Email and Event Marketing Keep Chamber Members In The Know

Located 29 miles northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina, Lincoln County is home to 76,000 residents and the businesses, associations, and organizations that serve them. The Lincolnton-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce works with its 700 members to enhance the quality of life and foster economic health by hosting numerous events and programs, including a "Shop Local" campaign. Constant Contact Email Marketing and Event Marketing contribute to the chamber's success by keeping everyone well informed.

Challenge: Making the Most of Constant Contact

Lisa Wallace can recall – she just doesn't like to – what it was like to communicate with the membership of the Lincolnton-Lincoln County Chamber before 2007, when the business organization joined Constant Contact. For Lisa's first four years at the chamber, where she serves as office manager, announcements for every event and a bimonthly newsletter were printed and mailed to members. "It was very time consuming," she remembers. "You'd compose the newsletter, send it to the printer, and wait to get it back, and then go through the standard mailing process. By using Constant Contact, we're able to give much more immediate news and information." Today, the chamber strives to use Email and Event Marketing to the fullest potential – and plans to try using social media as a further means of promoting the chamber and its members.

Solution: Learning and Working with Email and Event Marketing

The chamber first heard about Constant Contact through a member's recommendation. Then, a visit to a neighboring chamber of commerce that uses Email Marketing revealed the ease and professionalism of member communications. "It was something that I immediately wanted because I'm the one who does our newsletter," Lisa recalls, adding, "The board of directors was sold on it just like I was." That was three years ago. Since then, the chamber has added Event Marketing.

Our information is now getting into the hands of the people who really need it. Members receive The Buzz, the chamber's email newsletter, twice a month, with articles, member spotlights, announcements, recaps and photos of past events, and a calendar of all upcoming events. Event Marketing is used to promote all chamber programs, seminars, and functions, plus more than 40 "grand openings" held at member locations throughout the year. Because each opening gets a dedicated email invitation and event homepage with detailed information, Lisa loves that she can set up several events at once and schedule distribution to the membership in advance.

Email and Event Marketing allow members to link directly to registration pages, eliminating the need to phone or email the chamber to reserve a spot. "The best feature is members can automatically register, pay, and add it to their calendars," Lisa says. "They can do it sitting at home in their pajamas if they're checking email at home. It has helped our registrations come in more quickly."

Lisa continually explores Email and Event Marketing functionality and relies on Constant Contact's regional development director, online chats, and customer service to maximize her use of the programs. "Any time I've needed help or had a question, people have been very responsive, very knowledgeable," she reports. "You can tell they enjoy what they do – they have that smile in their voice."

Results: Ready Now for Social Media

In the seven years that Lisa has worked for the Lincolnton-Lincoln chamber, the membership has grown from 425 to 700 and the email list is nearing 1,000. Whereas printed communications were sent primarily to a single contact at a member business, email communications can be targeted to additional members within a company.

"Our information is now getting into the hands of the people who really need it," Lisa says, noting that this helps increase registrations without additional cost. The email list is managed on a monthly basis, which results in a less than 1.7% bounced email rate per mailing. In addition, the open rate averages 28%, which Lisa attributes in part to great subject lines. "People are very busy today and I think you have to capture them right off the bat with the subject line," she explains.

Delighted with the professional look of their communication, the positive feedback from members, and the ease and efficiency of working with Email and Event Marketing, the Lincolnton-Lincoln County Chamber is now exploring the use of social media to further promote its activities and its members.

"Right now we're talking about beginning to use Facebook," Lisa says. Materials produced using Email and Event Marketing can be automatically linked to various social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn simply by checking a box as the email or event is created. "Some of our board members do this for their businesses and they see it as another way to promote our chamber."