Craft The Perfect Event Email in 6 Easy Steps event

Your company’s next big event has just been released. And guess who’s in charge? It’s you!

Your company just decided on a new event and put you in charge of getting out the word. While you might have a few thoughts racing through your mind, one thing stands out. 

Now before panic or anxiety start to set in, remember that being entrusted with organizing an event means that your capabilities are recognized. You’ve made an impact – a positive one, in your company. You are doing a great job and this is just another feather in your cap. So embrace the opportunity to expand your skill set. Show them what you got!

We’re going to go over the basics of some email marketing tips and tricks. If you’re in the event space and you’re trying to use emails as part of your marketing mix, there are ways to increase the number of signups and attendees. Regardless of the industry you are in, and whether or not the event aims to do more than entertain the audience, expect that you will send out emails to get the word out.

So let’s devise the perfect event email marketing plan in 6 easy steps. Let’s begin with the event marketing best practices!

Target Audience

Some of the main challenges that come with organizing events are reach and hype. The first challenge you will encounter is reaching out to people to get it on their radar. Once you’ve managed to get them RSVP’d or signed up, the next and arguably harder challenge is to keep these same folks excited to attend. And no matter how well organized your event is, no one will know about your event if you don’t spread the news effectively. Now, with social media and emails, informing people about an upcoming event takes minutes.

Despite that, it is still important to know that there are many factors that can encourage people to attend your event. One effective way is to identify who your target audience is. Is the event focused on a certain demographic, age range, etc? Knowing these details can help you format your event invitation email in a more enticing and eye-catching way. You can choose the best tone and language that speaks to this target audience and even use art and design to pull them in. Knowing your audience is a robust foundation to build the rest of your marketing plan.

Set SMART Goals

Have a goal in mind and make it SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-Sensitive)! The goal for your upcoming event and email marketing campaigns helps give a sense of direction and control. When your goal is specific and measurable, you will have a gauge and basis for determining whether your goal was met or not.

Reviewing the email marketing results from prior campaigns can also set you in the right direction. You will want to use insights from your end-of-year marketing report to set goals for this year. Using this information, if available, can help zone in on your most effective email marketing tactics since you’ll have an understanding of what works and what doesn’t. Be sure to see what subject lines resonate with your audience and what type of content they are looking for. 

That first email energy

Email marketing is considered the best practice to attract engage and notify attendees about your event. Today over 40% of exhibitors, planners and sponsors prefer email marketing as their tool for event email promotions. This means that there is a need to make your first email about the event as interesting as possible. You might be asking yourself, “Of course, but how do I do that?”.

First, emails must be creative, winning, and thrilling. We need elements to make your readers excited! Here is a sample list of email structures you can write up for your audience:

●     Eye-catching headline
●     Event description
●     Value proposition
●     Event place date and time
●     CTA (Call to action) 

Automate and utilize the right tools

Whether the task of organizing the event is a solo project or a team effort, there are a lot of pieces that go into your campaign. You’ll need to coordinate between different departments or teams to carry out the project details until its fruition. 

For instance, the second email sent for this event must redefine clearly the value proposition promised in the first announcement email. What’s in it for the invitees?

With the use of email automation tools, you may schedule to release this email after a couple of days from the first email, add a powerful standout call to action (CTA) to encourage registrations, and plot any meetings for follow-up or partnership on your calendar tool. Or better yet, send the first email to your audience that didn’t open the first email while sending your openers the second email. 

Maintaining the hype

We certainly don’t want the email event management to be like a firework – all sparkles and cheer in the beginning and then slowly die down to darkness. We want to keep consistent with the level of advertising we would be doing across all platforms.

For instance, the third email blast you are sending must create urgency in your reader’s minds. Try including something like offers for registering for a contest within the event or an early bird ticket package when this is an option.

This is also where we can gather important event insights via email or social media. The event insights email not only keeps your audience updated on what is happening but also creates good follow-through and a first-person point of view.

Here is a list of items you can add to capture the attendees’ attention as the event is getting near: 

●     New participants or sponsor lists
●     Speaker info and interview bites
●     Testimonials and features from real people within the organization
●     Prizes, virtual swag bags, contests, giveaways, etc

Post-event deliverables

The big day has come and gone and you are ready for some much-deserved rest. Does your email marketing campaign end here?

Not quite yet. Even if your event has successfully ended, you will still have a reason to share one more email with your audience. Here is what you can share in a post-event email 

●     Feedback forms
●     Surveys or audience polls
●     Hand-picked pictures and videos of the event
●     A thank-you note
●     Announcements for prize winners

Sending this last email post-event is a treasure trove of information that can help you check on the goals you’ve set – were they met? If not, why? How did the audience feel? This feedback is vital to let you know what can be improved upon for future events.

And there you have it, your email marketing plan for events!