3 Awesome Ways to Improve Your Community Theater’s Next Email Blast

When done right, email marketing can be a very effective and powerful tool. Not only is it incredibly economical, but it’s also easily tracked for effectiveness. This makes measuring your email marketing ROI a piece of cake. Really, who doesn’t love a little slice of delicious ROI cake every now and then?!

We’ve got three awesome ways to improve your community theater’s next email blast. Are you up for the challenge?

Change your mindset.

The very first mistake made when it comes to email blasts is thinking of them as blasts. The word “blast” conjures up the image of something shot out into the world without specific thought, purpose or goals.

We know that you are putting a lot of thought and effort into creating effective and informative email communications, so drop the word “blast.”

Words that we DO like: communication, announcement, newsletter, and dialog.

Divide and conquer.

According to Forrester Research, in 2012 there were 258 billion emails sent (which marked a 63% increase from 2011). How can you possibly compete with that? With more and more emails crowding your customers’ inboxes, you really need to make your emails appealing and inviting to open.

But how?!

The answer is segmentation. Segmentation is the practice of dividing your audience in order to deliver a more relevant and personalized experience. This method goes far beyond the basic customer demographics. You need information like what motivates each customer to purchase as well as a clear understanding of their purchasing behaviour. This sounds a little complicated, but as long as you have purchasing records you’ve already got a good start!

In practice, segmentation might look something like this:

• Example 1: Sending an exclusive discount code to your season subscribers to use towards the purchase of their next season subscription.
• Example 2: Sending an exclusive discount code to your customers who have purchased individual event tickets to your Sunday matinees for families to use towards the purchase of your upcoming Holiday special for young children.
• Example 3: Notifying customers that have previously purchased tickets to your Rogers & Hammerstein musicals that you have another upcoming R&H performance.

By providing offers and information based on your customers previous purchase history, you are tapping into what you know they’ve been interested in and attending in the past. The email recipient receives relevant offers and in turn feels like your organization knows them a little better and takes the time to understand what they want.

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

There are certain pieces of information that your emails will contain, and you want to be sure that the recipient receives this information. The best way to accomplish this is by putting your “high priority” or “key” information at the top of your email.

Don’t assume that your reader will scroll down for the information or read your email until the end. That’s why the best location for your Call-To-Action is at the top of the email. Put it front and center to yield the best results!

Another piece of important information that should be easy to find in each and every email that your community theater sends? Your contact information! The box office phone number, a general information email address, Twitter username, or a Facebook page link…make it easy for your customers to contact you! After all, that is the primary purpose of emails…

Do you have a great tip that helped you improve your community theater’s email marketing efforts? Tell us about it in the comments!