How To Grow Your E-Mail Marketing List With
‘Bribes’, Blogs & Better Deals

Are you getting just a trickle of signups for your newsletter?

Or maybe you’ve even given up on e-mail marketing altogether. I sure hope that’s not the case. Permission-based e-mailing marketing is one of the best ways to build strong relationships with both prospects and past customers.

And considering that travelers on average visit 38 different websites before booking a vacation, a strong e-mail marketing campaign is a great way to engage potential customers who might not be ready to book just yet.

But the trick is getting people to opt-in to your list in the first place. So if you want a bulging collection of newsletter subscribers, you’ve got to make it clear what they’ll get for signing up.

Think: ‘What’s in it for them?’

I see it all the time – a hotel or travel company puts ‘sign up for promotions’ next to an opt-in box buried at the bottom of their homepage.

Travelers don’t want ‘promotions,’ they want to save 17% on their next visit. They want valuable information on the country they’re traveling to or an exclusive offer. Really, they want value. 

The word ‘promotions’ conveys about as much value as a mailbox stuffed with pizza flyers.

But the word ‘promotions’ conveys about as much value as a mailbox stuffed with pizza flyers. If building a quality e-mail list is important to you – and it should be – you need to make signing up as enticing as possible.

Here are a few tips that’ll help you grow your e-mail list:

First, make it easy to opt-in

Where is your e-mail opt-in box (or a link to your opt-in landing page) located? Do visitors see it the moment they hit your website or is it tucked away at the bottom of the page? The first order of business is making sure travelers can easily sign up if they want to.

But even if the opt-in box placed right across your homepage, few people will opt-in unless you tell them what they’ll get in return. Exactly how much copy you need to use to communicate this depends on your audience and your offer.

A blog can get away with ‘get updates’ because the value of what the reader will get is clear. They’re already reading your blog, after all. But for your travel website, you might need to sweeten the deal with copy that tells the reader what they’ll get for signing up.

That brings us to the points below…

Offer them an exclusive deal

Exclusivity sells. By offering a reduced rate on tours or hotel rooms to folks who subscribe to your newsletter, you’re able to tap into their need to be included. Not only that, you’re giving them something of specific value – not just ‘promotions.’

And the discount doesn’t have to be gargantuan either – people will want it because it’s exclusive, even if they don’t plan on booking right away.

In fact, you don’t have to offer a price reduction at all – think about giving away a free bottle of champagne or even a complimentary map instead. People love free stuff.

Give them irresistible information

Tour operators, this one’s especially for you. If your prospect isn’t quite ready to book a tour just yet— maybe they’re still browsing or are indecisive about the location – give them ultra-useful information that will make their trip-planning process easier. This also known as an “ethical bribe.”

For example, you could offer them a free report when they subscribe to your newsletter. An aspiring traveler dreaming of Peru won’t be able to resist a complimentary guide to the best trails in the Sacred Valley. Or how about a report on rare birds in Africa? This is a great way to educate your prospect about the experience you offer while also deepening your relationship with them.

The key is to understand exactly what type of information your target audience wants. And then, you have to make it 100% clear to them why it’s valuable. How is this report or guide unique? Why couldn’t they just find this same information through a Google search?

Offering valuable information also helps to position your travel company as an expert in its field. And when people view you as an authority, they’re far more likely to book with you.

Send them to a landing page

I cringe a little every time someone tells me they’re sending their pricey pay-per-click traffic to the homepage. That’s one of the fastest ways to blow your Adwords budget.

Instead, you absolutely must use a well-designed landing page with strong copywriting. Exactly what you should offer on this landing page is an article in itself, but you may want to consider using a lead-capture page.

Known in direct-response circles as a ‘squeeze page’ (I’m not a fan of that term, myself), everything is geared toward only one goal: converting that visitor into a lead.

And that brings us back to delivering value. You should offer prospects who land on your lead-capture page valuable information or an exclusive deal in exchange for their e-mail.

And this type of landing page isn’t just for PPC traffic – link to it from your e-mail signature or post an ad on your website telling people to click on it to get a free report.

Maintain a quality blog

Sometimes, the value of subscribing to an e-mail newsletter is obvious. If you maintain a quality blog, travelers will naturally opt-in because of the great content you provide. Just make sure it’s abundantly clear how to do this (take a look at the big, bold ‘Get Blog Updates’ opt-in box I use for this blog).

But make sure you actually send them quality content on a regular basis. While slipping in the occasional offer is fine, remember that the original reason they signed up was to get the blog updates.

And really, this all comes down to transparency. Never trick your prospect into subscribing to your newsletter and never mislead them about what they’ll get. That’s a surefire way to ruin trust and earn a bad reputation.

Fortunately, I know that most folks who work in the travel industry are honest professionals who care about their clients. But even the best industries have the odd bad apples.

–Dustin Walker

Want to learn more?
Check out this in-depth case study about using authenticity in email marketing. It details how I helped a small travel business boost its leads by 40%.

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