Email marketing remains one of the most effective tools for reaching your audience, driving engagement, and boosting ticket conversions. As Hyperculture Marketing CEO David Puckett told Audience Republic, “Your average ROI for a solid email marketing platform is 40x what you're paying monthly for the subscription.”
However, there’s an art to crafting the perfect email, and even seasoned marketers can stumble into common pitfalls.
Here, Audience Republic’s Customer Success Manager, Aaron Stathi, breaks down five common missteps that can turn your well-intentioned messages into digital faux pas. From overlooked subject lines that get your emails binned faster than junk mail to call-to-actions that miss the mark, we’ve got the lowdown on what to dodge so that your emails not only reach inboxes but also resonate and convert.
1. AN UNCLEAR CALL-TO-ACTION
A call-to-action (CTA) is a prompt that encourages recipients to take a specific action, such as clicking a link or making a purchase. Having an unclear call-to-action is, therefore, the number one mistake to avoid.
Aaron: “Having too many call-to-actions in an email is a big issue. The fan opens it and they end up getting decision paralysis – they don't know what to pick so they don't pick anything. For example, let's say you're running seven different shows with seven different artists in one email. The fan might only be interested in one, but then they come across the other events, and they end up not being too sure what the email is about. They end up just closing it.
“I helped a client recently who had that exact problem. They had an open rate of about 20% and a click-through rate of 0.25%, which is very low. And we came up with the idea of splitting those different events into separate emails, and then segmenting the audience so that each person only received emails about the shows they were interested in. They got an instant 2.5% click rate increase.
“An unclear CTA could also be the actual call-to-action button – ‘buy a ticket’ being buried at the bottom of the email; it might even be the button just saying ‘tickets’ instead of ‘buy tickets’.
“It can be the color of the button, where it could be dark blue or black, instead of being a brighter color to really stand out. Think of it like traffic lights: Green is go. Yellow is wait. Red is stop. Often you see people pick a red color, but psychologically we're taught it means to stop.”
2. NOT SEGMENTING THE AUDIENCE
Audience segmentation basically means dividing your email list into distinct groups based on specific criteria such as demographics, behavior, or purchase history. It allows for more personalized and relevant messaging, increasing engagement and conversion rates.
Aaron: “The problem with sending an email to the entire mailing list is not every email is going to be relevant to every fan. How do you know they've not already bought a ticket to the event? You're just essentially annoying them. And they don't feel like they're being recognized – ‘I'm already a supporter of yours. Why are you reaching out again?’
“A really popular way to segment is to use a filter where they bought a ticket for last year's event or a previous event in the year, but they haven't yet bought the ticket for the upcoming event.
“Another solution is to do it by demographics and ticket buying behavior. So let's say you hold an event in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne – you would create three different segments based on location, and send each segment the email relevant to their city.
“Pay attention to the relevancy of the mail lists, too – some contacts have probably been in there for a few years, and maybe they're just not interested anymore. I recommend doing a filter by year and tickets not purchased to remove irrelevant contacts.
“It's a little extra effort, but you get a better open rate, click-through rate and, therefore, more ticket sales.”
3. UNCLEAR/WEAK HEADLINE
The heading is the main title or header at the top of an email that captures the reader's attention and conveys the primary message or purpose of the email. It's designed to engage recipients immediately and encourage them to read further.
Aaron: “The headline has got to entice the reader to open the email. So, what is it that's relevant to the fan for them to want to open the email to find out more?
“The most effective headlines are the ones tied into rewards or incentives, such as early access to presale tickets, or VIP experience, or early access to a band interview or something similar. You're essentially selling to the fan. Just having the band's name and maybe even your own promoter’s name in the headline is simply not enough. You need something catchy.
“The use of some strategic emojis in the heading can also really help your email stand out from the rest. If you have too many then it fires off the spam detector, but if you use one or two, it's totally fine.”
4. NOT KNOWING WHEN TO DO SHORT AND LONG COPY
Long copy refers to detailed, in-depth content that provides comprehensive information and is typically used for storytelling. Short copy, on the other hand, is concise and to the point, designed to quickly engage the reader and prompt immediate action.
Aaron: “Most people believe that people don't read long copy, but it's actually not true.
“Sure, a company might do a long copy version of an email to their fans, where they talk about every artist and event they've got coming up, and most people tend to glaze over this because they see that it's from a company. So it feels impersonal.
“But when it comes from a promoter or a personality within the company as their own name, people tend to read long copy. So it might be the person talking about their own personal opinion or an anecdote about a band or a particular venue or their thoughts on the industry at large. And most people do engage with that, because they know that a lot of the time you're not asking something of them; you're adding value to them by providing insights or entertainment.
“And then the sell, of course, comes from the short copy from the promoter email. That's when people tend to recognize that you're asking something of them.”
“I've seen A/B testing improve open rates... from a 20% open rate up to 75% open rate."
5. NOT A/B TESTING ENOUGH (OR AT ALL)
A/B testing in email marketing involves sending two variations of an email to different segments of your audience to determine which version performs better. By comparing metrics such as open rates, click-through rates and conversions, marketers can optimize their campaigns for greater effectiveness.
Aaron: “This should be a regular occurrence – you should always be iterating to see how you can improve that open rate and click-through rate.
“Audience Republic makes it very easy to A/B test. We have a flag at the bottom of the messaging section that you can activate and then you just follow the prompts. And you can create a split email, and then send it to different cohorts of your fans.
“I've seen A/B testing improve open rates and click-through rates from a 20% open rate up to 75% open rate. And then from 9% click-through rate, which is already very high, up to 30% click-through rate.
To find out how Audience Republic can help your event achieve higher open and click-through rates with your email marketing, speak to a friendly member of our team now.
