The past year has seen online events increase in popularity drastically and we get why. What better feeling is there than enjoying the community feel of an event straight from your desk or sofa?
Although in person events are still taking place, online ones are certainly here to stay. This month we have done the hard work for you, scouring the good, the bad and the fantastic to bring you our top tips.
Treat this as your very own cheat sheet on just how much (and how little) you should include in your event email campaign…
It ain’t a one time thing!
First things first, your event may be an isolated event, but marketing it must not be. The key is in the title, this is a campaign. Do not think of this process as a single email.
Email 1 - Let your audience know your event exists
You want to capture their interest here so keep things short and sweet.
When writing specific information about your event think:
- Why you are hosting it
- What they’ll gain in attending
- What makes you/or them stand out from the crowd – link this to your event and why they should attend!
Throughout designing keep thinking is this information valuable to your audience. If it is a maybe, take it out!
Now move onto pricing. Have a think whether you’ll tempt them with an 'early bird promotion' or if the event is free to attend, make it clear!
Don’t leave them guessing. Direct them to signing up.
Remember, it’s vital to keep your email marketing short, snappy, and attentive. If there is a lot of information that you want to let your subscribers know about, consider using a secondary call to action that can link your audience to a different page.
Email 2 – It’s time to book…
Booking sounds easy, but don’t take this for granted. Hold your audiences’ hand, think the easier the better.
- Remind them of the core details what, when, where, how (online/ in person), and not forgetting the most important bit - why.
- Move onto the why by explaining to your audience the benefits of attending your event.
- Event drilldown - programme of events and anything else they will need to know.
- Make the event booking link clear so that it can’t be missed. Try including just one CTA so the audience can pay attention to the only thing that really matters: booking onto your event!
- Make life easy – allow a Google calendar link to make it easy for the attendee to click on and add to their calendar and be reminded. This makes the audiences journey seamless and it also looks seriously professional!
- Create a button so your audience can share the event to social media. This small button has the potential to increase attendees massively.
Email 3 - Countdown!
This email can be anything from a day, a week, or a month in advance. If late sign up is possible, a two-hour countdown can be effective for grabbing attention. Ensure to keep the email short, make it easy for the reader to find its purpose within a few glances.
If you need to fill more spaces for your event, think of including a promotion. Urgency emails work well, for example 10% discount on ticket pricing for 24 hours only.
Email 4 – It’s all over, but the emails needn’t be!
Manners don’t just apply to 5-year-olds, they extend to wonderful world of email too. Now is time to send a thank you email to all that have attended.
This email is the perfect opportunity to ask for feedback and reviews. User generated content is a huge asset in the world of email marketing.
For those that enjoyed and rated, add some detail on your future events, be sure to include some links to these and not forgetting your social platforms too. Encouraging social connections is key. Not only can audiences keep track of your posts, but they and share with their own network to increase the knowledge of your organisation and marvellous events.
Events are a fantastic way to create that sense of community we all long for. Keep your audience in mind when designing your email. Think about your own inbox: we are all inundated with emails daily that are competing for our attention. That is why subscribers don’t spend a lot of time on each email.
Grab your subscriber's attention. Keep it short and direct your audience to exactly where they need to go next and enjoy the sign ups which roll in!
If you’d like more information on how email marketing can help your business, check out our handy blogs here.