AI-integrated Email Marketing for the Tourism And Travel Industry

In 2024, more than 64% of travelers want to tamp down personal spending to prioritize travel. 

So much for where consumers stand. But what about marketers? ‘There’s a market for everything’ is noise to any marketer who’s had to find their feet in new, often challenging, realities. The question is how to be consumer-ready at all times. 

You see, travel consumers are craving for personalized interactions, reliable information, hassle-free booking experiences, competent deals (travel is expensive), etc. Now being a marketer, you might be having the following thoughts:

• Which channel is best-fitted to accommodate the shifting consumer habits?
  
• What new technologies should I integrate into my marketing campaigns?
  
• How to connect with customers at every stage of their journey?
  
• How do I tailor my marketing campaigns to different types of travelers?

The answer to all these questions is AI-integrated email marketing. In this post, we’ll give you a detailed, actionable run-through of AI-based email marketing for tourism. Let’s hit the road!

• AI-driven segmentation and personalization
  
• Predictive analytics for the travel industry
  
• AI optimization for travel email marketing
  
• AI-powered A/B testing for the travel industry
  
• Send-time optimization for the travel industry
  
• Is AI email marketing an exact science?

AI-driven Segmentation And Personalization

Increasingly, travel consumers want brands to connect with them on their terms. Thanks to changing global realities, new audience segments are on the rise. 

Take leisure travelers, for instance. These are people who work from anywhere, and travel for business and pleasure. (Think of sunlit meetings on a beach in Florida!) It’s a new segment, and is close to outmoding traditional travel. 

Then there’s cool-cationers, eco-conscious travelers, celebration vacationers, analog adventurers, etc. The only way you can offer niche-friendly experiences is through AI-driven segmentation and personalization.  Here’s how it works:

1. AI analyzes customer data: AI algorithms crunch all kinds of customer data, e.g. demographics, purchase history, email interactions, website behavior.
   
2. Pattern-finding: These algorithms identify recurring patterns in the data to recognize individual customer preferences.
   
3. Segmentation enforced: Next, the AI algorithms segment audiences based on hyper-granular criteria. These segments, based on micro-categories and nuanced audience behavior, go beyond traditional segmentation.
   
4. Personalization in action: Having known what individual customers are looking for, the model tailors content, recommendations, and offers.

So that’s what the process looks like in general. But to give you a flavor of how it might look in reality, here’s an example.

Imagine a travel company that wants to personalize the vacation experience of a segment of gen Z travelers who prefer solo eco-friendly adventures.

So first, it collects the data required for segmentation. This may include past trips, website browsing history, social media engagement, email preferences, etc. 

Now the algorithm creates a segment dedicated to all such customers that belong in the right category. 

Next, the company targets these customers with tailored content. So, if someone has explored adventure tour packages in Costa Rica on the company’s website, they receive an email showcasing upcoming hiking and wildlife experiences in Costa Rica, along with booking details, stay schedules, etc. 

Predictive Analytics for the Travel Industry

Predictive analytics is used to predict future outcomes using historical data, statistical modeling, data mining, and machine learning. 

Example: Pernickel is a 28-year old marketing professional who has been subscribed to a travel agency’s emails for quite some time. He hasn’t done any booking yet, but through predictive analytics, the agency knows:

• Pernickel opens their emails with destinations in Europe, but doesn’t when their emails feature beaches and mountains in the US and Latin America.
  
• Pernickel usually clicks on links about historical sites and cultural events.
  
• On their last visit to the agency’s website, Pernickel viewed a blog post on “10 Pet-friendly Stays in Budapest”

The agency’s predictive analytics model anticipates that Pernickel might be interested in an European cultural trip with his pet. Accordingly, the agency sends Pernickel highly relevant, targeted emails. 

Read more: How Predictive Marketing is Transforming Email Marketing

AI Optimization for Travel Email Marketing

Optimization covers how your email is going to look and sound to the recipient. This involves creating good subject lines, winning copy, design, etc. 

With the help of generative AI, you can create personalized subject lines and body copy in no time. You’ll find generative AI assimilated into all major ESPs. If you want, you can also try standalone gen AI tools like ChatGPT, Copy.ai, etc. 

For instance, here’s a list of five GPT-generated subject lines. But remember to refine them. 

For design (smart templates), you may want to explore AI design platforms like Sarbacane, Midjourney, Postcards, Colormind, etc. You don’t need coding skills to design your templates. The tools come equipped with a variety of pre-designed, customizable, and device-optimized templates for all kinds of emails.

AI-powered A/B Testing for The Travel Industry

A critical part of optimization is A/B testing. AI can automate the process, enabling travel affiliates to quickly find the best-performing version of their emails. 

AI-integrated A/B testing is modeled on what is known as the “multi-armed bandit testing.” In a multi-armed bandit experiment, a system tries to find new knowledge while using existing knowledge to make decisions. Let’s understand it through a simple example. 

Suppose you’re testing two versions of your subject line. The algorithm sends out a certain number of emails of both versions to a segment. It begins to track the relevant metrics, such as open rate, CTR, conversion rate, etc. 

As data accumulates, the algorithm determines which version is performing better. It then gradually increases the percentage of emails sent from the winning variant, and decreases the percentage of emails sent from the losing variant. 

During the process, the algorithm is constantly learning and readjusting email allocation based on real-time signals. Eventually, the majority of emails that will be sent will be from the best-performing version. 

Send Time Optimization for the Travel Industry

It’s hard to say what the right time to send an email is. With everything being hyper-personalized, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Each person is different, and they have their own times when they’re most active online. Without AI, all you really know is where your customers are and what time it is there.

But with AI, you get to know so much more, from local weather patterns and holidays to weekly activities, open rates by hour, CTR by device and time, etc. 

Let’s consider another example. Xenobia is a 25-year old software engineer based in Aranda, Canberra. She has been subscribed to a US-based travel brand. This brand leverages AI for email marketing. Through AI, the brand knows:

• Xenobia usually opens their emails at around 10-11 AM every week
  
• Aranda is likely to experience a particularly severe heatwave from 28th to 30th January. 

Through this real-time data, the company anticipates what exactly Xenobia might need at the moment. So they send out an email featuring summer getaways, or Switzerland package deals, or destinations popular for water activities, etc. 

AI Email Marketing: An Exact Science?

No, it’s not an exact science. The examples we provided so far hint at the real possibility of what AI-integrated email marketing can achieve, but it’s important to not take the examples at face value. 

The usefulness of AI is directly related to how good your data is. Low-quality customer data can lead AI to make inaccurate predictions. If you trust it blindly, you’ll end up sending irrelevant emails to your segments. 

AI still can’t account for all the variables that influence customer behavior. For instance, a sudden change in mood can influence whether or not a recipient will open your email. Plus, in the case of generative AI, you need to review and refine the outputs. 

So the goal is to have AI complement your work, not supplant it. 

Ready for AI-integrated Email Marketing?

Over the last year, AI has been an integral component of our research. So far, we’ve explored over a hundred AI tools that can help us deliver better, lightning-quick results. From template production to campaign management, AI has incentivized our vision for our clients. 

So if you want to reap the benefits of AI email marketing for your business, feel free to get in touch with us. Backed by our inhouse expertise and AI integration, your business should be well on its way!