Email Marketing: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Get the candles ready, it’s time to make your patrons happier on their special day and improve your email performance.

Birthday emails are an extremely simple way to get great opens, clicks, and conversions.

Everyone wants to feel special on their birthday, so make sure your brand is waiting in their inbox to help them celebrate the occasion.

There are many ways to reward your patrons in a Birthday email, such as special promo codes, VIP gifts, and access to exclusive events.

Timing:

The best time to collect a customer’s birthday is when they first sign up for your newsletter.

You can then set up an automated birthday campaign and a personalized message to boost your email performance and patron engagement.

With CrowdConnect, the Tickets.com official email marketing platform powered by WhatCounts, you can easily create personalized birthday messages for your patrons.

If you are a current client, learn more about setting up your first Happy Birthday email in CrowdConnect here

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Email Marketing: Tracking Conversions & Marketing Source Code

So, you’ve got your communication plan ready to go on email. But how will you know if your emails are driving up ticket sales? Conversion tracking!

What is Conversion Tracking in emails?

A “conversion” is typically when a subscriber performs an action like “Open” or “Click” within a message during a certain time frame.

But what happens after someone clicks “Buy Tickets”? To truly see conversions, you have to get to the purchase data.

CrowdConnect, the Tickets.com official email marketing platform powered by WhatCounts, works seamlessly with ProVenue® to take your clicks further. Marketing Source Codes, created in the ProVenue ticketing platform, help you easily track performance beyond the click and right into sales. Marketing Source Codes can be embedded in purchase links in CrowdConnect templates to determine the success of specific email campaigns.

If you are a current client, learn how to set up Marketing Source Codes with CrowdConnect and start tracking your conversions better.

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Email Marketing: Personalization & Dynamic Content

Personalizing content can get tricky when you are trying to message all of your subscribers.

Fortunately, dynamic fields make it easy to customize messaging without creating each individual email.

What is dynamic content in emails?

Dynamic content in emails are pieces of information from your subscriber contact within your email marketing database that be used to quickly pull information into your messages.

What are some examples of dynamic content?

Subscriber name
An image attributed to that subscriber

Why does personalization matter?

Adding personalization to messaging is the number one tactic used by email marketers to improve performance.

With CrowdConnect, the Tickets.com official email marketing platform powered by WhatCounts, we will help you get personal.

If you are a current client, learn how to set up dynamic content in your messages and start increasing your email engagement today.

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Chicago House Athletic Club Kicks Goal with Tickets.com

Chicago, IL (April, 22, 2021) – Tickets.com announced today that is has become the official ticketing provider for the Chicago House Athletic Club (Chicago House AC), Chicago’s newest professional soccer club. The Chicago House AC soccer team is part of the National Independent Soccer Association and will begin its inaugural season this August powered by Tickets.com. With a home-town emphasis, the Chicago House AC puts Chicagoans at the core of its vision.

“We’re excited to be partnering with Tickets.com as our official ticket sales and service provider. By utilizing their ProVenue platform, we will be delivering the finest ticketing experience for our supporters in the sports industry,” says Chicago House AC Chief Revenue Officer, Steve Livingstone. “We look forward to providing a user-friendly and seamless online purchasing and ticket management process for all of our fans with Tickets.com as part of our House.”

The Latest Ticketing Technology

The Chicago House AC will be utilizing the Tickets.com ProVenue® platform, a full-service integrated ticketing solution designed to enable ticket sales, capture and optimize fan data. The ProVenue platform is a browser-based, hosted web application that offers limitless possibilities for Chicago House AC ticketing. The ProVenue platform has no virtual limit on the number of venues, hold codes, events, packages, buyer types, price scales, prices, and service charges that can be set.

In addition, the Chicago House AC will be showcasing their own brand to fans utilizing MyProVenue™, the fan-facing web application, entirely devoted to optimizing the fans’ desktop and mobile ticketing experience. The intuitive interface streamlines the actions of buying tickets and managing account preferences, all within a responsive framework that works flawlessly on any device. MyProVenue focuses on the Chicago House AC fan experience, providing a higher level of flexibility and usability compared to traditional e-commerce platforms.

At the Stadium Entrance Gate

To complete the seamless ticketing experience Chicago House AC will be utilizing Alfred as their complete all-in-one access control solution from Tickets.com. Using Alfred, the Chicago House AC will streamline attendance, and create a frictionless venue entry for fans and box office staff.

“Tickets.com is thrilled to provide the Chicago House Athletic Club with the latest ticketing and venue technology and to help them kick off their season while bringing fans premium ticketing experiences. ” Tim Snyder, Vice President Business Development, Tickets.com

About Chicago House Athletic Club

Chicago House Athletic Club will begin its inaugural season in August at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. The team is part of the National Independent Soccer Association. We believe winning goes beyond the pitch and into the community. Chicago House AC shares the values of all Chicagoans with a special emphasis on social justice, racial equality, inclusion, serving the underserved, and having fun while doing it. Chicago House AC will actively work to make Chicago a better place through philanthropy, service, winning trophies, and inspiring Chicagoans to stand at the forefront of their communities to create lasting change.

For more information about the Chicago House AC, visit chicagohouseac.com. For more information about the NISA, visit NISA.com.

About Tickets.com

Tickets.com is a technology solutions provider focused on building premium live event experiences for clients and patrons. Established in 1995, Tickets.com has been the technology provider for over 1MM live events across the globe. Our team is dedicated to developing and delivering the most innovative and modern ticketing technology in the world. Through strategy, partnership, and innovation, Tickets.com is on a mission to disrupt the ticketing industry and provide the best live experiences.

Learn more about our software and services at https://provenue.tickets.com/

If you are interested in becoming a client, please contact us at Sales@tickets.com

Email Marketing: Image Size Matters

Does my image size matter in my emails?

The short answer is yes.

Too large of an image file can cause rendering delays, impact deliverability, and mess with your formatting. Too small of an image can become blurry or out of focus.

Here are a couple of standards used today to get you started:

Generally, best-fit images tend to be 600px-620px wide while the length is often adjustable to the design.

Text on images should be large enough to be legible when images are sized down on a mobile device. If there is a legal copy or small print that should be done with HTML live text if possible.

Quick Tip:

A background can help with email width if you want to extend it beyond the image to adjust with the subscriber screens.

Images typically can be one of the three file types: JPEG, PNG, or GIF format.

PNG files are best for retaining resolution and transparency (if that’s what you need).
JPEG/JPG files are sometimes smaller file sizes and work better for photos
GIF files are used to incorporate motion into your emails.

File type must be determined BEFORE uploading the image to CrowdConnect. Once the file is loaded, the file type cannot be changed.

Quick Tip:

Always include ALT text just in case your subscribers have images disabled.

There are many more factors to consider when creating your best and most appropriate email design.

If you are a current client:

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Email Marketing: Always Welcome

An automated welcome email series can be a great way to start your email subscriber relationship off right.

An underestimated yet easy process to implement, the welcome series email campaign can yield high performance.

What’s great about this tactic is that you can set it up when you have downtime between events, or really any time of the year.

What Is a Welcome Series?

This is the email introduction to your new email subscribers to your venue, performer, or event brand. Over a “series” of emails, the goal is to build awareness, and affinity that will not only help you to sell tickets but also to help you keep them as part of your subscriber circle.

Planning & Timing.

One of the fundamental elements to the series is the “Welcome” notion. Consider timing. You probably would scoff at a “Welcome” message if it came too late or if you’d already been receiving emails from this address for a while. So, start fresh with those new subscribers that just signed up and those new ticket purchasers with an immediate message.

Follow Up.

As a series, it’s important to follow up on your welcome. Consider this as the show and tell the message. This is the time to show your new subscribers the benefits you offer and how you will reward them with ticket discounts, new events schedules, and more.

Follow Up Again.

Engage with your subscribers and ask them to share with you what they like or any key information to help you build affinity.

For example, do you prefer these kinds of events? When is your birthday?

Note about asking information: You should always be transparent! Anytime you are collecting information it is very important to explain how that information will be used. If you are collecting a birthday, tell the patron why. For example, to provide a birthday discount on tickets.

With CrowdConnect the Tickets.com official email marketing platform powered by WhatCounts, you can easily create and automate a Welcome Series.

If you are a current client learn more about setting up your first welcome email in CrowdConnect, check out the

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Email Marketing: Engagement Segmentation

Simple yet effective – segmenting your email lists to focus on your engaged subscribers can help you increase your open rates & clickthrough rates.

Who is an “Engaged” Subscriber?

An engaged email subscriber is someone that has last opened or clicked an email within the last 30-90 days depending on your email frequency.

Who is an “Unengaged” Subscriber?

An unengaged email subscriber is someone that has not opened or clicked in the last 30 / 90-180 days.

Emails can be set up in CrowdConnect or your email marketing platform with a variety of rules, if/and statements to help define what works best for your business model and target the subscribers ready to open and click.

How does this help?

Engagement segments help you to track your subscribers’ level of interaction with your emails.
They help you identify subscribers who have lost interest in your content.
Focusing on engaged audiences will increase the likelihood an email will be opened, read, and your ticket purchase links are clicked – and your overall ROI.

Why Not Send to My Whole List?

Emails do come at a cost, the more emails you send, the greater cost you incur. And while the cost increases, the effectiveness of your email overall decreases.

With CrowdConnect the Tickets.com official email marketing platform powered by WhatCounts we will help you easily segment your emails and fish where the fish are.

If you are a current client check out how to easily segment your engaged subscribers and start increasing your ROI today.

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Email Marketing: Emojis in Emails 🎟

Fun & Playful, Emojis: Can they help or hurt your emails?

It seems like a small thing, but the subject line in an email is a major factor in increasing your open rate.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves – is the emoji in a subject line right for everything? Probably not.

And if we send too many emails with Emojis it can also have a negative effect on consumers which ultimately unsubscribe.

So, what’s the answer? Testing of course! Make sure you test your subject lines using A/B testing. This can help you determine if the Emoji is an attention grabber or an annoyance.

As you put your tests together, here are some best practices to consider.

It can be too much of a good thing: Just like WRITING IN ALL CAPS, too many Emojis may indicate spam to recipients.

Context is key: with thousands of Emojis you can customize your choice to be relevant.

Consider your target audience: A survey of 1,000 Americans showed that, millennials regard using emojis positively.

Email Tone: Emojis can change an email from formal to playful. If you are messaging something serious, maybe skip the Emoji.

With CrowdConnect, the Tickets.com official email marketing platform powered by WhatCounts, we will help you easily add and test Emojis to your ❤️’s content.

If you are a current client, learn more about setting up your new welcome series in CrowdConnect:

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Theatre North Improves Entry Experiences with Alfred Powered by Tickets.com

North Wollongong, Australia – Theatre North, located in Launceston, Tasmania, is an independent, not-for-profit organisation located at Launceston’s historic Princess Theatre. Theatre North and Tickets.com have shared a ticketing relationship since 1999, with Theatre North using Tickets.com’s state-of-the-art ticketing software, ProVenue® since 2014. Utilising ProVenue, Tickets.com creates and prepares all of the Theatre North events on their behalf.

The past year and the COVID-19 pandemic brought venues challenges like never before, including temporary closures and new restrictions, and the team at Theatre North was keen to welcome patrons back into the venue for ‘Coming Home’, a community-led fundraiser held in September. With a safety-first approach and eager to meet all of the government recommended guidelines, Theatre North took the opportunity to trial, Alfred™, the Tickets.com mobile all-in-one access control solution. Hayley Dobbs, General Manager Tickets.com Asia Pacific said,

“With so much change in the live experience industry, Theatre North has been strategic by testing new technology and solutions to fit their venue and their patrons.”

About Alfred

Alfred, developed for android devices is fully integrated with ProVenue and offers patrons a frictionless venue entry experience, streamlining the ticket validation process for both patrons and venue staff. Alfred provides the ability to not only validate traditional barcodes but also validate digital tickets and contactless tickets via the convenience of Near Field Communication (NFC).

Alfred supports complex ticket validation rules such as entry/exit scanning, specific entry restrictions, timed admission, and controlled interior access to areas such as suites and clubs. With centralised, remote management of devices–plus a choice of Wi-Fi and/or cellular data connectivity. Mandy Sheperd, General Manager commented,

“Along with providing additional ticket security, the Alfred scanners allow us to track real-time arrivals and enhance our attendance records. After the trial our Front of House team gave Alfred the thumbs up, and they are now able to check tickets using a safe, touchless, mobile system at all our events”.

The use of Alfred at entry points assisted with COVID related regulations and ensured that patrons were moving through the doors promptly to be seated. The use of Access Control at the Princess Theatre created opportunities for ticket delivery to be expanded, enabling patrons to receive their tickets via Tickets@home, utilise Digital tickets with the ability to add tickets to their mobile wallets, and access the online ticket management portal, MyTickets. Ange Cole, Box office manager said,

“The customer service from the technical support team has been second to none. They have the devices pre-set and talk through the easy operation and any settings we might need to change. The technology also allows for their remote login to provide any technical support we might need at short notice”

After great success with their Alfred trial, the team at Theatre North decided to move forward with the use of Alfred during their end-of-year dance season and as a permanent fixture for shows throughout 2021.

“We are thrilled to assist the Theatre North as they transition to 2021 utilising Tickets.com technology and support.”
Hayley Dobbs, General Manager Tickets.com Asia Pacific

About Theatre North

Theatre North, located in Launceston, Tasmania, is an independent, not for profit organisation located at Launceston’s historic Princess Theatre. As well as managing the Princess Theatre and Earl Arts Centre, Theatre North presents an annual season of professional performing arts from around Australia. Theatre North is passionate about exciting audiences and providing vibrant and varied experiences as part of the thriving cultural lifestyle enjoyed by the Northern Tasmanian community.

About Tickets.com

Tickets.com is a technology solutions provider focused on building premium live event experiences for clients and patrons. Established in 1995, Tickets.com has been the technology provider for over 1M live events across the globe. Our team is dedicated to developing and delivering the most innovative and modern ticketing technology in the world. Through strategy, partnership, and innovation, Tickets.com is on a mission to disrupt the ticketing industry and provide the best live experiences.

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Email Marketing: Button Up.

Buttons, links, and other clickable actions are a major part of creating an email campaign with purpose. So, let’s get down to some strategies to help you improve your click-ability.

The link is a powerful tool that can be placed on text, and images.

Something to consider is the hover. When you roll your mouse over this link – what does it say? Does it give you context on where it will take you?

Why Use a Link?

Links are primarily used to “go somewhere.” Any time someone is navigating to a website, using a link is helpful and can be a good formula for providing more in-depth information.

Why Use a Button?

Buttons on the other hand are typically used to indicate an ACTION or getting a subscriber to “do something”, like buy a ticket. They also have the ability to stand out.

With CrowdConnect the Tickets.com official email marketing platform powered by WhatCounts you can easily add buttons and links to optimize your email performance.

If you are a current client learn more about how to set up Buttons and Links in CrowdConnect today.

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