the best way to get guests to sign up for email newsletters?

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tavi
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the best way to get guests to sign up for email newsletters?

Post by tavi »

Am going to try MailChimp over New Year.

Am planning to just create a list of past/repeat guests and also those who enquired too late last time. So I'm pretty confident I won't be annoying anyone.

The email will be a short Happy New Year note with a fab photo and a button to contact me or visit my website if they want to see current availability.

Nevertheless I'm aware the recipients should be people who have opted "in".

How do you normally do this?
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Post by Joanna »

I'm thinking along the same lines. I got as far as setting up lists in Mail Chimp and then read their rules and realised that I had to delete most of my list because they either hadn't opted in recently or had an email from me within the last 6 months. I thought my first mailing was going to be something along the lines of 'let me know if you want me to keep in touch' but apparently I have to do that and get their say so BEFORE I put them in Mail Chimp. The fact that they stayed 12 months ago isn't enough.

So it seems I've got to go back and email everyone from Outlook and try to keep track of the replies, bounces, etc. in Excel and then put only the verified names in Mail Chimp. I've put it off until the New Year because it's such a faff. I'm thinking that I could end up with such a short list that it'll barely be worth using Mail Chimp.

Anyhow, to answer your question - you can set up an opt-in form using Mail Chimp and then put a link to it in any email (it can be part of your standard signature). If you've got a web site you can embed the form in it. I've also added an opt-in tick box to our booking form and feedback form too.
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Post by Nemo »

You're both right. It led me to ditch all my existing customer email lists and starting afresh. Mail Chimp lists have to be opted into and you won't fall foul of any other issues, if you have their consent.

I have a link in my emails and a sign up form on my website. It's slow, but is gradually building to a decent number.
tavi
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Post by tavi »

thanks both,

it seems that I could add guests' email addresses manually but I need to tick the box to say I have the guests' permission, which strictly speaking I don't.

I know the people on my initial list won't mind me contacting them - I've done a kind of New Year's message to past guests in previous through normal email, including a nice snapshot of the village...just that Mailchimp looks more professional.

Will go and figure out how to add signup buttons. Yawn. :)
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Post by greenbarn »

I'm in the middle of going through the same process and it's doing my head in, so I thought I'd come here for some respite! So that didn't work.... :?
I've sent out a newsletter at New Year for a few years, last year I decided to use Mail Chimp - no problem, I've even had a few signups on the website over the last year. :D
Now I go to use it again and find loads of extra spam hoops as described above. The replacement list I've spent hours trying to create by importing existing lists and segments into Excel basically falls foul of the rules imposed by the irritating ape in the stupid hat. :evil: :evil:
It really isn't designed for occasional use is it? The only way to keep your list validated would seem to be to email guests on a regular basis asking them to confirm. That's called spam, isn't it? :roll:

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Post by Gordo »

I'd think the majority of owners (those that use booking forms) would have the home addresses of previous bookers so direct mail "should" be more productive. Just like direct mail, email/mailchimp is really just a numbers game but the success ratio is tiny by comparison.

Re spam and following rules etc - consider that whilst the ethical owner is pondering, their competitor is taking action!

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Post by Mouse »

Gosh I didn't know about the opting in/6 th email thing :oops:

I send a mail chimp mail shot whenever I have a sticky week to sell and have built up the list from past clients (6 yrs worth).

I do delete any that are 'unopened' from the list.

Does this mean I can't continue using mail chimp? To be honest if all I have to do to use it is tick to say the guests are 'in' I think I'll do it because it's not a regular communication, just once every couple of years and always with a really really good offer to shift a week.

As an aside; I use the jackie lawson ecards to send xmas cards to all past guests (last 3 yrs) and future guests. I think it's a non pushy way to keep in touch and always delete them from the list after 3 years unless they've returned as guests.

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Last edited by Mouse on Sat Jan 02, 2016 10:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by greenbarn »

Gordo wrote:I'd think the majority of owners (those that use booking forms) would have the home addresses of previous bookers so direct mail "should" be more productive. Just like direct mail, email/mailchimp is really just a numbers game but the success ratio is tiny by comparison.
I don't follow the comparison - both direct mail and email will go to the same list of people, so I don't get why email should have a tiny success ratio in comparison to direct mail. For my part I ruthlessly rip up and bin any post that I don't want as soon as it arrives; if I'm half interested it'll go into a heap that gets ripped up some weeks later.

I'm also pondering the ROI on a spend on direct mail to people who've already stayed which would be well in excess of £100 assuming no printing costs for any form of card or insert. We tried in the past sending a Christmas card when we had a much smaller guest list and postage costs were more sensible. It was expensive and the measurable return was not worth it.
Doesn't add up for me.
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Post by Gordo »

greenbarn wrote:I don't follow the comparison - both direct mail and email will go to the same list of people, so I don't get why email should have a tiny success ratio in comparison to direct mail
I don't know the precise stats off hand but a bit of web research will tell you that's the case. I've done a fair bit of direct-mail along with other lead generation methods in the past, will try to dig out some examples maybe tomorrow.

I can more or less guarantee that I could send you a letter and you would open it up... yes you may well then throw it in the bin but you'd definitely open it up! I could also more or less guarantee that I could get you to respond to a letter... hard to believe maybe but such is the potential power of direct mail IF it's done well.

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Post by Essar »

Monday is the day I get all the direct mail shots - I sort out the "real" mail; the rest go unopened in the recycling bin (unless there's a free pen; you can feel it in the envelope).

Similarly, Sunday supplements advertising bumf - shaken on the floor then straight in the bin. So, I miss a 5% discount with Saga on a cruise up the Orinoco or 40% of a garden waste composter or a free second pair of really naff trousers if I buy a a pair in mottled purple tartan.

I have a sign on the postbox "no unsolicited mail or you can't get out the garden". I have tried handing it back to the postman but he has no sense of humour; just naff trousers. 8)
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Post by Gordo »

Gordo wrote:I've done a fair bit of direct-mail along with other lead generation methods in the past, will try to dig out some examples maybe tomorrow
Better late than never...

For ease of typing I'll call direct mail DM and email EM.

As one might expect, most stats for EM versus DM will tend to be biased, due to self-interests depending on whether it's a mailing house or a digital agency doing the stats.

Nowadays there seems to be a general perception that DM (or "junk mail") is old hat, stagnant or declining, whereas EM is always on the increase.

It could well be that direct mail is stagnant, as no matter which source you check, the response rate has been hovering around 4.4% for the past few years, hence it would be fair to say that if you post a letter to 100 past renters then by the law of averages you should only expect 4 or 5 people to respond. On a positive note it could also be said that 4.4% is a fairly consistent figure!

For an EM comparison I looked at Mailchimps own recent benchmark stats which are broken down into 46 different "industries" and unfortunately there's no place for holiday lets or anything similar, not that it matters so much as stats across all industries aren't a million miles apart.

Highest % figure for emails opened is 28.91% (Hobbies)

Highest % figure for click-thru to target url is 5.47% (Hobbies again)

Highest % figure for unsubscribe is 0.44% (Construction).

So if you were to email a list of 100 past guests...

29 people will open the email
71 people wont bother
1 or 2 people (1.566 average) will click to respond
0 or 1 person (0.1276 average) will unsubscribe

So based upon the above comparison there might be 4 or 5 respondents to a letter, versus 1 or 2 email respondents.

I'm almost certain that everyone who's already contributed to this thread will agree that IF the above stats are to be believed then it would be "better" (more cost effective) to settle for the 1 or 2 prospects via Mailchimp.

Am I close?

I'd post the 100 letters at higher cost every time.

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Post by greenbarn »

My Mailchimp stats from a recent sending to 155 addresses:
Opened - 115 (74.2%) Probably about finished, might get 1 or 2 more.
Total opens - 462
Total Clicks - 25
Clicks per unique opens - 18.3%
1 unsubscribe
Bookings as a direct result - 4

Note that a clickthrough wasn't the intent of the email, it was a general heads up, news and a specific offer for January.

Cost - zero plus sweat.
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Post by Joanna »

As always, it all depends on your market.

Gordo - I read somewhere recently that one survey showed a better response to DM than to EM (sorry I can't remember where I got that from).

We have a significant minority of guests who have ticked the box to say they prefer post to email and I send them occasional offers by letter or postcard. We have had a few bookings that way. The rest will hopefully eventually all be on my Mail Chimp list (currently standing around an impressive 25 verified subscribers).

Pre-mail chimp we had a free weekend in December so I used Outlook to copy a quick email to about 20 previous guests with a small discount and one of them booked it. I'd selected guests I thought were most likely to book - ones who'd booked similar out of season short breaks before and were UK based so no flights, etc. It took ages to come up with a very short list but it worked.

I'm hoping that Mail Chimp will make it easier to filter guests so our offers can be very targeted. That way we're not going to annoy guests with offers they're not interested in. Hopefully we'll generate bookings and good will, possible leading to referrals as well. Time will tell.
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Post by Gordo »

greenbarn wrote:My Mailchimp stats from a recent sending to 155 addresses:
Opened - 115 (74.2%) Probably about finished, might get 1 or 2 more.
Total opens - 462
Total Clicks - 25
Clicks per unique opens - 18.3%
1 unsubscribe
Bookings as a direct result - 4

Note that a clickthrough wasn't the intent of the email, it was a general heads up, news and a specific offer for January.

Cost - zero plus sweat.
4 bookings from 155 emails is a great return, better than I would have expected to be honest.

I'm wondering what does "total opens" mean as I notice it's about 4x "opened" suggesting each email was opened four times maybe?

Going back in the thread I suggested EM success was "tiny by comparison" to DM and reason for that is the comparative percentages are approx 0.12% EM versus 4.4% DM (36.6 times greater) but in fairness all those stats are generally referring to "cold" communication (just like the junk mail you tear up without a second thought) so I hadn't accounted for the fact that you're writing to people you already know and have already done business with.

I maintain that a Direct mail campaign will always outshine an email campaign given a level paying field but I also accept that for the relatively small numbers involved here, email was obviously adequate enough to achieve the desired objective.

I'll get me coat :wink:

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Post by greenbarn »

Gordo wrote: I'm wondering what does "total opens" mean as I notice it's about 4x "opened" suggesting each email was opened four times maybe?
A quick look at the stats shows that a bit more than half opened the email once. Of the rest, a significant number opened between 2 and 5 times, and about 10% of recipients were well into double figures for the number of times they opened. :shock:

Make of that what you will............ :?
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