Why did no one open Øyafestivalen's newsletter? Make found the answer.

Partnered with Make to improve email open rates

Jonas Prangerød, PR Manager for the Øya Festival, was frustrated with their existing newsletter provider when Make reached out. Open rates were steadily declining, and support was non-existent, leaving the root cause a mystery. After seeing a presentation of the Make platform, it took only a few conversations before he signed a contract.

Prangerød was convinced by Make’s hands-on advisory approach. He received clear analysis on what worked and what did not, and adjusted the timing and frequency of campaigns based on Make’s recommendations.

Make also established a structured framework for email design, integrating links to the website, ticket sales, and other key destinations. Now, the Øya Festival team simply populates their content into the existing template for every campaign.

During the transition to GDPR, when explicit consent became an EU requirement, Make provided guidance on compliance and helped set up consent campaigns. To rebuild their list, the Øya Festival also launched an online holiday calendar, allowing participants to win prizes from the festival and partners in exchange for their email addresses. This initiative helps maintain brand awareness year-round, despite the highly seasonal nature of the event.

Newsletter open rates increased

“After switching to Make, we quickly saw measurable results return to the high levels we experienced before the issues started,” says Prangerød. Although the initial cause remains unclear, the advice provided resolved the deliverability issues.

The solution involved a combination of measures to reduce bounce rates. Google uses complex algorithms to detect spam based on user behaviour and previous spam flags.

Part of the problem likely stemmed from the festival’s emails being flagged as spam due to large uncleaned subscriber lists containing incorrect or non-existent email addresses, which act as spam traps. In this regard, the GDPR list clean-up was a key factor in restoring the festival’s sender reputation.

When GDPR was introduced, Prangerød appreciated having expert support:
“The GDPR guidelines can be ambiguous, and many in our industry were unsure how to manage consent correctly. We have seen excellent ticket sales this year, so GDPR has not been a barrier. The fact that our lists now only consist of highly engaged subscribers has also improved overall quality.”

He notes that newsletters are now one of their four key channels for promotion, information, and sales, alongside the website, app, and Facebook: “We see clear spikes in ticket sales whenever we send out program updates via email. We are finally where we want to be.”