Building a mailing list

1. Building a mailinglist Building a mailing list

2. Building a mailing list • We build our artist mailing lists by collecting the details of interested consumers from a variety of sources; the artist’s official website, Facebook page, gigs, third party sites etc • Data capture is not sexy but it is very important to the success of any eCRM campaign Building a mailing list

3. Why bother? • Even the best eCRM campaign will fall short of its potential to promote your artist if there isn’t a mailing list of interested consumers to contact • Although social media is a key aspect of your eCRM campaign, its value as a means of generating revenue is unclear. Email is still the most reliable way of driving sales online, so it is important to build a mailing list for every artist even if you have a strong social media presence Building a mailing list

4. Planning adata capturecampaign Building a mailing list

5. Key data capture questions There is no-one-size-fits-all approach to data capture, so ask these key questions when planning your campaign: • Where can fans of your artist be found? • Online? At gigs? On social media? Your data capture strategy should target these locations and collect the data of your fans in a suitable way • How can you make the signup process easy for these consumers? • The easier the signup process the more successful registrations you will collect, so ensure it is as short, simple and intuitive as possible. If you are collecting data at a gig, would your fans prefer to register by adding their name and email address to a paper mailing list or by texting their details? Will they be able to get a mobile phone signal in the venue? Building a mailing list

6. Key data capture questions • What information will these fans be willing to tell you? • If you are building a mailing list for a brand new artist be wary of discouraging signup by asking for too much information. Equally if you are collecting data for a well established artist, their fans will be willing to give you more information • What information will you need later in your campaign? • If you are planning on utilising SMS in your campaign make sure you collect a mobile number. If you want to communicate with consumers based on location, include a postcode field • How can you make your campaign stand out and compel the consumer to act? • Your campaign needs to stand out from all the other data capture forms our consumers are bombarded with online. Interactivity, interesting content such as artist videos and novel competitions can really boost your response rates Building a mailing list

7. Key data capture questions • What incentives can you offer these fans to sign up? • A free download? A competition? Is it something your fans will want? If you are running a national campaign are tickets to a gig in Leeds a suitable competition prize? • What else might help convince your target audience that joining the mailing list is worthwhile? • Are they likely to be fans of live music? Tell them in the intro copy of your signup form that they will be the first to know when tickets go on sale. Does your existing fanbase react well to YouTube links? Tell them that by joining the mailing list they will receive exclusive video clips. Obviously if you make these promises at the point of registration they must be honoured Building a mailing list

8. Incentives & benefits Building a mailing list

9. More about the benefits of signing up What are the benefits of joining your artist’s mailing list? • Exclusive content and competitions • Gig pre-sales • Regular news bulletins • Proximity - direct contact with artists • Priority - they will always be the first to know For dedicated fans these benefits should provide enough reason to sign up, so make them clear at the point of registration. Draw extra attention to those you think are particularly important to fans of your artist Building a mailing list

10. More about incentives Offering the consumer an incentive to sign up will have a significant positive effect on the number registrations. Commonly used incentives include: • A free sample track to download • Exclusive content e.g. a video of the artist backstage • Access to a website ‘members area’ with exclusive content • The chance to win a prize: • An iPod • A signed album or item of merchandise • A presentation disc • Gig tickets / guestlist / meet and greet As mentioned, ensure all incentives are relevant and appealing to your target audience Building a mailing list

11. How &where Building a mailing list

12. Data capture methods We have several different methods of collecting consumer registrations: • Vice Versa signup form • Website members area • Gig sheet • Drop cards with CD / DVDs • SMS registration • WAP site • Digital insert Building a mailing list

13. Data sources These allow us to collect consumer data from a wide variety of sources: • Artist websites (V.v. signup form or website members area) • Social media (See ‘collecting data from Facebook’) • Live events (Gig sheet or SMS registration) • Mobile devices (SMS registration or WAP site) • Our products (Drop card or digital insert) • Third party websites (V.v. or third party signup form) Building a mailing list

14. Continue the experience • Set up a welcome message for your artist. This will be automatically sent to all consumers that register for updates • Maintain communication. There is nothing worse than signing up to a mailing list and not receiving anything. Try to send at least one email a month even out of album cycle • Keep your promises. If a consumer registers for email updates from one of our artists we should endeavour to keep the promises we made when they signed-up (Priority, proximity etc) E.g. If we fail to tell our fans a tour is on sale and it sells out before they are able to buy tickets, they are unlikely to listen when we ask them to buy an album • Content is king. Videos, blogs and photos of or by your artist will all help enhance the experience for our fans • Have a game plan. Although it is important to look after our fans the goal of eCRM is to make money, so know when and how you are going to ask your fans to make a purchase Building a mailing list