Do you want to know how collecting your guest's emails can increase your direct bookings through e-mail marketing, both online and offline? Then read on to find out more!

1. How emailing
your guests will
boost your
direct bookings? made with

2. We recently hosted a workshop about collecting your guest’s emails and
why it’s so important to the hospitality industry.
There are many forms of marketing, the most e ective one, however, is email.
Many people collect and store their guest’s information but do nothing with
them. Worryingly a large number don’t collect anything at all!
The workshop was a great success, I went through the simple steps necessary
to start collecting the right information and then use it to help boost their
direct bookings.
If you didn’t attend the event and want to use email marketing to boost your
bookings, read on!
How emailing your guests
will boost your direct
bookings?

3. Guest registration form
Do you give your guests a registration form when they check in? Do you ask
for their email address?
A good registration form makes all the di erence in the long run. If you don’t
currently have one and need some help, ask me for a templated guest
registration form. Email – mark@boostly.co.uk
What information to collect?
Collect your guest’s name, address, and postcode, phone number, (ideally the
mobile), email address, and “How did you hear about us?”. With these 5
pieces of data and you’re on your way to improving your marketing for years
to come!
What to do with the information?
There are so many possibilities. I’m going to cover the most important.
Sort your forms by postcode.
For example S for She eld, L for Liverpool, WF for Wake eld. This is the
easiest way to tell where your guests are coming from; if out of 100 people
you had 70 from Wake eld, 10 from She eld and 5 from Liverpool, obviously
the majority are from Wake eld. Now use that information for both your
o ine and online marketing.
O ine
Seeing that we have worked out that the majority of our guests are from the
Wake eld area, we can now approach the local newspaper to place an advert,
promoting your property or a special o er. Or ask if you could place a voucher
somewhere in the paper.
Online
‘Facebook ads’ is a fantastic tool. Within it, you can create an audience
speci cally to who you want to target. For example, we could create an

4. advertdesigned to show for people aged between 20 – 60 in the Wake eld
area. If you wanted to go a bit more advanced, you could experiment by
choosing di erent interests. For example, you could only appeal to people
who like staycations, or who like your hometown or a restaurant in your
local area. By doing this, your advert will be placed directly in the eye line right
where your audience’s attention is. On their Facebook News Feed. To add, it
will also have the bonus of showing them if any of their friends like your place
too. For example, “Your friends like this page.” Psychologically it’s saying ‘your
friends like this page, why don’t you?’ They may not have thought about taking
a short break, but because of your marketing, you are in their thoughts the
next time they do.
Mobile phone number
Send them a text; ‘It was great to meet you. If you’d like to stay with us again
contact us directly and we’ll give you the best rate‘.
If you don’t want to spend your time texting guests, I recommend a company
called Zingle.me who provide an excellent automated service.
Finally, but most importantly, the emails.
Because your guest knows you, the chances of them opening your email are
at 70% or higher.
Want to nd out more? Read on.

5. What to do with an email address?
Reach 500 – 1000 guests at the touch of a button using MailChimp, the most
user-friendly and e ective email software out there. Here’s how you do it.
Create a list ‘Hotel Guests’.
Import your guest information by exporting your registration data to a CSV
le and then importing it to Mailchimp.(For help, read this).
Create a campaign ‘Emailing guests who have stayed with me’.
Choose a template. Mailchimp has hundreds to choose from.
Write a title. This is important, it’s what makes someone decide to open
that email. MailChimp provides tips on how to create a fantastic title. Click
here.
Write your email. Do you want to get more TripAdvisor reviews? Do you
want to send a special o er? Whatever you decide, pick one thing and stick
with it; keep it short and sweet.
Did you know?
MailChimp can schedule the email to send at a time that increases its chances
of being opened. Read Nathan Ellering’s blog about the best times to send an
email.
What to do next?
Don’t just send one email, keep at it. Schedule in your diary to send a monthly
email.

6. This is the clever bit!
An advanced MailChimp feature is that you can send emails based on
recipients’ past engagement; if you only want to send to people who
are opening your emails, you can! Let’s say I sent an email to 100 people.
Three people opened it and clicked to book a room. I can track to see if they
went through with the booking via my booking manager. If I can’t see their
booking, I can send them a quick personal email; ‘Just to let you know we have
a special rate for the room.’
This is the di erence between getting a booking and not.
That’s why email marketing is the most important marketing tool you will use.
Now it’s your turn!
Here’s what I would love for you to do now. Let’s test this method. Take a
sample 100 guest emails. Send them an email, following my tips from above.
Then, give it a week and let me know how you got on.
Email mark@boostly.co.uk

7. Get In Touch
Boostly.co.uk
@BoostlyUK
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