Attracting New Audiences in Theatre

Email marketing for events: integrated mass email tools

One of the most important aspects of a well-executed event is hosting an engaged audience, and that begins with attracting patrons to the events that are right for them. For many events, mass mailing is the ticket to getting “butts in seats”. ThunderTix offers three options for integrated email marketing for events allowing you to decide which provides the best option for your organization.

Mass email options with ThunderTix

The first option for mass email is our own, built-in mass-mailing tool that harnesses the past purchasing history of your customers to create targeted email lists on the fly. This gives you full control of your patron outreach process. It is also a competitively priced option that carries a charge only when you use it.

ThunderTix allows you to create mass-email templates to then use in events settings or in your Patron Database to send mass emails.

Easily send a mass email through your events settings to update ticket buyers of a delayed or canceled show, new event restrictions, or any event related matter. From the Patron Database, apply search filters to return a specific list of patrons, and send a mass email.

Note: The use of ThunderTix's built-in mass email system requires domain authentication to increase email deliverability. Please visit our support forum to learn more.

Mailchimp and Constant Contact

We also integrate with Mailchimp and Constant Contact and allow you to connect either platform to your ThunderTix account. We'll automatically pull in your pre-created lists from those services per event and update and subscribe new customers as purchases or donations are made. Further, you can search and filter your customer database exporting results directly to your email lists as needed.

Compare email marketing service pricing

ThunderTix mass email capabilities are charged only when you use them. This is important especially during your off-season when other email services charge for services as a monthly subscription even if you don’t send any emails for months on end. For example, Mailchimp and Constant Contact charge for the number of contacts in your database whether or not you send emails or newsletters. So, with Mailchimp, if you have 10,000 contacts, you might pay $200 per month even if you don’t use the service. Constant Contact offers a similar service for $125 per month for the same number of contacts.

On the other hand, since all of your customer data is stored in our database as part of the ThunderTix ticketing platform, using our built-in mass mailing tool charges you only one penny per email sent regardless of the number of contacts in your database. If you send 20,000 emails it will cost $200 for the month, and if you only send 2 emails it will cost you 2 pennies. Of course, if you don’t use the service, it costs nothing! Get your patrons signed up without forfeiting your per-ticket revenue by paying a monthly fee to store your contacts.

ThunderTix customer database paired with email marketing

Your patrons can be sorted by an infinite number of search options. Target past donors for your newest fundraising campaign, VIP patrons on premiere night, or a mature audience or families based on the content of your next performance. You can even search by patrons who attended one show but not another or search by event genre to target patrons who prefer “musicals”. Keep customers from hitting “unsubscribe” by promoting shows that you know they will love.

ThunderTix provides settings to help you stay in tune with your audience once the curtain has closed. For example, we provide the ability to classify your events into genres such as “family-friendly” or “country & western”. This helps you create more effective marketing for future performances. Using ThunderTix’s mass mailing tool, you can improve attendance for upcoming performances even more by promoting specific event genres to those that have attended similar performances in the past.

Comparing email marketing service for events

All three options offer email marketing for events including the ability to check the statistics of your email campaigns. You can see how many emails were sent along with the number of clicks and opens. With ThunderTix, we’ll cross-reference the emails sent to new orders, so you can understand the return on your small investment. Use these data-driven details to better understand how to retarget your next email campaign and avoid spamming your audience with content they might find uninteresting. Instead, focus on selling out your next stellar show.

Both Mailchimp and Constant Contact may allow you to send unlimited emails at the same monthly rate. For frequent users of email marketing for events, this is a consideration that may suggest better returns on your investment with these external services. However, if your organization sends email sporadically or only in the event that an important update must be made, then our integrated mass email service might be the best choice for you.

Another cost consideration might include the use of “lists”. Since every targeted search in ThunderTix is done on the fly, there is no need to store customer “lists”. This could point to greater savings. With external services, you may be charged additional storage for each list created, especially if customers are duplicated across multiple lists.

Mailchimp’s drag and drop editor allows you to easily create attractive emails, so if styling is vital to your message, you may prefer their email design templates and tools. Though we offer basic styling, our mass mailing tool enables you to target your most attentive audience, analyze your approach ahead of your next event, and execute your marketing plan at a low rate when you need it. This affordability is important for small (or non-profit) organizations.

With three great email options, choose the service that works best for your organization. You'll be using email marketing for events like a pro helping to put butts in seats and sell-out shows.