Time for holiday fun!
Join the Aurora Area Convention and Visitors Bureau staff for some holiday cheer at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17 at Ballydoyle Irish Pub & Restaurant in downtown Aurora, 28 E. New York St.
There’s still time to let us know that you’d like to join us for scrumptious hors d’oeuvres and fun at Aurora’s newest place to hang out. Heck, Sue Vos will even offer one of her infamous toasts!
The cost is $10 per person and cash bar at Ballydoyle’s. Contact Ellen Mueller at 630-897-3891 or ellen@enjoyaurora.com to RSVP.
E-mail still hits the mark
Marketing experts know that e-mail is one of the most effective ways to market to and communicate with customers and prospects. Few marketing tactics offer the speed, low cost and measurability of e-mail. With these benefits, it’s important to make the most out of your e-mail marketing efforts.
Here are five practical tips to help you achieve continued success as an email marketer.
Manage Your List. Accuracy and targeted will increase response rates and ROI.
Be relevant. Develop content that your audience wants to hear.
Deliver on your promises. Stick to your word on the amount/type and frequency of e-mails you will be sending out.
Include calls to action in your e-mails. Also, share new or interesting angles on your existing product(s).
Look beyond your own list. Consider buying advertising in e-newsletters of related material that offer a large circulation of opt-in readers, a similar audience and strong open rates.
When properly executed, email campaigns can be one of your most valuable marketing strategies and an integral part of your marketing mix. Take advantage of these tips to ensure you’re using email marketing to the best of its potential.
Source: MediaPost
How to pitch busy TV reporters
National health beat TV reporter Bair offers some ideas when pitching a story during her busy day at WGN TV. Often voicemails and phone calls demand way too much time so she suggests her favorite way: via e-mail.
She also offers tips on the ever-important subject line.
“You can’t promise to cure cancer, and then do nothing of the sort, because if you do that, I’ll delete your e-mail without responding to it.”
The best pitches:
Include the five W’s in the first two paragraphs; lure the reporter to read for detail further down.
Be creative, but cut down on flowery details.
Think of your pitch as a two-minute creative story idea. Will it hold viewer interest?
Consider if the story will interest the reporter’s viewers instantly.
Source: Ragan’s PR Daily
U.S. Sports Congress a hit!
Michelle Glosser, Group Sales Director for the AACVB, attended the 4th annual U.S. Sports Congress held in Henderson, Nevada Dec.6-9, 2009. The U.S. Sports Congress is a one-of-a-kind conference where DMO’s and sports rights holders meet with an incredible one-to-one ratio. This intimate setting allowed Michelle priceless networking opportunities with the 23 rights holders in attendance from USA sanctioning bodies from Colorado Springs, AAU sports managers from Orlando, NAIA, Youth Basketball of America, Advanced Tournaments, and Youth Golf of America—to name a few.
Stephen A. Smith, once widely recognized as one of the most popular voices on ESPN was the event keynote speaker. He shared his experiences from his professional journalism highlights, primarily with NBA professionals.
After attending two other sports conferences this year, Glosser adds “this is the most personal, face-to-face conference of its kind for me. I not only learn about potential events that may be a match for our venues in the Aurora Area, but make lifetime friends. After all, I truly believe people do business with people they know and like!”