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E M A I L M A R K E T I N G R E P O R T
HOLIDAY COTTAGES
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We have analysed the email marketing of 15 holiday cottage brands we received in one month from 15th October 2015 to 15th November 2015.
I N T R O D U C T I O N
T H E B R A N D S
M E T H O D
Despite the unpredictable British weather, short-break holidays in the UK continue to grow, and Mintel forecasts that the number of domestic holiday rentals will reach 6.1 million in 2016, a growth of 12.7% since 2010. And whilst good exchange rates against the Euro continue to make overseas breaks attractive, political instability in some popular overseas destinations is expected to have a positive impact on ‘staycation’ tourism in 2016.
In the UK holiday cottage market, consumers are opting for shorter breaks, with a decline in trips longer than four nights, but an increase in expenditure as holidaymakers look for higher quality, more authentic properties. Around half of all cottage rentals are booked through an agency, but competition is increasing, with low-cost ‘aggregator’ sites like HomeAway and Airbnb enjoying rapid growth.
Over 75% of all holiday cottage rentals are booked online, and coupled with the sharp increase in competition, we expect skilful use of online marketing techniques - both for attracting new guests and encouraging repeat bookings – to be a crucial factor in deciding the winners and losers in the sector in 2016. There is no more powerful technique online than the use of personalised, timely and relevant email.
In this edition of our regular Email Marketing Report, we have taken a forensic look at how the biggest brands in the UK holiday cottage rental market are using eCRM to attract visits, build relationships and drive incremental revenue. We have studied how effective each of the brands is at acquiring new email addresses, what data they collect and how frequently they engage with their audience. We have also identified some of the ‘best-in-class’ emails in the sector and highlighted the techniques that make them successful.
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‘‘Britain still has the most reliably beautiful countryside of anywhere in the world.
‘‘
Bill Bryson
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E M A I L S I G N U P
How did we ‘sign up’?
Brands excluded from this report
1. Entered email address on homepage
Brands which didn’t send an email 30 days after signing up
4. No method to sign up or request a brochure
3. Provided email address as part of a brochure request form, without giving permission to send emails*
Sent through to a specific sign up landing page
2. Signed up as part of a brochure request form*
*Given that there was no other facility to subscribe to emails.
*Sykes Cottages sent a “portal registration” email which required activation before being added to the email file (by default).
Home page footer
Email sign up landing page
Forest Holidays, Premier Cottages, Alastair Sawday’s, Center Parcs, National Trust Holidays and holidaycottages.co.uk
53%of the brands 20%
of the brands
13%of the brands
13%of the brands
40%of the brands
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D A T A C O L L E C T I O N
E M A I L S I G N U P
Email address
Confirm email
addressFirst name Last name Title Security
CodePostcode (optional)
Holiday Cottages
Premier Cottages
Alastair Sawday’s
Center Parcs
Forest Holidays
National Trust Holidays
Perfect Stays
Unique Home Stays
What information was requested at ‘sign up’?
FACTS: 2 out of 8 companies sent a confirmation link via email.
6 out of 8 companies have a specific sign up landing page for their newsletter registration forms.
T h a n k y o uC o n f i r m a t i o n o f s u b s c r i p t i o n
V i s i t t h e h o m e p a g eM a n a g e y o u r p r e f e r e n c e s
F o l l o w u s o n s o c i a l m e d i aS p e c i a l o f f e r s
131
22
11
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
What did it say on the website post ‘sign up’?
FACTS: None of the brands had a ‘pop-up’ window asking you to sign up for their newsletter.
National Trust Holidays had email sign up options at the middle and bottom of the homepage. The only brand to provide two places to sign up.
Where on the homepage do they ask for email ‘sign up’?
T o p o f p a g e
M i d d l e o f p a g e
M i d d l e a n d b o t t o m o f p a g e
B o t t o m o f p a g e
We appreciate that there is a lot of competition for homepage real estate, especially above the fold. However, if you have a requirement for new email data, we would recommend that you promote email subscription in the most prominent position possible.
How is email ‘sign up’ encouraged?
L a t e s t n e w sO f f e r s
M o r e i n f oH o l i d a y i d e a s
P r o p e r t i e sC o m p e t i t i o n s
N o e n c o u r a g e m e n t
68
23
13
6
0 2 4 6 8 10
Relevancy is the key to all marketing channels and email is no different, so we recommend that at some point in the subscription process you attempt to collect as much data as you possibly can. This could be at the point of subscription or an email follow-up driving recipients through to an Email Preference Centre.
We encourage our clients to promote their products and services on the post sign-up page as a tactic to reinforce benefits.
FACTS: 3 of the brands mentioned the ‘unsubscribe’ option on the post ‘sign up’ page of the email subscription.
62.5%12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
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F R E Q U E N C Y
When were the emails sent?
W E L C O M E O R C O N F I R M A T I O N E M A I L S
Welcome emails were received from these brands:
Confirmation emails were received from these brands:
Welcome or confirmation emails were not received from these brands:
FACTS: NONE of the welcome or confirmation emails were personalised or incentivised.
100% of brands that sent a welcome or confirmation email sent it immediately
W H E N W E R E T H E W E L C O M E O R C O N F I R M A T I O N E M A I L S R E C E I V E D ?
Clients regularly ask us how often they should be sending their customers emails, but for us, it shouldn’t be a question of email frequency, instead a question of content and response. If you’re sending valuable and relevant content to your email recipients and they’re responding well, look to push the frequency as high as possible.
FACTS: Premier Cottages sent the same newsletter with different subject lines in Week 4 and 5.
Welcome Cottages sent the same postcard email twice with the same subject line, on two different days in Week 3.
We would recommend that a welcome or confirmation email is always sent post subscription. In our experience, we see better open and click-through rates when automated welcome emails are sent instantly at the point of subscription.
Personalisation within emails attracts high attention levels and is a powerful directional device. Personalisation is a tool to speak to each reader as if they are your only reader. It allows marketers to tailor relevant experiences for each recipient according to their buying patterns and email behaviour.
Confirmation email – email automatically sent to an email subscriber to confirm their decision to subscribe
Welcome email – email automatically sent to an email subscriber to begin the brand-customer relationship
Newsletter – multiple offer email containing added-value content (blog articles, advice etc.)
Postcard email – single-minded offer email
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Week 1 15th-21st October
Week 2 22nd-28th October
Week 3 29th-4th
November
Week 4 5th-11th
November
Week 5 12th-15th November
Total number of emails sent
in 30 days
Sykes 6
Welcome Cottages 6
Alastair Sawday’s 5
Holiday Cottages 5
Perfect Stays 4
National Trust Holidays 4
Forest Holidays 3
Center Parcs 2
Premier Cottages 2
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E M A I L C O N T E N T
What type of content were brands using?
15th October – 15th November
Holiday Cottages Autumn Competition 17th Oct
Quirky Cottages (Halloween) 24th Oct
Last Minute Autumn 1st Nov
Festive Season 7th Nov
Group Offer 14th Nov
Premier Cottages November Newsletter* 11th Nov
Festive Season* 13th Nov
Alastair Sawday’s Autumn Adventure 16th Oct
Best British Hotels Guide 29th Oct
Fireside Escapes 13th Nov
Center Parcs October Newsletter 16th Oct
Short Breaks 20th Oct
Forest Holidays Free Eden Project Tickets Offer 3rd Nov
Christmas 12th Nov
National Trust Holidays
Pre-Christmas Breaks 20th Oct
Festive Breaks 3rd Nov
Christmas Markets 11th Nov
Perfect Stays New Property 17th Oct
Festive Escape 22nd Oct
New Property 31st Oct
Last Minute Christmas Cancellation 7th Nov
Sykes Festive Christmas 16th Oct
Festive New Year 23rd Oct
Region Focused – Love Yorkshire 30th Oct
Autumn Short Breaks 6th Nov
Cottages with Open Fires 13th Nov
Welcome Cottages End of Year Breaks 22nd Oct
£100 off Winter Breaks 30th Oct & 2nd Nov
£50 off 2016 Breaks – Last Week Reminder 5th Nov
£50 off 2016 Breaks – Last Night Reminder 9th Nov
Next Year Bookings 13th Nov
*Same content – different subject lines
Property subcategories(e.g. for New Year, with hot tubs)
Holiday Cottages
Premier Cottages
Alastair Sawday’s
Dorset Cereals B&B Awards
Center Parcs Good Spa Guides Regional Awards 2015
Forest Holidays
National Trust Holidays
Perfect Stays
Sykes
Welcome Cottages
Exam
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of
prop
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Prop
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su
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ies
(e.g
. for
New
Year
, w
ith h
ot tu
bs)
Pres
enta
tion
of
new
ho
liday
hom
es
Pet f
riend
lyfa
cilit
ies
Blog
arti
cles
Com
petit
ion
Owne
r re
crui
tmen
t
Upco
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Partn
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offe
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Vote
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Gift
vouc
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Offe
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Competition Vote for... Last Minute Christmas CancellationQuirky Cottages (Halloween) Festive Christmas
What was the theme of the emails?
Good examples of added-value content include advice features, hints and tips, humorous content and online tools. Blending sales messages and added-value content in an integrated way is very effective in sustaining attention. Moreover, it can increase long-term engagement and reduce unsubscribes.
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E N C O U R A G I N G C L I C K - T H R O U G H S
What property subcategories are being used to encourage clicks? What other calls to action are being used?
Cottages with woodburners or open firesCottages for New Year
Cottages with hot tubsSleeping 8 or more
Sleeping 10 or more
Our Christmas cottagesAll UK cottagesTop Christmas properties
Group cottages
Christmas holiday
Sleeping 12 or more
Pub within a mile
Last-minute holidays
Our Quirky cottages
Christmas cottages
Romantic cottages
Festive cottages
Dog-friendly properties
Cottages for winter breaks
New property
Cottages with swimming poolsShort breaks Cottages with enclosed garden
Large properties Cottages near a pub
Baby and Toddler
Pet-friendly cottages
Rural cottages
Log Burner
Coastal propertiesFestive breaks
Find your perfect cottage here
Explore dog-friendly cottagesFind your place...
Send to a friend
Take a closer look
Explore and be inspired today
Find your Christmas holiday
Enter now
Book today
Take your pick of our Halloween masks
Read about
Find out more
Read our blog for our top Christmas properties
Read more
Book now
Buy now
Discover the spookiest places in the UK
Find out how to enter
Shop now
View our top autumn recipes
Browse Christmas
Search group cottagesActivities and events near you
See the collection
Take a closer look
Search now
Find out more about Gift Memberships
Browse our cottages for New Year
Visit the website
Vote now
Get ticketsBuy your vouchers here
Click here to view properties
Find your nearest Christmas Market
FACTS: Alastair Sawday’s design their ‘Find your place…’ CTA as a search bar.
Successful emails frequently contain 30+ clickable links – hypertext links, multiple calls to action, secondary navigation and footer links all drive incremental clicks. Make clickable elements look clearly clickable. Colour, font, language, size and positioning of CTA buttons all impact on recognition and click propensity.
Decisions to click, or not to click, are made in milliseconds. So, in order to build an effective email, consider using multiple calls to action, well-positioned to be in close proximity to the featured product or service. According to our case studies, CTAs like ‘View the range’ or ‘Find out more’ may prove more clickable than ‘Buy now’, as the readers may not be ready to buy what is on offer.
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E X A M P L E O F A N I N F O R M A T I V E W E L C O M E E M A I L
E X A M P L E O F A N E V E N T - D R I V E N N E W S L E T T E R
E X A M P L E O F A N I N S P I R A T I O N A L E M A I L
E X A M P L E O F A N O F F E R - L E D E M A I L
Date: 15th October 2015Subject line: Welcome to Forest Holidays
Date: 16th October 2015Subject line: Stock up on festive cheer
Date: 24th October 2015Subject line: The quirkiest places to stay this Autumn
Date: 5th November and 9th November 2015Subject line: 1. THIS WEEKEND ONLY - £50 off 2016 breaks! 2. £50 off 2016 breaks - ENDS TONIGHT 10PM!
This email condenses all the essential information a new subscriber would like to know using a simple, eye-catching design. The use of the map to present the range of locations provided by Forest Holidays is impactful and the rest of the well-selected images also give a flavour of what the company can offer - a great tactic to implement within welcome emails.
The copy introduces the services offered for different audiences and their varying needs and tastes. To further demonstrate the ability to offer more tailored services, the brand invites readers to create a profile on their website, through a straightforward CTA to see the latest offers.
This email stood out as it landed just over 2 months from Christmas, at a time when you’re busy planning your Christmas shopping but need a bit of inspiration. This email does just that, helping you to decide where to go with some location advice and recommending a cottage you can stay in. The brand is also encouraging interaction with their #discovercornwall photo competition and generating some valuable content for their website. The subject line created intrigue, encouraging opens and standing out amongst competitors.
Along with the intriguing subject line, the introduction of the email grabs attention and encourages the reader to scroll down, with an image of an attractive property and enticing copy.
The email’s theme has been cleverly continued into the property selections showing ‘quirky’ and ‘frighteningly unique’ cottages. In addition, location inspiration and activity ideas are included to improve long-term engagement with the email programme and demonstrate how the brand can enhance your holiday experience. The use of multiple, hyperlink-style CTA’s also gives the recipient lots of opportunities to click through.
This series of offer-led emails made an impact for three reasons – their urgency, timing and single-minded approach. In the subject line, the use of uppercase wording catches your attention and the deadline increases the urgency to open now, rather than at a later date.
The first email landed on a Thursday evening, giving customers enough time to book before the offer ends. The reminder email landed on a Monday morning, the day the offer finished, reminding customers there was one last chance to take advantage of the offer.
The design of the emails was single minded and the deadline was clear, both creating more urgency to click through.
1. 2.
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O U R A G E N C Y
At Red C, we believe producing effective advertising and marketing campaigns can only come from developing a deep and genuine understanding of a client’s business, products and customers. We encourage staff to get ‘under the skin’ of every client’s business. We sit in on call centres, accompany field sales staff, work in branches and stores, and analyse and interpret client data online and offline to create real insight. It leads to robust, long-standing relationships with our clients.
Strongly analytical in approach, the agency comes from a direct marketing background, yet today 70% of revenue is from online channels, including email marketing, paid search, search engine optimisation, social media marketing and web development. So the agency can offer expertise across a full range of channels, online, offline and broadcast, which helps us to tackle client challenges and develop integrated campaigns for a wide range of target audiences, products and services, in a media neutral way.
Our client base includes a spectrum of blue chip and industry leading companies… JD Williams, Swinton Insurance, Manchester City Football Club, Bupa, Spirit Pub Company, Fish Insurance and TeleWare. This means every day we work closely with leading edge marketing teams.
O U R S E R V I C E S
Red C is a fully integrated agency which offers a wide range of services, including Strategic Consultancy, Email Marketing, Social Media Management, Search Engine Optimisation, Content Marketing, Paid Search, Television Production, Advertising, Direct Mail, Print Production and Analysis.
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C O N T A C T U S0161 872 1361 | [email protected]
Anchorage 1, Anchorage Quay, Salford Quays, Manchester M50 3YL
www.redcmarketing.com
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