5 Email Marketing Mistakes for Venues to Avoid

We know that you deal with a lot of pressure in managing amazing events at your venue. Engaging loyal customers and potential leads through email marketing can be an overwhelming process. This is especially true when your plate is already full.

To make things easier for you, we’ve put together a list of common email marketing mistakes that your venue may already be making. So go ahead and forgive yourself. By overcoming these, you’ll make big improvements with your outreach.

Do email marketing mistakes matter?

As COVID restrictions continue to lift, the hospitality industry is seeing the light. People have returned to planning and attending events. As your venue becomes busier, it is easy to let email marketing fall behind in priorities. 

However, you should know that today your email marketing efforts will bring results. Making mistakes in your marketing routine do in fact matter. On a positive note, just as people are returning to social venues, they are also growing more interactive in response to email outreach. A recent analysis shows that the average email open rate across all industries is just above 29 percent, which is comparable to the pre-pandemic open rate. Getting your venue’s brand in front of your loyal customers and prospects now is vital in bringing in new event business.

What are the top errors in email marketing?

1. Ignoring your list

It’s exciting to see your email list grow and it is understandable that with everything you do, you may have ignored who is on your list. With email marketing, remember it’s quality, not quantity when it comes to good ROI. 

First and foremost, make certain you have permission to send emails to each recipient. Be on the up and up in email collection practices. Use reputable places, such as past clients from your Tripleseat contacts, website signups, or from past events from where you legitimately attained their email contacts. We advise staying away from purchased email lists. 

Second, clean your lists of invalid addresses, unsubscribes, duplicates, and typos. Email tools often will provide reports that show bounced email addresses which then can be excluded. Make sure your unsubscriber list is functioning properly. Your sender reputation is important so that you’ll be able to successfully send more emails. 

Last, make sure you do work to increase your list. Place on your website and on social channels. Email marketing tools like Constant Contact or Mailchimp, and reservation tools like OpenTable offer ways to get sign-ups. Put sign-up sheets anywhere you have an audience.

2. Not segmenting your list

Segmenting your list is critical for a successful email marketing campaign, so make sure to organize your list into multiple lists for different audiences. Simply put, you pull out individual email addresses to send a specifically targeted email. By knowing your audience, you can slice and dice demographics so that you can personalize to that subset of customers.

Do your homework and understand your audience. If you are a Tripleseat customer, you can use reporting to segment. Here are some factors to think about:

• Location
• Geographical details
• Sales cycle
• Interests
• Language
• Past event bookings
• Previous bookings by type, such as holiday parties or corporate events

3. Emailing too much

Email cadence is essentially the tempo of an email campaign. It focuses on the order and the timing you use when sending email campaigns. Often, email marketing cadence is done incorrectly. Send too many emails and you become an obnoxious sender that clutters your audience’s inbox. Your unsubscribes will increase and your engagement will decrease.

So what is a good cadence for the number of emails you send to your list? Hone into the right amount for your specific venue. Remember, your list of addresses represents people who have expressed interest in your content.

Here are some tips on determining your email frequency best practices:

• Perform email frequency testing. Try out weekly versus biweekly to determine which performs better. 
• Have an established send schedule, specifically the same day and time each time. 
• Communicate expectations with your readers of how often you’ll be emailing. The best practice is to set expectations upon signing up. 
• Offer customized email frequency. Allow your readers to choose how often they want to receive emails.

4. Not showing value

Sometimes in juggling all the details, you may miss showing your venue’s value to your potential customers. The purpose of your outgoing email campaigns ultimately is to incentivize potential customers to make an informed decision about why you are the best event venue for them.

In showing value, keep in mind it is best practice to chunk out the information in several messages designed to guide followers along a customer journey. This is also referred to as a drip campaign. Instead of having a new goal for each of your email newsletter ideas, consider how multiple newsletters are sequentially related and personalized centered upon customer experience. You are more likely to engage with your interested audience, answer questions proactively about your venue, and convert them to booked customers.

Keep your email simple and present your value in a scannable manner as most people don’t actually read them. Present the ways your venue differentiates from other venues. Show how you can resolve problems and fulfill needs.

5. Not using a call to action

A “CTA,” or a Call to Action, is a way to spur your reader to do something. Using too many or none at all, leaves your reader overwhelmed or with nothing to do. Emails are a way to walk your potential customers through a set journey and ultimately to book an event. 

When you are creating email content, think about what is your goal. We recommend having three to four calls to action in your email. Break up your CTAs throughout the emails. Email platforms may provide you data on what CTAs your audience is clicking on. 

Which of these mistakes have you made?

Remember, even the most experienced email marketers make both little errors, as well as gigantic disasters. Learning about these troublesome mistakes will help you succeed in crafting and sending impactful messages and reach your business goals.

Need more marketing tips?

View more marketing blog posts to help you refine your outreach to customers and prospects. These posts will provide you with expert tips on creating content, using social media, email tips, and much more.