Building and maintaining relationships with customers is one of the cornerstones of creating a loyal customer base. Technology provides us with more opportunities than ever to achieve this, however keeping up with changes throughout the world of tech can be difficult at the best of times.

To help with this, Airship have put together a guest blog detailing their thoughts on the upcoming iOS 15 release, along with tips on adapting marketing strategies to ensure your customer communications remain effective despite some drastic changes.

There’s a change coming and it’s going to shake things up for marketeers.

By Dan Brookman, CEO, Airship

It’s all to do with the new iOS 15 rollout that’s expected between September and November this year. We’ve been doing some research as well as testing the beta release, and the following article lays out our findings, the changes they bring for marketeers, challenges for email marketing, new metrics and our recommendations.

A bit of background

Apple has always been a champion of privacy for its users. This isn’t something new, it’s already randomised mac addresses to reduce WiFi tracking and has stringent rules for the use of the Apple Wallet and to scrutinise Apps making it through to the app store to protect users’ privacy.

It’s a big change though, and specifically for email marketers one that will require a rethink of how measurement is made of success. Open Rates have long been questionable as a metric; when Airship started out it was more relatable as a Read Rate as you were much more certain, with less volume, that the email had indeed been read.

A big thing to remember is that Apple generally leads with these big changes and, without doubt, other platforms will follow. The fear of losing market share to Apple and consumer demand will see to it; although the speed of sweeping changes across all platforms might still take a couple of years to come to fruition.

“Most importantly, this isn’t the end for email, it’s just the beginning of a new way to report on success.”

How many people use Apple’s Mail App?

According to Sparkpost, who deliver 40% of the world’s commercial and transactional email, their 2021 Benchmark Report saw 38.1% of all opens and clicks coming from one of the Apple Mail app clients, with 25.7% on iPhone, 9.6% on desktop and 2.8% on iPad. This is second only to Gmail (on mobile and desktop) as the largest market share of any device/client family.

How is Apple approaching it?

We’ve downloaded the BETA of iOS 15 and done some testing and can announce that the changes that Apple have made mean that Open Rates will pretty much no longer mean anything. The change is simple… Apple automatically downloads every image in an email without the recipient having to do anything. They aren’t blocking or removing anything, they are simply invalidating the metric by registering every image including the transparent gif that does the tracking.

Another feature of the update (less understood at present) is the ability for the user to ‘Hide My Email’. This, in effect, enables the user to have a ‘burner’ email account. They get to sign-up for offers and receive an offer but then in effect the email address is burnt and then will hard bounce.

This particular change is very much aimed at marketers that rely on second and third-party data.

What are the core changes for Marketeers?

Well, open rates will go up. It’s not only @mac @icloud addresses but also any email that’s read through Apple Mail. Users will need to accept the change but it’s already established that a high proportion will, following similar updates which saw a 96% take-up.

• Open Rates are no longer a reliable metric
  Quite simply, unless we remove or identify Apple Mail users and remove them from reporting. The problem with this is that a small number of customers will use multiple devices and also the other providers are likely to be hot on Apple’s heels so we may as well accept the change.
• Retention Broadcasts
  Generally based on proof of opening will no longer be relevant. This is a challenge for a few different reasons:
  • Reactivating customers with a strong offer to re-engage with email is a base tool in a marketeer’s toolbox. This can no longer be trusted based on the open rate as many customers’ emails will auto-open. You can’t base it on click rate only as that would decimate lists, so we need to think of a new way to identify lapsed email audiences.
  • Trap Addresses are going to be harder to catch. Trap addresses are left by the ESPs to catch-out poor marketeers that don’t do retention emails and therefore don’t clean their lists. This may cause email to be throttled on delivery or bounced.
  • Our recommendation will be to turn off retention emails. Over the course of the next few weeks we’ll lay out our response to this change and how we’ll handle it in the future.
• Send by previous broadcast
  Where you are sending email to those who didn’t respond to the first send will now exclude these users. You still have the opportunity though to send to people that do or don’t click.
• Split testing is currently based on open rate and click rate.
• Automations that send a follow-up email to non-openers will need to be updated to be only clickers
• Automated populated segments around email engagement will need to be updated to reflect click only.
• Time and location-based tracking will become redundant.

So is it all bad?

We don’t think so. There’s needed to be a shift to more meaningful metrics and truthfully that’s long overdue. Back to the original point; an ‘Open’ does not reflect a brand engagement; that really can only be reported as a click OR more obviously as a purchase or visit.

There’s a ton of new digital touch points now for hospitality businesses. It’s just a case of harnessing that data to bring it together to represent something meaningful and actionable.

How will marketers have to think differently?

• The biggest change for marketeers is to start focusing on clicks
  Let’s face it, opens are vanity, clicks are sanity and purchase is the ultimate goal with sales as the final measurement.
• It’s time to look at new metrics
  Hospitality has more data available to it than ever before. Use all of the first party data available to you to understand success metrics.
• Focus on your 5%
  Focussing on your 5%, the segment that generally delivers around 30% of your revenue will help you generate growth. Understanding who they are, how to attract more of them and how to retain them.
• Look to new channels
  SMS offers an unrivalled engagement rate. Since GDPR kicked in, the channel is much cleaner with the public perception restored. We recommend SMS for journeys and automations.
• Focus on first-party data
  Think about running competitions, about enriching your current data with new additional preference and segmentation data.
• Focus on first-party data (again)
  Make sure that ALL the data in your business drives through to your CRM and is engaged correctly from the outset.
• Push for clicks
  Don’t put all your content in your email bodies, think about linking out to content on your website.

Resources

Here’s some reading material for you to understand the release.

Hospitality has now fully reopened at maximum capacity, so for all operators in the sector, getting your marketing plan right and communicating with your loyal guests is more important than ever.

The possibilities of segmentation are endless, with most third-party software solutions now hooked into company CRMs via API, there is a wealth of knowledge about guests and their behaviour. How often they go out, what time of day, and even what they order.

Here are the best uses of segmentation to entice guests back to your business again and again:

1. Visit frequency triggered emails

Often simple is best, there’s no need to immediately jump into complicated logic-flow automation. Visit frequency is a piece of data that is available for most guests through a number of tech systems, such as Wi-Fi logins, loyalty card usage, pre-booking information, or an Order & Pay app.

Let guests know you appreciate their loyalty and drop them a note on their 5th visit, and if you include a voucher to treat them to a free dessert or drink on their next visit, this is likely to shorten the length of time between visits.

2. Birthday wishes

This is a super simple way to surprise and delight your guests. Also, a ‘it’s your birthday soon…’ email 1 or 2 weeks before the actual date is a great way to put your venue foremost in their mind when booking a place to celebrate with their family and friends.

3. Time and day of visit

Knowing what time guests usually visit your venue is very valuable, as it gives you the opportunity to promote other offerings and convert them to not only guests who visit for breakfast once a month, but guests who now also visit for dinner and drinks every other week with 3 friends.

4. Interests

There are multiple ways of getting to know your customers and their interests, for example, via Facebook data when logging into the venue Wi-Fi, or through booking data to see what events and themed nights they may have previously attended.

Facebook like data is particularly valuable, as it can be used to target Facebook ads to specific guests who ‘like’, for example, Katy Perry’s page. When Katy’s live tour stops in the nearby town or city, why not run a social campaign targeting all her fans who have previously visited your venue, offering a free Katy-cocktail to all guests who show their ticket before the show.

Maximise your data collection and better understand your guests with Wireless Social Wi-Fi. Automatically push all these data points into your CRM and social accounts to target guests with relevant, timely and personalised messages with connectors.

Email has long been regarded as a powerful, inexpensive way to reach customers. But gone are the days where hearing the ‘ping’ of an email landing in your inbox was exciting. Customers today have so many amazing hospitality brands to choose from, so how can your emails stand out from the crowd in an already overflowing inbox?

 

Simply put – data.

Data gathered from your in-house tech systems such as EPoS, bookings, loyalty, feedback and more holds the key to email marketing success. By combining and analysing this data, you can build highly personalised email marketing messages that gain cut-through and enable you to develop engaging one-to-one relationships with each customer.

With the right systems in place, you can take this even further to create automated communications and promotions in direct response to your customers’ behaviour – saving significant amounts of time and effort on your part. By getting the right message in front of the right customer at the right time, you can boost engagement and drive increased visits and greater spend at your venue.

But which emails work best to attract customers and convert them to bookings? Our team of marketing technology experts have highlighted some successful examples below:

1. Welcome email

Data you’ll need: First name, email address

Welcome emails are simply emails that are sent automatically to people after joining your email marketing list. They can set the tone for the customer relationship and encourage repeat visit. Bring in your personality, and create an engaging, personalised welcome email for new subscribers. Automate these emails so they go out in a timely manner so engagement is kept high and customers don’t lose interest.

2. Personalised voucher

Data you’ll need: First name, email address, booking history, spend history

If you can identify customers who always order wine, sending them promotional vouchers for your new beer tasting menu isn’t going to cut the mustard. Using previous spend history and personal preferences to dictate the content and nature of your email, you can make it completely relevant to each and every one of your customers. It’s a great way to increase engagement and encourage repeat visits.

3. Birthday greeting

Data you’ll need: First name, email address, date of birth, spend history

Everybody loves a celebration. Why not send your customers a birthday treat on their special day, such as a free glass of bubbly with their meal. If you’re able to access their spend history, you could even choose something you know they’ve ordered several times before. This will make your customer feel special, and they are likely to view your venue positively and increase the probability of them visiting again. Given all those birthdays missed during lockdown, why not send them a ‘belated birthday email’ so they can still use the offer despite the later date.

4. Lost or lapsed customer re-engagement

Data you’ll need: First name, email address, booking history – frequency, last booked date, spend history

If some of your regular customers haven’t opened an email from you or visited for a while, maybe it’s time to send a re-engagement campaign. Ask them if they still want to be included in your emails and if they’d still like to be kept up to date. This will not only clean your database but subtly remind them of the great experience they had at your venue. Send them a voucher or incentive to come back. This could be based on a dish or menu item that they have ordered previously.

5. Upcoming calendar events

Data you’ll need: First name, email address, postcode

Events can be a great way to get people through the door. Using data preferences, be sure to target your emails by geographical location – for example, you may not want to invite people to an event in Edinburgh when they are based in London. Promoting events is a great way to show your customers you are part of a community and helps to drive bookings, especially for those special days.

6. National days

Data you’ll need: First name. email address, postcode

During holiday season email marketing is the perfect way to connect with your customers. Significant holidays tend to be lucrative for hospitality and email provides a great opportunity to reconnect to your audience and prompt people to make a reservation. Use email to promote holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Veganuary or even National Beer Day and provide offers to encourage customer visit.

A customer journey begins long before they have reached your door. Discover more ideas on how to attract customers and convert interest to bookings >

The customer journey in hospitality has been transformed by technology, the adoption of which has been accelerated by the pandemic. To gain a deeper understanding of what was happening in the market, Zonal partnered with hospitality research firm KAM Media to take a deep dive into the customer journey from “plan to plate.”

KAM Media conducted an in-depth research study with 1,004 UK adults – a nationally representative sample of British pub, bar and restaurant-goers. The full report is available here.

Below are 7 valuable takeaways for operators:

1) 1 in 3 people now look at photos and menus online before visiting

This rises to 1 in 2 for younger people and demonstrates the increasingly digital nature of the typical hospitality customer journey. The research showed that most people start their journey online, doing either a “general internet search” (38%) or using Google’s “near me” search tool (25%).

2) 1 in 6 customers are more likely to book ahead now vs pre-pandemic

At the same time, a third said difficulty making a reservation was one of the key reasons they might decide to stay at home, so investing in a seamless booking system that offers real-time availability can really give an operator the edge.

3) 38% of hospitality customers will be more likely to try new venues once the industry fully re-opens

New venues or familiar venues that are offering something new will be drawing in customers this summer and beyond. This is partly driven by the desire for new and exciting things to do after months of lockdown – but also to support local venues and to ensure that every visit counts.

4) 56% of customers would like to see table service continue

Could it be that Covid has killed off the peculiarly British practice of ordering at the bar? Probably not, but this insight does indicate that a large proportion of customers now see the benefits of ordering and paying at table. Operators will need to look at offering both where possible.

5) Mobile order and pay has become more important over the last 12 months

Over 40% of consumers said so, which goes to show how technology originally adopted as a solution to a pandemic problem, will endure in the future. Unsurprisingly this rises to 65% of Millennials, although nearly half of people reported being frustrated when “forced” to pay via a mobile app, so it makes sense to offer a range of payment options to cater for differing preferences.

6) 86% of customers would be interested in joining a loyalty scheme

The power of loyalty schemes is generally underestimated by the hospitality sector but they have a number of benefits for operators. The report found that they drive footfall – for 1 in 7 customers, a loyalty scheme has a significant influence on which venue they choose; they encourage reviews – 31% of respondents say they would leave feedback if rewarded with loyalty points, and people are happy to share personal information in exchange for loyalty rewards as well – 79% would do so if they received tailored rewards as a result.

7) Online reviews are becoming even more important

Nearly half (47%) of consumers said they looked at online reviews before booking. Smartphones are key to an explosion in online reviews, with 1 in 3 customers saying they are more likely to leave a review if they can do it via their smartphone, rising as high as 44% for those in the 25-34-year-old bracket.

To download the full research report and find out more about the essential role of technology in customer journey, visit our dedicated resources page: Connecting the Customer Journey

By Joe Campbell, Digital Marketing Manager, Zonal

First impressions count. Humans are visual creatures, and when it comes to websites, images capture our attention and help us to visualise an experience. With 31% of consumers now looking at photos of food and 27% looking at pictures of the venue when searching for a potential hospitality venue according to recent KAM Media/Zonal research, the visual aspect of your website is more important now than ever before.  A great emotion trigger: your website imagery is one thing you can control, and you can customise it completely to your taste and to fit your goals.

But how can you effectively use images on your website? And what is the best way to optimise your online menu? Zonal’s Digital Marketing Manager Joe Campbell shares his top suggestions:

1. Invest in quality images

If you can afford it, hiring a photographer is a great investment. Not only will you end up with professional well-composed images, but an expert will also have the knowledge on how to capture your venue and food in the best way possible. Before you start taking photographs, make sure your images are in line with the marketing goals for the business. Choose to take images of your best dishes and place them on your website with a goal in mind. You won’t be disappointed with the results.

2. Use titles and descriptions on your images

When saving a photo file do you give it a specific name? Search engines tend to read photo files, names, titles, and descriptions and not having one there can affect your overall ranking. Do not leave your metadata blank, label your images with short snappy names, and give them hospitality-related labels with relevant titles and descriptions. This will help with optimisation and provide context to the image.

3. Give an honest portrayal

The average person spends about 8 seconds on a given webpage (Strikingly.com). That’s 8 seconds for customers to connect with your business and build a relationship with your brand. Be genuine with your photos – customers can tell the difference between stock images, and real images of your venue. Where possible, use photos of you and your staff and choose images that will accurately reflect what the customer will see when they arrive.

4. Optimise your menu

The top thing consumers search for when researching a potential pub, restaurant or bar is ‘What’s on the food menu’ (54%). Getting the menu and prices right can help draw your visitors in and convert them to a potential customer.

When adding a menu online, using the right images and selecting words that match your dish can help trigger senses, giving customers an idea of what each dish tastes like. Entice your customers in with powerful visuals, and accurate menu descriptions that highlight the best features of your business – your food.

5. Display your prices

Prices are important too. With 44% of consumers looking for prices when researching a potential hospitality venue, make sure you include your pricing information clearly on the menu. Your customers are going to be more conscious of how much they’re spending, and this is a major factor in their dining decisions. Despite this, 38% are more likely to try new venues when they are fully reopened, so make it easy for them by noting your prices on your online menus.

6. Leverage responsive design

With more than four-fifths of time spent online via mobile, it is essential your website is mobile responsive. A mobile-responsive website will allow your visitors to view your website, menu and images with ease. Customers won’t stay on your website if it’s not optimised for mobile devices, and you may lose out on potential bookings. Provide a clear call to action, such as a booking link, and keep branding consistent.

Discover how Zonal’s integrated technology solutions can help you understand and enhance your customer journey and discover new ways to drive revenue.

Perhaps you think the pandemic has put paid to loyalty schemes, at least for the foreseeable future. Loyalty schemes are, after all, about making customers feel special – hard to do when the doors are closed; they cost money to run at a time when cash is a more precious commodity than usual, and uncertainty reigns over when customers might be able to redeem any accrued rewards.

However, findings published in our latest GO Technology report, in partnership with CGA, tell a different story. With consumers eager to support their favourite businesses and get back into venues in 2021, this year could in fact be a prime opportunity to launch a new loyalty programme. With the pandemic having changed consumer behaviours though, a successful loyalty scheme will need to look a little different from anything offered pre-pandemic. Here’s four ways to make a success of a loyalty scheme in 2021.

1 Apps not cards

A mere 35% of hospitality operators surveyed said that their current loyalty scheme was card-based, with over half (52%) adopting loyalty schemes powered by apps. This is borne out by our own experience in recent times – over the last 18 months we’ve not had a single enquiry from operators wanting to implement a card-based system, indeed all of the loyalty schemes we have delivered in that time have been digital.

This shift to digital loyalty solutions is very likely to continue in our opinion, a result of increased consumer uptake and comfort with order and pay apps and online ordering during the pandemic. Not only does this offer customer convenience but could drive sign ups and repeat orders. By having applications integrated into one platform the operational burden of linking the solutions and data together is removed as the technology is doing the hard work for you.

2 Discounts will drive downloads

For the majority of people, discounts on food and drink are the main driver for using a loyalty app, with 48% looking for a percentage off their bill, 45% wanting a cash benefit, while 37% would like free food and drink after reaching a set spend. Non-monetary perks are relevant too (14% like a loyalty scheme to give them preferential booking and 11% want to be given queue jumping privileges) but with the economic outlook looking far from positive, unemployment on the rise, and job security a concern for many, it seems clear that in the future more sophisticated programmes will take a back seat to discount-driven rewards – at least in the short to medium term.

3 Integrate to generate profit

Once consumers start to use a loyalty scheme, they tend to make good use of it – about half say they do so almost or every time they visit a venue, so it makes sense to ensure your scheme is integrated with other digital products. Investing in a loyalty solution that integrates with your EPoS and booking functions for example, will reap many benefits, not least that members will be visible to staff at every point of the customer journey.

Further integration with your existing channels, such as with an order and pay app, offers further benefits. Giving delivery customers access to loyalty benefits as trading restrictions continue, for example, and then, when we can finally open our doors again, making it simple and easy for those downloading an order and pay app to join your loyalty scheme as part of the sign up process.

4 Powering insight

A major advantage of the shift to digital for operators is the valuable insights that can be gained from harvesting the available data. Visiting patterns, purchasing habits and general consumer behaviour can be collected and collated. This can be used to inform and deliver tailored deals and rewards to each customer, driving engagement and sales directly from the loyalty scheme, with the data then used to deliver more engaging and more targeted marketing campaigns. Using the insights alongside other customer data can also result in more informed longer-term strategy and planning to help future-proof your business.

Alison Vasey is Group Product Director at Zonal