The steps of the email marketing newsletter process: finding the right content, designing the email message, formatting all links/text/content/copy, testing all links, proofing with client, sending.

Here’s a general overview and tips and tricks on how to send a great email marketing newsletter for vacation rental businesses.

Finding Newsletter Content #

Generally speaking, an effective email marketing campaign should serve to promote the business and the destination while demonstrating a valuable knowledge of the area. There should be multiple opportunities to draw traffic from the newsletter to the website (naturally) in the content provided. 

The structure and content of every company’s newsletter will be a bit different. Established newsletters will likely already have a sort of theme and style to the content they produce. Of course, there’s no reason to always stick to a mimic of the past, but previous sends can be a great guide to discover what type of content a client prefers to provide.

Regardless of the layout, there should be a combination of both text and graphic content.

Graphics / Images #

Whenever possible, it’s great to use original images provided by the client directly. Oftentimes, this is not something that’s available, and you have to find appropriate images online. You can always refer to sites like Flickr, Instagram or Pinterest for images to use – being careful to credit the photographer – but there are also plenty of asset sites that allow for free commercial use (often with no attribution), like Freestock, Pexels, and Pixabay. 

Note that we have a paid subscription to Shutterstock for stock photo usage as well.

If you need to add a little something to an image, like a banner, logo, headline, etc., the easiest place to work from is Canva. If you are able to locate previous header images, etc. for the account you’re working on, you can even make a copy of it in Canva to use as a template to work from, keeping everything uniform and consistent.

Text Content #

Always turn to the client website first to seek out fresh, relevant content to share. Things to hone in on include: specials, upcoming events, and blogs. When working with a property manager with multiple units, they may want to include rotating spotlight features on individual properties. In most cases, you’ll inquire with the client as to which properties they wish to include, but in some cases you may be tasked with checking for worthy units based on things like availability.

Coverage in a newsletter should aim to entice readers to book by advising them of upcoming events or reasons to visit at a certain time. Find content that ties in to the season or month you’re promoting, making the entire newsletter a complete package of promotion.

Example: Working on a summer newsletter for a town with great outdoor recreation and lakes. Share a blog that recommends nearby kayak rental companies and share details on the upcoming fishing tournament while featuring specific lakefront properties that have ample availability during the tournament.

When a client’s website is lacking in share-able, relevant content, you may need to turn elsewhere for content. Check first with official visitor’s bureaus that serve the destination. They usually keep event calendars and detailed info on the area that come in handy for reference or to share via link. You can also seek out direct pages to events or businesses you choose to refer to, linking back to them or to content they provide. Just be sure to avoid linking to content on a competitor’s site! If you have to use an outside source, this is definitely not the one!