Category — Email Marketing

Those venues that publish e-newsletters spend a huge amount of time writing content for a small amount of people who actually read the articles — or at least that’s the way it can seem at times!

Here are two ways we found to increase the readership for your weekly e-newsletter focused specifically on nightclub emails that promote the week’s line-up:

Last time I wrote about e-mail it was 6 Tips for Successful Nightclub Weekly Event E-mail Newsletters – but I didn’t mention anything about integrating social marketing into email.  That’s because it required it own blog.

Let’s look at the 4 commandments of integrating the two channels:

You’re Talking to Two Different Audiences

Nightclubs that cut and paste content and offers on social platforms and email campaigns dilute the value of opting in to each experience. If you send me the same offer on Facebook as you do on e-mail, one will be ignored. Therefore, be sure to alter tone and value based on the conversation. It’s worth the extra time and effort.

It boggles my mind how nightclubs are still sending so many one-off emails about upcoming events.  Moreover, it kills me to see how the ones that are sending newsletter style emails are still not producing them effectively. It’s not rocket science. But I still come across clients that are missing the basics.

Here are some tips to get you started — or to help you quickly review your existing e-mail newsletter and confirm that you’re still in line with best practices to make it successful.

It’s All About the Reader, Not You

For every comment received on our Blog in December 2009, The Creative Complex will donate $1 to www.charitywater.org.  Every 20 comments can give one person clean, safe drinking water for 20 years.

Almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean drinking water. That’s one in eight of us. charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations directly fund water projects.

Doesn’t that make you thirtsy to start commenting?  We hope so!

There’s been a lot of buzz lately about video in e-mail. The Email Experience Council (EEC) hosted a Webinar on the topic, and many in the industry are proclaiming 2009 the year of video in e-mail.

As a result, I have clients inquiring about including video in their e-mail messages. It’s an exciting new way to use e-mail, but as with any technology you shouldn’t use it just because it’s “cool.” You only want to use it if it can get more people to your venue (or whatever your business goals are).

An acquaintance of mine recently came across a list of over 10,000 emails from a nightclub he used to work for.  He was looking to sell the list to any buyer.  Never a good sign.

You might be able to guess what happened next. He ended up selling the list to another nightclub.  By now, who knows how many people have this list.  Let me tell you what happens when you start to send emails to purchased lists:  YOU GET BANNED.  As a result, your e-mail service provider will detect a large number of complaints and unsubscribe e-mail addresses and will refuse to send the e-mails.

Times are tough for the nightlife and entertainment industry. Nightclubs are cutting marketing budgets and staff; venues are looking to do more sales with less upfront investment and fewer people.

Recent statistics show that developing an effective e-mail marketing program is more important than ever. There are ways to make your e-mail marketing efforts a key part of weathering this storm.

Why e-mail? Lets face it, on the business side it’s very cost effective. Who wants to print flyers or pay tons of money to a street team? If you’re a marketer using sound and consistent email marketing practices, you know it’s quite effective.

What I love most about e-mail is that you can test any idea and know whether it works within 24 hours.  Thinking about bringing Roger Sanchez to your venue?  Send a test email out announcing he will soon be spinning, see how many people respond.

As a club promoter and now online marketing pro, I’ve sat at endless meetings in the past where I’ve thrown out any number of good ideas only to have the venue say, “That will never fly.”

Whether you’re a veteran e-mail marketer or just learning the ropes, you have likely heard that segmentation tactics can deliver better results for your e-mail program because it allows you to send more targeted and relevant messages. With this more relevant messaging, you can expect to see a higher return on your e-mail investment. In fact, segmented campaigns have been shown to deliver two to five times the ROI (return on investment) of typical broadcast campaigns. The bonus ROI is reduced list churn and fewer spam complaints.

When it comes to frequency and content delivery, how much is too much?  When does it negatively impact your goals?

I used to be a fan of a certain nightlife website that shared events from multiple venues, pictures and information about local trends. I liked its content so much that I signed up for its e-mail messages because I could never remember to check its site every day. As the company grew, its one e-mail became about 5 different e-mails, classified by event. In the beginning it was great; I would read the e-mails with subject lines indicating content I wanted and would often scan headlines in the others.