56.2% open rate and climbing: how Houfy turned a quiet email list into a working channel.
“Anna took the time to understand what we needed and delivered work that felt aligned with our voice, not generic.”
A vacation rental platform built around direct bookings.
Houfy is a direct booking vacation rental platform, built so there’s no middleman taking a cut, no commission stacked onto every stay, just hosts and guests dealing with each other directly. It’s built to keep costs down and relationships real, without an algorithm standing in the way.
The blog wasn’t the only place Houfy’s story wasn’t landing. Their email list, 70,000 people deep, was sitting mostly unused too.
Problem.
Houfy had built a list of 70,000 people, hosts and guests combined, and wasn’t doing much with it. Newsletters went out sporadically, usually just a round-up of featured rentals, with no cadence, no strategy, and no real reason for anyone to expect the next one.
A list that size sitting mostly idle was the real waste.
Solution.
We planned a three-month pilot, with each send built around content for that audience instead of one generic blast to everyone on the list.
- One newsletter a month for guests, built around trip inspiration and real listings
- One newsletter a month for hosts, built around how they actually run their rentals
- A fixed cadence, so the next issue was something people could expect
The goal wasn’t just to send more. It was to give people a reason to keep opening, and to gather enough real data to know whether the model was worth continuing.
What happened when the list stopped sitting idle.
The three-month trial did more than prove the concept. Open rates across both lists held consistently near double the industry average, issue after issue, building toward a peak of 56.2%, the highest open rate of any newsletter sent so far.
Clicks told the same story. As open rates climbed, clicks and site traffic climbed with them. People weren’t just opening the emails, they were clicking through and spending real time on the site once they got there.
Three months was supposed to be the test. Houfy kept the partnership going well beyond that, still building on the momentum those first few issues set in motion.
The actual issues that landed in 70,000 inboxes.
Live previews of the real sends, host and guest edition.
The Houfy Host Hub — Issue #4
Written for hosts running their own direct bookings: operational advice, platform updates that actually affect them, and a reason to keep the next issue open.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Traveler — Issue #5
The guest-side edition, built around trip inspiration and real Houfy listings, with the click paths that drove the biggest jumps in listings-page traffic.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Host Hub — Issue #5
The issue that peaked at a 56.2% open rate, the highest of any Houfy newsletter sent so far, and the proof that the cadence was working.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Traveler — Issue #2
A seasonal urgency play: summer stays framed around booking early, with listings picked to make the deadline feel real.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Traveler — Issue #3
Group travel planning made simple, with a step-by-step angle that gave readers a reason to click through to bigger, higher-value listings.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Traveler — Issue #4
A holiday-window edition built on scarcity: 4th of July dates going fast, and the stays that still had availability.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Traveler — Issue #6
The August edition: three things worth knowing before booking, paired with real listings that gave readers an obvious next click.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Host Hub — Issue #6
The late-summer host edition that secured a 52% open rate: a calm, useful read on what’s changing, what’s worth watching, and what hosts should do before the next booking wave.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Host Hub — Issue #4
Written for hosts running their own direct bookings: operational advice, platform updates that actually affect them, and a reason to keep the next issue open.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Traveler — Issue #5
The guest-side edition, built around trip inspiration and real Houfy listings, with the click paths that drove the biggest jumps in listings-page traffic.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Host Hub — Issue #5
The issue that peaked at a 56.2% open rate, the highest of any Houfy newsletter sent so far, and the proof that the cadence was working.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Traveler — Issue #2
A seasonal urgency play: summer stays framed around booking early, with listings picked to make the deadline feel real.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Traveler — Issue #3
Group travel planning made simple, with a step-by-step angle that gave readers a reason to click through to bigger, higher-value listings.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Traveler — Issue #4
A holiday-window edition built on scarcity: 4th of July dates going fast, and the stays that still had availability.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Traveler — Issue #6
The August edition: three things worth knowing before booking, paired with real listings that gave readers an obvious next click.
Open the full issue →The Houfy Host Hub — Issue #6
The late-summer host edition that secured a 52% open rate: a calm, useful read on what’s changing, what’s worth watching, and what hosts should do before the next booking wave.
Open the full issue →We’ve talked to Houfy’s COO about the partnership.
“Working with Anna has been one of the easiest collaborations I’ve had. What stood out most was her professionalism and how organized she kept everything. Nothing ever slipped, and she always knew exactly where we were in a project.
Her communication is what really sets her apart. She’s responsive, clear, and proactive, which made the whole process feel effortless on our end. We never had to chase her for updates or wonder what was happening next.
The content she produced consistently supported our brand and helped us hit the goals we set out to achieve. I’d recommend her without hesitation to anyone looking for a contractor who’s reliable, talented, and genuinely great to work with.”
See what your list could become once it stops sitting idle.
Book a free strategy call and we’ll map out the cadence, the segments, and the content that turn a quiet email list into your most dominant engagement channel.
