12 Email Mistakes EVERY Nightlife Marketer is Guilty Of
Back in October of 2011 I wrote 4 Mistakes in Nightlife Email Marketing. Now I feel compelled to expand on that.
Am I sure EVERY nightlife marketer makes these email marketing mistakes? Yes, I’m positive. In fact, all small business owners are guilty of using email marketing improperly in some way or another.
I sign up to everyone’s nightclub email list. I have a special email address i’ve set up only for subscribing myself to these lists so that I can see who is doing things right, and what some clubs are doing wrong. (In the future I’ll write a blog showing you the best and the worst. That’s going to be fun!)
15 Digital Marketing Tools for Venues & Promoters from the 2012 Nightclub & Bar Trade Show
A couple of weeks ago we were at the Nightclub & Bar Trade show and Convention in Las Vegas. We were there to cover the entire show. A key component of the show was the exhibit hall, with 662 exhibiting companies from beer to liquor to DJ lighting equipment.
We were interested in products & services that we could bring back to our readers that is relevant to our blog. We blog about “online marketing tips for nightlife and entertainment professionals.” So we sought out to find online marketing products that would be of interest to you.
4 Tricks for Building Your Nightlife Email List
Email isn’t dead. Using weekly email newsletters to stay top of mind with your nightlife audience and keep them up to date on what’s new and exciting at your venue remains a great way to build new and repeat customers. However, before you can use email marketing as a way to leverage clubbers and direct them to your website, you first need their email addresses–and you need to build up a certain amount of trust and interest to make them feel comfortable handing over their inbox to you.
4 Mistakes in Nightlife Email Marketing
If email seems a little old school to you, you might be right, email turns 40 this year, and it’s being overrun by texting, instant messaging and Facebook messaging.
But email is still useful and universally accepted. In fact, those who make a living in nightlife say there’s never been a better time to do it. And this is because social networks have become such a great support for them.
QR Codes for Your Event
Seeing QR codes everywhere?
Well you can thank smartphones for the most part as they all pretty much come loaded with QR code readers these days and marketers are aware.
Combine this with the fact that they easily enhance any real world promotion, and you have a very powerful new marketing tool in your aresenal. However many new nightlife venues are using it wrong.
What Should a Good QR Code Do?
It should forward users to a mobile-friendly webpage with functionality built for your audience and event. We notice the following themes occur over and over again: Exclusivity, rich media, downloads, social media, incentives like prizes and contests, and contextual relevance. Should all be used to give your audience incentive. For a Nightlife Venue, there are certain Must-Haves for your event.
Email Marketing Principle 1: You Are Not Your Customer
I really enjoyed reading this post by Kris Kiler from www.mystrategicmarketing.com. I’ve re-posted it here because I feel nightlife marketers have a tendency to do this a lot in their emails.
Happy Reading!
Posted by KRIS KILER on October 7, 2010
One of the biggest obstacles that people face when marketing is…themselves!
Four Types of People that read Nightclub Emails: You Need to know all Four
As you look around the world of nightlife marketing, you can certainly see significant change happening.
Nightclubs are moving away from one-time dramatic events and moving toward creating solid, long-lasting nights for the long haul. Venues are steering away from marketing about how cool their sound system is, instead embracing sustainability. Even in e-mail, we’re seeing changes come from a strategic perspective.
One of the most exciting changes coming down the road for e-mail is how we look at segments in our e-mail databases (segments are the groups of people that read your emails). Historically, segments have consisted of your tried-and-true responders and non-responders. From there, sub-segments have often included new customers, high-value customers, high-transaction customers, and so on. The approach to e-mail segmentation has typically followed standard direct-marketing practices.
Increasing Readership for Your E-Newsletter
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:
4 Keys to Nightclubs Integrating E-mail and Social Marketing
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.
6 Tips for Successful Nightclub Weekly Event E-mail Newsletters
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
Comments for Water
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!
Five Tips for Including Video in E-mail
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).
Promoters and Marketers – Avoid Poisoning Your Marketing Channels
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.
Why E-mail Matters More Than Ever for the Nightlife
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.
The Email Inbox: Your New Street Team
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.”
Segmentation: Even you can do it!
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.
How Frequently Should I Send Emails to My List?
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.
