Email and Lifecycle Marketing
I use email as a long-term relationship channel. My work focuses on segmentation, automations, and messages that support organizational goals over time, whether that’s sales, engagement, or membership growth.
Below are selected email campaigns that demonstrate how I apply this approach in practice with organizations with different audiences, tools, and constraints.
Lifecycle and Automation Systems
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I design email systems that respond to audience behavior over time, rather than relying solely on one-off campaigns. These systems run quietly in the background, supporting retention, repeat engagement, and membership growth without requiring constant manual intervention.
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The Newtown Theatre serves a wide range of patrons, from frequent attendees to people who come once a year. With a small team and no CRM, the risk was over-emailing active patrons while failing to re-engage more casual audiences.
I built a lifecycle-oriented email system based on audience behavior rather than static lists. Subscribers are segmented by factors such as attendance history, ticket purchase behavior, genre interest, and membership status. Messaging adjusts based on what someone has actually done, not just what list they’re on.
These automations are designed to:Encourage repeat attendance after a recent visit
Nudge frequent patrons toward membership at the right moment
Re-engage subscribers who haven’t attended recently
Reduce fatigue by suppressing messages to highly active audiences when appropriate
Examples
Post-attendance follow-up emails encouraging a return visit
Automated re-engagement emails sent to lapsed attendees
Membership nudges triggered by attendance frequency
Suppression logic to prevent over-messaging active patrons
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Post-attendance follow-up emails encouraging repeat visits
Targeted “What’s Coming Up” emails based on genre preferences
Membership promotion emails segmented by attendance frequency
Re-engagement emails sent to subscribers who haven’t attended recently
Content and Engagement Marketing
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I use email to maintain ongoing relationships with audiences, not just to promote events or drive immediate action. These programs focus on consistency, relevance, and tone, helping organizations stay present and useful in subscribers’ inboxes over time.
This kind of work requires editorial judgment and strong copywriting skills. The goal is to earn attention month after month without exhausting it.
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The seven-branch Bucks County Free Library serves a large, diverse subscriber base with different interests, reading habits, and levels of engagement. Maintaining regular communication without overwhelming subscribers required content that felt genuinely valuable rather than promotional.
I developed recurring content-driven email programs that gave subscribers a reason to open emails even when there was no urgent ask.
One example is Staff Picks, a monthly email highlighting recommended books and materials. The format was simple and familiar, but the content rotated regularly, allowing the program to remain fresh yet consistent.
Another example is Free With Your Library Card, an annual content-focused campaign during Library Card Sign-Up Month that showcased lesser-known library offerings. Rather than repeating the same messaging used elsewhere throughout the year, the emails reframed existing services in new ways, helping subscribers rediscover the value of their library card.
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Average open rate: 73%
Average click rate: 1.5%
Free With Your Library Card – Annual Campaign
Average open rate: 55%
Average click rate: 1.7%
Event Marketing
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I use email to drive attendance and participation for time-bound events, balancing urgency with clarity and audience relevance. This work focuses on sequencing, timing, and message discipline, making sure promotions feel intentional rather than repetitive, even when volume is high.
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The Newtown Theatre’s Black & White Dinner is an annual fundraising event with a unique identity: a communal alfresco dinner that brings hundreds of supporters together. Unlike a performance announcement, this fundraiser relies on building anticipation, conveying atmosphere, and reminding people of the community value of the event.
The challenge was to design an email sequence that:
Felt curated and timely
Reflected the visual richness of the event
Supported sales without overwhelming subscribers
Transitioned naturally from awareness to attendance
I developed an event-driven email sequence for the 2025 Black & White Dinner that used pacing, audience-appropriate visuals, and layered messaging to drive both participation and connection. Rather than a single “buy tickets now” message, the series unfolded in purposeful stages, each serving a distinct role in the promotional arc.
The sequence included:
A clear, visually engaging announcement email to introduce the event
Narrative and photographic invitations that showcased the experience rather than just logistical details
Tiered reminders that escalated urgency as the event approached
Logistics and expectation setting messages that helped attendees know what to bring, how to dress, and what to expect
Last-minute nudges timed appropriately to avoid fatigue but maximize recall
Throughout the series, rich photography and elegant design reinforced the event’s celebratory tone and positioned the fundraiser as both a social occasion and a critical source of support for the theatre.
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48.3% Open Rate
2.5% Click Rate
55.4% Open Rate
2.8% Click Rate
47.9% Open Rate
1.9% Click Rate
48.2% Open Rate
1.5% Click Rate
46.1% Open Rate
1.0% Click Rate
SMS Marketing
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I use SMS as a high-intent promotional channel designed to complement email. At the Newtown Theatre, SMS is used selectively to surface upcoming events to highly engaged patrons at moments when a timely reminder can make the difference between intent and action.
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As a small nonprofit theatre with frequent ticketed events, the Newtown Theatre needed a way to reach its most engaged audiences in the days leading up to a weekend of performances. While email remained the primary communication channel, SMS offered an opportunity to reinforce awareness and capture last-minute ticket buyers.
I launched an SMS program focused exclusively on weekly promotional reminders. The goal was simple: help people who already care about the theatre stay aware of what’s coming up, without overwhelming them or creating confusion about where to find critical information.SMS is intentionally used only for a weekly “here’s what’s coming up” message with a direct link to purchase tickets. SMS is not used at this time for weather updates, event logistics, or operational announcements.
Subscribers opt in through the website, during the ticket purchase process, or by texting a short code displayed before events. Opt-in is explicit and clearly framed as a weekly promotional reminder. I manage list hygiene manually, including importing subscribers from the ticketing platform into Mailchimp.
In its first six month, the SMS program has welcomed over 2,200 SMS subscribers. Engagement has been consistently strong, with average click rates in the 18–20% range.