Red C email marketing report : Holiday Cottages

1
F E B R U A R Y 2 016
E M A I L M A R K E T I N G R E P O R T
HOLIDAY COTTAGES
22454 Red C Holiday Cottages Report 2015 FF V1.indd 1 12/02/2016 10:00

2 3
We have analysed the email marketing
of 15 holiday cottage brands we
received in one month from 15th
October 2015 to 15th November 2015.
I N T R O D U C T I O N
T H E B R A N D S
M E T H O D
Despite the unpredictable British weather,
short-break holidays in the UK continue to
grow, and Mintel forecasts that the
number of domestic holiday rentals will
reach 6.1 million in 2016, a growth of
12.7% since 2010.And whilst good
exchange rates against the Euro continue
to make overseas breaks attractive,
political instability in some popular
overseas destinations is expected to
have a positive impact on ‘staycation’
tourism in 2016.
In the UK holiday cottage market,
consumers are opting for shorter breaks,
with a decline in trips longer than four
nights, but an increase in expenditure as
holidaymakers look for higher quality,
more authentic properties.Around half of
all cottage rentals are booked through an
agency, but competition is increasing, with
low-cost ‘aggregator’ sites like HomeAway
and Airbnb enjoying rapid growth.
Over 75% of all holiday cottage rentals
are booked online, and coupled with the
sharp increase in competition, we expect
skilful use of online marketing techniques
- both for attracting new guests and
encouraging repeat bookings – to be a
crucial factor in deciding the winners
and losers in the sector in 2016.There
is no more powerful technique online
than the use of personalised, timely
and relevant email.
In this edition of our regular Email
Marketing Report, we have taken a forensic
look at how the biggest brands in the UK
holiday cottage rental market are using
eCRM to attract visits, build relationships
and drive incremental revenue.We have
studied how effective each of the brands
is at acquiring new email addresses, what
data they collect and how frequently they
engage with their audience.We have also
identified some of the ‘best-in-class’
emails in the sector and highlighted the
techniques that make them successful.
E M A I L M A R K E T I N G R E P O R T : H O L I D A Y C O T T A G E S : F E B R U A R Y 2 0 16E M A I L M A R K E T I N G R E P O R T : H O L I D A Y C O T T A G E S : F E B R U A R Y 2 016
‘‘Britain still has the most reliably beautiful countryside of
anywhere in the world.
‘‘
Bill Bryson
22454 Red C Holiday Cottages Report 2015 FF V1.indd 2-3 12/02/2016 10:00

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E M A I L S I G N U P
How did we ‘sign up’?
Brands excluded from this report
1. Entered email address on homepage
Brands which didn’t send an email 30 days after signing up
4. No method to sign up or request a brochure
3. Provided email address as part of a
brochure request form, without giving
permission to send emails*
Sent through to a specific
sign up landing page
2. Signed up as part of a
brochure request form*
*Given that there was no other facility to subscribe to emails.
*Sykes Cottages sent a“portal registration” email which required
activation before being added to the email file (by default).
Home page footer
Email sign up landing page
Forest Holidays,Premier Cottages,Alastair
Sawday’s,Center Parcs,National Trust
Holidays and holidaycottages.co.uk
53%
of the
brands
20%
of the
brands
13%
of the
brands
13%
of the
brands
40%
of the
brands

6 7
D A T A C O L L E C T I O N
E M A I L S I G N U P
Email
address
Confirm
email
address
First name Last name Title
Security
Code
Postcode
(optional)
Holiday
Cottages     
Premier
Cottages   
Alastair
Sawday’s   
Center Parcs    
Forest
Holidays    
National
Trust
Holidays
     
Perfect Stays   
Unique
Home Stays 
What information was requested at ‘sign up’?
FACTS:
2 out of 8 companies sent a confirmation link
via email.
6 out of 8 companies have a specific sign up landing
page for their newsletter registration forms.
Thank you
Confirmation of subscription
Visit the homepage
Manage your preferences
Follow us on social media
Special offers
13
1
2
2
1
1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
What did it say on the website post ‘sign up’?
FACTS:
None of the brands had a ‘pop-up’ window asking you to sign up for
their newsletter.
National Trust Holidays had email sign up options at the middle and
bottom of the homepage.The only brand to provide two places to
sign up.
Where on the homepage do they ask for email ‘sign up’?
T o p o f p a g e
M i d d l e o f p a g e
M i d d l e a n d b o t t o m o f p a g e
B o t t o m o f p a g e
We appreciate that there is a lot of competition for homepage
real estate, especially above the fold. However, if you have a
requirement for new email data, we would recommend that
you promote email subscription in the most prominent
position possible.
How is email ‘sign up’ encouraged?
La te st new s
O ffe rs
More info
Holiday ide as
P rope r tie s
C o mp e titio ns
No enc o urage me nt
6
8
2
3
1
3
6
0 2 4 6 8 10
Relevancy is the key to all marketing channels and email is no different,
so we recommend that at some point in the subscription process you
attempt to collect as much data as you possibly can.This could be at the
point of subscription or an email follow-up driving recipients through to
an Email Preference Centre.
We encourage our clients to promote their products and services on the
post sign-up page as a tactic to reinforce benefits.
FACTS:
3 of the brands mentioned the ‘unsubscribe’ option on the post ‘sign up’ page of the email subscription.
62.5%
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%

8 9
F R E Q U E N C Y
When were the emails sent?
W E L C O M E O R C O N F I R M A T I O N E M A I L S
Welcome emails were received from these brands:
Confirmation emails were received from these brands:
Welcome or confirmation emails were not received
from these brands:
FACTS:
NONE of the welcome or confirmation emails were
personalised or incentivised.
100% of brands that sent a welcome or
confirmation email sent it immediately
W H E N W E R E T H E W E L C O M E
O R C O N F I R M A T I O N
E M A I L S R E C E I V E D ?
Clients regularly ask us how often they should be sending their
customers emails, but for us, it shouldn’t be a question of email
frequency, instead a question of content and response. If you’re
sending valuable and relevant content to your email recipients
and they’re responding well, look to push the frequency as high
as possible.
FACTS:
Premier Cottages sent the same newsletter with
different subject lines in Week 4 and 5.
Welcome Cottages sent the same postcard email
twice with the same subject line, on two different
days in Week 3.
We would recommend that a welcome or
confirmation email is always sent post
subscription. In our experience, we see better
open and click-through rates when automated
welcome emails are sent instantly at the point
of subscription.
Personalisation within emails attracts high
attention levels and is a powerful directional
device. Personalisation is a tool to speak to
each reader as if they are your only reader.
It allows marketers to tailor relevant
experiences for each recipient according to
their buying patterns and email behaviour.
Confirmation email – email automatically sent to an email subscriber to confirm their decision to subscribe
Welcome email – email automatically sent to an email subscriber to begin the brand-customer relationship
Newsletter – multiple offer email containing added-value content (blog articles, advice etc.)
Postcard email – single-minded offer email
Week 1
15th-21st
October
Week 2
22nd-28th
October
Week 3
29th-4th
November
Week 4
5th-11th
November
Week 5
12th-15th
November
Total number
of emails sent
in 30 days
Sykes 6
Welcome Cottages 6
Alastair Sawday’s 5
Holiday Cottages 5
Perfect Stays 4
National Trust
Holidays 4
Forest Holidays 3
Center Parcs 2
Premier Cottages 2

10 11
E M A I L C O N T E N T
What type of content were brands using?
15th October – 15th November
Holiday Cottages
Autumn Competition
17th Oct
Quirky Cottages (Halloween)
24th Oct
Last Minute Autumn
1st Nov
Festive Season
7th Nov
Group Offer
14th Nov
Premier Cottages
November Newsletter*
11th Nov
Festive Season*
13th Nov
Alastair Sawday’s
Autumn Adventure
16th Oct
Best British Hotels Guide
29th Oct
Fireside Escapes
13th Nov
Center Parcs
October Newsletter
16th Oct
Short Breaks
20th Oct
Forest Holidays
Free Eden ProjectTickets Offer
3rd Nov
Christmas
12th Nov
National Trust
Holidays
Pre-Christmas Breaks
20th Oct
Festive Breaks
3rd Nov
Christmas Markets
11th Nov
Perfect Stays
New Property
17th Oct
Festive Escape
22nd Oct
New Property
31st Oct
Last Minute
Christmas Cancellation
7th Nov
Sykes
Festive Christmas
16th Oct
Festive NewYear
23rd Oct
Region Focused – LoveYorkshire
30th Oct
Autumn Short Breaks
6th Nov
Cottages with Open Fires
13th Nov
Welcome Cottages
End ofYear Breaks
22nd Oct
£100 off Winter Breaks
30th Oct 2nd Nov
£50 off 2016 Breaks –
Last Week Reminder
5th Nov
£50 off 2016 Breaks –
Last Night Reminder
9th Nov
NextYear Bookings
13th Nov
*Same content – different subject lines
Property subcategories
(e.g. for New Year, with hot tubs)
Holiday Cottages      
Premier
Cottages    
Alastair
Sawday’s     
Dorset
Cereals
BB Awards
Center Parcs   
Good Spa
Guides
Regional
Awards 2015
Forest Holidays      
National Trust
Holidays    
Perfect Stays   
Sykes        
Welcome
Cottages    
Examplesof
property
Property
subcategories
(e.g.forNewYear,
withhottubs)
Presentation
ofnew
holidayhomes
Petfriendly
facilities
Blogarticles
Competition
Owner
recruitment
Upcoming
events
Partner
offers
Vote
for…
Giftvouchers
Offers
Competition Vote for... Last Minute Christmas CancellationQuirky Cottages (Halloween) Festive Christmas
What was the theme of the emails?
Good examples of added-value content include advice features, hints and tips,
humorous content and online tools. Blending sales messages and added-value
content in an integrated way is very effective in sustaining attention. Moreover,
it can increase long-term engagement and reduce unsubscribes.

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E N C O U R A G I N G C L I C K - T H R O U G H S
What property subcategories are being used to encourage clicks? What other calls to action are being used?
Cottages with woodburners or open fires
Cottages for NewYear
Cottages with hot tubs
Sleeping
8 or more
Sleeping10 or more
Our Christmas cottagesAll UK cottages
Top Christmas properties
Group cottages
Christmas
holiday
Sleeping
12or more
Pub within a mile
Last-minute holidays
Our Quirky cottages
Christmas
cottages
Romantic cottages
Festive
cottages
Dog-friendly
properties
Cottages for winter breaks
New property
Cottages with swimming poolsShort breaks Cottages with enclosed garden
Large properties Cottages near a pub
Baby and Toddler
Pet-friendly
cottages
Rural
cottages
Log Burner
Coastal properties
Festive breaks
Find your perfect cottage here
Explore dog-friendly cottages
Find your place...
Send to a friend
Take a
closer look
Explore and be inspired today
Find your Christmas holiday
Enter now
Book today
Take your pick of our Halloween masks
Read
about
Find out more
Read our blog for
our top Christmas properties
Read
more
Book
now
Buy now
Discover the spookiest places in the UK
Find out how to enter
Shop now
View our top autumn recipes
Browse Christmas
Search group cottages
Activities and events near you
See the collection
Take a closer look
Search now
Find out more about Gift Memberships
Browse our cottages for New Year
Visit the website
Vote now
Get tickets
Buy your vouchers here
Click here to
view properties
Find your nearest Christmas Market
FACTS:
Alastair Sawday’s design their ‘Find your place…’
CTA as a search bar.
Successful emails frequently contain 30+ clickable links – hypertext links,
multiple calls to action, secondary navigation and footer links all drive
incremental clicks. Make clickable elements look clearly clickable.
Colour, font, language, size and positioning of CTA buttons all impact
on recognition and click propensity.
Decisions to click, or not to click, are made in milliseconds. So, in order to build
an effective email, consider using multiple calls to action, well-positioned to be
in close proximity to the featured product or service.According to our case studies,
CTAs like ‘View the range’ or ‘Find out more’ may prove more clickable than
‘Buy now’, as the readers may not be ready to buy what is on offer.

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E X A M P L E O F A N I N F O R M A T I V E W E L C O M E E M A I L
E X A M P L E O F A N E V E N T - D R I V E N N E W S L E T T E R
E X A M P L E O F A N I N S P I R A T I O N A L E M A I L
E X A M P L E O F A N O F F E R - L E D E M A I L
Date: 15th October 2015
Subject line: Welcome to Forest Holidays
Subject line: Stock up on festive cheer
Subject line:The quirkiest places
to stay this Autumn
Date: 5th November and 9th November 2015
Subject line: 1.THIS WEEKEND ONLY - £50 off 2016 breaks!
2. £50 off 2016 breaks - ENDS TONIGHT 10PM!
This email condenses all the essential
information a new subscriber would like to
know using a simple, eye-catching design.
The use of the map to present the range of
locations provided by Forest Holidays is
impactful and the rest of the well-selected
images also give a flavour of what the
company can offer - a great tactic to
implement within welcome emails.
The copy introduces the services offered
for different audiences and their varying
needs and tastes.To further demonstrate
the ability to offer more tailored services,
the brand invites readers to create a
profile on their website, through a
straightforward CTA to see the
latest offers.
This email stood out as it landed just over
2 months from Christmas, at a time when
you’re busy planning your Christmas
shopping but need a bit of inspiration.This
email does just that, helping you to decide
where to go with some location advice and
recommending a cottage you can stay in.
The brand is also encouraging interaction
with their #discovercornwall photo
competition and generating some valuable
content for their website.The subject line
created intrigue, encouraging opens and
standing out amongst competitors.
Along with the intriguing subject line, the
introduction of the email grabs attention
and encourages the reader to scroll down,
with an image of an attractive property
and enticing copy.
The email’s theme has been cleverly
continued into the property selections
showing ‘quirky’ and ‘frighteningly unique’
cottages. In addition, location inspiration
and activity ideas are included to improve
long-term engagement with the email
programme and demonstrate how the
brand can enhance your holiday
experience.The use of multiple, hyperlink-
style CTA’s also gives the recipient lots of
opportunities to click through.
This series of offer-led emails made an impact
for three reasons – their urgency, timing and
single-minded approach. In the subject line,
the use of uppercase wording catches your
attention and the deadline increases the
urgency to open now, rather than at a
later date.
The first email landed on a Thursday evening,
giving customers enough time to book before
the offer ends.The reminder email landed on
a Monday morning, the day the offer finished,
reminding customers there was one last
chance to take advantage of the offer.
The design of the emails was single minded
and the deadline was clear, both creating
more urgency to click through.
1. 2.

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O U R A G E N C Y
At Red C, we believe producing effective advertising and marketing campaigns can only
come from developing a deep and genuine understanding of a client’s business, products and
customers.We encourage staff to get ‘under the skin’ of every client’s business.We sit in on call
centres, accompany field sales staff, work in branches and stores, and analyse and interpret
client data online and offline to create real insight. It leads to robust, long-standing relationships
with our clients.
Strongly analytical in approach, the agency comes from a direct marketing background, yet today 70% of revenue
is from online channels, including email marketing, paid search, search engine optimisation, social media marketing
and web development. So the agency can offer expertise across a full range of channels, online, offline and broadcast,
which helps us to tackle client challenges and develop integrated campaigns for a wide range of target audiences,
products and services, in a media neutral way.
Our client base includes a spectrum of blue chip and industry leading companies… JD Williams, Swinton Insurance,
Manchester City Football Club, Bupa, Spirit Pub Company, Fish Insurance and TeleWare.This means every day we
work closely with leading edge marketing teams.
O U R S E R V I C E S
Red C is a fully integrated agency which offers a wide range of services, including Strategic
Consultancy, Email Marketing, Social Media Management, Search Engine Optimisation,
Content Marketing, Paid Search,Television Production,Advertising, Direct Mail, Print Production
and Analysis.
E M A I L M A R K E T I N G R E P O R T : F A S H I O N R E T A I L : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4E M A I L M A R K E T I N G R E P O R T : H O L I D A Y C O T T A G E S : F E B R U A R Y 2 016
C O N T A C T U S
0161 872 1361 | info@redcmarketing.com
Anchorage 1, Anchorage Quay, Salford Quays, Manchester M50 3YL
www.redcmarketing.com
22454 Red C Holiday Cottages Report 2015 FF V1.indd 16 12/02/2016 10:00

Red C email marketing report : Holiday Cottages

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