If you made smarter use of your email list, would you sell more trips?
Sheila Scarborough believes you would. A travel journalist turned tourism marketing consultant, she has helped dozens of organizations hone their marketing strategies. And in the age of social media, she’s still a big believer in old-fashioned email.
Sheila joins this episode of the podcast to share how travel entrepreneurs can use email to build a reliable marketing strategy when social stops working. She gives some practical advice on what your email campaigns should look like and gives an inside look at her list-building program. Plus, we have news about a proposed rule that would require international visitors to submit their social media history to U.S. customs officials… and a Hot Minute about why this is a terrible idea.
Podcast: Embed
Insights from Sheila Scarborough
Sheila had lots of real-world tips about how travel sellers can create email campaigns that nurture profitable relationships with their audience. Here’s what she had to say about how to build a solid email list, even if you’re starting small:
“You need to make it stupid easy and worth their while to subscribe to your newsletter. So for starters, the sign-up box needs to be on every page of your website. There needs to be a call to action at the bottom of every single blog post.
“You’ll also have a landing page set up that is specifically on your website for email subscriptions. And that’s going to be the URL you are going to share out regularly on social.
“Explain why it’s valuable. Explain the periodicity. Make it stupid easy to sign up because it’s everywhere they go on your website, at the bottom of every blog post.”
Plus, she had great perspectives on:
- Why the “sales funnel” doesn’t work
- What kind of email content your audience really wants
- Which email metrics you should be tracking
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
Learn more about Tourism Currents at tourismcurrents.com.
Read Sheila’s blog series on email marketing here.
See an example of a social-to-email marketing post here.
See our list of upcoming FAMs and sign up to attend at grouptravelleader.com/fams.
Learn more about GroupCollect at groupcollect.com/gatherandgo.
Key Moments From This Episode
1:18 — Travel News: CBP proposes rule to require social media history from visitors
6:26 — How Sheila Scarborough went from Navy vet to tourism marketing pro
11:40 — Why social media shouldn’t be your only marketing channel
17:24 — How effective is email marketing in the 2020s?
21:51 — What should be in your marketing emails?
29:37 — Which email metrics matter most?
32:58 — How to build your email list
50:00 — Hot Minute: Will a required social media history backfire on American travelers?
Watch the Full Interview
See the full interview with Sheila on our YouTube channel.
About the Podcast
Gather and Go with Brian Jewell is a tourism industry podcast that helps group travel leaders plan, promote and lead better trips. There are also tips and insights for destination marketers and others who support the tourism trade. Each episode reaches thousands of professional tour operators, travel agents and the volunteer group leaders they serve. The audience also includes destination museum leaders, church travel leaders and other tourism enthusiasts around the world. Each show includes an interview with a smart travel pro or an insightful person from outside tourism who’s expertise can help make travel businesses better. You’ll also hear travel news, road tips and more. New episodes are released about twice monthly.
You can find Gather and Go wherever your listen to podcasts or subscribe by email.
