As the opening of your event approaches, your role is to communicate with your attendees to ensure that everything goes according to plan. To do this, email remains the best communication channel for maintaining a relationship with your attendees, and has the best return on investment.
With an online ticketing and registration solution like Weezevent, you have all the essential tools for communicating effectively by email, since you can collect the addresses of all your future attendees. In this article, Thomas, our customer relations and path-to-purchase specialist, and Product Owner of WeezTarget, gives you the best tips to communicate with your attendees by email before your event.
Summary
1. Detail practical information – D-15*
When you create an event with Weezevent, our emailing and CRM tool automatically creates a group of contacts which is fed in real time with the email addresses of those who buy tickets for your event — as well as those who make free registrations. This allows you to easily send emails to a specific audience.
Before an event, between 7 and 15 days before it takes place, we recommend that you remind your attendees of some basic information, including the start/end dates and times, scheduling, activities, locations and access, means of transportation, accommodation, and so on. This will significantly reduce the misunderstandings that can disrupt your event. You should also indicate how people can contact you if they have any questions.
2. Prevent fraud and dangerous behaviour – D-10 / D-2*
Some people see festive events as an opportunity for inappropriate or even criminal behaviour. Scams, resale of fake tickets, sexual and gender-based violence, drugs… There are many unpleasant or dangerous situations in which attendees can get involved.
To counteract this, implement specific actions (official resale platform, searches, prevention and intervention brigades, alerts, etc.) and communicate, communicate and communicate.
3. Go over the details to remember – D-2*
D-Day is approaching. It’s time to send out last-minute information. Is the weather forecast predicting blue skies? Tell your attendees to bring a hat and reassure them that you’ve arranged for some shady areas and spaces where attendees will have access to drinking water. Are there any showers forecast? Ask your attendees to bring what they need in the event of rain and reassure them that there will be plenty of shelter.
It might sound trivial, but attendees may not think of everything when they go to an event — and they might regret it. Above all, it’s these little things that create a bond between you and your audience. This is how people will become attached to your event and want to come back for future editions.
4. Propose additional services – H-5*
A few hours before the opening of your event, propose additional services to your attendees, such as a VIP area, gourmet meal, queue-jump pass, etc. Now’s the time to reveal these services as they imagine themselves inside your event. Show them that you’re doing everything you can to offer them the best possible event experience.
*These deadlines are indicative; it’s up to you to adapt them to your communication planning.
5. Reassuring attendees in times of crisis
In certain contexts, such as the one experienced with Covid-19, it is convenient to reassure attendees.
Remind them of the efforts being made and the different operations implemented at your even. In the current context related to Covid-19, remind attendees of the efforts made and the systems in place at your event. Prove beyond doubt that everything has been done to make your attendees feel safe and comfortable so they can have a great time together. Be moderate, however, and avoid creating an anxiety-provoking atmosphere that could have the opposite of the desired effect.
The Festival des Musiques Emergentes (Quebec), for example, explains its system for dealing with Covid-19 in an email sent to its audiences, while adding a nice touch at the end of the paragraph in question:
“This year, the Scène Desjardins will take place at Lake Kiwanis and will welcome a maximum of 250 people, as recommended by the public health authorities. There will also be several different concert venues, with reduced capacity, scattered throughout the city of Rouyn-Noranda. Festivalgoers will be presented with shows from 5 to 7 o’clock and in the evening, as well as some surprises during the day.”
Further on in the email, the FME festival makes a reminder that is firm but essential to the continued long-term success of its events, since if attendees at an event adopt responsible behaviours, authorities will be inclined to allow more events in the future:
“The FME is working hard to offer festivalgoers a fun and lively event. We ask that attendees respect the instructions put in place to ensure everyone’s safety. Wearing a mask will be mandatory when travelling, the required distance must be respected at all times, and hand disinfection will also be mandatory on arrival at the venues. Failure to comply with these hygiene instructions may result in the end of the show.”
Additional content
Nowadays, we are constantly receiving messages from a multitude of channels, email being one of them. To keep your audience’s attention, you need to send them the right message, at the right time, with the right subject line and design.
Check out our tips to help you with this task:
1. Designing your emailing campaigns
Thanks to WeezTarget, you have already created templates that offer you a basic structure, making your work easier. In your private area of WeezTarget, you will find different email structures in which you can modify the text and images quickly and easily.
2. Preparing your email campaigns by segmenting your audience
With a CRM tool, you can communicate with your audience in a personalised way. To do this, divide your audience into different segments to send them targeted communications.
Some examples:
- Explain how to collect merchandising purchased during the ticket purchase process.
- Send a map of the venue with access instructions to first-time attendees.
- Thank loyal attendees (promotional codes, free products or services, access to activities or restricted areas, etc.).
3. Examples of reminder subject lines
- [Name of your event]: Discover the line up!
- Free workshops at [Name of your event]: Sign up!
- Save time by topping up your cashless account in advance for [Name of your event].
- How to get to [Name of your event]?
- What can you bring to [Name of your event]?
- Where to pick up my pre-loaded wristband/cashless card? [Name of your event]
- Last chance to upgrade to VIP! [Name of your event]
- Your safety at [Name of your event]; our top priority!
- Where to pick up my [product purchased]. [Name of your event]
- [Name of your event] It’s tomorrow!
- Important information before [Name of your event]
- [Name of your event] – Access about to be open!
Communicating with attendees before the event is just one part of what Weezevent can help you do. Discover now all the features of our emailing and marketing tool:
