When Michelle Padilla began her job as manager of marketing communications for the Cincinnati Museum in 2002, she was faced with the challenge of growing an opt-in subscriber list for the museum’s e-mail newsletters. At the time, the list contained about 500 names.
Padilla must have done something right. Today, the file has over 10,000 subscribers.
Members and visitors were allowed a variety of options by which they could opt in. In addition to existing kiosks outside the museum, e-mail address fields were added to membership forms and Web site visitors were given the opportunity to sign up for general or specialized information including OMNIMAX Theater updates, educational events, programs and exhibits.
But Padilla was worried about one registration avenue: The pop-up registration box on the museum's home page. She was concerned that it would overwhelm or annoy site visitors. "I strived to keep it simple and tasteful," she says. "And I wanted it designed so that visitors returning to the home page did not get the pop-up again."
Incentives were added to the pop-up box to encourage visitors to sign-up for the newsletter such as the ability to win a year of cable or winning free tickets to park plays. As it turns out, says Padilla, moving ahead with the pop-up registration box was very beneficial since that's where the newsletters receive most of their sign-ups.
The museum uses ExactTarget to create and deliver its e-newsletters depending on each subscriber's profile. Subscribers who have indicated "general" museum interest receive monthly event news and updates. Those interested in the OMNIMAX Theater receive special offers and coupons. Readers of the educator’s newsletter receive content related to school tours, teacher events and exhibits. The member letter offers benefits and discounts specific to members. History, science and children's event newsletters are sent on an as-needed basis.
According to Padilla, this targeted approach has led to high open rates and low unsubscribe rates. This month, the Cincinnati Museum Center eNewsletter logged an open rate of 29.2% and a clickthrough rate of 7.8%. In addition, it generated eight forwards-to-friends and one new subscriber.
In contrast, the Cincinnati Museum Center Member eUpdate had an open rate of 45.7% and a clickthrough rate of 14.4%, and it prompted 13 forwards. The OMNIMAX eClub Newsletter posted a 33.6% open rate, a 4% clickthrough rate and seven forwards. And Cincinnati Museum Center Educators eNews had a 36% open rate, a 7.3% clickthrough rate, 10 forwards and one new subscriber.
The museum now has 10,413 names on its general subscriber list. In contrast, the membership file contains 7,970 names, and the exclusive teachers list has 898. But those numbers are not a clear indication of the number of e-mails sent. "When I send to teachers and OMNIMAX subscribers, I may also target those on our general list who have showed interest in those topics," Padilla adds.
When e-newsletter content overlaps, Padilla highlights aspects specific to individual audiences in an effort to keep the newsletters short. For example, in the education newsletter the content for a lecture series, which is also promoted in the general newsletter, may include information on continuing education credits. Or a film in OMNIMAX e-News may go out in the Educators eNews with information on downloading a teacher's guide. Then a link is provided to the Web site for more information.
"What doesn't work is forcing things on people and sending too many e-mails," Padilla says.
She adds that she’s become very “protective” over her e-mail list since others at the museum have realized its benefits. “We sent out more for a while and unsubscribe rates went up. We were sending too many to the same people,” she says.
Moving forward, Padilla maintains that she is as careful with her lists as she is with the newsletter content and links. “If the eNews is too long, people get overwhelmed and don't open it,” she continues. “Also I try not to repeat content and just link to the Web site so readers don't read the same thing in two different places. It's been a lot of trial and error and we're still learning."
