Hotel Email Marketing Benchmark Report Presented By: Real People. Real Profiles. Real Results.
Introduction As pioneers of hotel marketing automation, we understand the daunting challenge that today s hoteliers face in boosting revenues, driving engagement and building loyalty. That s why we developed the Hotel Marketing Benchmark report, to provide hotel marketers with an unbiased performance report that utilizes industry-specific data from hotels and resorts to help them compare the success of their email marketing efforts with other properties in their competitive set. Most performance benchmark reports tend to group many different industries together or group like industries together. For example, restaurants, airlines and hotels are grouped together under Hospitality or Travel. This forces the reader to compare their numbers to these mass groupings, which is not an accurate reflection of performance. At ZDirect, we know that no two hotels are alike, which is why for 2015, we have added several new performance benchmarks to identify the results even further by market segment, allowing you to measure your results against independent, boutique and/or multiproperty hotel and resorts. How are our ZDirect s email marketing benchmarks different? 1. They are hotel specific. Since our clients are mainly hoteliers, we provide stats specific to the hotel industry. 2. We provide you with both the averages as well as the actual open rates. 3. These reports are broken down by country, so you can better understand email marketing trends in your specific market. 4. New for 2015, we have added specific hotel segment categories, including Independent, Boutique and Multi-property hotels. We hope the information provided in this report helps you to gauge how well your campaigns did in 2014, and will provide a benchmark for how to improve your performance through the coming year. 1
Key Observations Across the board, swathe statistics show that actual open rates, average open rates and click-through percentages have declined year-over-year. Click-through rates declined the most, as consumer behavior studies (Google, 2012) show that more consumers are viewing emails and researching travel on mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets. Marketers should consider shortening and simplifying their email designs, providing a clear call to action on the top fold of the email, and driving traffic to mobile-friendly websites to improve click-through percentages across all three screens. Click-through Averages 6.93% 6.40% 3.93% 4.30% 2.69% 2.18% 4.55% 3.87% Asia Pacific Europe & UK North America Caribbean & Latin America 2014 2013 The most significant drop in email performance was in the Caribbean & Latin American market. Actual open rates decreased by -3.83% and average open rates decreased by -1.90%. Caribbean & Latin America 2013 2014 Average Click Through 4.55% 3.87% Average Open Rate 27.36% 25.46% Actual Open Rate 16.80% 20.63% 2
Reports By Region Asia Pacific Actual Open Rate 26.22% Average Open Rate 26.11% Average Click-through 3.93% Europe & UK Actual Open Rate 20.09% Average Open Rate 32.78% Average Click-through 4.30% North America Actual Open Rate 16.56% Average Open Rate 23.06% Average Click-through 2.18% Caribbean & Latin America Actual Open Rate 16.80% Average Open Rate 25.46% Average Click-through 3.87% Overall Actual Open Rate 17.34% Average Open Rate 26.85% Average Click-through 3.57% 3
Reports By Category LUXURY Actual Open Rate 19.60% Average Open Rate 29.23% Average Click Through 4.93% BOUTIQUE Actual Open Rate 17.63% Average Open Rate 27.45% Average Click Through 6.40% MULTI-PROPERTY Actual Open Rate 16.56% Average Open Rate 25.18% Average Click Through 3.24% 4
About ZDirect Based in Hallandale Beach, Florida, ZDirect is pioneering hotel marketing automation for the hospitality industry, building upon its Enterprise Email Service Provider (ESP), ZMail emarketing system, and ecrm database. The maintenance of a single guest profile is essential for an effective ecrm strategy. With the Dynamic Content Engine and PMS integration, ZMail automatically sends intelligent and personalized confirmations, prearrival emails and post-departure emails with guest satisfaction surveys via email, mobile communication, SMS, social networks and more. Learn about the real people behind every reservation. As hospitality's leading provider of above property marketing solutions, ZDirect is focused on helping hoteliers maximize revenue, increase guest satisfaction, drive loyalty and build longterm guest relationships. The 2,000+ hotels and resorts using our comprehensive suite of hotel marketing automation tools span the globe. Let ZDirect help you convert your prospects into customers and your customers into loyal customers. Real People. Real Profiles. Real Results. Schedule a Demo 5