We have had a continuous promotion here in San Diego where we give all first time dancers a free pass for the NEXT time they come. This has worked pretty well for us, and we do get people bringing those passes back for the second time free - and sometimes they use them to bring a free guest. It's an incentive for them to come back - and I think that if someone dances twice they may have a chance the second time when it is isn't as overwhelming to relax and to really really enjoy it. Overall we have kept this promotion going for about 2 years? now and feel it is successful enough to continue. Martha
On Apr 8, 2014, at 9:00 AM, [email protected] wrote: > > 2. "First Time Dancers Get in Free" Promotion (William Loving) > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2014 12:18:30 -0400 > From: William Loving <[email protected]> > To: Caller's discussion list <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Callers] Creating a CDSS dance depository > Message-ID: > <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > "First Time Dancers get in Free" Promotion Results: > > For five weeks this winter we ran a special promotion at the Downtown Amherst > dance that all First Time Contra dancers get in free. The results were > impressive: > > Jan 29 -12 > Feb 26 - 10 > Mar 5 - 20 > Mar 19 - 8 > Mar 29 - 9 > > Total new dancers: 59 Avg: 11.8 Median: 10 > Overall attendance was normal meaning the variations in "Free" numbers was > not affected by the band as far as I could tell. > > Many of the new dancers said they would be back and in fact I saw quite a few > of them both at subsequent dances in Amherst and at Greenfield. Some came > early in the promotion and then brought friends the following week. Our > organizing committee has discussed various options to draw new dancers, > primarily "First Time Free" and "Second Time Free". The "Second Time Free" > option gives you more feedback about how many returnees you are actually > getting; the "First Time Free" simply lowers the bar to the ground and is > harder to resist (friend to friend). (We also included the option for anyone > who might have tried contra once or twice a long time ago to be considered > "First Time" but I don't know that anyone came in saying that.) > > Our series averages 75-85 total each week with a range of 60-160 depending on > the band. The median is definitely under 100 but has gradually increased over > the last almost four years. > > I think the promotion was a tremendous success and we're having an ongoing > discussion about whether to try "Second Time Free" for a while or just > implement "First Time Free" periodically. For programming reasons, I don't > think it makes sense to have it for every dance, especially dances that will > be extremely full, such as if Elixir or PeM play or if it's a techno contra > (which has other issues for beginning dancers). However, we might pick a > month or a block of dates and do it again periodically. > > Sincerely, > > Will > > Will Loving > Founder & Programming Director > Downtown Amherst Contra Dance > http://amherstcontra.org > > ------------------------------ > > > > > >> >> > > End of Callers Digest, Vol 116, Issue 5 > ***************************************
