Event Email Marketing: Tips to Write Emails That Sell Out Your Event
Similar to how promotional emails promote a product, event marketing emails promote an event, highlighting its purpose and benefits.
Event email marketing helps build excitement and anticipation, typically nurturing your target audience through the different event lifecycle stages.
With a solid event marketing plan, you can craft emails that resonate with your audience and compel them to hit the ”Register” button even before you can say “Capacity reached.”
What is Event Email Marketing?
Event email marketing is a strategic approach to promote an event, create interest, and drive registration or ticket sales.
Event marketing email is usually beneficial for the following reasons:
- Email marketing is a budget-friendly way to reach a wider audience compared to traditional methods such as advertising or direct mailing.
- It helps you segment email lists and target the right audiences.
- You can easily scale marketing campaigns to reach more potential audiences.
- It’s easier to track key email metrics such as open rates and click-through rates.
- You can nurture and build relationships with attendees post-event, increasing the chances of engagement.
The key to a successful event email is convincing your audience they can’t afford to miss your event. This starts with a practical strategy that aligns with your marketing goals and audience needs.
Top 3 Strategies for Event Email Marketing
Email marketing for event promotions is up to 40 times more effective than social media. However, the process isn’t as straightforward as it sounds — you must master the fundamentals to create a compelling event email campaign.
These are the top 3 strategies that set the base for your event emails:
- Define your goals: Are you trying to maximize attendance, promote brand awareness, or generate leads? Understanding this will help you craft relevant email content.
- Identify your target audience: Segment your email list to know which group requires more nurturing.
- Develop an email campaign calendar: Divide the event email marketing into stages such as pre-event, during the event, and post-event to increase relevancy and awareness.
Your recipients likely receive tons of similar emails daily, and generating interest isn’t going to be easy. However, as you stick to a routine and follow event email campaign best practices, you’ll start to see results.
We’ve outlined the different phases of an event marketing email campaign, what goes into each phase, and selected the best examples.
An Overview of Crafting Compelling Email Sequences
Event email marketing is generally split into three categories:
- Pre-event,
- During-event,
- and Post-event.
Let’s review the various event email marketing sequences and their goals before analyzing them in-depth.
| Stage | Timeline | Goal | Email Content | CTA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-event | 1-2 months before the event | Build awareness and excitement | ‣ Introduce the event theme and benefits ‣ Highlight speakers or key sessions ‣ Share early-bird discounts or special offers | ‣ Add to calendar ‣ Register now ‣ Learn more about the event |
| Pre-event | 2-4 weeks before the event | Generate interest and urgency | ‣ Highlight VIP packages ‣ Showcase attendee testimonials ‣ Share event schedule and logistics | ‣ Secure your spot today ‣ Don’t miss out ‣ View event schedule |
| Pre-event | 1 week before the event | Drive last-minute registrations | ‣ Address any FAQs and concerns ‣ Offer a countdown to the event ‣ Emphasize the value proposition | ‣ Download event app ‣ Register before it’s too late ‣ Join the event |
| During event | — | Boost engagement and participation | ‣ Welcome attendees and share logistical details ‣ Highlight speaker bios ‣ Encourage participation in polls and surveys | ‣ Download the event presentation ‣ Share your views ‣ Join the discussion (Social media) |
| Post-event | Soon after the event | Nurture leads and build loyalty | ‣ Express gratitude for attendance ‣ Share event recording, presentation, or photos ‣ Offer exclusive post-event discounts ‣ Survey for feedback | ‣ Stay connected (Subscribe) ‣ Watch the event recording ‣ Access exclusive content |
We’ll run through each of the above phases in detail so you’ll know what to include in each event email.
Pre-event Emails: Building Buzz and Driving Registrations
Pre-event emails are the foundation of your event email marketing strategy. This phase helps you connect with potential attendees, build awareness, generate interest, and drive registrations.
Typically, it’s best to send them in intervals between the first month and the last week before the event.
Here’s how you can craft effective pre-event emails to achieve these goals:
- Countdown series: Build excitement with a countdown timer, highlighting different aspects of the event, such as key speakers, exclusive perks, or session topics.
- Teaser content: Provide teaser videos and previews of what attendees can expect in the event. This could include workshop topics, keynote speeches, or special activities.
- Early bird discounts or incentives: Highlight the savings and exclusive benefits, encouraging speakers to register soon.
- Speaker spotlights: Feature profiles or interviews with keynote speakers, workshop presenters, or panelists to showcase expertise and grab attention.
- Interactive content: Include interactive content such as polls, surveys, or interactive games to increase curiosity and drive more registrations.
Campaign Refinery makes it easy to set points and engage recipients with the ‘Engagement Rewards’ feature. - Exclusive content or resources: Offer exclusive content, such as whitepapers, e-books, etc., to people who register early. Provide a preview of the content’s value to increase interest and participation.
Pre-event Email Invite Example
Flowium’s pre-event invite contains a discount code and the benefit of attending the event. The brand seamlessly integrates copy and CTA to drive the desired action.
Spread out these emails a few months before the event. You can start to build interest and gradually remind recipients about the event date so they don’t miss out on the opportunity.
Event Day/ Reminder Emails: Keeping Attendees Informed
While pre-event emails help build anticipation, messages sent on the day of the event emphasize their value. This ensures your attendees are well-prepared for the event and all queries are answered.
Send the following information based on the specific circumstances and event type:
- Event day logistics: Include a map, location, parking details, or special entry options to help attendees prepare for the event.
- Schedule and agenda: Provide a final confirmation of the schedule and agenda, including session times, speaker lineups, networking breaks, etc.
- Check-in and registration details: Remind attendees about the important documents to bring, such as ID or registration confirmation.
- Virtual event access: If it’s a virtual event, ensure to provide key details such as how to access the event and troubleshooting tips for a seamless experience.
- Networking opportunities: Highlight dedicated networking opportunities at the event, such as matchmaking tools, social events, etc, to encourage more participation.
- Event etiquette and guidelines: Remind attendees about the event guidelines, such as dress codes, cell phone usage policies, or photography restrictions.
Event Day Email Invite Example
Thinkific emails on the day of the event, inviting attendees to access lessons and learn more about the sessions.
Post-Event Emails: Nurturing Leads and Building Long-term Relationships
Your event email marketing journey doesn’t end after the final participation email. You must nurture your attendees to maintain relationships and increase trust.
Use these post-event sequences to pave the way for future events.
1. Express Gratitude and Appreciation
- Send a warm thank you email after 24 hours of the event.
- Appreciate your attendees for giving their valuable time.
- Mention the event’s success and highlight key points.
2. Relive the Highlights
- Share post-event content such as recordings, presentations, or photos.
- Offer exclusive access to materials not available during the event.
- Include a short survey to gather feedback and improve.
3. Stay Connected and Foster Loyalty
- Showcase your social media links or other marketing channels to encourage attendees to stay connected and share their experiences.
- Offer exclusive discounts or early bird access to your next event as a token of appreciation.
- Share upcoming event webinars, events, or content related to their interests.
Post-event Email Example
Salesforce neatly introduces the data about Day 3 Streaming, including a free pass to attend the event.
Well-planned event emails can turn a simple ‘Thank you’ into lifelong nurturing. The loyal attendees will be more willing to share their experiences with others, recommend your brand, or attend future events.
Your event emails must be intriguing and informative for your audience to take the desired action.
Let’s explore the pointers to writing a good event email marketing copy.
Writing Effective Event Emails: Best Practices
Making your emails stand out in an otherwise flooded inbox is never easy—you must nail the components, from the subject line to the footer.
These best practices will help you build a lasting impact on your audiences.
1. Master The Subject Lines
The subject line helps recipients understand the importance and urgency of the emails. For example, when sending a pre-event email, you can add “Early Bird Discount up to 15%” to entice readers into opening the email.
Keep in mind, subject lines will differ for each event email sequence. To help you even out your opportunities, we’ve compiled a list of subject lines for you.
| Subject Line Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| FOMO (Fear of missing out) | ‣ Limited seats left, secure your spot now ‣ Don’t miss out on [Event name] |
| Exclusive benefits | ‣ Exclusive early bird discount, save 20% off ticket prices ‣ Unlock VIP Access: Register for [Event name] now |
| A provocative question or teasing statement | ‣ Ready to transform your [Industry name/niche]? Join us at [Event name] ‣ What will you discover at [Event name]? |
| Social media proof | ‣ Join hundreds of satisfied attendees at [Event name] ‣ Past attendees loved [topic] about the [Event name] |
| Personalized | ‣ [Recipient’s name] Get ready for [Event name] ‣ Join us [Recipient name] at the [Event] next week |
2. Use Intrigue and Urgency
Urgency is an excellent tactic to increase engagement and encourage participation. You can use these examples and tailor them according to your needs.
| Urgency Tactics | Example |
|---|---|
| Limited Seats Available | “Only a few seats left – secure your spot now” |
| Early Bird Discount Ends Soon | “Act now and save 20%. Early bird discount ends in 24 hours” |
| Exclusive offer expiring | “Register for [Event name] to unlock exclusive offers” |
| Countdown timer | “Time is running out. Purchase your tickets now” |
| Last-chance reminder | “Last chance to learn from experts — enroll now” |
3. Craft Benefit-driven Content
Don’t just tell people about your events; show them how they will benefit them. You can directly address audience pain points and showcase your solutions.
These 6 steps will help you develop a benefit-driven event email:
- Identify compelling benefits of your event and consider what the attendees will learn or experience from it.
- Tailor your messages to meet attendee needs and aspirations.
- Mention tangible (networking opportunities, knowledge, skills) and intangible opportunities (motivation, inspiration, etc).
- Show how your event will help solve audience pain points and quantify benefits.
- Share testimonials and success stories of your event.
- Reinforce benefits through visual language, such as infographics.
4. Tell Stories
Weave a story around your event email marketing. These can be brand history, speaker experiences, or emotional hooks.
Storytelling is a powerful way to evoke emotions and make people take action.
For example, you can add the following to various event email sequences to spark interest:
- Speaker stories: Humanize your speakers by sharing their experiences and past stories relevant to the industry.
- Attendee stories: Showcase past attendees and how they benefited from your event.
- Behind-the-scene stories: Take recipients behind the scenes of your event planning. Share stories about the team’s efforts, challenges, or memorable moments.
- Community stories: Highlight how the industry or communities are shaping up because of your event.
- Founder or origin stories: Tell readers how you started and the motivations behind organizing this event.
5. Use Visual Appeal
Good-looking emails likely sell themselves — utilize high-quality images and videos to showcase your event’s uniqueness. You can give attendees a glimpse into what the event will look like.
Here are some ways you can start:
- Use clear and professional photos of your event.
- Grab attention with short and looping animations.
- Include a short video snippet, building anticipation for the event.
- Choose colors aligning with your brand identity.
- Maintain clean and professional-looking fonts.
- Place the most important visuals at the top of the email.
- Use whitespace effectively and break up large chunks of text.
6. Create Actionable CTAs
The email CTA button is the most important element that determines the success rate of your event email marketing campaigns.
If your recipients must keep searching for the next step, you’re probably doing it wrong. Clearly guide recipients toward what you want them to do next, such as “Register now” or “Learn More.”
Keep these tips in mind when you create an event marketing email:
- Use strong verbs such as “Register Now” or “Early Bird Discount.”
- Provide clear instructions on what happens next. For example, “Register now for free” instead of “Register.”
- Implement primary (Secure your spot today, primary seats available) and secondary (Explore the program here) CTAs depending on your goals.
- A/B test your CTAs for increased impact.
No matter how much you test and iterate, you may be stuck in repetitive processes, and it can soon become exhausting to send and track all event emails manually. This is where an automation system plays a crucial role — it helps you segment, set up autoresponders, and track email metrics to improve event marketing results.
Event Email Marketing Automation: The Roadmap to Success
Automation helps you nurture leads, boost engagement, and streamline communication for your event marketing emails.
Whether it’s a welcome email after someone signs up to your event mailing list or a confirmation message, a reliable automation platform can do more than deliver your messages—it can enhance user experience and build reputation.
Automation can be a game-changer, saving you time, effort, and, ultimately, boosting your registrations.
This is what you can automate in your event email marketing strategy:
- You can automate email sequences triggered by specific user actions, such as registering for an event.
- You can automatically send reminder emails a few days before the event.
- You can automate repetitive tasks such as registration confirmations and thank you emails.
- Automation allows for timely communication, eliminating room for errors.
- For ticketed events, you can send abandoned cart reminders to people who’ve expressed interest but haven’t checked out.
- You can track email metrics such as open rates and click-through rates to understand performance.
- You can ensure everyone receives your emails regardless of your event size.
While automation saves time and enhances efficiency, event marketing emails cannot shine until they are delivered to recipients’ inboxes, where they are noticed.
To have the best of both worlds, your email service provider must have a robust automation and email deliverability system. If you’re struggling at this point, Campaign Refinery can help.
Scale Your Efforts With The Finest Event Email Marketing Platform
Campaign Refinery was built on a single promise: elite email marketing for responsible senders with top deliverability.
This means we value ethical behavior and clean sending practices more than anyone else.
Our sending system has an integrated email list cleaning tool designed to catch and filter harmful email addresses from your email lists. All the emails sent from the platform are stamped with DKIM to protect users’ sender reputation.
With rigorous authentication protocols and system checks, Campaign Refinery offers the highest email deliverability rate on the market.
Soon after joining us, clients see an average 600% rise in inbox placement rates and a staggering 72.76% increase in click rates.
Enjoy a powerful trio of the highest email deliverability, premium tools, and transparent pricing — apply to join as a client today!
