In the travel and recreation industry, we (editor: Red Online Marketing) see it often: guests or visitors book a fantastic vacation or day trip, only to disappear from view. Yet, this group is actually the most likely to rebook. They know your brand and have already built memories. The big question for many marketing managers: How do you encourage repeat bookings at a logical, personalized moment, without requiring manual effort?
The solution: an automated anniversary campaign
When do you remind someone of their fantastic holiday? Exactly at the moment they had that urge to book last year as well. That is why we implemented an anniversary campaign for various clients : an automated email sent approximately one year after the original booking.
Thanks to the Wander Connect integration, the reservation system communicates seamlessly with the email software. The campaign is only sent if no new booking has been made in the meantime.
The success factors of this campaign:
- Make it personal: In the recreation industry, for example, you can show different images to campers than to guests staying in accommodations. This way, people recognize their previous stay. You can also do this with different seasons or different parks/campsites. For the travel industry, you can offer similar trips to other destinations to persuade people to book again.
- Play on the memories: With an anniversary campaign, it's important to appeal more to emotions and memories. After all, former guests or travelers need less convincing about amenities or booking terms, since they've already booked.
- Be careful with assumptions: Don't just automatically say, "Remember how great it was?" Perhaps the experience wasn't as positive. It's smarter to only send the campaign to guests with a positive NPS score. This way, you're targeting the audience most likely to generate repeat bookings.
- Keep the email short and engaging: The email should inspire and trigger click-throughs to the website. After all, that's where bookings are made.
- Consider your target audience: Look at your own booking data to see when most people rebook. AI can also be used to quickly gain insight into your target audience's booking behavior by looking at booking time and arrival date (note: make sure this is fully anonymized). If you see that your travelers don't come every year, for example, adjust your campaign accordingly.
The results
This campaign feels personal, relevant, and perfectly timed. And that's reflected in the numbers. The click-through rate and average conversion rate are higher than with a regular newsletter.
10-14%
1 - 1,5%
What does this mean in concrete terms?
Suppose an organization has 5.000 unique bookers annually with an average booking value of €750. With a conversion rate of 1,3%, the anniversary campaign yields the following:
(5.000 x 1,3%) x €750 = €48.750 additional turnover per year.
Ready to see how Snowflake works?
What we're seeing with multiple clients isn't a coincidence. When you remind guests or travelers about their previous stay or trip at the right time, you increase the chance they'll choose you again.
The anniversary campaign proves to be a key component of a strong email strategy within the travel and leisure industry. You invest time in setting up the campaign once, and it consistently generates additional revenue and strengthens relationships with existing guests.
Once set up, all you need to do is monitor the results and update the content annually so people don't keep receiving the same email year after year.
“Once set up, this campaign requires little effort and is indispensable in your email strategy.”
With thanks to (editor): Manon Leurs , employed by Wander Journeys (part of Red Online Marketing) and specialist in setting up email marketing
Would you like to know more about how to use email marketing in the 5 stages of travel , or are you curious about how an anniversary campaign can work for your organization? Contact us!
Manon