Please enjoy part 2 of 3 of an article series written by Mary Charleson, a marketing consultant and speaker at www.fiveminutemarketing.com.  Subscribe to our email newsletter to be notified when Part 3 is released - just email marketing@travelsmg.com with the subject "newsletter". You can read part 1 here.

Who sends out your newsletter now matters

Travel advisors are often focused on social media to help grow their business. The shiny now toy in TikTok is especially attractive to those who have serious FOMO driving their marketing strategy.

But what if I told you that good old email marketing and newsletters are now more relevant than ever? That is because they offer an opportunity to connect with prospects in a 1:1 platform that you exclusively control. Not something owned by Mark Zuckerberg or some distant billionaire in China who can change the algorithm impacting your content, or your access for that matter.

As it becomes more and more challenging to navigate changing social media algorithms and keep up with content creation tasks on social media, newsletters have made a resurgence as a communications medium. And AI tools have helped turned reluctant writers into aspiring novelists – almost!

We’re going to look at some compelling reasons why in the age of AI, newsletters matter even more to your marketing efforts. But beware, there are also some changes outlined in marketing tips below, that AI will be tossing your way, which you need to be aware of.

Your FROM line matters more than your SUBJECT line

For years marketers have preached the importance of your subject line. It is still critical in stirring interest to open that email. But there is a shift afloat, and it has its roots in trust, likely stemming from a deluge of AI generated content that is eroding trust connection.

Many (most?) businesses, if they have a newsletter, send it out as the company newsletter. You know the ones I’m talking about: ABC Marketing Corp monthly e-news… Tour Radar deals… eTurbo News… You get the picture. Oftentimes these newsletters are also sent from a generic company address, and not from an actual person you may know.

But recent research has found that emails sent from a person’s name have higher open rates than those sent from a company name.

Readers care about WHO the newsletter comes from

45% of subscribers say they are likely to read your email because of WHO IT’S FROM. 33% of recipients report opening an email based on the subject line. That means that who it’s coming from is now more important than the subject line.

Think about that for a moment. WHO it’s coming from is that important.

So, in an age of AI, where vanilla content is generated on mass, and churned out from nameless and faceless company emails, who do you want to be sending your newsletter from? I’m guessing if it’s not from a known individual you may be reconsidering that right now? There’s a huge opportunity here for having a newsletter sent from a person who has developed a following, or fashioned a personal brand for themselves within your industry. If you’re a small company and that person is you, all the better.

Mary Charleson is a marketing consultant and speaker at www.fiveminutemarketing.com where she advises members of the travel industry on marketing trends and strategy. She is also a travel writer and content creator at www.carryonqueen.com  Subscribe to her weekly Five-minute marketing tips newsletter, delivered fresh every Sunday morning here.