Using Your Email Database To Increase Vacation Rental Bookings
Thanks to technology like StayFi, collecting emails from every vacation rental guest, not just the booker, is easier than ever. At StayFi, we’ve found our vacation rental managers are able to capture valid, high-quality emails from 80%+ of total guests. This has led to over 200 vacation rental owners and managers, as of October 2020, around the globe to use StayFi to collect this information with each and every stay.
So what exactly are the smart vacation rental managers doing with these email addresses? Well, vacation rental operators who are industry-leaders in direct booking are using this information to improve their business relationship with their guests, keep track of a guest’s likes and dislikes, increase sales, and attract more homeowners to their rental program. While this may seem like a pretty straight forward process, there are some things to consider before starting an email marketing campaign. It’s not just about sending emails, it’s more about sending emails that will engage your guest.
We’ve found Mailchimp to be the most common tool vacation rental managers use for email marketing. Therefore in addition to providing some best practices, we have five free Mailchimp templates you can customize for your own short-term rental business.
Email Automation For Vacation Rentals
Why drip campaigns are the best way to market to vacation rental guests.
With StayFi, you will automatically start capturing email addresses from every guest, not just the booker, during their stay. Sending an automated series of emails to personally introduce your brand, share helpful tips, and encourage guests to book with you direct in the future, is the best way to automate marketing and generate repeat bookings. Mailchimp’s automation campaign feature will enable you to trigger a series of automatic emails. If you don’t use Mailchimp, almost every email marketing tool has a marketing automation (sometimes called drip campaign) feature.
If you need help setting up one of these automation campaigns in Mailchimp, you can read on Mailchimp’s website the exact process to set up an automation campaign.
Below are five free Mailchimp templates you can use in your vacation rental automation campaign.
Email 1: Welcome Email - Sent Immediately At WiFi Log-On
With StayFi, you will automatically start capturing email addresses from every guest, not just the booker, during their stay. Sending an automated series of emails to personally introduce your brand, share helpful tips, and encourage guests to book with you direct in the future, is the best way to automate marketing and generate repeat bookings. Mailchimp’s automation campaign feature will enable you to trigger a series of automatic emails. If you don’t use Mailchimp, almost every email marketing tool has a marketing automation (sometimes called drip campaign) feature.
If you need help setting up one of these automation campaigns in Mailchimp, you can read on Mailchimp’s website the exact process to set up an automation campaign.
Below are five free Mailchimp templates you can use in your vacation rental automation campaign.
Email 2: Thank You - Sent +10 Days
The goal of this email is to thank the guests for staying with you. We have a link option here to review your brand on Google if you want to collect reviews there. Google Reviews are great because anyone can review your business there, not just the booker. Make sure to sign up for a Google Business Account if you have not already.
To use our template, open your Mailchimp account and then click here.
Email 3: Introduce Your Properties - Sent +25 Days
The goal of this email is to thank engage the guest 25 days after they first logged into this email with content that reminds them that direct booking is the preferable way to book their next stay. This email is especially useful if you manage multiple properties, so you can increase guest awareness about other booking options.
To use our template, open your Mailchimp account and then click here.
Email 4: Top Local Activities - Sent +40 Days
The goal of this email is to thank engage the guest 40 days after they first logged into this email with year-round activities or events that create a great reason to return to your destination. If you have a guest who for instance skies at your destination, this is a great email to feature mountain biking and vice-versa. Create a reason to come back and visit during a different time of year.
To use our template, open your Mailchimp account and then click here.
Email 5: Plain Text Follow Up - Sent +70 Days
Unlike email templates with images, plain-text emails have a much higher likliehood of going to the main inbox in Gmail. Emails with images typically are sent to the promotional folder of gmail which has lower average open rates.
The purpose of this email is to solicit the past guest to send you an email response directly, so make sure you have someone who monitors the inbox this email is being sent from.
To use our template, open your Mailchimp account and then click here.
Conclusion: Get Creative
With StayFi, you will grow your email database at multiples faster than you were previously. This welcome series is just the beginning of what you can do and only runs for 70 days. You can send anniversary emails, schedule emails for months, and focus on building engaging one-off newsletters around promotions and events.
