How To Write a Hotel Newsletter Your Guests Will Love
Email marketing for hotels is powerful, but you need to have a strategy in place that aligns with your wider business plan.
Do you only open Mailchimp when you have a new offer to promote?
Do you have zero subscribers and no idea how to start?
Or maybe your email list is huge, but you don’t do anything with it and allll those potential hotel guests are quietly collecting dust in a spreadsheet somewhere, never hearing from you at all.
In my previous hotel email marketing guide, I shared the 8 types of emails you need to send your guests. That list includes automated emails like your pre-arrival confirmation and post-stay folio — it also included two types of email newsletters.
The latter two, in my experience, are sooo much harder to write.
No one wants to be “sold to” all the time. Unless you’re Sephora, I just don’t want to hear about your sales!
So how do you write a hotel newsletter your guests CAN’T WAIT to get in their inbox?
Focus on the target audience for your hotel newsletters first
Hello, it’s me, a broken record:
Focus on your target audience! Write for them and only them!
Before you start writing your first hotel email newsletter, it helps to learn as much as you can about your audience.
What are their interests? Why might they be looking at your hotel? Are they planning an event or meeting? Or are they traveling for fun? Do they live locally or are they a tourist visiting from abroad?
Here are two ways to gather and use information about your guests to write a better hotel email newsletter:
Tip #1: Find out what they want
Sounds obvious, I know, but the easiest way to write an email your guests will love is to learn what interests them, and what they want to read!
(I learned this firsthand when I surveyed YOU and other blog readers back in December. That’s why now, whenever someone signs up for my newsletter, I give them the option to tell me about their current challenges and how I might be able to help.)
ASK THEM.
Send out a survey! Give them a place to share feedback as soon as they’ve signed up! Use an interest-based lead magnet as your email collection method!
…wait, a what-now?
A lead magnet is a free piece of content — a download or a training video, for example — you give away in exchange for permission to email someone.
When done properly, hotel lead magnets are very useful at growing your email subscribers.
In the hotel industry, I strongly suggest creating more than one, as you can provide value to a specific segment of your audience. Eg. a local destination guide for out-of-town tourists or a meeting planning checklist for event planners.
This brings me to the second point:
Tip #2: Create smaller audience segments within your list
Part of speaking directly to your target audience means understanding that, well, you might have more than one.
One thing we all know about the hospitality industry is that we have multiple business segments!
Weddings and events… meetings… dining or a bar… leisure travel... maybe you have a spa... Your audience for one segment might not be exactly the same as your audience for another.
(That’s especially true right now, by the way, as we all focus on reopening and business recovery strategies!)
Within your wider list of email subscribers, you can create smaller groups or lists — this is segmentation.
It’s kind of like sorting all your potential customers into different buckets.
Some ways to segment your email list could include:
Local travelers (most email platforms capture a location via the user’s I.P. address)
EU residents (useful for setting up a double opt-in and making sure you’re compliant with GDPR)
Meeting or event planners
Wedding planners or engaged couples
Food & Beverage interest (this often overlaps with your local market)
Automation can really help you a lot here.
If you decide to grow your email list using one or more lead magnets, you can tag these subscribers in your email platform so you know exactly where they came from. Someone who downloaded your event planning checklist, for example, can automatically be put into an “Event Planner” segment.
LEARN MORE: Cvent has a TON of useful strategies for email in their free 2021 hotel digital marketing guide.
Automate (some of) your hotel email campaigns
So you’ve set up a lead magnet or two and your new email subscribers are rolling in — hooray!
Not so fast… remember that what you DON’T want to do is let that list gather dust. You need to start sending emails with some consistent frequency.
You also want to make sure people actually SEE your emails.
Having a huge email list means nothing if no one opens or reads them.
Another reason lead magnets are so helpful is that they encourage the customer to seek out the message — because they know there’s something valuable waiting for them inside.
Gmail and other email providers have advanced “spam” filters and algorithms. These are designed with a singular goal in mind: Keep your Primary inbox tab free of fluff.
Landing in the “Promotions” is not a death sentence, necessarily. But you do want your audience to see and open your email — and even better, reply to it.
LEARN MORE: If you’re interested in understanding the nuts and bolts of email deliverability, I highly recommend listening to this podcast from Convertkit. 🎧
Tip #3: Set up an automated welcome message
Whether you’re delivering a free download (lead magnet) or not, you absolutely need to welcome every new email subscriber when they join your list.
Not only is it polite to do so — but an automated welcome message gives you the chance to get to know your potential guest a bit better, and drum up some valuable engagement at the same time.
When someone replies to your email newsletter, that’s a signal of trust.
It tells Gmail (or whichever provider) that this person considers your emails trustworthy and values them enough to respond.
Tip #4: Consider a longer, automated welcome sequence
If you want to take that ☝️ up a notch, consider automating a longer welcome sequence. As in, a series of emails designed to welcome someone to your list and nurture their interest a little bit.
There are different ways to go about this, of course.
If you’re nurturing a new group or meeting planner lead, you should absolutely have a sales offer or call-to-action within your hotel email welcome sequence.
Here’s what it might look like:
Email 1 — Welcome message that addresses their current challenge/problem and includes a link to download your free planning checklist or guide.
Email 2 — Introduce a little agitation. Reinforce the problem/challenge that they came to you for. Tell a story that demonstrates your understanding of that problem/challenge.
Email 3 — Introduce your solution: What’s your unique selling point? What do you differently from the competition? How have you adapted your service post-COVID?
Email 4 — Show social proof in the form of a client testimonial or review. Use storytelling to show how you helped another event planner go from Point A (problem) to Point B (solution).
Email 5 — Make the sale. Present your compelling offer, using a clear call-to-action. Give them the next step, whether that’s replying via email or picking up the phone to book.
Again, that’s just an example… you could always condense that sequence down to three emails if you prefer.
I’d also use a different approach for someone interested in your hotel more generally, like as a leisure traveler.
Once this welcome sequence is complete, automate that the user is then added into your wider list to receive your hotel newsletter — whether you send that every week or every month.
Using an automated welcome sequence is just one way to nurture a sales lead, introduce yourself/your property, remind past guests what you’re all about and let new customers know what to expect going forward.
What sort of automated email marketing campaigns do you have set up for your hotel? Download my free hotel marketing plan template to see where email fits into your wider strategy. ⤵
Make sure you measure the right email newsletter metrics
More email subscribers do NOT equal more bookings or more revenue, at least on its own.
Don’t get drawn into vanity metrics. Focus on what matters.
Tip #5: Focus on audience engagement > list size
Oh, you have 10k email subscribers? Cool, cool… what do you do with them? How many actually read your emails? How many actually click your links? How many reply or forward/share your email?
And how many of them… gasp… unsubscribe?
Email marketing platforms will give you access to all sorts of valuable metrics about your campaigns. Here are the ones I recommend looking at on a regular basis:
Opens — Think of this one as the first “hurdle” you need to get over. Many folks argue that your open rate is less important than other metrics, but TBH I don’t necessarily agree. Your open rate tells you a few key things about your campaign, including:
That your emails are being seen/delivered successfully
That your audience likes/trusts you and wants to read your content
That your subject line is attention-grabbing and effective
Clicks — Here’s my issue with click rate… Yes, on one hand, it tells you that the subscriber is clicking on the link(s) inside your email, which usually point back to your hotel website. A good thing! But you know what else often gets included in your click rate? Unsubscribes. So it’s not always an indicator of success. Look at traffic and unsubs when considering whether your click rate is a positive metric.
Shares/Forwards — A bit rarer to see, but if your platform measures this, someone sharing or forwarding your email can be a positive sign. (Unless, well, it’s a competitor creeping on your campaigns but we can’t always know this!)
Unsubscribes — The final knife in my heart. The nail in the coffin. Every other bad analogy I can think of. Yep, “unsubscribes” can hurt, but don’t take it personally. In fact, reframe it: They’re obviously not your “people” if they unsub. They don’t want what you have to offer. Good riddance!
To improve these metrics, the best thing to do is clean your list regularly.
Get rid of subscribers who never open your emails. Seriously! Why keep them around? They’re dragging down your engagement metrics and they clearly aren’t buying what you’re selling.
Here’s the other thing I recommend…
Tip #6: A/B test and learn
Before you kick ‘em to the curb, make sure you’re testing your emails and learning from your customers.
Try sending your next email campaign using two different subject lines.
This is what I mean by A/B testing — see which subject line performs better and learn from it!
You can A/B test the content of the email itself, too. Or different call-to-action buttons. Or pretty much anything else, really.
Just keep testing, trying new things, and learning what your audience engages with the most.
What tool should you use to send your hotel newsletter?
There’s no blanket response to this question, I’m afraid… “it depends.”
If you’re part of a large hotel chain or even a smaller brand with multiple properties, you might not have much of a say over which email service provider you use.
Even your hotel newsletter templates may already be created for you — and you probably can’t customize them much, if at all. And that’s OK!
Some of my favorite hotel email marketing examples come from big brands like Belmond or Soho House. Lean into your corporate email strategy and work with it, not against it.
If you do have a bit more freedom over how you design your hotel newsletter, I offered a few case-by-case recommendations in this article on marketing in a hotel. (Just jump to section IV for all the tools and resources.)
Bonus: How to never run out of hotel newsletter ideas
OK, “never” is a strong word we aren’t supposed to say, I know. Indulge me!
Here are a few different strategies for coming up with fresh content ideas for your hotel newsletter:
Don’t be afraid to repurpose existing content. That old blog post or landing page? Update it and reshare it.
Subscribe to your comp set’s emails, and maybe a few other brands you or your audience like. It’s always OK to get inspired by other hotel newsletter examples, but don’t copy.
(BTW, if you’re worried about cluttering up your inbox, you can set up a “rule” within Gmail or Outlook to automatically move all of these into a specific folder instead.)Create hotel content pillars, so you always have a few key “themes” to come back to.
Plan ahead as much as you can, within reason. The last thing you want is to get a calendar reminder to “Send Newsletter” and be caught with nothing to say/share…
Survey your email list at least once a year. Ask them what content they’ve enjoyed and collect ideas.
Bookmark this article on hotel content ideas — there are 101 of them, so it ought to get you started! 😉
And if I might be so cheeky… the best way to NEVER run out of hotel newsletter ideas is to let someone else worry about it instead.
Feel free to get in touch with me and let’s have a chat about your email marketing strategy!
Final Thoughts
What’s the secret to writing hotel newsletter content your guests will actually want to read?
There’s no “trick” or “hack,” I’m afraid. It’s an art.
Which hotel newsletter template you use also doesn’t matter. As usual, it’s all about the content. Here are a few things you should keep in mind:
Find out what your target audience wants to read and give it to them
Create more specific content for smaller audience segments, as in meeting planners vs. local diners
Automate a welcome email (or lead-nurturing sequence) to encourage replies/engagement
Understand email marketing metrics and what they indicate
DON’T take “unsubscribes” personally, but DO clean up your list regularly
A/B test often and learn from the results
And of course, subscribe to your favorite hotel marketing newsletter for weekly inspiration and more ideas! 👋