Successful Brand Building through Email MarketingA Hospitality Industry Case Study by Construct Digital

Background

Global Hotel Chain with a large subscriber database of stale email addresses

Very high bounce rates (above 5%) and low (under 15%) open rates

Very limited targeting of email messages to large subscriber list (lack of segmentation)

Over 20 email newsletters sent a month with some subscribers receiving multiple emails weekly. (recommended a max of 2 eDMs a week)

Management doubts over viability of email marketing campaign

Background

Emails were created in an image format directly from in-house designed promotional/print posters

Emails could not be read on mobile devices and certain email programs

No personalisation of messages and subject lines, with generic messages to the entire list

Lack of a consistent subscriber data model - which limited their ability to deliver targeted content through market segmentation

Deliver an effective, integrated and consistent message to all customers in a targeted manner

Develop better means to track and measure the success of email campaigns and increase engagement rates

Streamline the process of email address collection, data cleansing, segmentation and subscriber lifecycle management

Train and empower Marketing Staff across hotel properties with email marketing best practices

The Mandate

Info overl

oad – Text

Heavy

Lack of In

fo – Image

Heavy

Design tha

t does

not commun

icate

intended m

essage

Getting The Message Right

Introduce standard-compliant HTML email templates for superior deliverability and mobile support

What We Did

Worked with internal design team to improve current email layout for better engagement and readability

Introduced clear Call-to-Action buttons

Getting The Message Right

BEFORE AFTER

Call-To-Action that is nearly hidden(Email links are almost always

ignored)

Redesigned Call-To-Action that is

prominent, visible & effectiveEnticing Call-To-Action

resulting in increased click-through rates

Preview Pane OptimisationBEFORE

AFTER

Unoptimised layout which results in disinterest in

the email based on ineffective utilisation of prime screen estate

Redesigned layout immediately lets the

customer know what this email is all about, enticing the customer

to find out more

Preview Text OptimisationBEFORE

AFTER

Usual preview of content

Optimised preview content

to grab customer’s attention

Data Cleansing of over 1 million email addresses to revitalize list and reduce email bounce rates by 10-fold

Removed bounced email addresses to prevent ISP blacklisting

Launched a re-activation campaign to refresh the subscriber list and comply to IDA’s Spam regulations.

Data Cleansing

Segmentation - Built a Custom Subscriber CRM to capture information like:

Hotel patronized

Event attended

F&B outlet visited

Home Country

Developed an email targeting strategy based on segmented Subscriber List.

Reduced “Email Noise” with targeted messages and reduced email frequency.

Target Your Customers

Personalization - With the improved Subscriber Data Model, we introduced personalized Subject Line titles and email content

Result:Immediate and Direct Impact with an increase of 54% on

Email Open Rates and Phone Enquiries

Target Your Customers

Tracking - Introduced best practice tracking and easy to read reporting

Reporting - Monthly Client Report with detailed recommendations for each email sent

Track & Measure

Recommended unique Promotional Codes in email newsletters to measure conversion rates and build a email marketing ROI model

Track & Measure

Centrally manage the entry of business cards from across hotel properties

Automate process of subscriber and bounce-list management

Monthly reporting on growth of email list

Subscriber Lifecycle Management

Subscriber Lifecycle Management

Cleanse and Upload new subscribers from multiple offline channels every month

Developed a standardized offline subscriber enrollment spreadsheet for hotel properties to collect emails

Assigned offline enrollments to appropriate segments.

Initiated workshops with Core Marketing team to understand the issues and lay out a roadmap for their email marketing strategy

Design-centric workshops with Internal Print Designers to introduce design email best practices.

Empower The Team

Training for all Hotels’ Marketing teams on standardized process for collecting email addresses

Training on Subscriber CRM segments and how to target their individual messages based on these segments.

Empower The Team

Results Clean Subscriber list with rich segments

100% increase in Open and 60% increase in Click Rate

Sophisticated targeting pushing up engagement rates with increase in calls & enquiries

Clear & Consistent brand messages across all hotel properties

Email Marketing campaign growing to include more hotel properties

Management is willing to invest based on a proven system

Direct increase in returning customers

Immediate and Direct Impact on Email Open Rates and phone enquiries

Results

Standard Open Rate

Standard Unique Open Rate

Construct Unique Open Rate

Construct Open Rate

What We Can Do For You

Evaluate your current email marketing strategy

Identify gaps and address them

Clean, optimise, segment, manage your database

Ensure industry best practices are in place

Increase the overall effectiveness of your email marketing

Share latest industry trends as part of our service offering:

Digital interactive catalogues (for e.g. Christmas catalogue)

Digital greeting cards

iPhone/iPad Apps

Website Revamps, Maintenance