Hosting an event and want it to be a hit? Well, we must say, it's no piece of cake.
There’s so much on the to-do list, such as arrangements for food, decorations, and the right venue - the list just goes on and on.
But there’s one thing that’ll give you relief in this chaos, i.e., promoting your event through email marketing. Because event email marketing allows you to reach numerous people efficiently while saving plenty of your time and money.
Safe to say, it’s the best way to promote your event since 99% of people check their emails daily.
Now that we’re clear on how fruitful event email marketing is, let’s talk about how you can do it successfully. To begin with, let’s discuss what exactly is event email marketing.
What Is Event Email Marketing, and Why Is It Important?
Event email marketing is a type of email marketing that focuses on promoting events, such as concerts, conferences, festivals, etc. It aims to generate interest and excitement about the event, get people to attend, and promote post-event follow-up.
There are three main types of event emails: announcements, reminders, and follow-ups. You should send emails before the event to announce it and remind participants not to miss it, and after the event, to provide attendees with post-event resources.
One more reason why email marketing works so well for event planners is that it highlights a way to showcase your brand without being too pushy or aggressive.
It's also relatively easy and inexpensive, making it an attractive option for smaller businesses with tighter budgets or those just starting out.
Your Event Email Must Have the Following Elements:
As we've established, event email marketing can be a great way to promote an event or provide updates. We must tell you that you can do this in different ways, including creating email newsletters featuring that event. The primary rule is to tailor emails to customer needs.
Speaking of tailor-made emails, here are four elements you should include in your email if you are hosting an event.
Catchy subject line
Good email subject lines are specific and concise. They give your readers a quick preview of what to expect in the body of your email. However, they should also be engaging enough to encourage people to open emails and read them in their entirety.
You want your event-related emails to stand out from other promotional emails competing for attention, so it is essential to include keywords about your event in the subject line.
Make sure your subject line relates to something you've said or done in the email to get people interested enough to keep reading.
Examples of such subject lines are:
- Join us at our next party on Friday!
- You won't want to miss this Halloween party!
- Inviting you to the craziest New Year’s party in town.
- Your presence is awaited at our annual conference’22.
- You’re invited! Celebrate our 6th-anniversary party with us virtually.
Conversational copy
Your email copy should read like you are talking to a friend. At the same time, don't forget to establish your authority on the subject. Make sure you share key insights and highlights of what will happen at your event.
Also, provide value with a content upgrade that adds extra information to help attendees prepare for the event, such as “10 Things You Need To Know About Our Company” or “5 Tips For Being A Successful Guest Speaker.”
This ensures that attendees leave your email feeling informed and excited about attending your event.
Interactive and attractive design
User experience plays a crucial part in the success of your email campaigns. Emails should engage your recipients, not just deliver your message. But while you’re at it, it’s critical to take readability and ease of use into account.
You can add relevant GIFs, CSS animations, or embed videos to your email to make it more engaging. Readers love connecting with such interactive email content, so don’t miss out on that.
As long as you keep these factors in mind while designing your emails, you will succeed in creating a better user experience for your customers. And this approach will inevitably boost engagement and build brand awareness.
Additionally, ensure that your design is mobile-friendly since a lion’s share of your audience reads emails on mobiles. The good news is, Unlayer provides a wide range of responsive email templates that you can use for your upcoming campaigns.
Create Captivating Event Emails
Footer with social media links
Integrating event email marketing with social media marketing can help you promote your event even better.
Including social media links like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. in your email’s footer increases your social presence. This will further increase your chances of attracting more audiences.
Not only that but adding social media icons to the footer of your email also boosts brand credibility and awareness among users.
And these are the essential design elements you should add to your event emails to ensure that they perform amazingly. Now let’s discuss the five basic steps to run a high-converting event email marketing campaign.
5 Steps to Run a Successful Event Email Marketing Campaign
Knowing how to organize and run an event email marketing campaign can attract more clients and increase awareness. Follow these 5 basic steps to run a successful event campaign.
Step 1: Send an event invitation email
You've put together a great event. Now it's time to promote it. Send an invitation email a week before the event that includes details about the day and the topic, such as an email that says; join us for our next workshop on Wednesday.
Include a link to your registration page or let your recipients know how they can register independently. The more people you can get in advance, the less you'll have to worry about filling seats at the last minute.
You can also send reminder emails before the date of the event to remind those who might have forgotten or overlooked it when first viewing it online.
Sample:
Dear Subscriber,
We’re super excited to invite you to our Christmas Party on the 25th of December.
In case you’re skeptical about attending, we must inform you that many tech experts will be coming to our party, hence the perfect opportunity to network with them. We’d love to see you join us too.
We decided to keep our party’s color theme white and beige with respect to the Christmas season and (brand’s name) identity.
P.S. Please don’t forget to bring this invitation for security purposes.
Looking forward to meeting you on Christmas.
Regards,
XYZ
Template:
Step 2: Send a confirmation email
If your subscriber RSVP’d to your invitation email, the next step is to send them a confirmation email. However, if s/he hasn’t engaged with your email yet, you can move to step 3 directly, i.e., sending a reminder email.
A confirmation email is the best way to let your attendees know they have successfully registered for your event. You can include essential details about the event, such as date, time, location, and parking information, in this email.
It should also include any other important reminders or instructions. These may include bus schedules, pre-event instructions, and entrance requirements (such as having proper ID).
Sample:
Hello Attendee,
Thank you for showing your interest in our upcoming event! We've received your registration, and your payment has been processed.
Please review the following information:
- Date: March 23rd
- Time: 5 pm
- Location: Anderson Hall
Parking will be available in both valet and self-park lots on-site. Valet parking rates start at $25, with self-park rates starting at $12 per day.
We hope to see you there!
Regards,
Your Name
You can use the following confirmation email template and make necessary changes as per your choice using Unlayer’s drag-and-drop email editor.
Template:
Step 3: Send a reminder
There are two reasons for sending a reminder email.
If your reader hasn’t engaged or reacted to your email yet, it’s time for you to send a reminder email. And if s/he does, send a reminder email to them a week and a day before the event.
In this email, include all the event details again and remind them to add the event to their calendar. You can also highlight any last-minute updates or changes.
Remind them what they can expect at the event and what they should bring. Most importantly, thank attendees again for their support and let them know how excited you are to see them there.
Sample:
Hi friends!
It's just one week until our big day.
I hope you've had time to mark your calendars so no one misses this fantastic event. Here are some final reminders as we count the days:
- Wear comfortable shoes - it's going to be a long day!
- Plan on spending $10-$20 on food and drinks - most vendors offer both cash and cashless payment options.
- Please take advantage of our shuttle service, which will run till 11 pm.
I look forward to seeing you next Saturday!
You can use the following reminder email template and witness how the engagement rate of your email boosts like crazy.
Template:
Step 4: Send a post-event email
After your event, you must send a follow-up email to all of your attendees. This email should thank them for coming, ask for feedback on the event, and offer ways to stay involved. It is an opportunity to build relationships with potential partners and customers.
Sample
Thank you so much for joining us at our annual conference! I hope you found the content informative and were able to network with some new contacts.
We enjoyed every bit of the information you shared with us and find them pretty insightful. Not to mention, everyone in the hall could relate to the real-life examples you quoted. A great touch, indeed.
We'd love to have you join us next year - if not as a speaker, then as a sponsor! Please click here (link) to find out more about sponsorship opportunities.
In addition, please feel free to share any feedback or ideas that would help us improve future events by clicking here (link).
Looking forward to hearing from you soon!
Best regards,
Your Name
You can use the following feedback email template for this purpose.
Template:
Step 5: Take feedback and data into consideration
You need to analyze feedback and data from previous events to see what worked and what didn't. This approach will help you improve your event planning.
Take into consideration the needs and wants of your target audience. The more information you take about the event's attendees, including their preferences and habits, the better decisions you can make for future events.
And repeat the same cycle for your next event email marketing campaign.
We’ve discussed what elements to add to an event email template and how to run a campaign step by step. Now let’s talk about how you create a beautiful event email using Unlayer within minutes.
How to Create Beautiful Emails With Unlayer in 5 minutes?
You can follow these seven simple steps to create beautiful and responsive emails within five minutes.
Step 1: Go to Unlayer’s website and click on start designing.
Step 2: Next, choose from existing 1,000+ email templates or click on “create new” to build a new template from scratch.
Step 3: Once you enter the editor, create sections according to your choice by choosing the desired number of rows and columns.
Step 4: Next, add the desired elements, such as images or videos, by simply dragging that feature towards the email template.
For example, if you want to add an image, just drag and drop the image icon towards the email template.
Step 5: Click on that icon and upload your desired image.
Step 6: Go to properties and make alterations in the image according to your choice.
Step 7: Once you’ve designed the email template, preview it for its responsiveness.
And that’s it; your email is ready! Surprised to see how simple and easy it is to create emails with Unlayer? Then, why not give it a shot? Start your 14-day free trial here.
Conclusion
A successful event email marketing campaign requires careful planning and execution.
So, ensure you take the time to consider all of the essential aspects of your event, including the time commitment needed from yourself, the attendees, and any other volunteers involved.
By following the steps and tips outlined here, you can create an event that will be successful and memorable. Try them out, and let us know how they worked out for you in the comments below.
