Travel Agency Tribes Email Marketing

So you sent your last e-mail newsletter, and nothing much happened.

This is typical. In fact according to Mailchimp, Aweber and Constant Contact, travel industry newsletters are at the bottom of open rates, typically only better then the Insurance or Accounting industries.

See, just by using the words "Insurance" and "Accounting" you yawned :-)

Here are 5 quick things you can do to make people read, appreciate and take action from your emails:

Make it Personal
Don't stuff a million products in your emails. Instead always start them off with something new that happened in a destination, your agency, or even your own life. People live vicariously through others -- thats why we watch on average 5 hours of TV every night. It's also why podcasts are getting more and more popular -- the podcaster is literally talking to only you and is right between your ears.

Simple Text, Minimal Graphics
Overly complicated emails with tons of graphics, colors images and glitz, are now proven to provide low click-through rates. Keep it simple (like this email that you're reading now). Your customers already ignore banners on the web, don't make your email look like a big ad.

Never use "no-reply@youragency.com"
Never underestimate the power of allowing your customers to reply directly to you. This is like the main thing you can fix if you are going to use simpler email formats. See, this email comes directly from me. If you want some more tips on newsletters, just hit reply. See how it works? (BTW... I do read all the responses).

Work on your subject lines
There are tons of advice on better email subject lines out there. These are mainly responsible for your open rates. And if your email isn't opened, no one will take any action. Here are a few good resources:

• Best practices for email subject lines
• 18 of the best email subject lines you've ever read
• The top performing email subject lines
• Improve your open rates with these 12 subject line tweaks

Finally, Jab, Jab, Jab, Jab, Hook!
I could have easily ended this email with an exhortation to buy our services and products. But I won't. Because I do want to make a point. For every 5 pieces of email you send, make 4 of them chock full of value (jab). Then for the fifth email, do the hook. Ask your reader to perform some action.

Anyway, I hope that's been helpful. If you need any help choosing an email provider, or talking about the Mailchimp or Aweber integrations we've just added to the admin, please hit reply and let me know, I'll be glad to help out!