Is there any other industry as dependent on real-time communication as the travel industry? Flight itineraries, baggage claims, weather patterns, any can change at a moment’s notice and throw off an entire day of travel for hundreds of people.

So, how do travel marketers ensure their content is relevant and up-to-date, while juggling all these factors?

Introducing Open Time Content

It’s time to breathe a sigh of relief, travel marketers. There’s now a technology solution specifically designed to optimize B2C communication and engagement. Open Time Content (OTC) actually personalizes the message at the moment a recipient opens an email, for ultimate real-time messaging.

Unlike traditional automation and personalization solutions, OTC waits until the email is open, not when it’s sent, to populate content blocks, so recipients are always in the know with real-time information about their travels.

Today’s travelers expect up-to-the-minute information about their upcoming travel itineraries and details. It falls on the shoulders of travel marketers to deliver this information and ensure happy travelers who become loyal customers. It can be difficult, however, to truly personalize content that is so often outdated or stale.

If, for example, an individual is traveling from Minnesota to Florida, why would they want to know Minnesota’s weather once they’ve landed at their destination? OTC makes it possible to keep up with the constant movement of travelers.

But OTC doesn’t just enable marketers to supply travelers with local weather reports. It does so much more! The advanced automation and data systems that make OTC possible actually learn from every message sent and received, allowing marketers to send emails with constantly changing content, such as the most current Euro to dollar exchange rates, or live seat availability on related flights. These small changes drastically influence the traveler sentiment, and allow travel marketing content to reach previously unattainable levels of relevancy.

OTC is a proven solution, that helps marketers:

  • Increase CTRs by 10% – 20%.
  • Drive engagement to push click-to-open ratios over 15%.
  • Deliver high-quality content on a consistent basis, without increasing resources.

So can travel marketers actually succeed with OTC? Let’s take a look.

How Can OTC be Used in the Travel Industry?

As marketers know, consumers are always looking for ways to make their lives easier. Travelers are no different, and, in fact, they are searching for the most effortless, seamless travel experience possible. Luckily, OTC helps travel marketers deliver these incredibly high levels of personalization in a variety of ways.

Live Pricing and Flight Availability

Even before a passenger books a trip or takes a flight, travel marketers can impress them by presenting live pricing and flight information in a single location, making it easy for travelers to book new trips. Marketers can engage ‘social proof’ that shows how many people are viewing a certain flight or hotel room to drive the feeling of scarcity and increase the probability of booking.

The more a traveler engages with OTC, the smarter the marketing platform will become. If a traveler historically travels to Denver each February, an email will be more likely to show live flight prices to Denver during those weeks. This becomes a continuous process of machine learning and optimization, to ensure the right content is delivered to the right individual, at the right time.

Make Traveling Easy

While this may sound like a no-brainer, this is the real value of OTC. Real-time options about seat availability or rental car selections take guesswork out of the equation, and make travelers feel as though they have all the information they need to travel smoothly and stress-free.

For marketers serving international travelers, providing live currency exchange rates provides great value to customers. This is particularly smart for companies that offer currency exchange services, as it drives business by always offering the most current information available, all in a single email.

Automated countdown timers help travelers plan for critical milestones throughout their journeys, such as checking in and boarding. All of these small helpful bits of information add up to a completely worry-free traveler experience that keeps customers coming back.

Remember to Personalize Interactions

Personalization is at the heart of OTC technology, as it allows marketers to define rule parameters specific to any device, weather forecast, date, itinerary, geolocation and more. This all ensures that not only factually correct content, but also personally relevant and helpful content, is presented to the recipient every time they open the email.

If, for example, it’s raining at a certain destination, an email can display not only the current weather report, but also recommended indoor activities at the destination, such as museums or bowling. This data is continuously updated and refined for the most relevant and engaging suggestions.

Increase Return Customers

Travel marketers can leverage OTC solutions to track traveler’s favorite destinations, hotels, and even restaurants, to then target them with customized special offers and incentives. This knowledge of the customer is echoed in the content and messaging at the time of open.

When travelers feel comfortable with marketing content, knowing it has been tailored just for them, they are more likely to become repeat customers, or in this case, repeat travelers.

Final Thoughts

OTC gives travel marketers a chance to take personalization and optimization to new heights, by increasing engagement rates and customer satisfaction. Is your travel brand ready to take flight?

Download our whitepaper, to see how OTC can help your travel brand stand out with always-accurate and relevant information your travelers will come to depend upon.

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