How to Market Your RV Park with Relationship-Building Emails

Every contact with your guests is an opportunity to build relationships. If you’re not requesting your guest’s email address when they make a reservation, you’re missing the best way to begin building that relationship. You’re also missing an opportunity to market your RV park.


The first, and often the only email some campgrounds send, is the confirmation email.
Instead of stopping there, look at it as the first piece in your welcome series. Here are the emails to include in your welcome series:

Confirmation Email

When your guest completes a reservation, the standard practice is to confirm the
reservation by email.
This transactional email is your opportunity to help your guest have a great experience
and let them know you’re happy they chose your park for their stay.
Include your logo, office hours, and phone number at the top of your email.
In addition to a receipt for payments made, confirmation emails often contain general
information about your park or campground. Such as:

  • Check-in and check-out times, including after-hour check-in
  • Park rules
  • Specific directions or information the guest needs before arrival.

Reminder Email

The second email in the welcome series is a friendly reminder about their upcoming
stay. The main reason for reminder emails is to keep their reservation in mind.
The reminder emails should let your guest know how excited you are about their arrival.
You can also include a summary of the information provided in the confirmation email
regarding check-in and any updates you may have.
The schedule for reminder emails can vary based on how far in advance the reservation
was made. Consider sending the first reminder about a month out for reservations made
over six months in advance. A second reminder should be sent a week before check-in.
If the reservation was made less than a month in advance, send the reminder a week
before check-in.

Thank You Email

The final email in the welcome series is the thank you email. This email should be sent
to your guest after your park’s check-out time.
In addition to thanking them for choosing your park, ask about their stay by including a
short feedback survey. These surveys can provide great information and insights to
improve your guest’s experience.
You can also ask for reviews on Google and, if applicable, your RV park or resort’s
affiliation/network.
Use this email to introduce the idea of continuing to stay in touch. Let them know you
would like to share important information about your park and the local attractions for
the coming season.


Unsubscribe Option

When your guest booked their reservation with your park, they gave you implied
consent to contact them through email. However, because they didn’t state they wanted
to receive additional emails beyond those directly related to their reservation, you must
include information regarding unsubscribing in all future non-transactional emails.
If the unsubscribe option wasn’t included in your previous emails, add it to the ‘thank
you’ and all future emails.
It can be as simple as including an unsubscribe link at the end of the email.
You can also use the unsubscribe section to show your park’s personality by using your
unique voice. And give them a reason to stick around. Such as an early bird option for
reservations.
Don’t worry that giving them the option to unsubscribe will cause your list to shrink.
According to Campaign Monitor, unsubscribe rates for the travel, hospitality, and leisure
industries are only 0.2%!

Informational Emails

Why should you continue sending your guests emails after they check out?
Because maintaining a connection between your RV resort and your guests builds your
relationship. Relationship marketing provides value that creates loyalty.
A recent study showed that 77% of people from all age groups value email marketing
over other promotions. Brands that describe their email marketing programs as
successful report generating an average email marketing ROI of 42:1, while average
email programs report an ROI of 37:1.

And more than 50% of customers preferred email communication over texts, calls, or
direct mail.
Sending monthly or quarterly emails with updates about your resort, upcoming events in
the area, or exciting and helpful information will build and retain relationships with your
guests.
No matter how often you email your list, they’ll open your emails because of the
usefulness or relevance of the content and your park’s personality showing through.


Here are a few suggestions for email topics:

  • Email prior guests in advance of the new season, letting them know the date
  • reservations open. Consider giving an early bird discount to subscribers.
  • If your park is open year-round, send reminders to book early for your busy
  • seasons.
  • Updates on any new amenities, construction, or other changes in your park.
  • Provide helpful RV maintenance and travel tips.
  • Consider themed emails related to each month or season

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