Vacation Express - January 8, 2020 Email

A review of Vacation Express's Email

1. Subject and Preview Line

SL and PV Line in Gmail

• A subject line has one purpose - get someone to open the email. Leading with Punta Cana is a curious choice as it puts forward a destination that many readers are not familiar with.  Perhaps they believe their audience is either more geographically informed or, more curious than the average so they will take the next step in their email journey. However, I believe they would have reached a larger audience if they would have used destination content that is broader and more desirable. Something like: Caribbean Beach Front All Inclusive up to 72% Off or, All Inclusive Caribbean Resorts up to 72% Off.
• Their preview line is worse. It actually makes me feel bad when I see emails like this. I know the offer is going to be good and I wish they leveraged the power of the preview line to peak my curiosity instead of making me read about my browsers preview ability. 

2. The Email

• Header - Their template (at least this one) does not have a NAV. This is a missed opportunity. A strong NAV introduces the top product categories to a reader. Its a subtle but powerful thing. When I've studied different brands email heat maps I'm reminded regularly that a good NAV drives good traffic and, good traffic converts.
• They have however, made great use of the white space above their image and put a very clear message - in a strong color and font - letting me know they have thousands of deals available on their site. 

• Hero Image - Great image. Current research reinforces the fact that consumers respond better to destination images with people. Anyone can envision themselves walking on this beach. 

• The Copy - see my comment on the SL - the sub-copy that is super small and hard to read is better than the headline. They also didn't catch that in the SL they say up to 72% off and here they say up to 74% off. That kind of error erodes the offer credibility.  

• The Offer - This is a great offer. 4-nights at all all-inclusive including flights from most US cities and it starts at only $549! Wow. I wish the email did a better job of pulling that forward. They could have made that the hero copy on the email. That's powerful.

• CTA -  The 'Book Now' button is way to small. The background color is great. You clearly see it and you totally lose the CTA inside of it. A simple solution would have been to make the entire block look like a button. 

I see emails like this on occasion from my team too. It's when I know that a designer has taken lead from a marketer. Its a beautiful design but not going to deliver the results it could. With a few small tweaks it could service both the brands identity and provide the results needed. 

Shermans Travel + Cruises Only, January 7, 2020 Email

An interesting cruise email

I thought this email was particularly interesting. Cruises Only, one of the largest seller of cruises in the US (or the largest based on their tag line), partnered (bought an email send) with Shermans Travel.

1. Subject Line and Preview Line

Subject Line and Preview Line in Google Mail

• Unlike the previous example, this team stuck with title case
• The Biggest Sale of the year, this soon in the year, captures my interest and getting up to $1,500 to spend onboard a sailing is attractive. If, there next email has an offer with a larger sale then as a consumer, I'll loose faith in their brand. But for now...I'm clicking. 

2. The Email

Shermans Travel, January 7, 2020 Email

• Above their NAV, they have (in a super large format) co-branded the email. It's big but not offensive. If I wasn't familiar with Cruises Only - I am now so - that's a positive for the marketing team. 
• The NAV is targeted to Cruises Only and features 4 top cruise destinations. I am going to go out on a limb here and assume their top selling markets are Caribbean, Bahamas, Europe and Alaska. 
• The hero image is bold with three destination images pulling from the destinations featured in the NAV. 
• The hero copy is strong and ties back to the subject and preview line. The font is also very easy to read.
  

  

  Email Hero and Copy

Offer Block

• On the hero, they have placed a ribbon to interrupt and drive urgency. FOMO at its best.
• There is no start or end date for the offer listed - does it run forever?
• Their copy beneath the banner plays with font size, weight and color to draw attention to the core elements of the message. 
• They are using red as their CTA color on their button and, they've permeated the points of attention through the email with that color (see $1,500). 
• The messaging on their CTA
• In cruise marketing, no deposit sales are a big deal. They've highlighted the promo in a clean way and used white space well to focus in on the message.
• Below the CTA, they have placed their top "cruise line offers". They make a point of letting the reader know these offers combine with the feature offer. 
• The offer blocks continue the emails treatment of using red and different font weight inside the offer blocks to draw attention to the trigger points in the block.

Landing Page Recommended Sailing

 

• Lead in pricing is displayed in an interesting way. They are first presenting the top line price (assuming without taxes) and then a breakdown showing the price per night. They don't say in the copy where the particular sailing is going or, how long it is for. But, when you click through on the offer, the first sailing featured on their landing page fulfills the pricing promise

• They've ended the email with a block focused on luxury sailing. They've 
• They've used simple, bold icons for their social channels. 
• The email does not have any terms and conditions for the offers it promotes. The only way to find the terms for the offers is to click through and navigate through the site to the individual offer pages.  Odd.
  
  

Travelocity Email - January 6, 2020

A review of a Travelocity email

1.  Subject and Preview Line

SL and PV in Gmail

• It's interesting that they are playing with random case in their subject line. This brings attention to the key item they are trying to promote. The FIFTY PERCENT OFF is what the eye is drawn to.
• The preview line implies that I am going to have to join something to get the offer. The use of the word "join" makes me think that it is going to have a fee. 

2. The Email

• NAV features their logo and what I am assuming are their top revenue driving categories. They repeat the NAV links in their footer. It does not align to their site NAV. I would not expect this to be a concern for most consumers but they are missing an opportunity on the email to bring in their full offering. 

Site NAV

• Beneath the emails NAV they have featured a search bar with a bright green CTA. This is the emails only use of green and it is very strong.  The search feature is non-functioning and when a customer clicks onto the field to begin typing they are directed to their hotel landing page.
• The hero banner repeats the message from the SL. I am not sure if the discounts they are referring to are for hotels, cruises, vacations packages, etc. The imagery does not provide any direction or insight.  This is a miss as if my expectation is not delivered I am less likely to engage with future emails.
• Some emails are designed to educate and others, designed to drive a click. This email is the later. For more information I would need to click through to the landing page or site to find out more. 
• I think they've missed an opportunity to let people know that there is no fee for their membership. We live in a time of pay-walls so,  many customers will perceive their membership has a fee and not continue down their purchase path.



Filtered Results: 3 Star Hotels

• Beneath their banner, they have 3 icons for hotels - each which triggers a filtering of results to their landing page. They've chosen to highlight the star rating. Interesting. Their member behavior on hotel search must correspond to filtering by star level. 

4-Block Treatment

• Their next block is broken with a headline in a new font. Its a casual, comfortable break but it is a new text treatment. Their designer must love playing with fonts and weights. This can be visually exhausting for the reader but, their email is pretty clean so it is a nice moment. Very American Express feeling.
• This is a standard 4-block treatment that works well for mobile. I can honestly say that I have never searched Minneapolis nor is it on my radar so this is an odd pick. 
• They've included an interrupter on the Minneapolis block to create a feeling of scarcity and drive action. There is nothing saying when the last hour was so this is likely purely marketing copy. 
• When you click through on the $200 flight block their landing page brings in results targeted to your metro-airport. That's pretty cool. Smartly, they have also included a sub-nav which allows for quick and easy search by carrier.

  

$200 Flights Landing Page Results

• Lastly, they have chosen to further monetize their emails with third party ads. They have a LiveIntent plug-in running.