When done right, email can be one of the most personal ways to communicate with past guests. That personalization drives brand loyalty and direct bookings. Many hotels don’t even consider email as an option in their digital marketing plans. This case study is meant to help hotels understand how email can be used in a modern way to deliver results.
Email Case Study:
Best Western Plus Seville Plaza
How Top Suite Used Email To Create a Personal Connection With Past Guests
The Situation
After an extensive renovation, the Best Western Plus Seville Plaza in Kansas City wanted past guests to see all of the improvements made since their last stay.
While ads and posts on Facebook about the renovation performed well, they were limited.
The Solution
Create an email campaign targeting past guests with a link to the updated gallery.
Top Suite’s Email Approach:
- Identify guests from past 4 years that stayed prior to the renovation.
Export emails from the hotel’s PMS. - Create A/B test with links to updated photo gallery:
Option A: graphical email with logo, branded design, and thumbnail images.
Option B: personal text message from General Manager with a simple link. - Run test on 5% of list:
Option B (personal, text version) received nearly 3x the clicks as option A. - Send the personal, text email to the remaining list.
Setup reporting dashboard to share final results.
What We Learned
Guests seemed to be more interested in direct communication from the hotel manager and clicked on simple links more often than branded, marketing messages with image thumbnails.
The Results
39%
Opened the Email
22%
Clicked a Link
Many
Personal replies to the GM
Multiple
Bookings directly from the email
(even though that was not the short-term goal)
Free Email Strategy Session
We will discuss a custom strategy and approach for your specific property.