How travel companies boost revenue with newsletters [Part 1 of 2]

NB: This is a guest article by Adam Costa, co-founder of Trekity and Travel Blogger Academy.

Recently, I conducted an experiment. I signed up for nearly a dozen travel newsletters to see how their newsletters worked and I’d like to share with you my findings.

Let’s get started. The purpose of a newsletter is to build deeper relationships with your audience. Contrary to what many believe, a newsletter’s first aim is not to increase revenue, but to build trust with your audience.

A successful newsletter is a multi-step process:

Create a compelling reason to sign up (e.g. travel deals, white papers, eBooks, photos, etc.)
Design an opt-in form and place it prominently on your site
Create a thank you page which provides further value
Write a “Welcome” email letting your subscriber know they’ve signed up successfully
Deliver your opt-ins promise (e.g. travel deals, white papers, eBooks, photos, etc.)
Send a series of emails which continue to add value
Build a trusting audience

These seven steps provide a framework for an effective newsletter. So how do major travel sites measure up? As you’ll soon see, there is a wide discrepancy between them.

Let’s take a look at each step in further detail with examples of what major travel sites are doing:

Step #1. Create a compelling reason to sign up

In many markets, it’s common to create a free giveaway like an eBook or white paper. This, however, is not the case with major travel sites. In fact, none of them created a "giveaway" in the purest sense – their compelling reason primarily landed on "daily deals".

While we will look closely at email examples later on, it’s important to determine which reason (e.g. travel deals, white papers, eBooks, photos, etc.) will help bring your subscribers value, build trust and meet their needs.

Step #2. Design an opt-in form and place it prominently on your site

The design and placement of an opt-in form radically affects the conversion of visitors to subscribers. Some travel sites (notably Priceline) had no opt-in form at all in their main navigation (if I missed this, please let me know).

Three sites stood out with their opt-in design and placement.

The first is TravelZoo:

TravelZoo’s opt-in can be found under the "Travel Deals" section and is placed above the fold and is easy to read. The benefit is clearly identified ("access to the best deals") and "Our Promise" reassures the reader they won’t be spammed with needless ads and product pitches.

Another example is Lonely Planet:

Like TravelZoo, the opt-in form is placed under the “Newsletter” section, prominently above the fold. But Lonely Planet makes several improvements:

It shows a picture of the newsletter
It highlights several benefits instead of one (“travel inspiration, tips and exclusive offers”)
It links to a current issue so readers will know what to expect
It adds a hint of urgency (“Sign up now and receive 20% on your next guidebook purchase”)

The final example is JetSetter. When you land on its homepage, this pops up:

There seems to be no way to close this box while leaving the site. It’s a bit heavy handed, but extremely effective.

Multiple newsletters = market segmentation

Frommers and Airfare Watchdog give visitors the option to sign up for multiple newsletters. This segmentation allows for more relevant conversations with their prospects, which in turn boosts email open rates, engagement and ultimately revenue.

Here’s Frommers:

It’s a nice stab at segmentation, but they could improve conversions by adding links to sample pieces like Lonely Planet did.

Airfare Watchdog does this very well:

Before moving on, let’s review several best practices:

Place the opt-in form prominently on your website with a clear design
Include strong benefits to signing up
Offer multiple newsletters if possible for further segmentation
Add links to current newsletter issues so readers know what to expect
Include elements of social proof (e.g. testimonials or “As Seen In…” logos)

Step #3. Create a thank you page which provides further value

New subscribers must be immediately reassured that:

they’ve done the right thing by signing up, and
they’ve successfully signed up

An effective "thank you" page accomplishes both of these, while providing further value.

The most basic example is from Kayak:

As you can see, it’s not even a page. It’s a simple popup which merely lets the reader know they’ve subscribed successfully.

While effective, Kayak is missing out on several opportunities. They could use a thank you page to build further brand awareness, ask for referrals and/or shares on social networks.

JetSetter does a decent job of this:

In this case, new subscribers are offered a $25 credit when someone they refer makes a purchase. It’s a smart business move which helps build their subscriber base through word of mouth.

However, let’s look at a really good thank you page. This screenshot is from Daily Worth, a daily financial newsletter for women:

New subscribers are welcomed immediately, and are asked to add Daily Worth to their emails safe list. Right below, there is a short but powerful video message from the founder who refers to Daily Worth as a “movement.” How’s that for branding?

The second half of the thank you page reinforces what to expect and asks readers to share Daily Worth with their friends: