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For marinas, an email strategy really has two components: 1) emails designed to ensure transactions and payments go through (referred to as “transactional emails”), and 2) emails designed to improve the guest experience (“customer emails”).
Transactional emails serve the purpose of confirming that purchases went through or alerting you and the boater in the event that they do not. If you’re using marina management software, these emails will be sent automatically and can be customized to reflect your brand. Some software, like Dockwa, will not only send your boater confirmation emails, it will also alert you to any problems with payments or expired credit cards.
While transactional emails are essential for running your operations, customer emails are where your reputation for guest experience can truly come to life. They’re also where you can begin to cross-sell other experiences or advertise nearby partners. The best marina marketing strategies include the following email flow.
Think of the pre-arrival email as your open-armed welcome to the long-term or transient guest. Sent right after booking, this is your opportunity to open your boaters’ eyes not just to the services your marina offers, but also to events, restaurants, and other attractions nearby.
The approach email is sent on the day of arrival and gives boaters all they need to know to find their spot, understand fueling options, and get familiar with dock rules. The goal of this email is to help your arriving boaters while reducing the amount of time your team spends fielding last-minute questions.
True to its name, the departure email is sent shortly after departure. Its primary goal is to encourage your boaters to spread the word about your marina through social posts or reviews and to encourage rebooking in the future. You can point people in the direction of Dockwa to leave reviews for your marina.
Dockwa's marina software is specifically designed for marina operators to manage their operations and improve boater relationships.
Our marina management software includes tools for managing boat slips and tracking customer information, reservations, and billing. We make it easy to collect and manage payments, which you can see at a glance with our built-in reporting.
If you're looking to acquire boaters, you can create a digital presence today for your marina by claiming your listing on marinas.com and get published on the Dockwa network. We make it easy to connect with your existing boaters; create and manage emails, respond directly to leads, and centralize your communication via our in-app chat.
Customers on the Dockwa marina software have streamlined their operations, improved customer satisfaction and increased their revenue. In fact, on average Dockwa increases a marina's net operating income by 20%.
