If you’re in the tours and activity sector, you’ve probably had some downtime to think about how you can grow your business even during the toughest times. The good news is that now is the perfect time to start getting people excited about the upcoming season. But what’s the best way to let people know that you’re open for business?
We dove deep into what works best for small businesses when it comes to using email marketing strategies to grow your tour and activity business. Below, you will find the best tips that are effective, resourceful and guarantee to put you one step ahead of your competition.
#1 Build A Mailing List With Organic Leads
These are people who find your tour or activity business through social media, search engine queries, and or via a promotion you might be offering. When you get more organic leads (subscribers), you have a much better chance of converting them into customers.
Example: You send out an email campaign to 800 generic subscribers and you might only see a return of maybe a handful. However, if you send that same campaign to 800 organic subscribers, your conversion rate will drastically be higher because these are people who are already interested in what you are offering.
Note: Social media outlets are a great resource for connecting with like-minded people who have an interest in your services. Run a promo or giveaway that requires them to sign up for your email list in order to enter to win. You’d be surprised how many people will do this for a chance to win something, anything.
#2 Engage And Convert
The number one goal for any email campaign is to get your subscribers to engage with your email content and click to get more information. How is this done effectively? By sending high quality email content paired with high quality email designs that speaks to your audience.
Is there something new being introduced in your market? If so, promote it and get people interested in signing up for an upcoming adventure that gives them an experience they are dying to try.
You will first need to start with the subject line - this will determine if people will even open your emails. We cannot stress enough how important subject lines are for email marketing campaigns. Keep your subject lines short and precise, don’t bait people with fantasies. Nobody likes opening an email to find the content has nothing to do with the subject line.
The body of the email should be related to your business and targeted to get people excited about your tours or activities. It’s also the perfect time to get people connected to your business through social media outlets and websites (if you have one) by placing those links strategically in your content.
Note: It couldn’t hurt to do a little research on how to write the best subject lines and then start testing some different strategies.
Download: 7 email templates for every tour or activity business
#3 Build Your Email Campaign Around A Specific Topic
If you are in the touring industry and you are hosting an upcoming event to hike through the Alps - gear your email marketing campaign towards that specific event. Add pictures of the destination and always include things people want to know more about.
However, don’t give all the details in one email - keep them interested by telling them to look out for the next email that has some other details that most people want to know about. You could even send people to a specific landing page to get the signup information for the event.
Here are some other interesting ideas for growing your business through email marketing:
- Offer All Inclusive Deals
- Bring A Friend Or Loved One For Free (or 50% Off)
- Coupon Codes
- Pricing With Countdown Timer
- Share This Email
- Contests
Note: As a tour or activity operator, using an email marketing software that can automate certain tasks can save you a lot of time. For example, setting up autoresponders or using tags to set up email lists. Email lists can be a great way to target specific interests by utilising tags that will group people with the same interests together.
If your business involves wineries, islands, skiing, etc., these tags will then populate a specific list that you can target when you have a tour that is designed for people with those specific interests.
Bonus Tip: Personalisation goes a long way in email marketing, when you address people by their name - you’ve already got their attention!
Find out how our booking system can support your email marketing strategy.
