ArtsMarketing.org

How many of us spend hours toiling over the exact imagery to use in a season brochure, or spend thousands upon thousands of dollars hiring a spiffy design firm, and then rush when the project is complete to blindly put together a mailing list? Rick Lester, CEO of Target Research Group, said in a presentation at the National Performing Arts Convention that the success of a direct mail campaign relies basically on two things: 1) having the correct offer, and 2) sending the correct offer to the right prospect.  Notice how neither of these two variables discussed design, although that is where many of us spend a majority of our time and resources.

With this in mind, I wanted to experiment with a new technology to find the exact right prospects and craft an individualized offer to each one of them.  PURLs allow marketers to do this.  PURL stands for personalized URL—basically a personalized website.  At Arena Stage, we just began a subscriber prospect PURL campaign, and below are the steps that we took:

Step 1: I compiled a list of all of our mini-subscribers from the previous season, and then I uploaded that list into InfoUSA's "Customer Analyzer and Prospect Builder,” which is part of InfoUSA’s SalesGenie subscription service.  The Customer Analyzer and Prospect Builder analyzed the demographics of our list, and provided suggested prospects within a 20 mile radius around Arena Stage based upon the demographics of the provided list.

Step 2: I chose to download 42,800 new prospects from the suggested prospects provided by InfoUSA’s Customer Analyzer and Prospect Builder.  After the prospects were downloaded, I sent the prospect mailing list to GRC Direct, which designs, prints and launches our PURL campaigns.   

Step 3: Working with GRC Direct, we designed a prospect postcard that would be sent to the 42,800 new prospects.  The postcard promoted the opportunity to win 2 VIP tickets to see the opening night of Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking at Arena Stage.  The postcard then asked the prospect to go to a personalized website (PURL) to enter.  For example:
http://JohnDoe.arenarestaged.com. (SEE Arena Prospect PURL—Postcard)

Step 5: After entering his/her e-mail address, the prospect was taken to a second webpage which had three questions to answer about individual preferences.  In this case, we asked our prospects: when they preferred to attend a performance, the most important factors that lead to a purchasing decision, and the types of performances they like.

Step 6: After answering the three questions, the prospect was taken to a third page to verify their contact information in the event that we needed to contact them if they won.  We asked for a mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address.

Step 7: As soon as the prospect finished with the PURL, a report was sent to Arena Stage on each prospect, outlining their answers and their contact information.

Step 8: We developed a mailing list from this information, and developed offer letters suggesting a highly tailored package to each respondents preferences.  These letters were printed and mailed along with a season brochure.

Example of a tailored offer:

Beth-Ann Gentile
3519 Ridge St NW
Washington, DC 20008-3118
202-466-2214
Bgentile34@earthlink.net
Day of Week Preference: Weekday Evenings (Tuesday-Thursday)
Genre Preference: Classics,  Dramas,  Musicals
Decision Influencers: Location of Venue, Amenities in the Area (restaurants, parking)

Productions: Carrie Fisher in Wishful Drinking, Irving Berlin’s I Love a Piano, Crowns, and Sweet Bird of Youth
Day of Week: Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evening
Savings: $36 per subscription
Price per Subscription: $212
Pitches: Arena Stage at the Lincoln Theatre is the closest venue to her, located just 2.5 miles from her home. There are numerous restaurants within walking distance of the theater that offer substantial discounts to Arena Stage patrons.  The U Street metro stop is across the street from the theater, and Arena Stage provides valet parking for $14 per car.

Step 9: We will wait a couple of weeks after the letters drop and then we will follow up the mailed offer with an e-mail offer to those who haven’t responded.

Step 10: If the prospect hasn't purchased via e-mail or via the direct mail campaign, the prospect will be given to telemarketing.  Telemarketing will then use an added incentive such as a $10 restaurant gift certificate to close the sale while the prospect is on the phone.

Arena Stage has completed steps 1 through 8, and the entire campaign will be over by the early part of September.  We are thoroughly tracking the return on investment for this campaign and I will be presenting an in depth analysis on the campaign at the 2008 National Arts Marketing Project Conference in November.  Results will also be posted on my arts marketing blog at www.arts-marketing.blogspot.com.