CB Island Vacations

Wailea, HI
VR Software: Escapia
Properties: 294

PROBLEM:

Coldwell Banker (CB) Island Vacations was looking for a cost-effective marketing strategy to increase their online direct bookings. Their answer? Email marketing.

SOLUTION:

Dan Richards, Director of Marketing, decided to team up with Bluetent experts to launch an email marketing program. Prior to working with Bluetent, Dan & the CB Island Vacations team weren’t running any email marketing — and they knew they were missing an opportunity. By implementing email campaigns, they were able to capture more direct bookings, retarget website visitors, and illustrate enhanced marketing efforts to their property owners.  

To get started, the CB Island Vacations team worked with his Bluetent Email Account Manager to build a solid email foundation for Dan and his team — and from there they hit the ground running. They established a steady cadence of two email newsletters per month.  

CB Island Vacations represents properties on three Hawaiian Islands (Maui, Big Island, and Kauai). To address each island’s distinct character, they were able to set up different email segments and send triggers using data from their property management software (Escapia). For example, they used their past guests’ booking behavior to segment email sends based on island preference.  

Dan and his team also got creative with their campaigns, sending specific holiday messaging and promoting “sizzling” summer deals. One holiday email achieved a 29% open rate (industry benchmark is 20%) and ranks as the third highest email for generating website traffic.  

And let’s not forget about booking abandonment. Booking abandonment — a feature available to Bluetent Refusion website users — allows property managers to send automated emails to travelers who “abandoned” their reservation before completing the booking. The emails are sent based on website data and include either a message such as “complete your reservation” or, if a traveler’s chosen property was booked in the interim, showcasing different properties that fit their search criteria.  

“It pays for itself. The cart [booking] abandonment has a small set-up fee, but we’ve made that back in [like] the second week of operating. That’s an ROI-positive initiative right from the get-go.” said Dan. In fact, within the first three months of starting with Bluetent, CS Island Vacations has generated $25k in revenue from booking abandonment emails. 

DON’T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT:

“The Bluetent team is committed to our program and our success. They are really invested in us. As a customer, I see they measure their success on our success”

…AND THE RESULTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES:

WHAT’S NEXT?

While thrilled with their email marketing results, Dan and his team intend to keep adding to their digital marketing strategy. Up next is working with Bluetent on a revamped website, potentially followed by SEO and digital advertising engagements.