Let’s be real: if you wear five hats in your chorus—like marketing director, singer, development team (hi, donor thank-you letters), and occasional program-stuffer—you definitely don’t have time for a 3-month email strategy. You barely have time to eat dinner before rehearsal (amirite?).
But, love it or hate it (or even if you’ve never used it), email is still one of the most effective ways to get butts in seats… And engage your biggest fans. Put simply, email is a crucial part of any effective digital marketing strategy.
So, the million-dollar question is: How do you do email without losing your mind?
Short answer: keep it simple and sustainable.
And because I care about you, your success AND your sanity, I’m going to walk you through how.
If you’re just getting started, you don’t need a fancy customer relationship management (CRM) tool or complicated spreadsheet (yet). Pick an email platform like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or even ActiveCampaign.
Pro tip #1: Your audience is small enough that personalization like “Dear Susan” isn’t make-or-break. Focus on clarity over customization.
Pro tip #2: Mailchimp offers a free tier! Actually, all three platforms offer a discount for verified nonprofits.
Look. No one’s expecting the Met Gala of email layouts. Just make sure it’s easy to read on a phone. Need help getting started? Here’s a basic email layout that you can roll with:
You don’t have to send an email every Tuesday at 10 am just because someone said that’s the best time. Just send them at key moments, so you’re not overloading your list or driving yourself crazy.
However, when you’re in the throes of concert season, you’re going to want to stay top-of-mind with your audience to help sell tickets! In the weeks leading up to your concert, you need to cut through the noise. So, for these times, you’ll want to send one email per week!
Here’s a basic concert cycle promotion plan to get you started (as borrowed from Jen Roger’s comprehensive—and amazing—DIY Digital Marketing Campaign guide):
4 weeks before
3 weeks before
2 weeks before
Week of concert
Plus: You can send two additional emails per season for things like “Support Us” or “Season Announcement.”
That’s it! That’s your calendar. You’re a genius.
Your email needs one clear ask. Just one. Not “Buy tickets, follow us on Instagram, donate, and sign up for the bake sale.”
Instead, use ONE clear CTA like:
I know you’ve got a ton of clever CTA ideas, but in the spirit of keeping things simple (and for your own sanity, I swear!), just use one. Save the rest for social media captions.
Did no one open the email about your Spring Sing Spectacular? That’s OK. Try a clearer subject line next time. Maybe something like:
Most email platforms give you access to various performance metrics—such as open rate and click rate—to help give you an idea of how well your email performed.
What does “open rate” mean?
In the context of email marketing, an open rate is a metric that tells you—of the emails that were successfully delivered to recipients (e.g., didn’t end up in spam)—what percentage of people actually OPENED the email. To that end, the open rate can be used to measure the effectiveness of your email subject line. In other words, was your subject line engaging enough to inspire readers to open the email and see what’s inside?
What does “click rate” mean?
Once an email has been opened, how do we determine if the content of our email was effective? By measuring its effectiveness with the click rate. The click rate is a metric that tells you—out of the emails that were opened—what percentage of those received at least ONE click on the hyperlinked content, such as a button, an image or hyperlinked text.
So, be sure to take a peek at that data and use it to guide your future emails, not to judge yourself.
Reminder: You're a chorus marketer, not a spam robot. You're doing great.
Email doesn’t have to be scary. I know it may sound easier said than done, but I promise you that with one list, one template, and a few well-timed sends, you can keep your audience engaged without burning out. That’s right.
But what you do need is water, snacks, and a reminder that progress > perfection.
So cue up that concert graphic, write like you talk, and hit send.
Your future self (and your ticket sales) will thank you!
Has your chorus ventured into uncharted email marketing waters? If you haven’t explored email yet, does this email give you some confidence to give it a try? I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions. Share away, in the comments!