360 Virtual Entertainment, Education and Tours
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Email is one of the oldest forms of online communication and arguably it is still one of the best. It was developed before the internet. Initially it was based on sending a document to a folder at a particular online address. Email isn’t likely to be going away any time soon, it's too convenient and too effective for users of all skill levels.
Virtual Tours are a more recent development and a step ahead for businesses that engage potential customers in a display room or physical space. We want people to have a great experience when they visit your location. They will have a look through the displays and exhibits and have a conversation with an attendant or salesperson. Online this means walking through a virtual tour engaging with information hotspots, displays and embedded media. An email form links them to a personal connection and follow up information. The email conversation is now embedded in an ongoing experience.
It's really import for people to feel welcomed when they enter a display space. It is customary in the real world. On digital, however, it is often overlooked assuming that visitors can find their own way around, and while the user interface need to be easy and intuitive to operate it can never replace a human interaction. We approach that in two different ways. The first is to greet visitors with a welcome video. It's a human interaction but not a personal one. The second is to have live guided tours within the digital space, a kind of presentation or conference call inside of a virtual tour. These are the closest thing to being there in person but much easier for all concerned. But back to today's topic - email.
Here are seven reasons why I think it is worth learning an email system for a creative business. I think it is particularly useful for these kinds of businesses. When there’re a limited number of products for sale, there is no need for mass marketing, rather the opposite. Art works or products tend to have individual appeal for their aesthetics rather than their functionality.
This means that it is important to have a simple system so that attention can be given to developing positive relationships. Many small business owners want to manage their own messaging so hiring an expert may not be attractive at all. Perhaps the most significant feature is the automation provided by the system so that you can send individualised messages to people on your list. Let look at each point in turn.
Contacts choose to add their names to your list. They confirm that they want to be there. So that means that you're talking to people who are really interested in what you are doing and they are likely to want to develop a relationship with you and your creative work. This is important because you don't want to be sending emails to people who aren’t interested. It adds an overhead to your email system that simply isn't necessary. When people subscribe to a list or register for an event they’re letting you know that they’re are interested in what you have to offer and likely to appreciate a conversation about what you do.
Nobody owns email. Companies can develop their own email clients that belong to them but the email itself is on a free and open platform. I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that email is going to be around for a long time to come.
We use email for personal communication of any length and in real time. While it shares some of the same features as Messenger, it is much more flexible. Email feels more private Than Messenger and similar platforms. Maintaining positive relationships with community is an important part of a business practices and I think that there is always a place for email.
Unlike social media, business owners can manage email systems themselves. It doesn’t require high-level understanding of advertising platforms. When the communications are of a personal nature, it makes sense to use email. You don’t end up with content on platforms you don’t control.
Email data is readily available through your email service. It gives “open rates, click through‘s on embedded links, tagging systems that describe past actions of people on your list and much more. It allows you to make strategic decisions based on evidence.
To me the real genius of email systems is the auto responder, a feature that sends selected emails to selected people on your list depending on past behaviours. For example, they might click to get a download, an e-book or checklist. Once that happens, the system automatically sends a follow up ‘thank you’ and a series of messages if you choose. It can drip feed a mini course over a period of time, automatically sending them at the same time of day and the same time of the week. It helps establish routines that recipients can anticipate and look forward to engaging with a new message.
And finally, I’ve already mentioned sending particular emails to particular people on the list depending on the past behaviours but I want to say it again. We can have the system send a welcome sequence of emails automatically that we’ve set up before hand. They can automatically be applied to anyone joining your list.