This is the final blog in a series on using text as a travel and/or hospitality brand. Find Part One here and Part Two here.
Every travel and hospitality brand has an email list, but for those visitors who haven’t booked yet, there may not be a list of phone numbers to leverage. So how do you grow your text list in a way that makes sense for your brand? How can you make sure you aren’t simply moving revenue from email to text? Here are 5 key strategies for growing your text list.
Empower visitors to choose their channel
What it is:
Scale both capture and channel engagement by letting the user pick what’s best for them.
Why it’s effective:
Channel choice ensures you’re reaching your customers on the channel they prefer most — side-stepping poor brand experiences and increasing the chance they click through to your site.
When you should use it:
Email is performing well. You want to introduce text while keeping the experience premium with minimal capture experiences.
Helpful pro-tip:
Make it clear that you’re giving your customers the option between either email or text with your messaging. The split between channels will shift between businesses, but know that most users will likely still choose email.
Offer text entrance capture, with email exit intent
What it is:
Prioritizing getting text opt-ins over email, in a way targeted specifically for mobile traffic.
Why it’s effective:
The channel they’re signing up for will often align with the device they’re using, and a text opt-in experience is much smoother for the visitor when they’re already on a mobile
device. Additionally, if visitors decline to opt into text, you can take advantage of disengagement as an opportunity to opt into email instead.
When you should use it:
You already have a healthy email list and you’re focused on growing your database of phone numbers as quickly as possible.
Helpful pro-tip:
If you want to ensure that your text capture promotion doesn’t get left behind on the entrance page you can add a persistent text CTA that appears throughout the site to remind visitors of the deal you’re offering.
Entrance email capture, with text later
What it is:
Prioritizing email opt-ins. If users don’t submit their email, offer text capture on the third page view or exit.
Why it’s effective:
You’ll largely keep the emails you’ll already getting, but for those uninterested in submitting their email, you can offer them a different way to engage and capture their phone number.
When you should use it:
You want to ensure you’re building a text list/channel that is “additional” to your high-performing email channel. This way you can build the list at a more steady pace without limiting the growth of your primary channel.
Helpful pro-tip:
Feature a persistent dot at the bottom of your page that users
can expand to create an always-on capture opportunity.
Pairing text & email capture together
What it is:
Requiring both email and text in order for site visitors to unlock certain promotions.
Why it’s effective:
It places equal emphasis on both email and text data—growing your list more quickly than any other strategy while maintaining healthy email subscription rates.
When you should use it:
You have an aggressive acquisition goal. Email is a healthy channel for you but you recognize the immediate importance of text as a channel and want to get that list to maturity as quickly as possible. You’re okay with a scenario where all of your text subscribers are also email subscribers.
Helpful pro-tip:
When asking site visitors to opt into both text and email, it’s easy to seem like you’re demanding a lot of information from your site visitors. Your opt-in message should highlight how customers can unlock or redeem a promotional offer by giving their information.
Customer capture only
What it is:
Give your customers exclusive promos or access in return for their number. One related way to do this is to utilize triggered emails to drive opt-ins.
Why it’s effective:
Additionally, text is, by nature, a high-visibility channel where visitors already familiar with your brand (like current customers) will likely be the ones who respond the best. So, use texts to reach out to these consumers and increase their LTV.
When you should use it:
You don’t see texts working as an acquisition strategy for your business, or you want to keep costs at a minimum.
Helpful pro-tip:
Add a post-purchase capture, or use dedicated emails to your customers asking them to sign up for texts instead of waiting for them to come back to your site.
Additional text list-growth strategies
Pop-ups and onsite overlays are the most straightforward ways to drive scale. These tactics are most successful when you can identify your traffic and know who is already on your email list. But, there are other ways to grow your list beyond site entrance and exit if list growth is a major priority.
On-site persistent capture
Use a simple, subtle persistent capture experience across your site that users can expand to opt-in. While it lacks prominence and urgency, the high impression count will help
with growth.
On-site cart-level capture
Use text capture in your checkout to drive more phone number captures from your highest-intent prospects and customers.
Email promotions for text sign-up
Your email list is a highly-qualified audience for subscription to texts. Drive cross-channel opt-ins by letting users know they’ll get first-access to an upcoming promotions if they
sign up for texts.
Text-to-join
Subscribers can opt into your text channel by texting a keyword like JOIN to your short code. You can advertise your keyword in your stores, emails, and even in your product packaging to give would-be travelers an extra nudge.
Catalogs, mailers, and postcards
Instead of just including a coupon code on a mailer, you can ask users to opt-in to your text channel to unlock an offer, either by driving them to a landing page or again using a simple QR code they can scan.
Download the Definitive Guide to Text
This wraps up our series on text messaging for travel and hospitality brands. By implementing these strategies, you can effectively grow your text list without cannibalizing your existing email channel, ensuring a balanced and comprehensive approach to owned-channel marketing. Whether you’re empowering visitors to choose their preferred channel, leveraging text captures at strategic moments, or combining text and email opt-ins for maximum impact, the key is to create a seamless experience that enhances engagement and drives revenue. As you continue to refine your approach, remember that a well-integrated text marketing strategy can provide a significant competitive edge in the crowded travel and hospitality landscape.
Download The Definitive Guide for Text for Travel & Hospitality below.