Can emails sell tickets?

Email is still one of the strongest methods of marketing communication that is available online. The majority of people who go to the theatre not only have emails at work, but also smart phones that allow them to access their emails on the move.

When sitting at a computer you are alerted every time an email comes in, and the same happens on a mobile phone. The majority of people will check their emails when they hear this sound that indicates one has arrived. Have you ever tried to ignore your emails once the noise has sounded? It is very difficult!

If we know that people are checking their emails regularly then there are two more hurdles that you have to get across in order to get them to buy a ticket to your production. These are…

1. They need to open YOUR email
2. They need to CLICK on your link

Of course, you will lose some people on the page where they purchase the tickets as well, but getting them to that point is crucial. Every step that you make your potential audience take in purchasing their tickets will leak some of your sales. In other words, we need to make it as easy for them as possible to buy tickets to your show!

Let’s focus on the first of the two hurdles above. There are plenty of emails that you receive each day and probably never read, or you choose to unsubscribe from. You need to make sure that your readers don’t do that for your emails.

It is going to be impossible to get everybody to open your emails, in fact it is going to be impossible to get even a lot of people opening your email. That is just part of the business.

Average open rates in email marketing are around 10%, this is slightly dependent on the area you are marketing in but it is a good figure to aim for as a minimum. Average click rates are around 5%.

Obviously this can be much higher if you have a good relationship with your mailing list, but it should give you an idea that for every 10 subscribers you get only 1 is likely to open your emails. However don’t make the mistake of thinking that this means they are not effective, they are incredibly effective!

In order to increase your open rates you need to focus on building your relationship with your mailing list. The relationship is what is forgotten by most theatre companies, it is common for them to blast emails whenever they have a show and want to sell tickets.

Like anything, you have to give if you want people to give back. If you want your subscribers to purchase tickets to your show then you have to give them a reason to trust that your production is going to be worth watching. After all, not only do they have to spend money they also have to take a night out and get to the theatre.

To build your relationship then you should send them regular emails. These emails can contain information about your theatre company, what you are doing, who you are working with, interviews with people you are working with, links to videos of what you have been doing etc…

Aim to email out at least once a week. This is very important because not only are you building a relationship with the regular emails, but you are teaching your subscribers that it is worthwhile opening an email from you.

All you need to remember is to treat your subscribers as you would want to be treated. Would you be happy to only get emails selling you tickets and never just sharing content with you? I certainly wouldn’t.

I will continue this discussion and look at the second hurdle in my next blog post.

Get more internet marketing tips here.