Agents should not be afraid to collect customers’ email addresses for the purposes of online marketing.
AITO Specialist Travel Agents conference moderator Catherine Leech said after conducting a straw poll of delegates, none of them have a database with more than 500 email addresses on it.
She denied agents’ concerns that using the email addresses to emarket to customers would be seen as spam, adding: “If it is done right it is very effective.”
In order to ensure best results, Leech said agents should avoid the temptation to send hundreds of emails and instead ensure any emailed information is relevant to the consumer.
To build up a large data bases, she Leech said agents should even obtain the email addresses of and market at members of the public who have made an enquiry but not a booking.
She added online marketing also complements traditional database marketing which can include sending customers generic newsletters or glossy travel magazines.
Spear Travel director Peter Cookson agreed agents who do engage in active database marketing will receive the benefits.
He said his own agency had recently spent £600 sending customers welcome home postcards on their return from holidays. The practice generated around £50,000 of further business.