The problem
Film nights, quiz nights and craft fairs depend on local people hearing about them, and posters and one Facebook page miss many. If a film night with 60 seats at $7£5€6A$10C$9 runs with 10 empty seats a month that an email would have filled, that is $67£50€60A$96C$94 a month of takings missed.
What the AI does
Brevo is an email marketing platform with a drag-and-drop editor, sign-up forms, contact segments and an AI tool for drafting email copy. Put a sign-up form on your website and a sign-up sheet at the café counter, then send one what's on email a month to everyone who joined: events with dates and prices, new classes and room hire. Build the template once and reuse it, and ask the AI tool for a first draft of the intro to rewrite in your own words. Brevo's free plan sends up to 300 emails a day once the account is approved; Starter, at $8£6€7A$12C$11 a month, sends 5,000 emails a month.
A worked example
A community center in Newark runs a monthly film night (60 seats at $7£5€6A$10C$9), a quiz and seasonal fairs. About 450 local people have signed up for news.
Before
Events promoted by posters and one Facebook page, about 10 empty seats a month at the film night
After
A monthly email to 450 people who opted in, with the film night selling out
What it's worth
About $47£35€42A$67C$66 a month in surplus, at an assumed 70% margin after the film license and refreshments on $67£50€60A$96C$94 of extra tickets (10 seats at $7£5€6A$10C$9). The free plan can send to 450 people over 2 days (300 a day); Starter at $8£6€7A$12C$11 a month sends them all at once.
How to set it up
- Gather only people who have asked to hear from you, with the date and how they signed up.
- Sign up for Brevo, wait for account approval and import the list.
- Add the sign-up form to your website and keep a paper sign-up sheet at the counter to type in each week.
- Build one template with the center's logo, address and how to stop receiving emails.
- Send on the same day each month and count bookings in the following week.
What goes wrong
- Email only people who signed up: PECR applies to community groups' marketing emails too.
- Free emails carry Brevo's logo, and Starter's price is for up to 500 contacts at that sending volume, so check the price if the list grows.
- AI drafts can get dates or prices wrong. Check every event detail against the booking diary.
- The 10 extra seats are an assumption. Compare film night sales for the 3 months before and after.