If looking at your unsubscribed Mailchimp report is getting you down, keep reading, you might be surprised at how powerful a tool your customer database is now that you’re GDPR compliant!
It feels like there has been a lot of doom and gloom around GDPR, but we think GDPR has given us a data gift - a truly engaged customer database. GDPR forced us to conquer the mother of all marketing chores - tidying up our customer database. And while it might have been a bit of a painful process, a clean and tidy database is a fantastic way to engage with customers who really want to hear from you. What’s more, this engaged customer base provides you with a fantastic opportunity to rethink our marketing strategies. An engaged audience is a great place to try out a few new ideas!
Arts marketers across Ireland and the UK are experimenting with a new confidence, now that GDPR is in effect. It really is an exciting time, and a great opportunity to try new trends and attempt brave campaigns. Ticketsolve’s marketing integrations with Google Tag Manager, and Google Analytics etc., can help you keep track of your ROI and adjust, tweak or pivot your campaigns as necessary. This level of agility allows you to see what works and what doesn’t - fast - ensuring your valuable resources are not wasted.
People love stories. Compelling narratives that focus on good vs evil, a comedy, a love story, whatever it is, stories work when it comes to creating fans. Using a “hero event,” why not try a story based campaign? Track the story of your hero event from the moment the performance arrives at your venue to opening night and closing night, backstage and everything in between. Story based marketing content is a great way to build your fan base. Fans create buzz and buzz helps to grow your audience.
Now is the time to start asking yourself the tough question when it comes to your communication: are you really having meaningful conversations with your audience? Are you simply selling to them or are you providing valuable and engaging information? Now that you have a database that truly wants to hear from you, make sure you are communicating effectively.
Sometimes all it takes is a simple thank you. While you may have your “Friends of the Theatre” or membership scheme in place, now is a great time to think more about what benefits you can offer members. Are your benefits easily accessible? Are member benefits easy to understand? Are benefits really desirable to your target audiences? Have you thanked your members, friends and others recently? Even a simple update on a refurbishment project to donors goes a long way!
How many newsletters do you receive? Customers are no different - they are inundated with offers, newsletters and more. You need stand out and give them a compelling reason to opt-in to your newsletter. Maybe it is an in-depth insight into your upcoming season or maybe new discount reward codes. Audiences need to know that they are not signing up for another generic newsletter. Give them something more: the venue’s journal or digest, important dates and tempting offers or meaningful thank you, are all important to your best and newest customers.
The awareness campaign around GDPR was astounding - everyone knows about it and is aware of the power of their own personal data. With that knowledge also comes a demand. A demand for personal data to be used responsibly and fairly, and for organisations to really appreciate the customer information that they hold. You have the perfect opportunity to use customer data to build meaningful - human relationships with your audience, instilling trust and loyalty for the long term.
This is the time. We have never been any stronger at our jobs as arts marketers than as we are now. We clearly understand the marketing needs of our venue and the desires of our customers. Let’s take a moment and appreciate that our customers are in the driving seat now, and they telling us exactly what they want. They own the data but we own the strategies to make an even more meaningful connection with each and every one of our audience members.