Outdoor Events & Advance Ticket Sales

Here's my concern with list rental to market and promote events . . . Not ONE event marketer I've talked to has had ANY notable success renting a list to promote their event. Let me be straight here, that doesn't mean renting a list WON'T work to promote your event. The reasons for failure could be numerous - including mistakes made by the event organizer. As an event marketer, you need to be knowledgeable on list marketing before you ever rent or buy a list.

List Rental (Partnering) Case Study
Let me give you a little historical perspective from my own experience - For the past two years one client has used partner lists to help market their event. These partner lists are essentially list rentals, minus the obvious expense. The demographic and psycho-graphic profiles of the partner lists were an ideal match for the client's event. A total of 23,000 people came from two partner lists and accounted for approximately 10% of the total revenue. The client's HOME GROWN list of 12,000 people accounted for almost 90% of the total revenue.

Vet the List!
Before you ever consider paying to use someone else's list - Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions and vet their list. Many event marketers get duped by list size, don't do the same. List quality is much more important than list quantity. Check out "Event Marketing: Your Email List - Quality versus Quantity" for some simple list vetting questions.

Start with Testing a Small Segment of the List
You should never allow anyone to pressure you into mailing an entire list at once. You're better off paying more to test a small portion of the list. If you do anything with a list broker, start with TESTING a small segment of their list. If the test proves successful, then do another test. As you test and get favorable results, then scale up. Never get pressured into renting an entire list all at once.

Any good list broker should be happy to allow you to test. Additionally, your list broker should be a trusted adviser focused on getting you results. Here's why . . . If a list broker's database is "that good," why wouldn't they want to establish a long term relationship with you? Ultimately that means your success and more business for them.

The Ultimate Event Marketing List
Here's the bottom line, if you do decide to rent a list - please be sure to properly vet that list and start small. Test a small portion of the list, then scale up. Never jump into a list all at once.

My strong recommendation is to build your own house list of prospects and customers. In 2008, a client converted 31.0% of their 10 month old house list into paying event attendees. No list broker on planet Earth can top a smartly compiled HOUSE list.

Here are some list building articles to get you going:

• An Important Event Web Site Statistic for Promoters and Event Planners
• Shocking Event Web Site Stat - Most People Only Visit Once
• Automatically Generate Leads for Your Event Year Round
• Event Marketing: Start Building Your List Early
• Your Opt-in Offer and Using Specific Words
• Form Placement and Growing Your List