So if you’ve been here for a little while, you’ll know that the folks at GroupofMinds are big supporters of arts groups using email. I think it’s one of the most effective, efficient, and low-cost ways of getting your message out. I’ve blogged before about some things groups should avoid doing with email, and just recently, a couple of messages popped into my inbox that could use some improvement. Consider this screenshot of an email ad I received from the San Jose Mercury News:

An ad from the San Jose Mercury News (click to enlarge)

What’s missing here?

You guessed it — content! I can tell it’s from the San Jose Mercury News, and I can see Subscribe/Unsubscribe information (and the average user is thinking about that right about now). What’s missing is the body of the newsletter. It’s there, but unfortunately it isn’t being communicated to me because the San Jose Mercury News decided to send this ad as one large image, which is being automatically blocked by my Google Gmail software.

Most email software blocks images by default. I need to move up onto the green bar to select “Always display images…” to make the image show. “But you only need to do that once to see the images” you may say. Yes, and that is one time too many. Studies show that people give you about 3 seconds of their time to consider your email — one for the subject line, one to try to recognize the person in the “from” line, and one for the body of the email. And I’m afraid that based on this format, the Merc didn’t reach a lot of people. Knowing what it costs to send an ad through the Merc, it’s sad that Team In Training wasn’t able to reach as many people as it could have.

Problem: One large image with all of your offer information will be blocked by many email clients.

Solution: Send your offer information as html text, and include images to spruce up the message, but don’t make the images required.

How to fix it? Simply use images only as “set dressing” for your email — the email should stand on its own, with all of the who, what, where, when, why, and how much all displayed in text. And then use images to give it more impact. But viewing an image to see the offer should never be a requirement — not only does it just look bad, but nobody should risk annoying their subscribers by making them click on things to receive your message when they shouldn’t have to.

I did click on the “Display images” link, and here’s what I ended up with:

The image from the Mercury News ad, once images were turned on (click image to enlarge)

I’m not crazy about the black text on the dark background, but it’s a nice image. If I were to redo this, I’d simply make all of the copy in the email into html text, and then ad the image in the middle of the text headline and body. For simplicity, I’ve taken a screenshot of what this might look like — just know that in an actual email, the headline and body text would be regular html text that you can highlight, copy, paste, or whatever.

A optimized for email version, where the image is not vital (click image to enlarge)

When and if the image above doesn’t show up because of email settings, you’ll still see the “meat” of the message, which would look something like this:

This is what the email would look like without the images turned on (click image to enlarge)

The result is that your message still gets through, regardless of image blocking. And that’s what’s important.

Beware making the patron ask “Who are you?”

On a different note, I also recently ran into the following email in my inbox:

A message from a group on LinkedIn (click image to enlarge)

When I received the teaser to this message in my email from a fellow alumni, I clicked to get more information, and ended up reading this message multiple times. The problem is that I have no idea who this group is. What’s Links Hall? What is “THAW: Melting Point”? It looks like there will be performances, but I’m not sure who/what they are. Is “Sonotheque” one of the performers?

So in this case, a message got to me, but it’s not applicable to me because I have no idea what this group is, or why I should care about it, let alone what is actually happening at this event (and putting aside that I live in California, so I’m probably not going to be able to attend this Chicago event anyway).

Problem: Not considering that subscribers on your list have different amounts of knowledge and understanding about your group as you (the writer) do.

Solution: Give some background information and let me know where to find out more.

I took a rare leap of faith and linked over to http://linkshall.org, which was the only link in the email. Ah! On the front page, I see:

“MISSION STATEMENT: Links Hall encourages artistic innovation and public engagement by maintaining a facility and providing flexible programming for the research, development, and presentation of new work in the performing arts.”

There we go. I’d recommend to Links Hall that their mission statement, along with some text like “Not familar with Links Hall? Find out about our great facilities and programs that make Chicago a better place for artists and arts patrons: http://linkshall.org” be added to their email blasts.

Although I can’t attend, I know a friend in Chicago who used to work with me in the arts, and is trying to get into the Chicago arts scene. Perhaps this would be a good event for her to go to, so perhaps I should forward her this information.

And I could have gotten to that decision much faster if only I’d not had to dig for the info. Most people won’t dig for the info though, sadly. They will just give up and move on. If it’s your hope that people understand your message, especially enough to forward your info on to new people — remember to give folks a way to quickly understand who you are, what you want them to do, and why it’s important that they listen. It really makes the difference between an email that gets acted on, or one that just goes to the deleted (or worse, the SPAM) folder.

-Ron Evans, GroupOfMinds.com

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Where are you @ with email marketing for your group?

The invention of email was a gift to arts marketers. Zero cost and instant up-to-the-minute communication with plain text. Nice. Then came email marketing with graphic newsletters. Even better! Your copy and your brand’s “look and feel.”

When used correctly, graphic email marketing is one of the most effective ways to keep up a conversation with your patrons. Make sure they are saying more than “unsubscribe”!

1. Don’t treat your messages like ads, even if they really are.

Write each message as if you were writing a sweet note to Mom (Hi, Mom). Create engaging and intelligent content that people at least have the potential to enjoy reading. Some background on the performers or the show. A backstage interview of the director. A short note on something that make this arts experience especially relevant. In the way you would talk to Mom. You wouldn’t send Mom an ad, would you?

2. Don’t send the same content more than once to the same group of people.

People don’t like getting what they’ve already read. Make sure that each email you send is unique — something must be different, and it must be right at the top. You’re not only trying to sell attendance to your event, your selling your own words in your message. There are a lot of things happening with your event — update your patrons with unique content each time. Even rewording things helps in a pinch.

3. Don’t just send one big image of your ad (and a reminder of #1 above).

A couple of years ago, major email clients began to hide images by default, in an effort to protect kids from questionable content. But it also often blocks out good content. Many of your patrons will look at your beautiful graphic, and see a smart little red x instead of your image. At that point, the next steps for many folks is “delete.” The most effective arts email marketing campaigns use both text and email. Have a graphic at the top that looks great, and then the offer in text underneath the graphic. If your patron doesn’t see the image, he/she can still see the offer in text. I have seen click-thru rates soar just from using this technique.

4. Don’t send too often.

Ask yourself: how often do you like to receive email updates from your favorite arts organization? Daily is out. Weekly — yes, if there is a major event coming up and I’m getting a lot of neat things each week like artist interviews. And monthly or even quarterly is just fine the rest of the time. You need to keep in contact to make a “touch” on the relationship, but make sure you tailor it to the circumstances of your organization.

5. Don’t wait too long to send.

On average, 33% of all people with email addresses change them during the year. Without a recent note, you risk your arts patrons forgetting who you are, and getting them to sign up with their new email address is a lot more difficult. You don’t want them getting your email and saying “Who is this?” Make sure you keep your list alive by sending out at least a short but interesting note once a quarter.

As arts marketers, we have the benefit of being able to champion the products of a field that lends itself well to communication technology. With a few safety checks before we hit the send button, you’ll strengthen your relationship with your patrons, and make it easier for them to engage in the good works of your organization.