The Flybook has recently released a new Email Template feature. This has us wondering, how can YOU leverage the 65% open rate of confirmation emails to help you grow, educate, upsell, or inspire the already captured customer.
In this post, you will learn about the best practices for you to take advantage of your confirmation emails.
In this post, you will learn about the best practices for you to take advantage of your confirmation emails.
Key Takeaways
Your customers have a problem. They are receiving hundreds of emails daily. Your marketing emails and even subsequent reminders are likely being lost in the continuous ping of every other email showing up for their attention.
However, confirmation emails do not suffer that same fate. Not only are confirmation emails among the highest opened they also have one of the highest click-through rates at roughly 15%.
In a distracted world, having these types of metrics means you have a captured audience. And, given they have already purchased something from you (hence receiving the confirmation email) you already have a level of trust. This is why being intentional and strategic about what is included in your confirmation email is so important.
A couple of other reasons why confirmation emails should be valuable to YOU (and worth doing well):
Creating effective confirmation emails manually can quickly become difficult to keep up with as your business grows. An online tour booking system helps automate the process while ensuring customers receive consistent, accurate, and timely information after every booking.
Instead of sending one-size-fits-all emails, modern booking software allows operators to customize confirmation emails based on the activity, rental, package, or experience purchased. This helps create a smoother customer experience while reducing the amount of manual follow-up required from your staff.
For tour operators and activity businesses, an online booking system for small business operations can also support:
This type of automation is especially valuable during busy seasons when teams are managing a high volume of reservations and guest communication. Instead of relying on manual emails or inconsistent messaging, an online tour booking system helps ensure every guest receives the right information at the right time.
A strong online tour booking system should include automated confirmation emails with essential booking details, contact information, waiver links, next steps, and optional upsell opportunities. The goal is to provide guests with a clear reference point while reducing manual communication for your team.
Yes. Most modern reservation systems allow operators to automate booking confirmations, reminders, payment requests, and pre-arrival communication. Automation helps improve consistency while saving time during busy booking periods.
Let's remember, the confirmation email has a singular priority purpose: to confirm a purchase. Knowing this, it's obvious that you will need to include information about what the customer has bought.
But how much information is useful? When is too much just overwhelming?
Below are some recommended best practices for creating your confirmation email:
Customers will use the confirmation email as a reference for everything they purchased. Asking them to save or flag this email is also a great way to keep the information relevant and useful. Sharing the essential details will make sure the customer is aware of what is required of them.
This is where sometimes, less is more. The essentials for you may seem like every detail of the itinerary however for the customer keeping this to the bare minimum will ensure they remember and can be easily reminded by re-reviewing the confirmation.
Share things like:
Remember to keep it simple!
Sharing everything your guest needs to know in the confirmation can be tempting. However, even though most people are opening this email, you want to keep them engaged.
Include only the essential information and whatever next steps that are most important for them to do for you.
A confirmation email is a place for you to build rapport. So, regardless of the purchase amount, thanking the customer for choosing you will show that you value their business.
Unlike an upsell (although this is also on the list of recommended best practices and covered in #5), providing direction on what they can expect next keeps them engaged and allows you to capture all required information prior to their arrival.
The Flybook online tour booking system prioritizes conversions in the website reservation flow. This means the customer will be asked to provide a minimal amount of information prior to payment in order to create ease of paying/converting. Because of this, there is still information that needs to be collected post-payment but the first step, the sale, is set.
Here are a few "Nest Steps" examples:
According to BrainRules visualizing information commits details to memory 6x higher than reading text.
Creating booking confirmation emails that are more visual in nature can help reinforce the confirmation as the go-to resource for reference or contact. Provide images that create brand recognition or promote an action you want from your customer.
Resources say adding images can assist with the following:
In practice, this means that customers are using order receipts as a reference point for future email engagement.
Here are a couple of key things to think about when including images:
One of the first and highest-priority images to include is your logo. This will keep your customers recognizing who you are.
With a 65% open rate and up to 15% click-through rate, offering your already won customer other ways to purchase from you becomes essential.
Here are a few ideas on what to offer:
The reservation confirmation email may become the primary resource for your customer to refer back to. This means they tend to "star" or save this email so they can return for details, questions, and contact information.
Make sure to provide clear and visible contact info so that if your customer has a question they can get help quickly. This small action provides a perceived level of service that can help you stand out.
Sharing contact and resource information can be done in the following ways:
Use visual icons to display contact info (image of a phone, website, waypoint).
If you are wondering if making these updates is worth the time, the answer is yes. According to @chamaileon, 50% of people make a purchase from marketing emails at least once per month. By updating your booking confirmation email to be a go-to resource for additional purchase items, information about their trip, or contact details for making adjustments to their reservation you are opening yourself up to:
Many operators use their online tour booking system to automate confirmation emails, reminders, waivers, and pre-arrival communication so guests always know what to expect. Begin by reviewing your current reservation confirmation emails and incorporating as many of the best practices as possible.
Don't have a confirmation email after someone books with you? Flybook can help you build a template and start using one today.
A useful and efficient booking confirmation email helps you stand out to your already-won customers, so they remember who you are. Remember to keep the information simple and make adjustments, trying different tactics to see what works.
Confirmation Emails Ultimate Guide