Getting the Most Out of Event Email Marketing: A Mini Guide

Event email marketing is one of the most powerful online strategies to promote your events. By sending well-crafted marketing emails, you can regularly check in with your audience, increase registrations, secure sponsorships and speakers, and grow your brand visibility. 

This guide provides everything you need to consider when creating an effective email marketing strategy for your event. 

Event Email Marketing Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Before you prepare promotional marketing materials to boost your event, you must familiarize yourself with the key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure campaign performance and success. Here are some metrics you should consider measuring for your campaign:

As you track metrics, use these insights to optimize your email strategies and improve your performance. For example, keep track of your unsubscribe rate and adjust your actions if the percentage becomes too high. Consider sending messages less frequently or increasing the value of the messages to the users.

Consider other KPIs according to the goals you need to accomplish. For example, you might also track:

You’ll have a more focused perspective of your marketing results when you track indicators relevant to your event goals. Keep an organized record of these metrics to identify areas of potential improvement. Incorporating this data into your event marketing strategy will ultimately lead to more effective methods of promotion that resonate with your audience.

Sending the right message to the right person at the right time is the best way to guarantee the success of your event email marketing campaign. Use an email append service to ensure your contact information is correct while focusing on the details of your messaging and branding.

While an email append will ensure you send messages to the right people, you should also consider the steps you can take to send the right messages. Different groups will require different messages to feel motivated by your content.

MemberClicks’s guide to event planning recommends identifying shared characteristics of your audience members to determine how you can create relevant email lists. 

For example, you’re trying to secure sponsorships for your upcoming event and want to send targeted messages to various companies. Here are a few lists you can create to attract more sponsorship interest:

The beauty of segmenting your lists is that you can personalize and craft targeted messages. This may yield more responses than a generic email. Similarly, you might also segment your attendee list, for example, by job title, industry, and ticket type.

Once you’ve determined who your audience is, you’ll need to decide how you’ll grab their attention. When sending your message through email, a well-crafted subject line can define the success of your entire campaign. Without an attractive reason for people to open your email, your contacts may end up not even reading what you say. 

Studies show that shorter subject lines yield higher open rates, but you should also consider wording that generates curiosity and inspires action. Here are some strategies and ideas for subject lines to promote your event:

As you consider ways to draw readers to read your message, be as specific to your audience as possible. Rely on your metrics to determine what is most important to your recipients, then use this information to craft targeted subject lines that will pique their interest.

If you want readers to take action (and we know you do!), tell them what you want them to do. Less is more regarding email structure, so focus on one clear call to action in each message. The best way to do this is by adding a button to your email. 

For example, if you want to urge readers to visit your event registration landing page, create a button for your email that links to your webpage. 

Follow these tips to create a call to action that your readers can’t ignore:

You might test out different button colors, messages, and locations to see which performs best. Ensure your calls to action are cohesive with the email’s overall design.

Your company likely creates branded materials for all of its outreach efforts. For example, a hospital might create branded eCards to wish their patients a quick recovery. Branding helps an audience associate the message with your organization, and the same can be said about events. 

One of the primary objectives of running an event is to generate brand awareness and create a memorable experience. Make sure your email design is consistent with your event branding. Consider these elements for your email design:

Keep your organization, event, and email branding consistent to generate excitement over your event. A loyal audience will gladly support an event associated with your organization, and new audiences will have better insight into your work when they experience your brand through an event.

Although the email’s design and user interactivity are essential, its content is the most crucial part of your promotion. Use the content to set the stage for the action you’re asking your audience to take. For example, consider these key messages when planning your event email marketing calendar:

Promotion of each of these tasks will be dependent on their timing. For example, you’ll want to send a save-the-date message early enough so your attendees can mark their calendars and clear their schedules. Reduce the stress of managing your timeline by putting together a calendar to help you outline and schedule the critical pieces of information that you need to communicate with your audience.

You can also incorporate relevant themes for your messages. For example, construct a short message to follow up with attendees after an early December event. Then, use eCardWidget to create and include a fun holiday card, wishing your attendees a fantastic close to the year.

Event email marketing is definitely a science, but it’s not a difficult one to master. Follow the steps in this guide, and you can put together a solid email strategy to meet your event goals.

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