We recently attended a talk at the Chartered Insitute of Marketing’s (CIM) Digital Summit entitled “Whose data is it anyway?” and left feeling quite smug about ourselves. Sure, there were some fairly shocking stats exposed – such as only 30% of marketers, when asked, said they would put the trust of their customers above overstepping the mark with data use – but it backed up what we’ve been preaching for a while now. We believe in being honest and transparent with customer data and operating a strict privacy policy; but why do we do that? And how can this be advantageous to you as an event organiser?
We know what it’s like; you’re putting on a gig and you want to reach as many people as possible to maximise advance sales. Once you’ve marketed your event to your mailing list and social followers, you’ll want to see who else you can reach and it’s easy to be won over by big numbers. However, pushing your event on uninterested parties is not the way to go, and no marketing department should be prioritising the volumes of marketing emails sent over their relevance. 20% of UK consumers surveyed by Janrain reported receiving a whopping 10 or more irrelevant marketing emails every day. It’s a pain we’re all too familiar with: No matter how many times you tell me about it, I’m not going to buy tickets for Keane, they’re just not my cup of tea.
We believe it’s important to keep this in mind when choosing a ticket agent too – always go for targeted marketing over big data numbers. Here at WeGotTickets we focus on targeting customers based on location, past purchases and click activity: Irrelevant content leads to unsubscribes (or worse, a tarnished reputation for both us and your event).
This is also one reason why we run an opt-in rather than opt-out policy when it comes to our clients’ mailing lists too. Unlike a lot of other ticket agents, this means that when a customer buys tickets with us for one of your events they are not automatically added to your mailing list. Instead, we ask them if they’d actually like to sign up to your list (how novel!), ensuring that your subscribers are engaged and more likely to make repeat purchases. Your mailing list might be smaller, but you’ll have better engagement and a higher conversion rate, and won’t be frustrating those customers that aren’t interested and harming your reputation. With our mailing list invite system too we prompt customers again after the first event of yours that they’ve bought tickets for; that way, they’ve experienced one of your nights first hand and are more likely to sign up – this often collects an additional 20-30% of email addresses for you.
Of those surveyed by the CIM, 57% of consumers didn’t trust brands to use their data responsibly and consequently 70% didn’t see the benefit of sharing their data. If you use an over-zealous ticket agent, fond of spamming their (and your) customers with too many gig alerts, then it will reflect badly on your brand. After all, they are your chosen ticket partner. You’ll also be competing against their marketing communications too, which may well decrease the effectiveness of your own.
Some of this might sound quite negative but if 70% of customers don’t see the point of sharing their details, then it is up to you as an organiser or brand to persuade them otherwise – and that stat represents a sizeable opportunity. How would we suggest doing this? Firstly, put on an awesome event so they’ll want to come again. After that, it’s important to have a clear data policy and let your customers know that they can trust you to act responsibly with their information. More people will subscribe if they know their data is in safe hands. Also, remember to be selective with your marketing communications and those done on your behalf – don’t be fooled by huge recipient numbers and don’t spam your customers. This can be a turn-off. Finally, it’s also important to make your marketing comms standout and sell the benefits of customers sharing their data with you (e.g., special offers, early access to tickets, exclusive content). Following these simple steps is as good a way as any to regain customer trust, and it will improve your marketing while you’re at it.
For more of this kind of thing follow @WGT_Henry on Twitter.