August 6, 2022

Smiles and Rocket Travel by Agoda Collaborate to Boost Marketing Efforts

By
Rocket Travel by Agoda

Founded in 1994, Smiles is the most known frequent-flyer program in Brazil. With a customer base of approximately 17M travelers, Smiles is now the loyalty program for GOL, the largest Brazilian airline. Rocket Travel by Agoda and Smiles have been working together since 2017. The company was the first global partner to leverage Rocket’s leading technology to provide its customers with the option to redeem miles on hotel stays.

3.4% increase in email open rate
0.6% increase in click-through rate
5% increase in direct market share

As a partner focused on rewarding its customers at every step of their journey, Smiles and Rocket Travel by Agoda’s successful relationship was founded based on true collaboration and incredibly attractive promotions. With a very engaged customer base, however, Smiles saw a decline in engagement in its marketing communication due to the changes in the travel industry brought up by the pandemic over the past two years. Looking for different ways to foster brand loyalty and awareness, both Smiles and Rocket’s marketing team worked together to unveil new opportunities.

Strategic marketing

Rocket Travel by Agoda’s in-house marketing team reviewed the Smiles team's marketing strategies. We audited campaign landing pages and creative for seven different email campaigns. Our travel marketing experts reviewed the post-flight communication on the confirmation page, and opportunities to engage customers.


Based on the Rocket Travel by Agoda team's findings, we offered strategic proposals based on best practices and our extensive travel marketing experience to increase engagement and improve click-through rates in promotional emails.

Driving audience engagement

The results came in quickly: after implementing the recommendations provided by Rocket Travel by Agoda, Smiles saw an increase of 3.4% in their email open rate and 0.6% in the click-through rate. They also increased their direct marketing share from 13.6% to 18.7%.

Both teams were thrilled to see quick results in such a short period. Today, Smiles and Rocket Travel by Agoda continue working together to offer Brazilian travelers more than 400,000 properties worldwide and 24/7 customer service assistance in Portuguese. Customers can choose to book hotels and earn miles for every hotel night booked, or they can redeem miles to confirm their hotel reservation. Anyone interested in booking a hotel on Hotéis Smiles can access the landing page through www.smiles.com.br/hoteis.

Rocket Travel by Agoda’s in-house marketing team reviewed the Smiles team's marketing strategies. We audited campaign landing pages and creative for seven different email campaigns. Our travel marketing experts reviewed the post-flight communication on the confirmation page, and opportunities to engage customers.


Based on the Rocket Travel by Agoda team's findings, we offered strategic proposals based on best practices and our extensive travel marketing experience to increase engagement and improve click-through rates in promotional emails.

About the author

Rocket Travel by Agoda, part of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG), is a leader in the travel industry offering technology and marketing solutions for some of the largest consumer brands in the world.