The numbers don’t lie. The days of “mass marketing“ are past us, never to return. The one-too-many approach is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, replaced by one-to-one (micro) targeting. Thanks to Amazon and other savvy brands, the consumer is expecting more, and we better deliver a similar experience or face the consequences. Those who embrace this new strategy will reap the benefits.

Micro-targeting is the use of in-depth customer data to deliver highly-targeted and personalized messages across a multitude of channels. These campaigns are designed to appeal to specific people or small groups of guests. And the result will be transformative to your bottom line.

The key to unlocking your hotel’s untapped gold mine is hiding within the data of the email address, in the form of a “hash.”

What is a Hashed Email?

Hashing is a technique used to encrypt a piece of data into a hexadecimal string. With technological advancements, it’s not possible to perform that sort of cryptographic function in order to give each email its own unique string so that it remains consistent, no matter where the email is used.

Think about how you use your email. Nearly everywhere you go online requires an email to log in – from your favorite shopping platforms (I’m looking at you Amazon) to all your social media accounts. And, with half the planet now using email for an estimated total of 3.8 billion email addresses, they’re a lot of opportunities! Needless to say for hospitality marketers, accessing customers data by way of a hashed email could is like winning the lottery.

Hashed Email vs Cookies

Cookies are information stored on a user’s computer so preferences are remembered on future requests, they’re passed from a Web server to a Web browser by way of that user’s specific hard drive. When it comes to your computer “remembering” your information for speedier checkouts or personalized portals, cookies are great. But, for marketers, they are less than effective.

Not only are cookies are not universally used, but they can also be turned off or blocked. Additionally, cookies do not work across devices.

Hashed emails on the other hand offer hotel marketers access to data from tried-and-true technology that has been an effective form of communication for more than 20 years. In fact, it continues to grow! According to Radicati Group, the number of email accounts are expected to grow 20% by the end of 2018.

Opt-Ins More Important Than Ever

f you do not already have campaigns in place to invite website visitors to opt-in, it’s now more important than ever. It’s not about lumping the addresses into a database you’ll blast once a month, it’s about tying together available data so you can make smarter marketing decisions.

We work with our clients to capture this information by offering an incentive such as a downloadable guide, giving a discount or offering perks through a VIP program.

How You Can Use Hashed Emails

Utilizing hashed emails offers many exciting possibilities. Not only will you be able to more effectively personalize the subscriber’s experience, but you can also now truly do multi-channel marketing. Here are a few ways in which you can do that:

Social Ads

Customizing audiences on social channels lets you maximize the effectiveness of your marketing spend.

In-Store

Between digital kiosks and brand phone apps, in-store identification can now unlock sophisticated, real-time personalization that’s seamless with communication across other channels.

Direct Mail 

Linking email addresses to home addresses opens up a wealth of opportunity. For example, triggered postcards can be mailed based on online behavior.

Who knew real-time insights from the trusty email address would be the future of marketing?

Here at Lure Agency, we’re taking technology of hashed emails to a whole new level through Identity Resolution. Learn more here >>