Boosting bookings for GRJ

Brief

Great Rail Journeys (GRJ), a leading specialist in rail-based travel, approached Red C, a strategic and creative email marketing agency, to revitalise their underperforming email programme. GRJ wanted an email strategy that not only increased bookings but also reflected their passion for travel, showcased their expertise in rail journeys, and delivered measurable results.

The client’s existing email communications were underutilised and lacked the strategic focus needed to drive engagement and conversion. Open rates and click-throughs were below expectations, and the programme relied heavily on generic promotional emails. GRJ required a fresh, comprehensive approach combining strategic email marketing planning and strategy, high-quality email marketing templates, and compelling email marketing design and copywriting to create a more engaging and profitable email programme.

The partnership required Red C to develop a structured and scalable email marketing programme that could provide value to subscribers, communicate the unique benefits of GRJ’s offerings, and drive direct bookings through well-crafted, strategically planned campaigns.

Approach

Insight and Strategic Planning

The first step in transforming GRJ’s email programme was gaining a deep understanding of their business, audience, and objectives. Red C, as a specialist email marketing agency, conducted a thorough review of the existing programme. This included analysing historical performance metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and overall ROI.

Red C also engaged with key stakeholders across GRJ, including marketing, sales, and product teams, to gather insights into customer motivations, travel trends, and operational priorities. By understanding the type of travellers who booked rail journeys, what inspired them, and how they engaged with content, the team could shape a more targeted and effective email programme.

This initial insight phase informed the email marketing planning and strategy, which focused on creating a “rich and varied inbox” that would deliver both commercial value and engaging content. The strategy was designed to balance promotional messaging with informative and inspirational content that would resonate with subscribers, whether they were seasoned rail travellers or new to the experience.

Developing Email Marketing Templates

Central to the programme was the creation of modular email marketing templates. These templates were designed to be flexible, visually appealing, and adaptable to different types of campaigns. Red C developed a suite of templates for promotional emails, content-driven communications, and engagement-focused campaigns.

The templates were designed with responsiveness in mind, ensuring that emails displayed correctly across desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. This was crucial in reaching a broad audience, many of whom interact with email while on the move. Each template allowed for dynamic content blocks, enabling GRJ to personalise messages based on customer preferences, travel history, and engagement behaviour.

By creating modular email marketing templates, GRJ gained the ability to deploy consistent, on-brand communications at scale while maintaining creative flexibility. This approach allowed the marketing team to quickly adapt campaigns to market trends, seasonal promotions, or customer segmentation without having to redesign each email from scratch.

Email Marketing Design and Copywriting

Design and copy are critical elements in any successful email programme. Red C applied expert email marketing design and copywriting to ensure that every email was both visually engaging and strategically written to drive action.

The design focused on creating a sense of excitement and aspiration around rail travel. Stunning photography, clean layouts, and prominent calls to action highlighted GRJ’s offerings while guiding subscribers toward booking journeys. The use of hierarchy, imagery, and typography was carefully considered to enhance readability and encourage interaction.

Copywriting was equally important. Each email was written to engage subscribers on an emotional level, emphasising the unique experiences, destinations, and personalised services offered by GRJ. Headlines were crafted to capture attention, while body copy provided useful information, inspiration, and a clear path to conversion. Calls to action were strategically placed to guide recipients to the booking platform, ensuring measurable results for the campaign.

By integrating email marketing design and copywriting with the modular templates, Red C created emails that were not only visually appealing but also effective in communicating key messages and driving bookings.

Creating a Rich and Varied Inbox

A key element of the email marketing strategy and planning for GRJ was ensuring that subscribers received a “rich and varied inbox.” Red C recognised that customers were not always in the buying mindset, so it was essential to provide content that was engaging, informative, and inspirational alongside promotional offers.

The programme incorporated a variety of email types, including:

Promotional emails highlighting special offers, discounted journeys, and seasonal packages
Content-driven emails providing travel inspiration, destination highlights, and insider tips for rail journeys
Engagement-focused campaigns such as quizzes, competitions, and interactive content to encourage subscriber participation and loyalty

This blend of content ensured that subscribers had a reason to open emails regularly, whether or not they were ready to book a journey. By creating a rich content mix, Red C strengthened customer engagement, built trust, and increased the likelihood of conversion when promotional emails were sent.

Managing and Optimising Campaigns

In addition to designing email marketing templates and creating compelling content, Red C managed the end-to-end email programme for GRJ and its sister brands, including Rail Discoveries and Treyn. Responsibilities included:

Building and distributing emails via the CheetahMail platform
Managing scheduling and segmentation based on customer behaviour, preferences, and travel history
Conducting A/B testing to optimise subject lines, creative layouts, and calls to action
Monitoring performance metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, conversions, and revenue impact

This comprehensive management ensured that the email marketing strategy and planning was executed effectively, with all campaigns aligned to business objectives. Regular reporting allowed GRJ to measure ROI and understand how subscribers interacted with each email, providing insights for continuous improvement.

Continuous Improvement Through Testing

A core principle of the Red C approach is iterative optimisation. Every email campaign was subject to rigorous testing to refine email marketing design and copywriting, increase engagement, and maximise conversion.

Subject line testing helped determine the language and tone that generated the highest open rates, while creative layout tests identified the most effective placement for images, headlines, and calls to action. Content variations were tested to understand which mix of promotional and inspirational messaging resonated most strongly with the GRJ audience.

Segmented campaigns allowed for personalised communications, ensuring that repeat travellers, first-time bookers, and lapsed customers each received content relevant to their journey history and interests. This personalised approach increased relevance, improved engagement metrics, and drove measurable increases in bookings.

The combination of data-driven insights, creative testing, and strategic execution reinforced Red C’s role as a trusted email marketing agency, capable of delivering both tactical and strategic value.

Conclusion

The implementation of Red C’s email marketing strategy and planning led to significant improvements across all key performance indicators. Open rates, click-through rates, and conversion metrics all increased, demonstrating the effectiveness of the newly designed email marketing templates and the engaging email marketing design and copywriting.

Subscribers responded positively to the richer, more varied content, engaging with travel inspiration, tips, and competitions as well as traditional promotional offers. The increase in engagement directly contributed to higher bookings and measurable ROI, proving the value of a strategic, well-executed email programme.

Moreover, the modular nature of the templates provided GRJ with flexibility to deploy campaigns quickly in response to new travel opportunities or seasonal promotions. This adaptability ensured that the email programme remained agile and responsive, a key component of sustained success in a competitive travel market.

The collaboration between Red C and Great Rail Journeys demonstrates how a strategic approach to email marketing can transform an underperforming programme into a high-value business asset. Through expert email marketing strategy and planning, engaging email marketing design and copywriting, and flexible email marketing templates, Red C created a programme that:

Increased open rates and click-through rates
Delivered measurable increases in bookings and revenue
Strengthened the relationship between GRJ and its customers
Provided a scalable and adaptable framework for ongoing campaigns

By delivering a “rich and varied inbox,” Red C ensured that GRJ subscribers were consistently engaged, whether they were ready to book a journey or simply looking for inspiration. The campaign demonstrated that email can be both commercially effective and emotionally engaging when executed with strategic insight and creative excellence.

This case study highlights the value of working with a specialist email marketing agency capable of integrating creative design, compelling copy, and data-driven planning into a cohesive programme. Red C’s methodology ensures that each email not only looks great and reads well but also contributes directly to business growth and long-term customer engagement.