Brands and businesses do events to raise awareness and keep themselves relevant in the competitive market. But what exactly do they do to raise awareness of their events?
The answer is email marketing for events. Years ago, email marketing was a top-notch methodology, and it still is at the top today, especially for event promotions.
But the question is why?
The three simple words that describe the role of event email marketing are building, driving, and capturing. This means that email marketing helps build awareness, drive event registrations, and, last but not least, capture the attention of your target audience.
In this content piece, we will go through:
- The reasoning behind why email marketing is a must-have for event promotion.
- Effective strategies to implement in your email marketing for events.
- Types of emails perfect for event promotions.
- How to optimize and measure your email campaigns.
Why Email Marketing For Events Is Crucial For Success?
Email marketing for events is like a tool or a spear that gets your message across the board. Let’s see how:
- Directly communicate with your audience: Through event email marketing, you open a trustworthy communication channel. This offers an opportunity to connect with your audience, show them your mindset of valuing their time, and form a relationship.
- ➤ To add the cherry on top of the cake, use personalized emails wherein recipients are addressed by first or full name. This approach makes the emails you send get opened and read more often.
- Be cost-effective and get higher ROI: Compared to other marketing mediums, email marketing for events is remarkably cost-effective. For every $1 spent, event organizers can expect an average return of $36, making it a medium of high ROIs.
- ➤ Such ROIs make it very favorable for event organizers seeking to maximize event registrations without spending too much.
- Build a sort of craze and hype: Teaser campaigns and countdown emails are some solid event email marketing examples that develop hype in your audience’s minds.
- Get a higher count on event registrations: A well-formulated email marketing strategy that keeps potential attendees informed directly relates to boosted attendance. Spewing out early bird and last-minute registration emails displays a tone of urgency, making those timely sign-ups occur more frequently.
- ➤ One could also make use of event websites by integrating them into the emails as links. These will positively turn around the experience of registration for the attendees.
- Strengthen relationships and engagement: Email marketing for conferences is beneficial for long-term connections. This is done by serving your attendees with event highlights, exclusive content, etc.
- ➤ One could also use an event CRM, wherein event organizers can personalize email communication, make relationships stronger, and witness repeat participation
Elements Of An Effective Event Email Marketing Strategy
There are four key elements you need to master thoroughly to skyrocket your email marketing strategies for events. Let’s go through them one by one in-depth:
1. Audience Division
A good strategy always starts with knowing who your strategies are being built for. Hence, audience division or segmentation is an important element for email marketing for event campaigns. This way, your email’s messaging and style of approach change shape so it appeals to different audience groups. Making your strategy provide better conversion rates. Let’s see how to segment your audience:
- Demographic segmentation: The first thing to start with is defining and segmenting your audience based on the standard population statistics: age; gender; occupation; income; and education.
- Psychographic division: This division is to dive a bit into your audience’s mind by jotting down their: values; interests; lifestyles; and motivations to understand their background or psychology.
- Behavioral segmentation: Take note of attendee behaviors such as frequency of attendance at similar events, their activity with previous email campaigns, and level of interest and participation.
- Data obtainance: Take advantage of surveys, registration forms, and social media analysis to gather data for segmentation. Also, if you have a mobile event app, check its usage statistics to see which user profiles download it and which sections they spend more time in.
Note: Marketers experience up to a 760% increase in revenue through segmented email campaigns.
2. Attention Grabbing: Subject And Email Copy
As simple as it sounds, the subject line is required to be attention-catching. Otherwise, your email content goes to the trash folder before it even gets opened. So how to make it?
- Clarity and relevance: Your subject line should be clear and directly indicate the email’s purpose. This way your recipients easily get and understand what to expect.
- Personalization: As mentioned earlier, personalizing your subject line, by including the recipient’s first name or full name is a simple tactic. However, this tactic leads to a solid boost in open rates by 26%, which is a favorable rate.
- Sense of urgency: Your email content’s tone should indicate or have a touch of urgency paired with exclusivity. This style eventually does get action from your recipients without looking as desperate or pushy.
- Action-oriented language: Make sure to push words out that promote taking a step or action. This can be done by using impactive verbs and creative calls to action.
- Keep it short: Short is sweet and that’s how the subject line needs to be. The ideal number of words for a clear-cut subject line is between 5-9 words.
- A/B testing: Use A/B testing to try out various subject lines and figure out which version relates best to your target audience or groups.
3. Powerful Calls To Action (CTAs)
A powerful call to action does not mean being pushy or forcing in tone. It’s the one that properly symbolizes what the recipient should go for. You could direct them to either go for registration or download event resources. Powerful means being visually clear and different from other content to have a strong impression.
- Clarity: The CTA must be unmistakably clear about the desired action for the reader.
- Visual impact: It should stand out visually, using color, contrast, or strategic placement within the email.
- Urgency: Having an urgent tone or a valid and strong reason to act immediately greatly bolsters the CTA’s effectiveness.
4. Visual Elements And Branding
Consistent branding and design across your event promotion email campaigns reinforce brand recognition and create a professional impression. Use high-quality images, videos, and graphics to get that attention and convey your event’s unique value proposition.
- Holding the reader’s attention: Visuals often have the upper hand over text because the human brain processes visual information much faster.
- Strategic placement of visuals: The placement of visuals within your email can significantly impact how the entire mail might be perceived.
Types Of Emails You Should Send For Event Promotion
In this section, we will understand the different types of emails you should send out for your email marketing for event campaigns. Each type of email is used for a specific stage with a set purpose, all for driving your event check-ins:
1. Save-the-date emails:
These emails are about setting a reminder for your attendees. This way they know the date and time of your event from the get-go:
- When to send: The ideal and best period to send this email differs slightly within different industries and marketing plans. However, between 6-8 before the event date is the standard practice.
- Content tips: Keep the message simple, including the event name, date, and location. You can also add a small teaser about what your attendees can witness or expect at the event.
- Design elements: Use visuals and consistent branding to make the email read-worthy. Additionally, a clear subject line can also provide better open rates.
2. Invitation emails:
Invitation emails are your opportunity to provide detailed information about the event and further convince your recipients to register:
- Persuasive invitations: Mention or display the unique benefits of attending your events. Talk about the benefits, activities, sessions, speakers, etc.
- Best practices: One effective practice is to pair your event details like date, venue, time, etc. with subject lines that spark hurriedness.
3. Registration confirmation emails:
The moment a potential attendee registers, make sure to send out a confirmation email. This email acts as proof and a reminder for your attendees with other important event details to guide them:
- Best practices: Always start by thanking your recipient for registering and taking the time out to do so. Then share the event details and other essential information so they know what to expect next.
- Additional information: Provide links to add the event to their calendar and any necessary logistical details (parking, accommodations).
- Personalization: Use the recipient’s name in both the subject line and body to enhance engagement and show respect.
4. Reminder emails:
Reminder emails serve as soft nudges to make sure that attendees don’t miss or forget about your event:
- Timing: Send reminder emails 1-2 weeks before the event and again 1-2 days before the event. This helps keep your event from being forgotten from the minds of your attendees without being labeled as spam.
- Content focus: Again, state the key details like date, time, location, and any last-minute updates to make it easier for your attendees.
- Call-to-action (CTA): Respectfully request recipients to share the event on social media or with colleagues to increase visibility.
5. Event follow-up emails:
Post-event follow-up emails are very useful for maintaining engagement and gathering feedback:
- Thank you messages: Express gratitude for attendance and participation. This fosters goodwill and shows respect and etiquette to your attendees, which leads to a positive perception.
- Surveys for feedback: Include a link to a brief survey to gather insights on attendee experiences. This information can then be used for bettering future events.
- Sharing the event: Consider sharing audio, text, or recorded content from the event in your follow-up email. This keeps the dialogue ongoing and provides value even after the event has ended.
Tracking And Optimizing Your Event Email Marketing Campaigns
To ensure the effectiveness of your email marketing for events, it’s necessary to measure success and continuously optimize your campaigns. Let’s see how exactly:
Key Metrics To Track In Email Marketing For Events
Monitoring specific metrics is crucial for understanding the performance of your event email marketing efforts. Key metrics include:
- Open rates: This metric indicates the percentage of recipients who opened your email. A higher open rate suggests that your subject lines are effective and that your audience is responding.
- Click-through rates (CTR): CTR measures how many recipients clicked on links within your email. This is vital for assessing the effectiveness of your content and calls to action (CTAs). A typical benchmark for CTR is around 2-5%, but this can vary based on the type of event and audience.
- Conversion rates: Ultimately, conversion rates reveal how many recipients completed the desired action, such as registering for the event. Tracking this metric helps you understand how well your emails drive actual registrations.
- Unsubscribe rates: Monitoring how many recipients opt out of future emails can provide insights into content relevance and frequency. A high unsubscribe rate may indicate that your audience finds the content less valuable or too spammy.
A/B Testing Your Emails
A/B testing is a powerful tactic to raise the effectiveness of your event email marketing campaigns. By testing different elements of your emails, you can pin what resonates best with your audience.
- Subject lines: Experiment with various subject lines to see which ones yield higher open rates. Experiment with personalization versus generic phrases or urgency versus straightforward invitations.
- Email content: Analyze variations in email copy, layout, and visuals. Small changes in wording or design can significantly impact the recipient’s activity levels.
- Timing: Test sending emails at different times or days of the week to identify when your audience is most responsive.
Last Words
We hope this guide clears all your doubts regarding the importance of email marketing for events. Along with that, if you follow the in-depth tips of this guide, your event email marketing campaigns will most definitely deliver results. Lastly, make sure to track your marketing efforts, as everything is a waste if there is nothing to compare to or know what to improve.
FAQs
1. Why is email marketing important for event promotion?
Email marketing is crucial for event promotion because it allows direct communication with your audience, builds anticipation, and drives registrations. It offers a high return on investment, making it a cost-effective strategy for reaching potential attendees.
2. What types of emails should I send for my event?
For effective event email marketing, consider sending save-the-date emails, invitations, registration confirmation emails, reminders, and follow-up emails after the event. Each type serves a specific purpose in engaging your audience and ensuring they remain informed and excited.
3. How can I measure the success of my event email campaigns?
You can measure the success of your event promotion email campaigns by tracking key metrics. Metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates. Analyzing these metrics helps you understand audience engagement and refine your strategies for future events.
4. What role does segmentation play in email marketing for events?
Segmentation allows you to tailor your email messages to specific audience groups based on demographics, interests, or past interactions. This targeted approach increases the relevance of your content, leading to higher open and conversion rates for your event registrations.
5. How can I optimize my email content to boost engagement?
To optimize your email content, focus on crafting compelling subject lines, using clear calls to action (CTAs), personalizing messages, and a clean design. Incorporating engaging visuals and concise information will also enhance the overall effectiveness of your event email marketing efforts.
