The disco ball strobes, lights glow, and music throbs. Everyone’s dabbing and strutting, twisting and twerking, in their finest club duds. Only this isn’t a nightclub or a warehouse party — it’s a living room or a bedroom (hey, even a pantry!) in any household attending an Online Dance Party. 

“I love making people happy, and I love it when they tell me that they’re happy,” says Cynthia Crawford, host and DJ of Online Dance Parties. “That’s what I live for.” 

Toronto-based Crawford has been hosting Online Dance Parties since 2020. The idea stems from a pandemic-thwarted desire to hit the clubs, party, and, of course, dress up. Today, twice a week (on Fridays and Saturdays), she brings together dance fiends across North America, with an average 60 people logging on to groove. Most event-goers sport fabulous attire and street-ready makeup in the Zoom “ballroom.” 

People dancing over Zoom

Marketing online events involves fostering meaningful digital relationships with your audience, and using Eventbrite Boost, Crawford does just that. “When I ran Boost’s email campaign, I got a lot of responses and a lot of people showed up. It was a big, big boost – hey, that’s a good name.” 

43.7% open rates for email (and other boogie-worthy stats)

In March, Crawford hosted a Saturday-night event dedicated to throwback tunes. Featuring  ’80s and ’90s song battles – plus disco – the Online Dance Party was free (per usual) and held on Zoom.

Online Dance Party event listing

Crawford used Eventbrite Boost to send an email campaign two and a half weeks before the event. The email copy succinctly described the event while also conveying its time (10:00 PM EST) and location (Zoom). The image in the email — a colorful illustration depicting iconic symbols of the decades represented in the event — matched the image for Crawford’s event listing. 

email campaign results dashboard

The email campaign reached 3,550 email addresses. This meant 43.7% of recipients opened the email, and 4.3% clicked through. More than half of the people who clicked through the email registered for the event. The email drove 98 registrations — nearly 50% of the 212 people that ultimately registered for the event. 

Crawford was floored. “I owe so much of my success to Eventbrite Boost,” she says. And her success is notable. According to Mailchimp’s 2022 Email Marketing report, average open rates for email marketing campaigns are 21.7% and average click-thru rates are 2.62%. No wonder Eventbrite users call it their “secret sauce.”  

Cutting a rug on future campaigns 

Before using Eventbrite Boost, Crawford’s marketing tactics were limited to publishing events on Facebook. She tried Instagram and Meetup with limited success. But Boost’s email campaigns moved the needle. Since using them, she’s seen social engagement and registrations go up. 

Now Crawford relies on Boost’s email marketing campaigns for getting out the word in advance. (She’s been excited to promote her Halloween and holiday events for months.) Given the volume of her events, she’s mindful about bundling announcements in her emails blast. Her logic: “Let me just send one email campaign, including both of the events, so users won’t feel harassed.”

How can email marketing campaigns be so effective? One reason is their remarketing capabilities. With Boost’s email marketing tools, Crawford can quickly upload and save contacts from other platforms, and people that buy tickets to her events automatically get added to her subscriber list for easy re-engagement. 

Building a jamming community with Boost

Building brand awareness and building a jamming community — Boost’s email campaigns is a key part of Online Dance Parties event marketing strategy.  

Crawford recommends Eventbrite Boost’s email tools for everybody, “even live events. I can’t think of one that I would discourage from using it.”

And with the tips she receives from her events, she looks forward to investing in Paid Social Ads and Boost’s Instagram Growth Playbook. (After all, creators who used Paid Social Ads sold 3.5x more tickets per event*.) As Crawford says, “I wanna put every penny back into it.” 

 *Eventbrite data 5/1/2022 – 12/1/2022 comparing events promoted with Paid Social Ads with any event that was not promoted with the same tool.