Picture this: you’re deciding what to do in the upcoming weekend, scrolling through Google events and Facebook pages, when DING! In your inbox is a message from your local theatre offering tickets to their opening night. You click open the email, read through an email personalized for you, and set your Saturday night plans.
Email marketing is the number one way to keep your audience informed, engaged, and excited about your upcoming events. With it you can nurture relationships, drive attendance, and turn single ticket buyers into loyal attendees.
BookTix has a built in email marketing tool that lets you do just that- reach your audience directly without the headache of extra software, spreadsheets, or integrations, from running a new show to thanking donors, your message is hand delivered to you audience, by DINGing right into their inbox.
What’s email marketing, and why does it matter?
At the root, email marketing is about communicating. It’s an outlet to share your organization’s story, updates, and in turn, impact those that care most about the work you’re doing. Instead of shouting into the void that is social media or flyering to people who might not be interested, email gives a direct and personal line of communication.
Email marketing is also one of the most cost effective ways to promote events and stay at the top of your customers’ minds, while having room to share details beyond just a quick blurb. It has the highest return on investment of any marketing channel because with it, you can reach those who already want to hear from you.
ACTION STEP: Collect the email addresses of each person who buys in person and add them to your email list.
How can I use BookTix’s Email Marketing to contact customers?
BookTix’s email marketing platform is integrated into your ticket system, meaning no additional setups or integrations. It also means your audience data (ticket buyers, donors, and package holders) is right at your finger tips.
You can use tags to identify customers and their purchasing trends, build lists to target specific groups, and send beautifully formatted emails complete with your personal branding right from the BookTix admin portal. No additional steps needed, and you’ll seamlessly communicate with your audience in no time, effort, or additional costs.
ACTION STEP: Explore your audience lists inside BookTix. Identify one group — like recent ticket buyers — and send them a thank-you email or preview of your next event.
Can this boost sales?
Every email is a new opportunity to springboard your customers into action. By using it to announce a new production, promote a fundraiser, or share behind the scenes updates, you make your community feel more connected to your cause.
By using your ticketing data to inspire your targeted messaging, you are able to personalize your outreach. Imagine sending “We missed you at our last show!” to frequent attendees, or “Thank you for supporting us last season” to donors; small touches like this make all the difference in engagement and return attendees.
ACTION STEP: Create a campaign to send to past attendees to let them know about upcoming events that might interest them. BONUS: Add a special incentive, like early access, just for them!
What types of messages can I send?
The Email Marketing tool can be used beyond just event promotions and reminders. You can use it for all major communication between you and your customers. Think outside the box and consider newsletters, thank you messages, calls for volunteers, announcements, behind the scenes details, exclusive offers, post-show follow ups, presales and early access, and more.
Ultimately, consistent communication is key, as it keeps your organization visible year-round, regardless of what is on your calendar. Over time, it strengthens your relationship with your customers and ensures you get an audience that keeps coming back for more.
ACTION STEP: Plan an email that isn’t about selling, but about storytelling. Share your mission, highlights from a recent event, success stories – anything that engages beyond the $.
How can I measure my success?
Email marketing is easy to track – from the dashboard of each campaign, you can see who is opening emails, who is clicking links, who is engaging with the content you’ve provided, which is all data you can use to understand what works and what doesn’t. These are valuable insights that you can use to refine your approach and fine tune your messaging. It provides measurable and reportable outcomes that you can in turn provide to sponsors and on grant applications, which will prove the impact of your outreach efforts.
ACTION STEP: After each campaign, review your open and click rates. Then, make a note of which subject lines and messages performed best, and let those insights shape your next email.
Email marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be just another puzzle piece in how you run your organization, but remains a vital one. It’s the best way to stay connected and stay visible, letting you grow and engage with your audience all year long.
