Email marketing is the most effective way to inspire people to visit a website and buy a holiday online, research by Response One has suggested.
Customers expect travel companies they have used to contact them with good offers, and these are 52% more likely than average to attract them to the website.
The more traditional media of TV and newspaper advertising came second behind customer emails, while sponsored search engine links and adverts enclosed with bills and statements were also above average in encouraging web visits and purchases.
Response One data intelligence director Amanda Ling said: “These findings are very revealing and of crucial importance to the travel industry. It punctures the received wisdom that online advertising is the best means of driving web visits and purchases.”
Travel companies should be careful of over estimating the effectiveness of sponsored links which are only 8% above average. “Whilst 60% of British households now have a home internet connection, there is evidently a need for research to examine how the internet is really used for leisure and pleasure time,” said Ling.
The best approach is a mixture of email, online, direct mail and TV advertising to communicate with customers, she added.
The research also revealed that advertising on social media sites does not reach the majority of consumers, being on a par with unsolicited email at 26% below average. However, this medium was stronger among the 18 to 24 year old bracket.
“The habits of the 18 to 24 age range could perpectuate into their forties and fifies and therefore make it a mainstream method of driving web traffic and transactions, but today’s budgets cannot be weighted towards social networks.” said Ling.
Response One surveyed 1,000 adults during January and February.