How Terme di Saturnia is using email to increase its bookings

Where is the purchasing decision currently taking place in the tourism sector? Mainly online, as we know. It is here that users weigh up offers and opportunities, get updates on destinations, read reviews, accept recommendations and, lastly, decide to book.

In this context, email is the channel used to reach out to people with a timely and personalized approach. To shed light on the benefits of Email Marketing for tourism, we asked Terme di Saturnia – one of the most famous wellness reports worldwide and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World – to tell us about their experience, by analyzing the objectives, strategy and results of one of its latest campaigns of 2017. This gave rise to our latest case study, which you can read in full on our website. Whereas this post is to give you a preview and put forward some best practices.

Terme di Saturnia had one objective for 2017: to take advantage of seasons, anniversaries and holidays to boost the rate of conversion into bookings. Specifically, Terme di Saturnia aimed to:

• Boost loyalty among existing customers
• Re-engage customers who had stayed just once before, by offering an incentive (rewarding technique)
• Promote its brand identity and offer to prospective customers.

Three key activities were needed prior to creating the campaign:

• Analyzing customer behavior during the latest holidays and special dates
• Establishing a cluster of recipients (based on the targets outlined above)
• Converting the cluster into a mailing list.

Terme di Saturnia relied on its business intelligence software, which can analyze and manage user information. With MailUp’s APIs, Terme di Saturnia has been able to integrate the software into the mailing platform, to synchronize information between the two systems and use segmentation and profiling tools to personalize emails.

Having analyzed its purchase history, Terme di Saturnia determined that Valentine’s day was the best opportunity to increase its bookings. After preparing the mailing list of 8,347 customers (obtained by synchronizing its business intelligence software), the company generated two valid offers placed within a single email. The campaign template was made up of the following:

• A central header with appealing photos, dynamic and differentiated dates based on the users and source of origin.
• Diversified text based on data of interest for Saturnia Terme users.
• An emotional image that is appealing to women (70% of brand users are women).
• Call to action directing to the website’s booking engine.

Statistical reports have made it possible for Terme di Saturnia to monitor the campaign’s performance in real time by analyzing the opening and click-through rates on the call to action. What’s more, tracking the actions made it possible to monitor the campaign’s conversion rates.

The mailing led to a surge in direct booking on the Booking Engine compared to the same period of 2016, resulting in increased turnover (see all percentages in the case study). Terme di Saturnia analytically calculated that MailUp’s direct conversion value was 12%.

1. Feed recipient lists

Creating a database of contacts comes before any Email Marketing activity: this must be carried out in a strategic and continuous way since they calculated that, after one year on average, 30% of the addresses collected are lost due to errors or discrepancies, while 25-50% of subscribers become inactive (no longer opening or clicking on messages). In addition to the conventional subscription box on the website, other tools are also needed: dynamic and behavioral pop-ups, subscription forms on the Facebook page, iPad forms for trade fairs, events and stores, through to Content Marketing products such as eBooks, webinars, presentations, infographics or statistical reports.

2. Integrate your systems

The keyword is digital ecosystem, i.e. the ability of all applications involved in digital marketing to integrate and interact: business intelligence systems, e-commerce, CRM, database, CMS, ERP. With our APIs and integrations catalog, you can connect any system with the MailUp platform to automatically synchronize information on customers and gain information and data to give your campaigns a high level of profiling.

3. Create profiled campaigns for individual contacts

Having determined the best times of the year to create specific and dedicated offers, then engage the segments of recipients who are most receptive to such occasions. Everyone can use tools to send personalized and relevant emails: both auto-profiling tools and segmentation tools (dynamic content and filters by data, geography, activity and device) allow you to send the right message to the right recipient.

4. Build your relationship with Marketing Automation

As mentioned earlier, celebrations and festivities are key drivers for conversions. But it is equally important to build relations with the customer over the course of all 12 months, communicating with them on a continuous basis: in addition to Content Marketing resources – to engage people with informational content that is free from commercial approaches – Marketing Automation plays a key role in enhancing every touch point to take advantage of the joint action of automation and personalization.