a traveler. Think about the last place you went on a leisure vacation, or where you’d like to go. How cool would it be to receive an email a few days before your arrival filled with personalized recommendations, location-specific guides, and other goodies to get your vacation started a little early?
In this email, you find out about on-property amenities, get tips on the local area, and maybe even discover a little treat as a way to say thanks.
Pre-arrival emails are a great way to greet your soon-to-be guests, deliver personalized content in a digital format, and let them know that you’re excited to see them. The type of content depends on your property and your audience, but these emails can include things like links to blog posts, audience-specific itinerary ideas, and exclusive perks.
To help inspire you, we’ve put together some ideas to help you brainstorm personalized email ideas across a variety of traveler categories.
Step 1: Know Your Audience
The first thing to know is that personalization is just that: personal. There’s no way to speak to a wide audience with a generic email, so that means putting in the work to create multiple versions that cater to multiple audiences. Depending on the size of your email list, the concept of “individual” can vary a little. For small, boutique inns and bed and breakfasts, it might be possible to craft truly personal communications for each guest.
As the number of rooms goes up, however, personalization becomes more about speaking to your guest personas, or small groups of people who share the same interests, travel preferences, and basic demographics.
Step 2: Speak to a Party of One
There are plenty of programs out there that will allow you to insert a guest’s first name seamlessly into an email, so even persona-based email versions can have personalized greetings. When you begin an email by calling the guest by name, it immediately creates a one-on-one conversation between you and them.
Beyond the salutation, your pre-arrival email should tell the traveler a story that gets them excited. Use clear headings, short blocks of text with links to further reading, and relatable content to help them imagine themselves already at your property.
Here’s a secret: You can get away with a single email template. The body of all pre-arrival emails can include content like blog posts, itinerary ideas, and CTAs that easily point guests toward on-site amenities and services like spas, restaurants, or poolside cabana rentals. The personalization happens in the details: the copy that opens the email, the type of content you serve up, and the ideas you offer.
For example, a personalized email for new guests can include a welcome, a “What to Expect” section, a property map, and some local recommendations. For returning guests, you can offer a welcome back and a blog post to say “Here’s what you missed!”
Emails are wonderful in that their real estate is unlimited, but it’s important to remember that readers skim. Always put the most important information at the top (we call it “above the fold”) and tier your email in importance from the top down, so that readers are sure to get the most essential information.
Pro tip: For longer emails, include a table of contents at the top that lets readers know what’s in store. You can even include anchor links to allow them to jump around within the email.
Step 3: Offer Them Personalized Content
It’s time to think out of the box. Put yourself into the shoes of your travelers and try to imagine what specific content pieces you could include that elevate you above the competition. We put together a few starter ideas — broken down by different types of travelers — to get your wheels turning:
For New Guests
It’s beneficial to roll out the red carpet for newcomers and make them feel like they’re VIP guests from the moment they book their reservation. These types of emails should convey a lot of excitement about welcoming them to experience the property for the first time.
To captivate this audience in pre-arrival emails, you can provide a virtual property map that allows guests to get to know the layout of your property before they arrive and provide important information to make their stay more enjoyable. This is a great time to highlight activities and programming that may be available during their stay, or invite guests to make reservations for dining, spa treatments, tee times or rentals.
For Returning Guests
Have you noticed that many businesses focus their big benefits on new customers only? Personalizing a message to return guests is a great way to let them know that you value their loyalty.
When creating content for return guests, take this as an opportunity to get down to the individual level. If guest data is available from their previous stay, you could use that information to send them personalized offers that match their preferences. If that’s not an option, consider creating a “What’s New” blog post centered around recently added activities and offerings on your property — that way, they’ll know what changes to expect since their last visit.
For Business Travelers
Sending personalized pre-arrival emails can be a great way to make business travel not so blah. If guests see long hours of work on the horizon, you can help them find ways to relax and unwind after a busy day.
One way to ensure business travelers can fully enjoy their trip, no matter how packed their schedules are? Recommend the best delivery in town. Travelers are well-versed in delivery services these days, but offering them your curated recommendations for the tastiest restaurants can help them narrow their choices — and ensure they experience the flavor of your destination, even with limited time to go out and about.
For Families
Traveling with littles is a whole different experience from traveling with just adults, or solo. For the caregivers, it requires some heavy lifting, both physically and mentally. Personalized recommendations for fun family activities can be a huge help to parents.
By curating and sharing a family-friendly local guide, you’ll set parents up for success on their upcoming trip. Let them know which restaurants are good for kids, if there are local family-friendly attractions or activities, and so on. To take it up a notch, partner with these businesses to offer guest discounts. Bonus: Share a list of no-Wi-Fi activities for the kiddos to help guests achieve a fully unplugged, in-the-moment getaway.
Things to Consider
Succeeding in your personalization efforts depends a lot on the type of property you have, the amenities you offer, and how much access you’re able to get to traveler data. One of the best ways to gather that information up front is to ask them directly, perhaps through a questionnaire attached to their confirmation email. Another way is to ask questions on social media: It may not be quite as personal as one-on-one, but it can give you a good idea of what your ideal travelers are looking for in general.
One word of advice: If your email space is tight — or you’re worried about load times — one strategy would be to tell travelers about the offers, then create the actual pages on your website. Dedicated email links can also help you track traffic drivers.
If you’d like some expert brainstorming help, our team of content strategists are experts in defining your audience — plus figuring out what makes them smile. If you’d like to get started, let’s talk.