Find out how Gough Hotels use their customer data to turn one-off bookings into loyal customers and improve their email marketing results with targeted email and mobile marketing using HTK Horizon.

1. One-off bookings into loyal customers
with targeted digital marketing:
Justin Bowser | Managing Director (Online Business), HTK
Cara Beggerow | Marketing & Sales Manager, Gough Hotels

2. Main sponsor
• HTK Horizon – Smarter customer engagement
• All your guest and PMS data, all in one place
• Learn what guests love
• Micro-target every campaign
• Turn first time guests into loyal customers
• Generate more profitable direct bookings

3. Some of our customers…

4. Gough Hotels

5. How were you approaching your
email marketing one year ago?

6. Where were we?
• Two boutique hotels + Southwold Pier
• Single multi-message newsletter
• The same content to everyone
• Difficult to read on a mobile
• A challenge with open & clickthrough rates

7. How did you plan for improvement?

8. Define an approach.
Managing customer
engagement - better
A better way…
Get it together.
Our customer data,
all in one place
Lightbulb moments.
A little bit of insight
about our customers

9. What new insights did you gain?

10. Understanding our subscriber base
Affinity for either
The Salthouse or
The Angel.

11. Understanding our subscriber base
Who’s opted in to comms from the Angel
and the Salthouse Harbour Hotel?

12. Understanding our subscriber base
Who’s opted in to comms from the Angel
and the Salthouse Harbour Hotel…
And also opted in to The Pier?

13. Understanding our subscriber base
How many customers are opted in to
comms about The Salthouse?

14. Understanding our subscriber base
How many customers are opted in to
comms about The Salthouse?

15. Understanding our subscriber base
How many customers are opted in to
comms about The Salthouse…
And live within 10 miles?

16. Understanding our subscriber base
How many customers are opted in to
comms about The Salthouse …
And live within 10 miles…
And stayed over valentines weekend
last year?

17. Understanding our subscriber base

18. How has your approach changed?

19. A new approach
• Cleaner messaging
• Clearer call to actions
• Testing customer groups e.g. Eaterie
• Testing subject lines
• Mobile-responsive messages
• SEO

20. Mobile responsive templates

21. Objective: To encourage guests from the
Angel to return for a weekend break
Include:
+ Stayed at Angel within last 4 years
+ Opted in for e-news
Exclude:
- People who received the Salthouse offer
From: The Angel Hotel
Subject: Have a grape escape in Suffolk.
Grape Escape

22. Grape Escape The results:
• 31% open rate.
• 15% clickthrough rate.
(4.6% of recipients clicked through)
• 415 people clicked through
to view the offer.
• 124 bookings (37 from people
who engaged with the email)
From: The Angel Hotel
Subject: Have a grape escape in Suffolk.

23. A little treat for Mum
From: The Angel
Subject: Spa away for Mother’s day
From: The Salthouse Harbour Hotel
Subject: A little treat for Mum

24. Mother’s day: Sell a spa experience
to local guests
Include:
+ Opted in for e-news
+ No previous bookings
Exclude:
- Recipients of the “Eaterie” campaign
A little treat for Mum

25. A little treat for Mum
The results:
• 40% open rate.
• 12.1% clickthrough rate.
(4.81% of total recipients clicked through)
• 718 people clicked through.

26. Learning what guests love

27. And a quick summary?

28. Summary
• Unsubscribe rates reduced from 2% to less than 0.5%
• Open rates improved by 15% in 6 months
• Click-through rates improved by 3% in 6 months
• We now focus on the strategy and measurement
(instead of juggling data)
• Focus on growth in direct bookings

29. htk.co.uk/hotel @htkhorizon
It’s Q&A time… Let’s talk 

30. Don’t forget to
pick up your guide

31. htk.co.uk/hotel | @htkhorizon