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.

How do you sell the benefits of your venue’s weekly newsletter to make customers and potential customers feel comfortable signing up?

Below are four handy tricks we recommend.

Create a Compelling Offer

If you want a visitor on your site to hand over their personal email address, you need to give them a compelling reason to do so.  We’re protective over the sanctity of our inboxes. We don’t allow just anyone in there. For you to get entrance you’ll need to explain to your audience what’s in it for them. What are the benefits they’ll receive for becoming part of your email list? How will it improve their day, life or user experience?

Example:  Exclusive Offers, DJ Updates, Special Event Passes – Sign Up For Our Newsletter Today

Make it worth their time and the invasion of their privacy.

Give Them a Little Something-Something

OK, so you’ve gotten their interest. They’re thinking about it and considering whether the offer you just outlined is worth their time. Sweeten the deal by giving them a little something extra upfront. Maybe it’s a free download of a white paper you wrote, maybe it’s a tool or gadget they can download, or maybe it’s a coupon to your site or one of your partner’s stores. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate gift, just something to make their trigger finger a little itchier. We could all use an extra push.

Show Them What’s at Stake

Part of encouraging someone toward a desired action is showing them what’s at stake and how your newsletter or your company will help them achieve their goal or eliminate a need. That’s really what they’re signing up for – the answer to their problem. Not only must you show how you’ll be able to do that (as mentioned in the first step), but you should also be able to show what they’ll lose out on if they don’t take the action you suggest.

Example:  Don’t Get Left Out on Earlybird Event Specials – Sign Up For Our Newsletter Today

Be Open About How Their Information Will Be Used

This is really important. For someone to feel safe giving you their email address, you need to be really clear and transparent about a couple of things.

• How their email address will be used
• The process for unsubscribing should they want to stop receiving messages
• That their email address will never be sold to other parties

These are huge concerns for the average user, and if you don’t address them, you’re going to have a difficult time getting someone to subscribe to your email newsletter. You should also include information about how often visitors can expect to receive messaging from you. This helps them feel confident that you won’t spam them the death the minute you get their email address.

Your email marketing relationship with a visitor starts when they’re still deciding whether or not they trust you with their email address. By focusing on just a few points like creating a clear call to action and calming any privacy concerns, you increase your odds of getting that email address and opening up a whole new relationship with that visitor.

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.

For nightclubs and promoters, email represents a cheap, effective way to establish or maintain a relationship with fans and club goers. But here is the tricky part.  Email content has the power to either attract or repel your fan base. So before you hit “send” on your next email newsletter, take heed of these 4 common email marketing mistakes.

1. Having Ineffective or Irrelevant Subject and “From” Lines
   
   You can’t guarantee that someone will open your email, but a good way to make it unlikely that they’ll open it is to use a boring subject line. A subject line should promise short, digestable information that is likely to be of interest to the recipiant . One example: “2 Things Facebook Can Do for Your NightClub” The reader only has to worry about reading two things and, if the email is properly targeted, there’s a good chance he’ll click through to see what it’s about.The “from” lines are also important, people are unlikely to open an email if they don’t recognize the sender. Plus, make sure you use an email address that uses your company’s domain — a Gmail or Yahoo address is a tip-off that the company is small-time.
2. Blasting Irrelevant Content
   
   
   Make sure your emails are relevant to the audience you’re blasting them to. If a visitor signs up for weekly emails about your upcoming events, make sure that is what their emails are about.  Don’t blast theme about your sponsors or other business ventures you might have. 

3. Not Looking at the Numbers
   You just sent out a batch of emails — any idea how many were opened? How many bounced back? If you don’t have that information, you’re operating in a vacuum and have no way to determine if the program is a success. Make sure you’re analyzing and comparing the numbers, which can help you get the most out of future email blasts. Metrics can provide useful information to boost email marketing efficacy, including the best day and time to send the email, the most effective subject lines and the content that most resonates with your audience.
4. Having No Purpose
   
   Many Nightclubs start an email marketing program with only a vague notion about why they’re doing it. So what are your goals? To educate about an event? To start a dialogue with your visitors? To inform your fans of news and events at your other venues? Having a purpose will help you  dictate your content, so please , please figure it out before you start typing.

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.

For example, providing immediate music playback via an online service like YouTube or Vimeo will help promote a new artist. Show a bio along with performance and venue information will help you promote your event. Allow users to “Like” on Facebook and follow on Twitter will give you free traffic.

Other ideas would be to create VIP access contest, or give away free gear/schwag that has to do with the event/sponsor.  Many large scale marketing promotions/campaigns can be scaled down to work with mobile/QR promotion.

Also if you have any sponsors for your event/ party , your mobile site is a good “added-value” for them.   Getting your sponsors more visitors from your site will not only make them more likely to sponsor more events with you, but also get them to help you with bigger contests and etc down the road.

Using QR Codes at Your Event

Put your QR code on every single piece of promotional material you have. This goes for every marketer. Posters, flyers, stickers, merchandise tags, press kits, temporary tattoos; The more unusual the better, coasters, condoms, and anything else you can think of is a good start.

What Not To Do

• Don’t use proprietary code formats like those from AT&T Barcode Services or any other that requires a particular scanning app to work. Your QR code should simply contain a URL directing to your mobile web presence. You can easily create a free QR code with services like bit.ly or goo.gl .
• Don’t link to a non-mobile-optimized site, or (heaven forbid) any pages containing Flash.
• Don’t forget to prominently place a compelling call-to-action (e.g. “Scan to Win”) near the QR code so that your audience immediately knows why they should bother scanning your code.
• Don’t forget to test-scan the proofs for your creative. Make sure your QR code works as intended before you produce a bunch of collateral. Can’t tell you how many times I have seen this error.

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!

I can’t tell you how many times I have had discussions with people who have decided to do or not do something to market their business based on the way they feel about it and not on the data presented right in front of them. Every week I talk with business owners who are hesitant to use more aggressive email marketing tactics simply because they don’t like getting “those type of emails.” But after some discussion, they reveal that the emails they do enjoy are from companies they are already fans of.

That’s the point. You can’t hesitate to start an email marketing program just because you think people won’t want to read your emails. Your customers are waiting for you to email them!

Don’t believe it?

Take note of the research. In a landmark email marketing study conducted in 2009 by Marketing Sherpa*, it was revealed that of those polled, an overwhelming number of people preferred using email to get their information over both traditional postal mail and even the phone.

Can you see the opportunity here?

Start Taking Action

First of all, who do you want on your email list? The answer is anybody and everybody! It’s good to start with former and current clients. Do your best to get as many email addresses as possible. If someone has purchased from you before, they are much more likely to do so again. In addition, statistics show that it can be as much as 5 to 6 times more expensive to gain a new customer than retain an existing one. So your email communications serve a fundamental business function right from the start.

But…you might ask…what if they unsubscribe? Good! That’s right, good. Each time a person unsubscribes from your list they are helping to make your list more efficient. I would much rather market to 500 people who were fans of my business than 5000 people who could care less. A smaller, more targeted list is your overall goal, but you can’t know who wants to hear your message until you put it in front of them a few times. This is why you need to start building your list as big as you can from all of your existing clients and contacts.

See the Big Picture

Email marketing is not a single event. Building an effective email list is an ongoing process and as you are doing this, you need to test, test, and retest your email marketing messages. Experiment with new marketing copy from time to time, switch from basic text to formatted designs with graphics, or try a contest to encourage those on your email list to take some sort of action in order to receive a reward. Mix it up and use the data you get to make changes and focus on what works. (Note: Always use an email service provider like Constant Contact or Aweber). The more valuable your email content is to your subscriber, the larger the response. Speak to the people on your list, provide value, and let them know you care about them as past, present, and future clients. Build a relationship with them just as you would if your business was on Main Street.

The Bottom Line

It’s okay if you don’t like getting emails that look like marketing (or even selling). But you are not in the majority. Email marketing works and statistics show it is only getting more effective. If you’re not building an email list right now and using email to market your business then you are losing money. Your job in marketing your business is to actively and regularly communicate with current and potential prospects and email is the most effective way to get this done. If you’re still hesitant, or even confused—hire an expert to help you. People are waiting for your email.

What are your hesitations around marketing with email? Comment below.

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.

Times have changed.

We live in a digitally enabled world. Your patrons demand faster access to the information they want, when they want it, on whatever device they’re reading it on.

Even personal communications are becoming more digitally inclined. The typical person on Facebook has an average of 120 friends on the social network site. With this digital evolution, e-mail has no choice but to grow and change with the times.

What does this mean for nightlife marketers? You must be smarter about your segments and find ways to make e-mail work harder for you in this digital world. That said, let’s take a look at four new e-mail marketing segments you need to know about:

The Social Influencer

These are people who signed up for your e-mails, but only respond to them occasionally. It’s not that they don’t love your brand — they do. They’re just too busy on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and 75 other networks to click on your e-mail.

Send them an e-mail that impresses them, though, and watch what happens. Nope, they still won’t click through and buy, but they will post it to their groups and drive up to 412 percent more response to your campaign than you would have had with your entire list alone.

Why? These people are influencers. You know, the cool kids. Get these guys to love your message and your campaign will be bigger than you had ever dreamed.

For these people, you need to make it really easy for them to post that email to their Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace. Take a look at emails from The Opium Group.

The High-value Customer

Sometimes the people in this segment are mistaken as the most important on your list. In the new world of e-mail, these are called the short-term revenue drivers.

These people come to your venue and buy from you. But they love you so much, they want you to be their best kept secret. So there’s very little exposure of your e-mail to their friends and family.

Think of these people as your revenue rock. They provide the base of money, while social influencers blow out your return on investment.

The Wannabes

This is 80 percent of your list — people who like your venue, but who need your help. They love the offers and the deals, the comp admissions and open bars.

What are they looking for? For you to tell them how to best work with you. E-mail people in this segment with ways to leverage your Web site, access deals, and just plain be more engaged. They want to be high value or social — they just need your help.

The “This is Spam” Clickers or Unsubscribers

These people are often forgotten in the olden days of e-mail. If your unsubscribe rate is less than 1 percent, generally you’re happy.

But what about people who no longer want your e-mail? Do they matter anymore? Yes they do.

These are people who felt your message wasn’t relevant to them. Some were so uninspired they couldn’t even find the time to look for the unsubscribe link — they just clicked, “this is spam” to get you out of their inbox.

Beware! These people are really social influencers in disguise. One unsubscribe or “this is spam” click can equate to 10 people hearing about how bad your e-mail is. In the new world of e-mail, these people should be targeted in different ways. Woo them back before they cause brand damage.

Stay tuned for my next column where I talk about the future of e-mail being read on handheld devices.

I look forward to your comments.

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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:

Post Articles in the sections of Relevant Social Media outlets:

Each week, after you broadcast the line-up, have an assistant post it to nightlife groups on Facebook. By now we hope your venue has a “group” page and a “Fan” page on Facebook. If you have a Fan Page on Facebook, update your status with the latest email you sent out. If you have a group page, send a message to all of the members announcing the line-up for the weekend is up on the latest newsletter email.

If your venue has a twitter account, tweet that you just sent the email out with a link to the email. Within a week of posting, I guarantee that you’ll have more hits back to your site from that email.

Display Links to Past E-Newsletters in Your Current Issue

Ok, this could seem kind of dumb. Why would I want people to see LAST week’s line-up?Look at it from this approach: “What You Missed in the Previous 3 Weeks”. Now you’re boasting about what a great line-up of events they missed last week. Now a reader forwards that email to a friend and says “look what we missed last week” and now you might have another subscriber.

Do you have any other tips and tricks? Share them by commenting below.

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.

Facebook, for nightclubs, should be a more casual and fun conversation platform, while e-mail is a bit more buttoned up. Generally, the audiences reflect and drive that notion. And the same is true when providing offers and overall value to customers and prospects. Find your voice and speak the tone of each platform.

Do Share Content and Value

Including a “forward to a friend” button in an e-mail doesn’t mean you’ve launched a viral campaign. Nor will your e-mail campaign automatically become social if you add a “share” button or Facebook and Twitter logo to the e-mail. Yes, that may buy you some time from your boss who just realized his nightclub needs to have a social strategy. Dig deeper. I have seen too many e-mails that have huge share/add, Twitter/Facebook buttons (with no context added to them) and thus, distract from the real purpose of the e-mail.

Sharing is powerful; it can exponentially grow your message reach and facilitate engagement. But if your e-mail stinks, why would someone share it? Test placement and wording, and remember to give a reason for why someone should share the message or become a fan of your brand if they already get your e-mails.

Unsubscribe Might Mean Subscribe Me

During or after someone unsubscribes from your e-mail, test offer the person the option to become a fan on Facebook or follow you on Twitter. This doesn’t violate CAN-SPAM as long as it doesn’t intrude on the actual unsubscribe process or add an extra step. Some people may just be sick of your e-mails but want to stay dialed in with your other marketing efforts.

Do Build Lists Strategically

Social networks are underutilized for driving opt-ins of e-mail programs. Reminding your fans and followers that you offer great value via e-mail (assuming it isn’t the exact same content as provided via social) is a no-brainer yet rarely done. More practiced is using your e-mails to build the databases of social (and to a certain extent, that really is what you are building on Twitter and Facebook). When done correctly, the impact can be significant.

I could only imagine if a nightclub used the success and momentum of its e-mail program to grow its Facebook page, the page would grow to the largest in existence for the area. You do it through testing and making clear that a great community was already in place.

Imagine if your email said “50 Fans of Bad Manor Nightclub Will Receive Free No Cover for a Year”. Now you’re talking about a fan frenzy!

That is the key in making a conversion; a click from your e-mail to a Facebook page isn’t a score. Getting a subscriber to engage or become a fan is, though it isn’t as easy as most think. Facebook is now making it easier for marketers.

Let me know your thoughts on this or any experiences.

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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

Remember: When you’re developing an e-mail newsletter, make it relevant and interesting to your audience. This sounds so simple, but I still see clients whose e-mail newsletters are “all about us” – XYZ Production Presents, John Smith Promoter Hosts, etc. That’s nice, but what’s in it for the reader?

Many times this type of information, if included at all, should be relegated to a brief sidebar — it’s not the meat of your e-mail newsletter. If there’s more to the story — for instance, you’ve added new DJs to the line-up that may sway your decision in attending — then that might warrant a full-blown article.

Think About the Competition

I’m not talking about the venue down the street from you. I’m talking about the competition for eyeballs and time that exists in the email inbox.

Many companies develop their e-mail newsletter content in a vacuum. Put it in context. Why would someone read your e-mail first? Why would they read it at all? If you can address these questions and come up with honest reasons justifying the readers’ interest in your e-mail, you’re on the right track.

Include a Table of Contents

This seems simple, but it’s still surprising how many e-mail newsletters lack this fundamental feature. Studies show that most people spend just a few seconds deciding whether to read an e-mail. By incorporating a table of contents at the top, the reader can easily see everything your e-mail newsletter has to offer and decide whether to read it. If the first event doesn’t engage them, the last one might.

Be sure your table of contents is as descriptive as possible. Actual event headlines will engage better than section titles that are the same each time you send. More descriptive, benefit-oriented headlines work better than general ones with nothing to offer the reader (Stephanie Pratt from The Hills this Thursday – Reserve Today for chance to free entry)

Headlines Aren’t Enough

One of my clients sends an e-mail newsletter to drive traffic back to their website. The content is an image of the event flyer with a list of headlines. While some promoters have beautiful flyers that draw people in, most don’t.

The shortcut here is to include the flyer and the first sentence or two from the promotion copy. This is better than a headline alone.

A better strategy is to write some original copy about each event that entices the reader to click-through and read more. “Teaser” copy works very well here. Don’t give away the key points of the article, but let people know what they’ll learn if they read it. The Opium Group does a great job at drawing readers in: http://www.setmiami.com/promo/20100224.html.

For instance, if the event lists top celebrity to attend an event, let them know that if they request more information they can reserve from the website. It’s a quid pro quo — you need to let the reader know what they will receive if they give you the time it takes to click-through and read the event information.

Incorporate Video

I’m surprised at how some of the largest nightclubs in the world are not leveraging the use of video in email, or video at all. I’ll admit this is somewhat new. A recent Forrester Research report stated that video in e-mail is increasing CTRs (define) significantly — double or triple what the same e-mail received without video. There are ways to benefit from this trend without costly technology. If you’re looking to be at the forefront of your competition, check out my recent article Five Tips for Including Video in Email.

Have a Goal

We used to develop e-mail newsletters just to do it. E-mail was the only way to communicate with people in a cost effective way.

Today, e-mail is a proven effective marketing channel. But many companies still neglect to assign bottom line, quantitative goals to their e-mail marketing efforts. Many e-mail newsletters are primarily used for branding and to drive awareness, but that doesn’t mean you can’t develop quantitative goals. Read my article Why E-mail Matters More Than Ever for the Nightlife for insights on email tactics.

Open and click-throughs are good, but the closer you can tie your goals to the business mission, the better. Think in terms of lead generation, sales, and other conversion metrics. Even things like how much time people coming from e-mail newsletters spend on the site versus visitors from other sources can be useful and justify your efforts.

I look forward to your comments!

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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).

It doesn’t matter whether the video is actually embedded and plays within the e-mail (the hot new technology) or there’s a link in the e-mail that opens a Web page where the video plays (the old, down and dirty way to do it). The thought that should go into using video is the same.

Before you get too excited about video in e-mail, focus on the video content. Here are some questions to ask.

Do We Have Video Content That Could Be Included in an E-Mail?

With the YouTube’s popularity, many venues and promoters have video content that could be repurposed for e-mail. If this is the case with your company, you are ahead of the game. Pull an inventory of your videos; figure out which ones are best at advancing the features, benefits, and advantages of your service; and build an e-mail campaign around them. Just be sure the copy in the e-mail isn’t a direct transcript of the video itself. You want to tease the person enough in the email, but you want to leave some room for the punch line in the video.

What Content Do We Have That Would Lend Itself to Video Presentation?

If you don’t currently have video content, develop a strategic plan to create some. It doesn’t have to be high end. Mansion Nightclub on South Beach tapes pretty much every major event they have. So are created in a very formal way, by working with video editors and scripter’s, scheduling the shoots, and having a professional camera crew do the filming.

Another client used an equally successful but less formal approach. It happens to be the church I attend. It set up a camera in the pastors office and featured the pastor giving a “weekend recap” of the previous Sunday’s service. One thing that helped my client was the passion these customers had for the church. People were happy to see the weekend recap in 3 minutes since they had missed church, and their enthusiasm comes through loud and clear in the open rates.

Customer testimonials are a good way to get video footage. If you’re savy enough, you can tag the videos with whoever you’re interviewing and have them spread it amongst their friends. If you’re just starting out with video, it’s a good thing to consider.

You may also have a video that talks directly about an upcoming event. Or you can give an old-fashioned local new station style interview with features, benefits, and advantages of your venue. Remember, video is the medium; the message can be just about anything.

What Resources Do We Have or Will We Need to Create Video Content?

This is an important consideration; while video production doesn’t have to be expensive, it’s not free. Be sure that you factor the cost of the video into the campaign’s cost — and run your ROI (define) figures accordingly to confirm that the lift provided by video will at least cover the additional cost, if not provide some profit.

In Miami, I have some guys that LOVE to come into venues and do some editing work just for exposure to their company…especially if you hook them up with some perks at your venue. Ask around, you’ll be surprised at how many young Martin Scorsese’s you’ll find out there.

What company should host my video?

As you know, YouTube is probably your best bet for hosting video. Be aware of video limitations (size and time). If you’re going to use YouTube, you might as well set up an official YouTube page for your organization and start promoting it on your website.

Vimeo has also stepped in as a player in the video hosting arena. This is the Facebook of the video world, boasting a community of video gurus eager to share their works with other Vimeo users. You get up to 500MB of uploads each week, great video controls, and an opportunity to tap into a new social network.

The Video Landing Page is PARAMOUNT!

When including video links in an email, take a screen shot of the actual video and place it as an image within the email. People will think it’s the actual video but clicking will take them to the real source of the video. This page is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of your campaign.

What happens if you simply put a link to your YouTube video? People will see 10 seconds of your video and get bored and navigate away to the “video of the day” promoted so heavily on YouTube. Next thing you know, your client went from viewing your video to watching this week’s most played videos. BIG MISTAKE.

You need to create a page on your site that will host this video. More importantly, the “CALL TO ACTION” must be smack next to the video. If you’re looking for people to sign up for a guest list, RSVP, buy tickets or reserve a table, make sure that is loud and clear next to the embedded video that is playing. People have ADD and will tend to listen to your video while multi-tasking away to something else on your page. Make sure you have something for them to do that will make you some money.

Until next time,

Follow Me, Alex Miranda, on Twitter!

Alex Miranda