Save the date: Event email marketing explained from A to Z

Luckily there’s one tool to use that will handle a big chunk of your marketing work, so you can focus on the logistics.

Meet the marketing intern of your dreams: email!

Email marketing works wonders for events, as it can take over a big part of attracting, engaging and informing event visitors. Currently, 40% of the event organizers stated that email marketing is still their preferred channel for the event promotion (Bizzabo’s 2019 Event Marketing Report).

You’ll love email marketing because it’s cheap, requires little resources and can be scaled to reach both small and huge contact lists at once.

With event email marketing, you can:

• Create a buzz even before the event details are finalized
• Boost the sales of your early bird tickets
• Promote your event with giveaway promotions
• Remind readers with a countdown to buy their tickets in time
• Send payment or event registration confirmation emails
• Gain excitement by talking about what the reader can expect on your event
• Communicate practical information (such as the location and timetable)
• Share memories in a follow-up email campaign

In this article, we’ll show you how email marketing for events works. We’ll guide you through setting up signup forms and event email automation campaigns from scratch. We’ll also add event newsletter examples, ideas for event subject lines and email marketing best practices. Afterward, you can apply these learnings for your own event!

Though many marketers know how powerful email marketing is for promoting their event, few actively build their list. During our research, we were surprised to see how many (even popular) events did not offer a newsletter subscription.

When you offer an event newsletter, it doesn’t mean that you need to send out emails every week. With a signup form on your website, you can collect subscribers every time someone visits your page. Then when you are ready for your event email campaign, you already have a list filled with people that want to hear from you.

Hold up... what was that famous Abraham Lincoln quote again?

Signup forms. We're telling you. You need one.

When creating your signup form, make sure you pay attention to the message. Again, your WHY is important. What is the added value for readers to sign up for the newsletter? For many events, it’s to keep up to date with the latest news on the line-up and tickets.

With MailerLite, you can add a signup form in a few simple steps. In the video underneath, Marcin explains how to integrate a form on your website.

There’s more: Other ways to collect subscribers

Collecting emails is not only done via an online signup form. How about taking things into the real world? At the event itself, you can also collect subscribers.

The old-fashioned way is to have people jot down their emails with pen and paper. Post-GDPR, it's important to have an explanation of consent and a clear opt-in that people need to check off or sign.

You can also use tablets or laptops with the signup page at your booth or festival. Think of fun ways to motivate visitors to sign up. Things like a contest or freebie (anything from free beverages to massages) work well. The better the signup reward, the more people line up. Your crowded trade show booth or long queue will make people wonder what all the fuss is about.

Events can be anything from a one-time online webinar to a full-on 3-day trade show. No matter what you’re about to organize, a couple of emails are a must in your event email marketing campaign.

1. Pique interest and create awareness with an event announcement email
2. Boost sales with a “tickets are on sale now” email
3. Create a sense of #FOMO or urgency with a countdown email
4. Deliver the tickets using a transactional email
5. Send a reminder email a few days before or on the day of the event itself
6. A recap email that highlights the best parts and optionally, promotes your next event

You can also keep your attendees up-to-date with event information (timetable, location, floor map, what to prepare, speaker information, etc.). As well as run giveaways to increase exposure or send post-event emails to recap the highlights.

Does that sound like a lot of work?

All this new information might feel overwhelming. It might sound like you need to send a lot of emails...

Have no fear, email automation is here!

In reality, you only need to set up the above-mentioned emails once.

Automatically triggered workflows make sure everyone gets to read your emails. If you set up a new workflow and connect it to the signup form, each new subscriber will automatically receive the emails that belong to that workflow.

For example, let’s say you’re organizing a webinar.

Each time a new person signs up via the signup form on your landing page, the workflow will be triggered. First, the person receives a confirmation email. Two days later, a reminder email lands in the mailbox. On the day of the webinar, another reminder is sent. And finally, the webinar attendant receives the replay.

Because of the top-notch scaling possibilities email marketing offers, you don’t have to worry about losing contact while your attendee list grows. Automated emails will make sure everyone gets personal attention!

Are you ready to learn the 5 steps to creating festive event email campaigns?

Step 1. The event announcement email

Your very first email is where your readers learn about your event. Make them as thrilled about it as you are! In this event email, you’ll want to spark curiosity. How long before the event you send this email depends on what you’re organizing. A conference invitation email can be sent out some weeks before, while a festival email campaign already starts months in advance.

You can keep the event announcement email mysterious and follow-up later with more details (like FADER does underneath with their invitation email). Or, you can spread the details straight away.

Tip: It helps to make the reader feel like they’re the first ones to hear about your exciting news. Use phrases such as “Congratulations” and “We personally want to invite you.”

In the event announcement email, you’ll write:

• What the event is about and, if this information is already available:
• Line-up
• Location, date and time
• How to buy tickets or RSVP

You also want to spend some time crafting a good reason WHY people should spend their time and money on your event. What value will attendees walk away with?

Step 2. The conversion-boosting event email

Remember how in the event announcement email you added your value proposition? In the next email, it’s time to elaborate. Tell the reader about your killer line-up, the valuable information they’ll gain or the blast they’re about to have.

Automate this email by sending it a certain amount of days after the event announcement email. Use a trigger and send it only to those people who opened your initial email but did not take any action.

Don’t forget a clear CTA that stands out, so readers know where to register.

Step 3. The "hurry up" email

Let’s face it, most of us postpone things until the very last minute. To give readers a kick in the butt, it helps to send an event email that expresses urgency.

This email in the event email marketing campaign could say something like:

• Early bird offer expires tonight
• Weekend tickets are almost sold out
• The rates will go up soon
• Only 41 spots left Nearly sold out
• Only a few days left

Stress what the readers gain when they act quickly. A countdown timer helps them to visualize how little time there is really left.

You can automate this event email if you already know when your offer will expire. Schedule it a few days before the deadline so your readers will receive a nice, yet urgent reminder in their inbox.

Step 4. The “here are your tickets” email

Hooray, you made a ticket sale! The ticket confirmation email is the most important one in your email sequence. This email is sent automatically when a customer completes their sale or RSVPs. It’s short, to the point and mostly only contains the most important event information.

Organizing your own event campaign using MailerLite?

Use a direct integration or try Zapier or PieSync. With Zapier, you can connect apps Eventbrite, Meetup, Ticket Tailor, Songkick and many more to your email campaigns.

With PieSync, you're also able to connect cloud-based event management apps in real time.

Are you selling tickets via Eventbrite or a similar system? Export the attendee list and import these contacts in your MailerLite account. You can use these contacts for your sales follow-up emails.

Step 5. The event insights email

Regardless of whether you made a sale or not at this point (we hope you did!), the events insight email is always a good idea. In between the event announcement email and the actual date of the event, you want to keep your readers in the loop.

In this part of the event email campaign, you offer additional information.

Think:

• Newly added names on the line-up
• In-depth information, interviews or fun facts about the speakers
• A personal message from the organizer
• Raffles or giveaways (goodie bag, anyone?)

Step 6. The reminder email

People are busy. If you’re organizing a festival like Coachella or Burning Man, your attendees probably have the dates boldly marked in their agenda. Is your event less bombastic? Then it’s wise to send a reminder email.

Reminder emails are usually automatically sent 1-3 days before the event. And then again on the day itself. Especially online events (such as webinars or live streams) often send a reminder one day and one hour before the event. For offline events, you can best send a reminder email a couple of days before.

In the reminder email, you can mention:

• What to prepare (grab a notebook and pen or download the worksheet)
• A quick summary of what's about to happen
• Information about the speaker/organizer
• The value proposition
• Location, date and time
• Schedule URL to attend
• Offline: Travel instructions

Step 7. The post-event email

Your event is over, but that doesn't mean your event email campaign has to come to an end too. One more will do!

Your post-event email could focus on:

• Email survey to gather feedback about this edition or ideas for the next event
• Recap (pictures, videos, or whatever you captured that day)
• Thank you message
• Announcement winners (in case you hosted raffles or giveaways)
• Promotion for another upcoming event

Tip: You can segment this email so that only the actual attendees will receive your after-party email.

We know you want to see those RSVPs skyrocket, but that's only possible when people actually open your emails. Subject lines are an important element in your event email marketing campaign. A/B test to see what works best for your audience.

Here are event subject line examples that came rolling into our inbox and made us click.

You’ve seen many examples from different event organizers. Here are some more awesome examples from our own customers to help you get your creative juices flowing.

The Architecture Foundation newsletter

This simple event invite does exactly what it’s supposed to: announce the event. It has attractive visuals that happily flicker on your screen, contains all the event details and clearly states how to RSVP by using a bigger CTA compared to the rest of the text.

See the full newsletter here (including their cool GIF header)

Zhou B Art Center newsletter

This newsletter does a good job at explaining what the reader can expect when attending the event. It first invites the reader to the event and then gives detailed descriptions about the artists. They also add CTA buttons that lead to more artist information. The only thing we’re missing is the RSVP link or a “Can’t wait to see you there” line.

Read about these amazing artists in the full newsletter here.

MORI by Art+Flea newsletter

The personal tone of voice and appreciation for the readers make this newsletter a very nice read. MORI by Art+Flea does a great job by highlighting local artists and their products. The newsletter is full of bright feel-good colors, totally in line with the initiative itself. Our only remark is that the event invitation is quite far down in the newsletter. To make sure people see the invitation, it would be wise to send a separate email that just focuses on the event invite.

Click here to read the entire newsletter and learn about this kickass Hawaiian gathering place for creatives.

Need more inspiration? Head over to the event section of our newsletter example gallery. You’ll find many more event email template ideas!

For those that didn't have enough time left on their Pomodoro timer to read the entire article, here's the TL;DR:

• The majority of event organizers (40%) are still fangirling over email marketing. It's cheap, scalable and lets you personally and automatically contact all your attendees at once.
• Before starting your event email campaign, ask yourself: “Why should people attend my event?” Then craft your campaigns around convincing the reader to RSVP.
• We showed how an (automated) event email campaign can start with an announcement email and end with a post-event email (plus everything in between).
• Take your time crafting an attractive event email marketing subject line. Once the reader clicks to open, the email copy can take care of the rest.
• Don’t be afraid to add some oomph to your emails. Use surveys, videos, quizzes, GIFs, testimonials and maps to make your event newsletter interactive.