Find out how to use advertising automation within the journey trade

Do you know that 81% of journey bookings are deserted earlier than completion? In an trade going through immense challenges introduced on by the worldwide pandemic, journey companies and companies want to search out progressive methods to adapt and keep afloat. One efficient resolution that may considerably influence and revolutionize the journey trade is advertising automation. 

With advertising automation, you possibly can streamline your journey advertising technique, maximize effectivity, and breathe new life into your campaigns. On this complete information, we’ll discover the advantages that advertising automation brings to the journey trade and the methods you possibly can implement beginning immediately

Some great benefits of advertising automation within the journey trade

Advertising automation has revolutionized the journey trade, permitting you to optimize your advertising efforts and interact with prospects on a deeper stage. Some key benefits of implementing advertising automation within the journey trade embrace:

1. Enhanced buyer personalization: With advertising automation, you possibly can create personalised experiences for every buyer primarily based on their journey historical past, preferences, and former bookings. This stage of personalization can result in larger buyer satisfaction and loyalty.
2. Improved effectivity: Advertising automation allows you to automate repetitive duties like e-mail advertising, social media posting, and lead nurturing. This results in appreciable time and sources saved, permitting your crew to concentrate on extra necessary duties.
3. Buyer expertise: With a buyer information platform (CXDP) you possibly can acquire, handle, and analyze buyer information. This helps you make data-driven selections on your journey advertising technique.
4. Improved concentrating on: Advertising automation lets you section your prospects primarily based on demographics and pursuits, creating focused and related advertising campaigns.
5. Scalability: As your journey enterprise grows, advertising automation can scale with it, enabling you to take care of high-quality buyer experiences whereas increasing your audience and repair choices.
6. Stronger buyer retention: Common communication on the proper time can nurture shoppers for stronger retention and loyalty, resulting in extra future bookings.

Now that we perceive the advantages of selling automation within the journey trade let’s dive into methods and applications that may aid you put these benefits into apply

Find out how to use advertising automation within the journey trade

To successfully incorporate advertising automation into the journey trade, contemplate implementing the next methods and applications in your advertising plan:

1. Buyer onboarding

Within the journey advertising trade, an efficient buyer onboarding course of could make a giant distinction in constructing robust buyer relationships from the beginning. You can begin by creating automated welcome emails that shall be despatched to new prospects, introducing them to your model’s choices, journey suggestions, and unique promotions. By offering useful content material and a easy onboarding expertise, you possibly can set a constructive tone on your relationship with the client, which in flip will increase the probability of future bookings.

Along with welcome emails, you can too contemplate sending automated personalised onboarding messages that tackle particular buyer wants, akin to providing suggestions for locations to go to primarily based on their journey historical past or preferences. This will help to construct belief with the client and present them that you just perceive their wants and pursuits.

2. Pre-trip communication

Pre-trip communication is an important step in guaranteeing that vacationers really feel ready and excited as their journey approaches. Through the use of automated communication like emails, push notifications, and SMS messages, you possibly can hold vacationers knowledgeable about necessary particulars akin to their itinerary, vacation spot guides, climate forecasts, and different related journey suggestions simply. This not solely helps to construct anticipation for the journey but additionally ensures that vacationers have every part they should take advantage of out of their journey expertise. 

Furthermore, pre-trip communication additionally helps to determine a constructive relationship with vacationers, as they really feel that their wants and preferences are being taken into consideration. This could result in higher buyer satisfaction and loyalty, in addition to constructive word-of-mouth suggestions.

3. Reserving confirmations

Reserving confirmations play an important function in guaranteeing buyer satisfaction and loyalty. Sending well timed and related reserving confirmations provides to the seamless buyer expertise and helps construct belief. With AI-powered reserving programs, you possibly can immediately ship affirmation emails to your prospects as quickly as they full a reserving. These emails can embrace all related reservation particulars, fee info, and subsequent steps, offering your prospects with all the knowledge they want with none further effort in your half. 

4. Deserted reserving restoration

Recovering deserted bookings is an important facet of your journey model’s advertising technique. Many occasions, prospects could abandon their bookings midway by the method, resulting in a major lack of income on your model. Nevertheless, advertising automation platforms like Dotdigital will help you recuperate these deserted bookings.

By monitoring when a buyer abandons their cart, you possibly can mechanically ship them a reminder e-mail with a customized provide. This could encourage your prospects to finish the reserving and assist your model recuperate misplaced income. Furthermore, this strategy demonstrates that your journey model values its prospects and is keen to assist them make the reserving course of as easy as doable, which might enhance the general buyer expertise.

5. Automated post-trip follow-up emails

In relation to enhancing buyer satisfaction and retention, common communication is essential. One efficient strategy to obtain that is by sending automated post-trip follow-up emails. These emails will help you collect useful suggestions from prospects, together with critiques, ideas, and testimonials.

By requesting suggestions out of your prospects, you possibly can establish areas for enchancment in your providers and make vital adjustments. This will help you preserve a aggressive edge and enhance your repute out there. Moreover, prospects admire when their opinions are considered, which might result in elevated loyalty and repeat enterprise.

When creating your post-trip follow-up emails, it’s necessary to maintain issues concise and to the purpose. Thank the client for selecting your service and categorical your need to enhance primarily based on their suggestions. Present clear directions on how they will depart a evaluate or present ideas, and make it simple for them to take action.

6. Triggered buyer loyalty applications and rewards

Buyer loyalty applications and rewards are necessary if you wish to construct long-lasting relationships along with your prospects. Through the use of advertising automation to trace buyer conduct, you possibly can achieve insights into your prospects’ preferences and conduct patterns, and tailor their loyalty applications and rewards accordingly.

As an illustration, you can provide triggered reductions or unique experiences to repeat prospects. This not solely incentivizes future bookings but additionally fosters model loyalty. These rewards might be custom-made primarily based on the client’s previous conduct, akin to their most popular locations, actions, or journey kinds. This strategy makes prospects really feel valued and appreciated and encourages them to guide with you once more sooner or later.

7. Cross-selling and upselling alternatives

Advertising automation is a strong software that may aid you establish cross-selling and upselling alternatives. With the assistance of AI-based algorithms, you possibly can simply analyze buyer information and suggest related services or products primarily based on their preferences and buying historical past. By doing so, you possibly can improve your income and improve the client expertise.

Cross-selling and upselling are two necessary methods that may assist improve buyer lifetime worth (CLV). Cross-selling is the method of promoting services or products which can be associated to the client’s unique buy, whereas upselling includes providing a dearer model of the identical services or products. Through the use of advertising automation, you possibly can simply establish these alternatives and provide personalised suggestions to your prospects.

For instance, if a buyer has booked a flight to a specific vacation spot, you should use advertising automation to suggest lodges, automobile leases, and different actions in that vacation spot. By doing so, you’ll improve your income and improve the client expertise by offering personalised suggestions primarily based on the client’s preferences.

8. Actual-time updates

An necessary facet of offering a constructive journey expertise for purchasers is guaranteeing that they’ve entry to correct and up-to-date details about their journeys. In immediately’s fast-paced world, vacationers count on real-time updates that hold them knowledgeable of any adjustments or changes to their itinerary. 

Fortunately with cross-channel advertising automation at your fingertips, you possibly can ship important updates seamlessly and effectively throughout numerous communication platforms. Preserve vacationers knowledgeable by prompt push notifications, SMS alerts, and different focused messaging about last-minute flight adjustments, itinerary changes, or essential bulletins. This helps vacationers keep knowledgeable and keep away from any inconvenience ensuing from not having well timed info.

Offering correct and well timed info not solely strengthens belief between you and your prospects but additionally enhances the general journey expertise. When vacationers believe within the info they obtain, they’re extra prone to really feel snug and relaxed all through their journey. This could result in elevated buyer satisfaction and loyalty, finally benefiting you as nicely. 

9. Behavioral triggers

Behavioral triggers are a strong strategy to section your prospects and supply them with extra personalised experiences. By analyzing particular buyer behaviors, akin to their searching historical past or buy patterns, you possibly can achieve useful insights into their preferences and pursuits. With this info, you possibly can then ship focused and automatic suggestions or promotions which can be extra prone to resonate with them.

For instance, if a buyer ceaselessly browses luxurious lodging in your web site, you can ship them suggestions for journey upgrades that match their preferences. Or, if a buyer has proven a powerful curiosity in outside actions in a specific vacation spot, you can recommend destination-specific actions which can be tailor-made to their pursuits.

Through the use of behavioral triggers, you can’t solely enhance the relevance of your advertising messages but additionally improve the general buyer expertise. By offering prospects with personalised suggestions and promotions, you possibly can construct belief and loyalty, which might finally result in elevated gross sales and income for your online business.

10. Automated nurturing campaigns

Automated nurturing campaigns might be an efficient software within the journey trade. Clients typically require loads of info earlier than they resolve to guide a visit. By making a collection of automated emails, you possibly can lead your prospects by the gross sales funnel and supply them with the required info at completely different phases of their journey.

For instance, when a buyer indicators up on your e-newsletter, you possibly can ship them a welcome e-mail with useful tips about planning a visit. As prospects proceed to have interaction along with your model, you possibly can ship them personalised emails with suggestions primarily based on their journey preferences, akin to journey journey, romantic getaways, or household holidays.

Furthermore, you should use an automatic re-engagement marketing campaign to convey again earlier prospects. This may remind them of your model and encourage them to contemplate reserving with you once more.

Elevate your journey technique with advertising automation

In conclusion, implementing advertising automation in your journey technique will help you streamline your communication, improve buyer engagement, and finally drive extra bookings. By leveraging the ability of selling automation instruments like Dotdigital, you possibly can create personalised and related experiences on your prospects that can hold them coming again for extra.