As I’ve spoken on behalf of Americans for the Arts about Return on Investment (ROI) over the past few months, I have been sure to highlight email-marketing optimization.  You can find slides from one recent presentation posted in my previous AEE article published at the end of last year (reference slide 10 and 11 here). AEE asked me to go into a little more detail on this particular topic.

Measuring the ROI of email marketing can go beyond the open rate and click-through results that are track-able through your email system. Ensure that your emails are connected to the Google Analytics of your website, and you can see how each email (and even each link within an email) performs related to specific goals being measured.

The major tool that I use to make this connection is Google URL Builder. To find it:

• Go to google.com/support/googleanalytics
• Under “Common Tasks” choose “tagging links”
• Under “Overview” you’ll see “Tool: URL Builder”

There’s a tutorial there, but in a nutshell this tool allows you to turn any link to your website into a link track-able through Google Analytics. Instantly, you add an additional dimension to tracking the results of your email marketing efforts.

 Reference Slide 10 to see what the tool looks like:

• Enter the Website URL you want to track
• Provide a Campaign Source — here “NAMPConf09”
• Since it’s an email, the Campaign Medium is “Email”
• Campaign Content allows you to narrow down even further. Here, I can indicate that this particular link to our home page was in the header of the email.
• Campaign Name is the broad bucket that indicates your various ongoing campaigns. Here I’ve used “TimeLine General,” but I might also use a specific production title.

Once you start coding individual links in this way, you have given yourself countless variations to review within Google Analytics.

Refernce slide 11

 Now I can see which of my emails had the biggest impact — what content attracted the most visitors, generated the most traffic to ticket sales, and more. Digging deeper, I can even see which links within a given email were clicked on the most — perhaps discovering that a picture link generated more traffic than a link within text.

I have also used the Goals function within Google Analytics to assign value to the various actions patrons can take on our site, which then provides me a way of measuring the ROI of email marketing.  The values we assigned are somewhat random estimates of the relative value of the different actions: $1 for signing up for our mailing list; $10 for clicking through to visit (and presumably buy from) our third-party ticketing site.

In this example, patrons visiting TimeLine’s website during this time period took actions that totaled $3,113.31 in estimated value. Comparing that to the $512.40 we spent on our  email system during that time period yields a potential ROI of 508%.  This is simplified — because the Goal values are estimated rather than tied to actual revenue — but it is an indication of the return on investment!  You are obtaining actual numbers to show the extent to which each email link produces results.

Now the fun part — making adjustments to email campaigns and reviewing — apples to apples within Google Analytics — what achieves shifts in these results. Test. Adjust. Repeat. And enjoy ever-improving results.

The other day, from the privacy of my desk at the Chicago Cultural Center, I attended a webinar hosted by Patronmail Technology’s entitled “Audience Surveys: Ask and Ye Shall Receive,” with the president of Engaged Audiences, Jack McAuliffe.  In this 45 minute session, McAuliffe shared his insight and success with surveying audiences and the benefits of taking the time to survey with a purpose.

As we talked about in our recent Learning Circle “Asking the Right Questions,” you will never get information from your audiences until you ask – but do it to find our something.  Ask questions that help you address a problem, or to begin understanding what those issues might be at your organization that are most visible to those that engage with you.  As Mculiffe mentions, audiences are more than interested in answering your questions when they are approached in the right way – and the questions are developed with intentionality.

McAuliffe provided information on the various survey methods available, such as data analysis, focus groups, program questionnaires, online surveys and audience random research.  Guiding us through what is best suited for specific purposes, this webinar highlighted that you should be mindful of what research you can do with the information you already have, and use informal research that will help you identify questions your organization needs to ask.  Through qualitative methods, such as focus groups and questionnaires, you can develop topics for further explorations – this is NOT a way to get answers. 

Also, be mindful as you do quantitative research that can be measured.  Online surveys and program questionnaires are not completely random.  Many people who answer surveys are self-selected individuals with extreme opinions.  Through “Audience Random Research” – you take a slice through the bell curve.  The responses that you get, if you get enough (and statisticians suggest a sample size of 100 or more to be significant), should be representative of your audiences.  This approach requires a team on board to hand them out personally and to explain the impact their feedback can have.  McAuliffe reminds us that if you directly ask for their commitment to fill it out, then 99% of the time they will.  If they won’t, continue with the person behind them.  Get a truly random sample (every 4 person coming through the ticket taker etc.) and be there to collect them during intermission and after the event.  Be thorough, be consistent and be intentional. 

Most importantly, use that opportunity to bring those individuals back a second time – because what you can gain from getting them in the door again will have a true impact on your organization.  At the end of the survey, offer them a way to come back for a specific event – help them through the process of engaging with you.  Ask if you can send them an offer and give them a week to claim a discounted ticket.  The impact is immediate, and they will appreciate the opportunity to come back – and soon.  Or, McAuliffe suggests, communicating with your audience right after a performance/visit in what he calls the “morning after email.”   Follow-up is key, and is designed to engage audience members with the content of your work, and to remind them of their experience with you.  Remember, this is a crucial moment in your relationship with your patrons.  Mine them for their experiences and reward them for their time with you.  After you get them in the door once more in the immediate future, you are more likely to form a relationship that will last.

For a fleshed out article from Jack McAuliffe regarding these idea and techniques, please visit:
http://pm.patrontechnology.com/newsletters/article_apr10.htm
 

I recently had the pleasure of doing a short presentation about branding to a small group of arts marketing directors through the Arts Engagement Exchange.  I spoke about some of the branding and positioning work I had done as Executive Director of the Old Town School of Folk Music and more recently, as E.D. of the Chicago Sinfonietta.  

I really wanted to impress upon these marketing people the need to understand, enhance, and crystallize the brand characteristics of their organizations, and the need to position their organizations in an ultra-aggressive, almost hostile fashion.  Hostility in the arts?  Really?  

Well I do like to exaggerate these things a bit when giving a presentation of this nature, but I think the points are important.  When I worked at Old Town the brand needed to evolve from its 1960s/folkie/protest singer/guitar & banjo roots to a much broader set of characteristics that included elements of personal self-expression, multi-cultural music and dance, children’s programs, and more, all presented in a cool, accessible style.  We worked very hard to make “the tent” as large as possible without watering down the mission.  The positioning strategy was geared towards convincing both consumers and funders that Old Town was the predominant institution providing these services, and that it was the best, no, the only place to take classes, attend folk-related concerts, and to financially support in it’s market segment.  The goal was to own the traditional/contemporary acoustic music and dance niche as completely as possible and to make competition very difficult.  Sorry, competitors!

The Sinfonietta story has been different.  When I started in 2004 the brand was very much tied into the personality of the Founder.  Our marketing team began refining the brand characteristics to really focus on a couple of central points: A Chicago Sinfonietta concert experience is very different due to the diversity of the orchestra and audience, and due to innovative programming.  As for our positioning strategy, it is all about being perceived as the leader in promoting diversity and inclusiveness in the classical music field, and as the most innovative orchestra in the city.  Unlike Old Town, the Sinfonietta is vulnerable to competition. 

So to summarize, make the brand simple to understand and position your organization in the market to be a niche owner – even at the expense of your competition.

Customer Service is no joke people and as Philipe Ravanas loves to remind us, having a winning smile and a clean bathroom is not enough.  It is all about the experience.  Luckily we live in a time when increasingly more ways to shape that experience pop up daily.  You can begin nudging your patrons well before they walk in the door and well after.  Here are a gaggle of ideas that serves up a heaping helping of customer service food for thought.  Dig in.

1. Online Retailers Install Widget To Enable Group Buying
   From: springwise.com
   
   Group sales is where it is at.  We all know that.  This interesting little widget harnesses the power of group buying while taking away the organizational responsibilities of any one person.  When is the last time you tried to wrangle ten or more people and gather their money to make a bulk purchase? No fun.  This group buying thing has psychological legs I think, just look at Groupon.  What organization will be the first to use a widget like this to reinvigorate a dwindling audience base?
   
    
2. What Do Your Patrons See Immediatly After Purchasing Online
   From: Amywratchford's Blog
   
   Upsell, upsell upsell.  There is not enough upselling.  The first and best time we have to influence a patrons experience is at the point of purchase, be it online or with a ticketing rep.  Offering some helpful parking, dining, and show suggestions can make the buyer feel more comfortable.  While upselling can get out of control and irksome, if done well your buyer may really appreciate the help.
   
    
3. Consumers Demand Engagement
   From: eMarketer.com

If only we could tip our volunteers.  With a boatload of cash we might be able to provide the incentive that other industries use to ensure great service.  Instead we rely on luring volunteers with the opportunity to make some new friends, to be a part of a team, and to see a free show.  These volunteers are temporary, they come with a variety of skills and abilities, and they are integral to the experience our audiences will have at our concerts.

When I began my run as Operations Coordinator for Chicago a cappella last year, I struggled with the volunteer concept.  Why?  Why would someone drive to a remote location two hours early and struggle with difficult parking to obtain a ticket that could most likely be had at an affordable discount?

Loyalty.  Being part of this team means something to our volunteers.  How do they know?  We remind them every chance we get.  With a small investment of sincere gratitude, we have been able to turn our eager band of temporary workers into a powerful force that shapes the experience our patrons have.

Volunteers are recruited, assembled, greeted and briefed before each concert in a pregame locker room style.  We give the pep talk, make introductions, and outline the evening.  We discuss the responsibilities, the expectations and then we find the right volunteer for the right job. (ie. Sales, CD’s, Promotions, Ushers, etc.)  Perhaps most importantly, we empower the volunteers to make decisions that might lead to better customer service.  

We lead by example.  Smiling, calling them by name, thanking them, and sighting specific accomplishments.  We let them know how their individual acts of service impacts our organization and result in satisfied customers and quite literally effect our bottom line.

We display their photos on our Front of House Picture Boards making their face a part of ours.  We allow our volunteers to participate in concert incentive drawings and to nosh with us at our pre and post concert meet and greets.

All of this is an investment in a steadfast group of individuals that so often go unappreciated, but have such a drastic effect on our product.  With a small staff, we can’t afford to take any opportunity for granted, and this is an investment that has paid off.

This year we will be honoring The Saints, our primary volunteer service agency, at our annual Gala.  We will reserve a front of house table to be filled with representatives who have delivered exemplary customer service throughout the year.

Many of our volunteers have become donors. They purchase tickets, CD’s, gift baskets and items from our silent auctions. They are some of our best customers.

I can proudly say that we have a wonderful working relationship with all of our volunteers.  We have retained five unpaid interns since January 2009 and we generally have an overage of volunteers arrive for each concert.  No problem, we can always find a task for them.  They know our job depends on theirs.