Boomerang is an app for Gmail that basically remembers who you need to follow up with and when. It has a couple features that I love to use for booking purposes and fan engagement and it saves me a lot of time and energy.
Automatically Send E-mails at Pre-Selected Times
My favorite thing about Boomerang is it’s ability to send out pre-written e-mails at future times. I’ve been in situations where I’m trying to book wineries or festivals and the talent buyer doesn’t start booking until a certain time in the year. It’s difficult to keep track of all those dates, but with Boomerang you can write the e-mail and schedule it to send automatically whenever that time arrives without having to give it a second thought. Write a booking pitch whenever you want, but schedule it to be sent later and you don’t have to rely on your memory to get the job done.
Another situation in which this tool could be helpful is when you need to advance shows. As your show date gets closer, it’s always good practice to shoot another e-mail confirming that you will be there and addressing other pertinent details such as load in times, set list, stage plots, equipment needs, parking/load in arrangements, etc. With Boomerang, a show advance e-mail can be written up immediately after confirming the booking and it can be scheduled to send at a later date and time. That way, when it comes time to advance the show, Boomerang remembers that it needs to be done, and sends the e-mail for you. It’s like your very own personal assistant. It keeps track of important follow-up dates which leaves you time to do other things.
There are many other ways to apply this feature in your day to day work flow and one way is with fan outreach. Even though I have a newsletter platform, I also try to send out personal notes to fans as well. When they tell me they have an important date coming up or mention anything they are looking forward to in the future, I use Boomerang to craft a personal message to them. For example, I was chatting with a fan about an upcoming move to a new house. I replied to her message congratulating her on the new home. But I also created an additional message asking how her move went and how she’s liking her new home. I scheduled it with Boomerang to be sent a few days after her closing date. When that day came, Boomerang sent the message and she responded telling me how sweet it was that I remembered her big day. The truth is, I had forgotten about it. But thanks to Boomerang, it looked like I was on top of things.
Another cool feature is that you can schedule recurring messages. This can be used for birthdays, anniversaries, subscription updates, and more.
Get Reminders if People Don’t Respond
The other thing I really love about Boomerang is that it sends you reminders to follow-up with someone if they hadn’t responded to your initial e-mail. This is great for booking efforts because it keeps track of who you need to follow-up with for you. Let’s say you shoot an e-mail to a venue asking for a performance date. If after a week or so you don’t hear anything, you will need to send another e-mail asking again. How do you keep track of this? I used to keep logs to help me remember, but with Boomerang you don’t need to do that as much. After sending the initial e-mail, you can create a boomerang and set it up to send yourself a reminder at anytime you would like. So if the person doesn’t respond by a certain time, Boomerang will send you a reminder based on your specifications.
Boomerang is free to use, however there is a premium tier if you want to use more features. I’ve been using the free version without needing to upgrade. If you’re a DIY independent artist like me, I recommend using Boomerang. It will revolutionize your workflow.
At this time, Boomerang is available for Gmail users. It works similar to an app. It needs to be downloaded to your e-mail system and operated as an add-on. To get started, go to Boomerang here – and click on the big red button that says ‘add this to your Gmail.’ Follow the prompts and you can begin using it right away.
I’ve included a quick video demonstrating how to use the features I mentioned so you can see how it works.
This is pretty genius Anitra. I put all that info in a Google Excel Spreadsheet, but I just end up forgetting to send follow up emails because the list becomes so long. Great idea! I do wish Boomerang would work with my website email though!
Hey Todd! Thanks so much! I appreciate your comment. I wish there was some way to use Boomerang on other e-mail clients also. I’m not sure why it’s only available on Google. It’s such a great tool, you would think they would try to find a way to get exposure across all platforms. Maybe some day.