The Email Wars

What do we see in email? Buy me. Sell Me. Join Me. Listen to Me. Or simply Here I Am. What value does that bring to your brand? What value does that bring to your customer? We could argue each side brings value to a certain segment of your audience. And in some cases it does. But what about using email marketing to expand your brand story? Are there things that you are not thinking about that through targeted exposure might bring a new thought or feeling, and yes a sale, to your email marketing campaigns. 

I was struck by a hotel brand that I appreciate as they continue to do good things with their email marketing strategy. I need to call them one day and find out who is the brains behind their thinking here. They are a boutique property with over 20 cities with locations. Well this past week they launched a new site and focused on the food and restaurants at their properties not only in the email but even down to the title tags in the site. Kudos for thinking about this holistically instead of in a silo we often see from brands. 

They are very good about placing the sign up for the newsletter on the home page instead of making it an after thought about capturing (I know some people hate this word, but that is our goal when we get someone to our site, to be able to engage later) someone’s info as they MIGHT be ready to book at a later point in time. They continue this strategy in all sub pages as well. Great job! So often we see a newsletter sign up OR it is hidden in the navigation. It shows that their newsletter and email outreach plans are important to them and valuable as a future booking strategy. 

Back to the gist of this post. The fact that they are story telling to people about the overall amentities of the locations instead of just taking the “here is our latest deal” strategy tell me a lot about them. They are in an ultra competitive market and being able to give more value, build trust and shape the brand story is well done on all points. 

It leaves me with this… Do those people that are on your lists really know about you and what you offer or are as a brand? Are they being brought into your story and able to become part of the story? I think that we all have the opportunity to do a better job at this no matter what brand we are, the products we sell, or the services we provide. Make me want you. Make me want to be associated with you and your brand. 

You know the old saying that the quickest way to our hearts is food. Win on all counts for Kimpton Hotel Group. We can all learn something from you and your efforts.