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2.8.2005
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Volume Three
Issue Two
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Welcome to the Arts Marketer of the Month. This issue heads to sunny Florida where Andrew Goldberg, Director of Audience Development for the Florida Grand Opera, reveals the keys to the Opera's e-marketing strategy....
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Featured Arts Marketer: Andrew Goldberg
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Andrew Goldberg,
Director of Audience Development
Florida Grand Opera
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Florida Grand Opera is in its 64th season, making it the 7th oldest opera company in North America. The company presents 5 operas each year, totaling 35 performances in both Fort Lauderdale and Miami (the 2006-07 Miami season will move into the brand new Miami Performing Arts Center). With a budget of approximately $10 million, Florida Grand Opera is the 13th largest opera company in North America.
Two years ago, Andrew Goldberg was named FGO's Director of Audience Development. Prior to this appointment, Andrew spent 10 seasons at the Ravinia Festival in customer relations, backstage production and marketing and 1 year as the Director of Marketing and Communication at the Brooklyn Philharmonic.
As Director of Audience Development, Andrew oversees all of the day-to-day marketing operations and budget, including print, radio, tv, direct mail, outdoor, telemarketing and all internet activities. In the Q & A that follows, Andrew explains how FGO has built its impressive list and how "Andrew at the Opera" is keeping the subscribers happy. Read on...
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Q & A with Andrew Goldberg
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E-mail campaign from
'Andrew at the Opera'
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You've done a great job of "branding" your e-mail newsletters, making them both informative and personal. Can you describe what you've done?
We've been pretty good at being strict with our style and format. The e-mails always have the same template so our patrons are familiar with the layout of information. We think of e-mails as more of a 'teaser' than an 'information dump.' Our first goal is to 'tease' the patron into opening the e-mail. Our second goal is to use a headline and photo within the e-mail that 'teases' the patron into reading further. The entire e-mail is ideally no longer than 3 short paragraphs. We always include links that direct the patron back to our website: links to purchase tickets online, links to online program notes, and links to online articles and reviews (only if favorable).
All e-mails have the same header with our company name and the name of the e-mail 'club': OPERA CLIQUE. All e-mails are from "Andrew at the Opera" rather than from "the company." The bottom of the e-mail also includes my signature and headshot, creating a further personalization of the communication. I'm at every performance in the lobby, so this gives patrons another friendly face they can recognize at the theater. These 2 elements (header and signature) are on every e-mail that goes out, regardless of subject matter.
How is this approach working? What kind of feedback are you getting from patrons?
While we certainly have received positive feedback via e-mail and in-person at the theater, often one can measure your success by the lack of negative feedback. We have not received any negative feedback for 2 years. The positive feedback has indicated that patrons appreciate the consistency of the messages, and that we don't send them a novel to read.
You've also been really successful in growing your mailing list. Can you tell us what you've accomplished and how?
We began working with PatronMail in December of 2002. The e-mail list at that time was about 7,000. As of January 2005 the list has grown to about 18,800. It's been a process, and here are some of the ways the list has grown. First of all, we ask for the e-mail address at every information request with our patrons or potential patrons - this is fairly standard with all companies these days. We also seek out high-traffic (at least 10,000 in attendance) fairs and festivals and purchase or barter for a booth. We are lucky to have some fairly big fairs, such as the Miami-Dade International Book Fair and the Coconut Grove Arts Festival. With good signage, a little music and a ticket give-away, we have collected as many as 1,600 names, addresses, and e-mails in just a 3-day weekend! One of our e-mail segments is a list of those who are interested in volunteering. An e-mail to this group helps us staff these booths. No more of the days getting through a volunteer calling list!
Have you found that there is a difference between online marketing
for a symphony audience and an opera crowd? If so, please describe...
I wouldn't say that the differences are solely an 'online marketing' phenomenon - online is just one of the many channels to communicate our products. Having said that, I have found Opera both easier and more difficult to 'market' than Symphony. If there were to exist a 'snooty-ness' scale for all performing arts genres, Opera would likely be the leader by a longshot. The barriers to entry for Opera are much greater, making Sympony much more accessible. At the same time, Opera also has its advantages: there are usually very colorful and dramatic photos (much more so than with Symphony) and there is inherently always a story to tell. There is no need for wishy-washy language describing how a symphony is going to help the patron "escape the troubles of this world - and enter a world of relaxation on a porch rocking chair with a summer breeze." Opera is more specific and clear, and we can therefore be more literal in our marketing to them.
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Visit Florida Grand Opera's Web Site
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ANNOUNCING: Full-Day Online Marketing Seminar March 18 in New York
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Smart Web-Based Marketing for the Arts
This full-day session, led by Patron Technology's President Eugene Carr, is an investment in the future of your online marketing effort. The seminar is designed for those who would like to improve their e-mail and web marketing, whether or not they are currently doing it. If you're just getting started, you'll come away with a solid sense for what works and why. If you're currently actively using the Internet, these sessions will include "best practices" of the arts industry. It will not be a technical session, but will focus on the marketing and communications strategies that drive good results.
Who should attend?
It is designed for anyone who is in charge of building relationships with a group of patrons or customers -- in most organizations this being marketing director, head of communications or development director.
When: New York City - March 18, from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM
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Click here for more information and to sign-up
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How Does Your E-Mail Look?
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Are you doing your e-marketing in-house? If you're using Outlook, your mail probably looks like the first image - not exactly the kind of professional image you'd like to project.
In addition, you're probably having to handle opt-out requests and bounced e-mail in your inbox.
If you're feeling that you'd like to move up from your "in-house" method, we'd welcome the opportunity to demonstrate PatronMail to you.
With PatronMail you can:
* Create and Send professional looking e-mails without knowing HTML
* Track & Compare your results with other arts organizations
* Build your list automatically on your web site
* Ensure your mail is not mistakenly blocked by ISPs as Spam.
* Manage undeliverables and "remove" requests automatically
We invite you to schedule a free 15-minute phone demonstration to see how easy and cost-effective PatronMail is.
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Click here to request a 15-minute PatronMail demonstration
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If you have interesting and creative initiatives that you would like to have featured or know of an arts marketer that you would like to recommend for one of our upcoming editions, please contact info@patrontechnology.com.
Please watch for the next edition of our Arts Marketer of the Month, coming March 8, 2005.
Note: The CAN-SPAM act mandates that all commercial e-mail contains a physical mailing address, and ours is: 850 Seventh Avenue, Suite 801, New York, NY 10019
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