We’ve spoken with hundreds of tour operators over the years about email marketing, but it only took a handful of these conversations to begin to see some common themes emerge.

One of the most prevalent sentiments we hear is this. “I’ve been wanting to do this for years. I have some goals I want to accomplish. I just don’t know where to start.”

This makes a lot of sense. To sum it up in one word – it’s overwhelming.

With so many experience providers being a “marketing team of one”, the thought of coming up with content ideas, writing marketing copy, selecting images, deciding on yet another catchy subject line, and choosing the right target audience on a monthly or weekly basis can be, well, overwhelming. And I haven’t even mentioned choosing the right email an integration solutions to start with.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

In fact, the scenario I’ve presented here is based on a false premise right off the bat. The premise that email marketing consists of collecting email addresses and sending out newsletters on a weekly or monthly basis.

So let’s start out by destroying this premise. Your email marketing solution needs to be grounded in set-and-forget automation. Targeted, in-the-moment marketing that runs in the background based on leads collected, bookings created, and waivers signed, using as much information you need from that FareHarbor booking and waiver to create thoughtful, personalized messaging that your subscribers will relate to.

Newsletters are fine if you have something to say, like promoting a new tour or sale, AND if you not 100% a destination with very little repeat business. Automation is key.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about a few practical suggestions to get this train moving, and keep it going without being overwhelmed.

1. Start with the top of that sales funnel. You need to be collecting leads and not just relying on customer data. Drop the “Sign Up for Our Newsletter” in your website footer and use a real lead magnet to collect as many email addresses that you can from those still shopping around.
2. After you collect the email addresses, do something with them. We’ve spoken to vast numbers of experience providers that have a good list, but only use it on Black Friday. This is where a good Welcome Series comes in. Send them a series of emails starting with an overview of your tours, and following up with deeper dives into all of the experiences you have to offer. To combat those intrusive overwhelming feelings, you can start with a few emails spaced out over several days or weeks and just add to your welcome series over time. The entire purpose of this campaign is to get that initial booking.
3. Once they’ve booked they’re now in what we call the sweet spot. This is the time between when they book, and when they arrive for the experience. It’s an especially important window if your a destination tour company and the vast majority of your customers are jumping on a plane sometime after the experience. Things to think about here are cross sells to other tours, upsells to packages, upsells to private tours, upsells of booking add-ons, and promoting your colleagues with the FareHarbor Distribution Network. Transactional emails also work well here to get them ready for the tour.
4. Last up are the post tour campaigns or messaging. This includes review requests, but also a good opportunity to promote all of the above just after the tour, maybe with a repeat customer discount. If you’re not a 100% destination it’s also a good time for a Post Tour Customer series, which is a lot like the Welcome Series but much more drawn out. Think weeks/months/years instead of days, and of course, all automated.

Getting back to our word of the day – overwhelmed. We encourage all of our clients not to try not to be stressed as they’re starting out on this new venture.

All of the campaigns suggested above do not need to be in place on day one. Not even close.

We have many people start out with a few emails in the welcome series, one or two cross sells, and maybe a Post Tour Customer Series with one or two emails. This is enough to start seeing some results and give you the motivation you need.

After that, create a plan to add one or two automated campaigns a month moving forward. You’ll gain experience as you go, making this process easier and easier. After that, if you have time, send that occasional newsletter out as a supplement to the automation you already have in place.

Want to know more about how to make this all happen with our TourAdvantage solution and guided, industry expertise? Let’s chat.