Top tips for optimising your marketing channels

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At Booking.com we are committed to helping our business partners reach the widest audience possible. This includes offering expert guidance on strategies for increasing awareness of your services, tactics to optimise engagement and ways to boost loyalty and retention. 

This article looks at key marketing channels to help you build out new business opportunities including e-newsletters, in-app notifications and seasonal deals. Our actionable tips will help you discover how to use these channels so you can win and retain more customers.

E-newsletters

E-newsletters remain one of the most effective channels for marketing your products and services. Our partners have reported uplifts of between 10%-30% through the promotions we offer through the Booking.com e-newsletters. They trust us to deliver deals that will genuinely benefit them. Through the e-newsletter we can help our clients reach their customers, at the right moment, with the right offers. 

With the goals and interests of your audience in mind, e-newsletters are a powerful tool for sharing information, promoting offers and making sure you are the first company in customers’ minds when they make a travel booking. 

Our partners have reported uplifts of between 10%-30% through the promotions we offer through the Booking.com e-newsletters.

How to optimise your e-newsletter strategy: 

  1. Establish a regular schedule. Decide on an appropriate frequency for your e-newsletter and delivery schedule that your business can stick to. You don’t want to overwhelm your audience but you don’t want to be forgotten either. Once a month is a good rule of thumb. Make sure you send your e-newsletter at a time when your audience will be most receptive. 
  2. Include an attention-grabbing subject line. Start with a strong call-to-action, personalise where possible and add a sense of urgency i.e ‘important update’ or ‘don’t miss out...’. 
  3. Make sure it adds value. Your e-newsletter’s main purpose is to deliver helpful, relevant content that addresses the interests and needs of your audience. If you cater to a variety of sectors, consider producing specific versions for different interests or geo-locations. Try to include special offers or loyalty rewards and keep it concise with clear calls-to-action.
  4. Make it scannable. Use a template that showcases your content clearly, on all devices. And keep in mind how the email will look in your reader’s preview pane. Make headlines short and snappy and only use images that add value to the content. 
  5. Spread the word. Make sure you have plenty of prompts to sign-up to the newsletter throughout your site and on social media. Set expectations on frequency, highlight the benefits (exclusive deals, latest news, etc) and reassure your reader that you will never spam them or share their data without permission. 
  6. Track and test. Keep a close eye on your engagement rates and adapt your content accordingly. Consider testing distribution for different times of the day or experimenting with subject lines. Test one thing at a time so you can tell what is working and what isn’t.  

In-App Notifications

Adding in-app notifications helps drive awareness and retention among your subscribers. This is a great channel for promoting offers and seasonal deals from Booking.com and optimising opportunities for up-sell and cross-sell. Some of our partners have reported an uplift of up to 3x in the days following the push message.

Similarly to your e-newsletter tactics, you need to make sure that the notifications are personalised, useful and relevant. Your in-app notifications should:

  • Be eye-catching but not detract from the customer experience or be invasive. 
  • Use concise messaging that clearly states the benefits and what the user should do next. 
  • Make the customer feel that the offer is exclusive to them and is a reward for their loyalty. 
  • Treat all users as individuals.
  • Be timely and not interrupt the user’s workflow. 

Alongside promoting offers, push notifications are also a great way to inform your customers about service updates. Timely delivery of these helps create happy, loyal customers and potential advocates for your brand. 

Seasonal Deals

Throughout the year, there are a variety of deals promoted by Booking.com to our members. You can also promote these deals to your own customers. Some of these deals include:

  • Easter deals
  • New year deals
  • Summer getaway
  • Black Friday

Our partners have reported great successes promoting these deals through their various marketing channels to drive higher engagement. In fact, some have experienced a fantastic 10% - 20% uplift in bookings. 

Try to schedule your offers to give customers plenty of time to take advantage of them. You can even send prompts at appropriate points to remind them of what they’re missing out on. Choose the right time of day, such as weekend mornings or commuting hours to reach customers when they’re most receptive. Use messaging that is benefit-focused and makes your customers feel inspired and valued. 

By implementing these tips, you can further market your business online. Our Booking.com account managers will help you review your progress, adjust and optimise your campaigns accordingly. There’s so much we can learn from our customer behaviours, both in terms of their online usage and actions. 

Learn more about what a partnership with Booking.com can bring to your business on our Solutions page

 

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