Every hotelier knows this: a well-written email can turn a casual reader into a future guest. But between your enticing offer and your customer’s inbox stands an invisible obstacle: the spam filter!
Even your best-designed email becomes useless if it’s never read. So, how can you ensure your hotel email campaigns reach their destination, inspire confidence, and encourage bookings? Here’s a comprehensive article to help you understand how to improve your email marketing.email deliverability and optimise your hotel marketing strategy.
A solid foundation: readable and well-structured emails
Before design and images, the technical structure of your email plays a crucial role. The HTML code of your message is to your campaign what plumbing is to your hotel : invisible, but essential for its proper functioning! Therefore, a well-constructed message is first and foremost a clear, concise, and easy-to-read message on all devices.
Think “mobile-first”
Did you know that more than half of hotel bookings start on a smartphone ? Your email must therefore be perfectly readable on mobile : clear text, visible action buttons, lightweight images, and an appropriate format. A responsive design offers a seamless experience and reinforces the professional image of your hotel.
With our email marketing software, integrated with the CRM, you benefit from an email structure clean and optimised. This ensures that your messages remain elegant and readable on mobile, while also improving deliverability.
Send regularly: consistency inspires confidence
Email providers (Gmail, Outlook, etc.) favor consistent senders. Regular sending, even a small amount, is better than a large campaign after several months of silence. This consistency helps build a stable reputation with spam filters.
It’s a bit like maintaining a relationship with your guest : consistency builds trust.
Your sender reputation: an invisible but decisive criterion
Email marketing platforms monitor the quality of your emails. Good reputation as a sender increases your chances of reaching the inbox, while a bad one relegates you to spam or blocks you.
Maintain a clean contact database
Your contact lists are strategic assets. To maintain their effectiveness, staying proactive remains a safe bet:
- Clean up inactive addresses : After several months without any email opening, propose a reactivation campaign. If there is no answer, remove the contact.
- Watch for bounces : Incorrect or outdated addresses send a negative signal to the filters.
- Avoid purchased lists : they damage your image and your deliverability.
Good news! In the marketing section of Experience, the inactive contacts are now automatically removed from the lists. This avoids time-consuming manipulations.
And no worries: if a disengaged contact returns (or reserves), his email is automatically reactivated.
An engaged base means less volume, but more results — with better open rate and conversion.
The content : to attract without triggering spam filters
A good hotel email combines aesthetics and authenticity. It makes you want to book without ever being pushy.
Maintain a good balance between text and images
Your hotel pictures are an asset, but they shouldn’t do all the work.
The ideal ratio: 80% text, 20% images. Why is this ratio so important?
Simply because spam filters are primarily text-reading robots. They cannot analyse the crucial context and textual content that is “hidden” within your images. Historically, spammers have extensively used “image-only” emails to conceal prohibited content and fraudulent links. Consequently, an email with very little text could be considered an attempt to circumvent filters and is often blocked.
Adopt a human and professional tone
The words chosen influence the filters as much as the readers.
Avoid overly commercial phrasing such as “Exceptional offer” or “Last chance”.
Opt for a natural, elegant, and experience-oriented writing style.
Avoid: “100% free”, “Last chance”, “Click here”.
To be moderated: “Exceptional discount”, “Free upgrade”.
To be preferred: “Special offer”, “Romantic getaway”, “Exclusive experience”.
Here is a concrete example:
❌ “BOOK NOW – EXCLUSIVE PROMOTION”
✅ “Your next getaway awaits you in the heart of London”
An authentic tone better reflects the hospitality and quality of your hotel.
“Customer respect” : the key to a lasting relationship
Trust is at the heart of every hotel experience. It should also guide your marketing communications.
The unsubscribe link: clear and visible
The GDPR requires that each email contain an easily accessible unsubscribe link.
Trying to hide it damages trust and prompts some customers to report your message as spam.
A clear and functional link shows that you respect the freedom of recipient’s choice.
Consent, a guarantee of quality and performance
Make sure that your contacts have given their explicit consent to receive your emails (opt-in).
The double opt-in — registration + confirmation — remains the best practice for a healthy foundation.
Result : verified email addresses, a more engaged audience and a better click-through rate.
Stay in touch: consistency maintains the customer relations
Sending emails regularly isn’t just a technical strategy; it’s also a way to build relationships. Your emails shouldn’t only appear when you have something to sell.
A birthday message, a new restaurant menu, a guide to nearby events… so many opportunities to be present without being intrusive! Some of your marketing communications can even be automated.
By nurturing the connection, you keep your hotel top of mind for the customer and transform a simple email address into a loyal relationship. It’s this close relationship that, in the long run, generates the best direct bookings !
Conclusion: deliverability, a reflection of your excellence
The success of your hotel email marketing strategy rests on four pillars:
- a clear and suitable structure,
- a carefully curated contact database,
- balanced and authentic content,
- regular and respectful communication.
A good email, like a good stay, leaves a lasting impression.
By applying these best practices, your campaigns will become a natural extension of your hospitality: reliable, elegant and effective!