I’m not often one for snarky comments on this site, but something has pushed me to post this article. That something is 40+ e-mails from various independent improv groups around NYC, all inviting me out to their shows this weekend. This, in and of itself, is not a bad thing, but when every single member of every single improv group e-mails me, it starts to wear my patience.
You have new mail! Ah, sorry looks like yet another invite to that Friday show you can’t make anyway.
You guys have got to get your advertising together into one, “group mind”/group e-mail system. I don’t mind an e-mail, but 12 for the same event is too much. So here is the Improvoker time and tested formula for successful e-mailing your fan base.
- Make one person in the group responsible for e-mails - Give them your contacts you wish to e-mail. As a performing group, you should have an e-mail list anyway for people at shows to sign. That gives you one system and one one list to e-mail to.
- BCC your addresses - My e-mail address is for you to tell me about the show, not for you to send to every person you have ever met. This is an important step, because addresses that aren’t BCCed have the distinct opportunity of falling into the hands of spammers through malicious spyware. Respect your audience’s privacy. Keep em secret, keep it safe Frodo.
- Subject your e-mail something sensible, preferably with the group, date, and time clearly expressed - “I have a show!”,”weekend”, “I WRITE EVERYTHING IN CAPS LOCK AND EXCLAMATIONS!!!” These are three shows I really might want to see, but in my limited time and energy - I may not read further. I am not going to come to your show because of the hilarity of your subject line. Tell me what group you are representing, when your show is, what it is (improv or sketch), and where it is, so I can get a sense of if I’m available or not, before I go rooting through the e-mail for information. “Peppermint Captain - Improv Show Sat 11/3 8PM @ Gotham City”, now I don’t even really need to read the e-mail, I can make my decision based purely on the subject.
- Do not send out an e-mail to let your list know you screwed up some non-critical information - “Sorry I didn’t BCC all of you on the last e-mail” is another e-mail that you are sending. Just don’t do it in the future and I’ll forgive you. “Oh Sandy’s name is spelled ‘Sandie’” is not reason to contact your entire fan base. By all means send an e-mail if you really screwed something up, but the less e-mails sent, the happier your recipients.
- See if mailing list software is available to handle your mailing list - this allows your fan base to sign up for your shows at performances and allows you to e-mail them all from a central interface. This kind of stuff is available through most service providers, and is extremely valuable as you grow and expand. See the Improv Everywhere site.
- Keep it short and sweet - I adore you, I can’t wait to see you on stage again, but let’s get this e-mail over with as quickly as possible — so I can get back to my funny.
I know this all might seem a little harsh, but I assure you if you are more focused with your promotion, you will keep fans happy in the long run. Most of all you keep me happy and keeping me happy is really what’s important isn’t it?
Lastly, I hope you all have great shows this weekend and I can’t wait to get your one e-mail next weekend.
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6 Comments
I think people send individual e-mails because they send them to their individual friends, not necessarily to their group’s “fans” that would sign a mailing list– not to mention, most people are involved with several different things. I’ve sent out a single plug e-mail for three separate shows with separate casts, all in the same week.
I agree about BCCs, though.
I think it gets a little tricky when various members start e-mailing several people. Sure, there are the occasional members of groups who are part of more than one group or project, but the majority of e-mails I am getting are from multiple members of single groups.
While I completely agree with you it’s important to e-mail individual friends, the sheer amount of e-mails I have received is ridiculous.
I think the major point is that a performance group is an entity and should be treated as such. Sure there’s a bit of grass roots communication inherent in small groups, but as a person receiving e-mails it really puts me off to get so many e-mails about the same shows.
Ben, you are quickly becoming the Andy Rooney of improv.
I’ve got to agree with Hal here. They’re emails people send to their friends. Not BCC’ing is dumb, but other than that…is it that big of a deal? So multiple people from one group email you…and? A group is not an entity, Ben, it is a collection of people of who try to get their friends to come to their shows. If more than one person in a group considers you a friend, and would like to see you at a show, then consider it a compliment, not a crushing weight upon your email inbox.
Am I the only one who thinks 40+ e-mails is too many e-mails? Am I being unreasonable?
I agree that 40 emails is a lot, but I’d rather have 40 emails from friends than the usual junk I get from bestbuy.com, etc. And at the end of the day, I get people to come out to shows by sending emails, and the folks who don’t want to come, or read my emails, don’t have to. I have a bunch of friends on my mailing lists who aren’t even in the city, but like to keep up with the ol’ career. Bottom line is we have a lot of friends who do shows, so we’re going to get a lot of emails because that’s how the average (ie-non-improv inundated, irc-focused, person) finds out about our stuff.
By the way, I sound like a pissy bitch in that post. Sorry independent groups… I’ve given it a little thought and perhaps I should shut it up.