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.