You know the way a lot a well-executed occasion can profit what you are promoting, but it surely begins with getting individuals within the door.
By following electronic mail advertising and marketing finest practices as a part of your promotion technique, you’ll be able to pack the home.
And, as soon as your occasion is over, you need to use electronic mail to comply with up with attendees to get the lowdown on what labored and what didn’t.
Right here’s how you need to use electronic mail to assist be sure that your occasions are profitable each time.
What’s electronic mail advertising and marketing for occasions?
Occasion electronic mail advertising and marketing is a means of sending a number of advertising and marketing emails with the singular objective of selling an occasion.
And when you could marvel if electronic mail is the easiest way to advertise an occasion, know that even with a number of digital advertising and marketing assets, electronic mail advertising and marketing continues to be the simplest platform for getting the phrase out to those that are already fascinated about what you are promoting.
In spite of everything, the typical electronic mail open price throughout industries is practically 30%, and it’s even larger for sure industries, together with eating places and childcare.
However event-related emails aren’t restricted to promotion. Publish-event electronic mail advertising and marketing allows you to construct on the momentum, supplying you with invaluable data to enhance your subsequent occasion.
How do you market an occasion by electronic mail?
Regardless of how a lot effort you set into planning and organizing your occasion, it received’t achieve success if individuals don’t present up. Electronic mail advertising and marketing affords you the possibility to attach with people who find themselves already fascinated about your model. So how do you do it effectively?
To start with, electronic mail advertising and marketing for occasions isn’t restricted to a single electronic mail despatched to your record. It is advisable to announce it early and preserve individuals engaged by a sequence of emails.
Announce the occasion
Step one in a killer occasion is to let individuals comprehend it’s taking place.
Hopefully, you’ve been following electronic mail advertising and marketing finest practices, and you have already got your electronic mail record segmented (or grouped) into totally different classes.
Don’t fret if everyone seems to be on one massive record. That’s okay. You can begin by sending customized announcement emails to everybody in your record, telling them in regards to the occasion and alluring them to register.
Whilst you might imagine it’s essential to have all the things in place earlier than promoting tickets, you don’t. Whilst you’re busy reserving friends and planning the logistics behind the scenes, ship out save-the-dates. Embrace the occasion’s title, date, and site, and add a message telling your readers to remain tuned for extra data.
Construct pleasure
Following your preliminary save-the-date, stagger numerous particulars of the occasion by a sequence of occasion promotion emails.
Whilst you wish to ship out some data early, like registration deadlines, venue and lodging data, and different logistics, you’ll be able to preserve some massive particulars near the vest till the occasion date nears, trickling out an increasing number of particulars as you get nearer to the date of the occasion.
Share teaser movies for cross-channel advertising and marketing
Ship out brief teaser movies earlier than your occasion with hyperlinks to its touchdown web page and your social media feeds. Together with an entire video makes your electronic mail massive, growing its possibilities of ending in spam, so preserve these teasers brief — simply sufficient to make somebody wish to click on by and see extra.
Add a CTA encouraging individuals in your electronic mail record to share the video with their community, and embrace buttons to make it simpler for them to information others to your occasion touchdown web page or your social media feeds. The sort of cross-promotion can enhance your general occasion advertising and marketing technique.
Ship out occasion reminders and updates that tease recipients
Reminders are a good way to construct pleasure in your occasion.
As your occasion attracts nearer, ship out reminders that may excite readers by together with nice photos, and attention-grabbing particulars like presenter bios, band highlights, catering and menu choices, silent public sale prizes, and different tidbits that may pique curiosity.
All the time embrace a CTA and a hyperlink to purchase tickets or register. And when the occasion will get nearer, remind your electronic mail contacts that point is working out to enroll.
Add worth in your VIPs
Most occasions supply totally different registration tiers. Should you’re providing a VIP degree, use occasion electronic mail advertising and marketing to make it value somebody’s whereas to pay extra. Attraction to individuals who’ve attended your occasions previously by providing them a limited-time low cost on VIP entry.
Automate VIP-specific emails with details about particular occasions and perks they will entry for being VIP. Should you’re internet hosting a silent public sale, showcase a few of the invaluable prizes and point out that VIPs get early entry to the bidding.
Reply the best questions
Because you’re planning the occasion and all its particulars are contemporary in your thoughts, you may not contemplate what individuals have to know earlier than they register. In your preliminary electronic mail invitation and early follow-up bulletins, embrace a contact type and invite individuals to submit questions.
Additionally, take note of what individuals are asking in your social media feeds once you put up about your occasion. Use these inquiries to get rid of potential objections individuals might need earlier than they register.
Use Automation
Designing automated messages as a part of your occasion advertising and marketing technique will assist you to appeal to extra potential attendees with out spending loads of further time writing and sending emails. It might additionally deliver severe oomph to your efforts and supply.
Right here’s a fowl’s-eye view of the other ways you need to use electronic mail automation to advertise your subsequent occasion:
- Click on segmentation — This electronic mail advertising and marketing characteristic divvies individuals into totally different teams primarily based on how they work together together with your electronic mail. Your electronic mail advertising and marketing platform allows you to see who’s opening your emails and which hyperlinks they click on.
- Autoresponders — Because the title implies, these packages automate electronic mail replies. They’re notably helpful for responding to actions your electronic mail recipients take additional up the drip marketing campaign. You may arrange an autoresponder thanking individuals for signing up in your occasion and others primarily based on numerous actions.
- Drip campaigns — Executing drip campaigns by your electronic mail automation can assist preserve your occasion contemporary in individuals’s minds because it nears. This entails a sequence of emails primarily based on how your contacts work together together with your preliminary electronic mail.
The best a part of all this? You should use these instruments collectively to maximise your efforts.
Right here’s an instance of how you can use electronic mail automation as a part of your occasion advertising and marketing technique
Begin with the occasion invitation. Embrace two calls to motion (CTAs). One to register and one other to request extra data.
Use these CTAs to click-segment your readers. Those that adopted by and registered will go on the “registered” record, and those that requested extra data will go on an “” record.
Then, arrange two separate autoresponders.
The primary autoresponder is for these on the “registered” record, and it’ll begin constructing pleasure for the occasion by together with a registration affirmation that gives the “what,” “when,” and “the place” of the occasion. And it ought to allow them to know that you simply’ll be sending additional occasion particulars and updates sooner or later.
The second autoresponder might be for many who clicked on the CTA to request extra data. This electronic mail ought to present extra details about the occasion and be filled with partaking copy (textual content) and engaging visuals.
After all, it must also have CTAs that encourage readers to register.
Following the autoresponder emails ought to be a drip marketing campaign for many who have registered.
This marketing campaign ought to be a sequence of excitement-building emails that comprise messages like “we will’t wait to see you” and “you’re going to like…” With CTAs that encourage sharing the e-mail with associates and coworkers to allow them to additionally register to attend the occasion.
For everybody else in your record, you’ll be able to nonetheless entice them to register by sending out one-off emails that present extra details about the occasion and embrace messages like “You received’t wish to miss this” and “We’d like to see you.” And naturally, these CTAs ought to encourage the recipient to register and share the e-mail with associates and coworkers to allow them to attend collectively.
TIP: Use SMS textual content message advertising and marketing to inform your attendees of any last-minute data corresponding to day-of-event reminders or occasion safety and climate updates.
Finest practices for occasion electronic mail advertising and marketing
You may enhance your possibilities of an incredible turnout by following these finest practices for advertising and marketing your occasion.
Write partaking emails
Positive, it’s sooner to rattle off a listing of info about your occasion after which hit “ship.” However you in all probability received’t lure many individuals into shopping for tickets with that tactic.
Write partaking emails with actionable language that conjures up individuals to enroll in your occasion.
The secret’s understanding your viewers and tailoring your message to them. This is among the predominant causes to section your electronic mail record. Every section will seemingly be motivated by totally different messages. For instance, individuals who attend your occasions yearly could reply to recaps with photographs of earlier occasions and a message reminding them how a lot they will get out of the occasion.
Individuals who’ve by no means attended your occasion could reply higher to an electronic mail exhibiting them what to anticipate with a brief video testimonial from individuals who have already attended.
Earlier than writing your emails, take into consideration who you’re writing to and what they care about. This can assist you to determine how you can focus your message.
Take note of the design
Whereas your copy ought to be well-written and interesting, don’t neglect your design.
Use an electronic mail template with good design components to create an electronic mail that’s visually interesting. However don’t overdesign. Your electronic mail ought to be easy sufficient {that a} reader can decide what your occasion is all about and simply click on by to a touchdown web page or ticket website.
Write compelling topic traces
In the case of electronic mail topic traces, much less is extra. Hold your topic traces brief and keep away from promotional language.
Most electronic mail companies kind emails into classes and your invitees could not even see your electronic mail if it leads to unsolicited mail or on the promotional electronic mail record.
Give attention to how one can add worth to the reader. Use an open-ended query to pique your reader’s curiosity and entice them to open your message.
Because you’re restricted on house, embrace any essential deadlines within the topic line. Remind your readers about registration deadlines and different key dates.
Take a look at your messages
Like all electronic mail advertising and marketing campaigns, getting occasion emails proper the primary time is difficult. Play with numerous messages by conducting A/B exams on totally different segments of your electronic mail record. Ship an electronic mail with one topic line to 1 group and alter the topic line for the following group.
When you’ve despatched your messages, verify the analytics to see which messages have the very best open charges and click-through charges. After just a few exams, you must begin seeing patterns that may assist you to excellent your topic traces and electronic mail content material.
Occasion follow-up
We’ve spent loads of time on pre-event electronic mail advertising and marketing, but it surely’s additionally essential to have interaction your viewers as soon as your occasion is over. Use these post-event electronic mail advertising and marketing instruments to remain on the high of your attendees’ minds and get insights into your occasion.
Thanks emails
Ship a thank-you electronic mail to everybody who attended. With out them, your occasion wouldn’t have occurred in any respect, so it’s well mannered to acknowledge everybody who took trip of their schedule to attend. And a thanks electronic mail serves as a good way to construct a relationship with present and potential clients who attended your occasion.
State why you’re thanking them, and element why it was essential to you. Subsequent, embrace some language relating to the way you wish to preserve constructing the connection. Would you like them to return to your retailer and see your stock? Would you want them to return to your subsequent occasion? No matter it’s, shut your thanks electronic mail with this data.
Publish-event surveys
The easiest way to make your occasions higher is to study what you probably did effectively and what you possibly can enhance.
Following every occasion, ship out a survey to everybody who gave you their electronic mail after they checked in.
Hold it brief and candy. Ask easy, open-ended questions like what you probably did effectively and what you possibly can enhance upon
Ask attendees to price your occasion and share whether or not or not they might come once more. If they are saying no, have them elaborate. Maybe they have been anticipating one thing totally different. Use this data to tweak your occasions and your promotional methods for the following occasion.
Ship out a reminder in your subsequent occasion
It’s by no means too early to construct momentum in your subsequent occasion and there’s no higher manner than partaking individuals who have already attended.
In your follow-up emails, remind attendees about your subsequent occasion or sequence of occasions. If you already know the date, embrace a save-the-date on the finish of your message.
Encourage your attendees to behave by giving them a particular supply like early entry to registration or discounted VIP tickets for the following occasion.
Add worth to your occasion with particular perks
Even should you’re not internet hosting one other occasion, you’ll be able to add worth to your attendees by providing them one thing particular as a thanks. Ship out a limited-time promo code on white papers, retailer merchandise, or different attention-grabbing objects.
Arrange a particular report, video, or one other piece of content material that’s solely accessible to individuals who’ve attended your occasion.
Use occasion electronic mail advertising and marketing to enhance your occasions
Internet hosting occasions is a good way to construct rapport with present and potential new clients. Occasions supply distinctive experiences, they usually give individuals an opportunity to work together together with your model.
- Begin early by sending out an electronic mail invitation or a save-the-date.
- Stagger your emails to construct pleasure and ship teaser movies to drive individuals to a touchdown web page, and social media feeds.
- Because the occasion approaches, use emails to reply questions and supply extra data to people who find themselves attending.
- Use automated responders to comply with up with individuals primarily based on their actions.
- Attain out to individuals after the occasion and thank them for coming.
- Lastly, ship out a survey and use what you’ve realized to enhance your subsequent occasion.
With occasion electronic mail advertising and marketing on the coronary heart of your occasion advertising and marketing efforts, you’ll be able to make certain that attendees might be excited all through your venue doorways.
Construct much more pleasure and engagement at your subsequent occasion. Study how you can create an occasion hashtag.
