How to get photo booth customers to open your email and reply.

Email marketing is one of my favorite topics.  When a customer gives you their email address, you want to do everything you can to make sure they open and read your reply.  Email inboxes can be a crowded a place, especially with some of our clients.  Consider a bride or wedding planner who is inquiring about all kinds of wedding related services and all the associated emails that follow.

The subject line.
As  your customer scans through their email inbox, you want to make sure that they open your email.  The best way to insure this is to grab their attention with the subject line.  Here is the subject line that over the years has worked best for me:
“Jennifer (your customer’s name) – Your Photo Booth Inquiry”

Why is this subject line effective?  People respond well to seeing their own name.  Think about being in a noisy crowd of people.  Usually, regardless of the volume of the noise, if someone calls out your name, you can hear it.  We are programmed to respond to seeing and hearing our names be called.

I also think the word “Your” is a factor.  I like reminding people that this is not an unsolicited email, it’s not spam. The potential customer asked me for more information and I think “Your” serves as a good reminder that they initiated the conversation.

Another subject line technique that is effective, but a little bit “internet marketing guruish” is to write it like this:
“RE: Jennifer (your customer’s name) – Your Photo Booth Inquiry”

The “RE:” gives your email the appearance that this is not the first time you have emailed each other.  Technically, if the customer is requesting information from you, it is a reply, so I don’t have a huge problem with this.  Perhaps just give this a try if you have someone who goes silent after your initial email.

How to create some urgency.

In past blog posts I’ve written about how to connect and build quick relationships with your customers via email.
If you missed those, read them here:

Why My Wife Makes More Sales Than I Do.
How to relate to photo booth customers, part 1.
How to relate to photo booth customers, part 2.

I’ve noticed that photo booth rental customers aren’t always in a hurry.  Often they are inquiring about an event that is a year or even 2 years away.  For the inquiries that are years away, it is not really possible to create much urgency.

However, for the customers who inquire about our availability for events that are weeks and/or months away, there is a simple sentence I use to create some urgency for them to place a deposit and get on our calendar. Here is the line:

“We do have one photo booth still available for xx/xx/xx.”

The keyword here that creates the urgency is one.  Now, I only have one photo booth so this is always the case if the calendar is open.  Even if you have multiple photo booths, and they both are available, it’s also true that one is available.  I’m not suggesting anyone lie about their availability, it’s just a creative use of words.

If you have had other customers inquire about the same date, you can also mention other people have inquired about the same date.  I know this sounds a little like a used car salesman, but if it’s true, it’s true.

BONUS TIP:

When a customer submits our online form for more information about a photo booth rental, I used to just reply to them with an email and leave it at that.

One of the fields on our contact form is for a phone number, and surprisingly, most people fill it out. I don’t call them, unless they request to be called, I think it’s appropriate to communicate with the method that they initiated.