Email is the perfect communication channel to send your event invitations. It’s simple, fast, low-cost and offers an almost instant response. As a result, it is now used by most event planners.
Are you wondering how to create an effective invitation email campaign?
How to be sure that your email will catch your target audience’s attention and encourage people to attend your event?
Here are 9 tips to increase your chances of creating a successful event invitation email campaign.
1. Your customer database is the key to your success
Have you organised an event using Weezevent before? Use an event CRM system to send communications to your registrants : sms, e-mails, push notifications… All your registered contacts are considered high-affinity audiences likely to provide a higher conversion rate!
Tip: to grow your database between events, you should collect your followers’ contact emails (from your blog, website, etc.) by regularly posting information about your industry and your event.
2. The subject line should be simple and eye-catching
Your subject line should outline the essential information. Ideally, it should introduce the content of the event. It should be simple and short (40 to 50 characters max). Moreover, studies have shown that adding a symbol in the subject line of a marketing email makes the message stand out in the recipient’s inbox and increases the opening rate by 15%
e.g. “☺ Weezevent invites you for drinks in London!”
3. The sender should be easily identified
Your email’s sender should be recognisable at a glance. The recipient should be able to quickly identify your company, your product or a point of contact.
e.g. “Weezevent” or “Geoffrey from Weezevent”
4. The body of the message should be minimal and contain visuals
The body of your message should not have too much text. Favour images (static or animated) as they will be more likely to catch the attention of your reader, and don’t forget to add your company’s logo. The most important information (the name, date and location of your event) should be in the header, at the top of your message. Your reader should be able to understand the gist of your message from the first paragraph.
5. Your message must contain the essential info
In the body of your message, don’t forget to mention briefly:
- The concept.
- The speakers: for instance, mentioning a celebrity who will attend can convince your audience to attend your event.
- Clear instructions on how to book or register.
- A clearly identified call to action, e.g. “Book a ticket”.
You can also add a link to your website and social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) as buttons.
6. The “call to action” should be efficient
Favour simplicity and reduce the number of steps needed to register. If there is a registration form to complete, try to limit the number of mandatory fields to the bare minimum. For your registration button, use a dynamic verb as it is generally more efficient at encouraging people to sign up. If relevant, you can use an incentive such as a promotional offer (e.g. a free invite for the first three people to sign up).
7. The campaign should be scheduled carefully
Announce the event early enough to leave time to your attendees to register, then send reminders (don’t forget to remove the people who have already registered from the list of reminders). Also think about sending a “Remember the date” email about the event a few days before. And remind the people who haven’t registered that they can still do so with an email titled, for instance, “Just a few days left to register/attend”.
8. The message should be customised based on the recipient
For your email to have a higher impact, start with reminding the recipient about your history with them. You can segment your message according to your audience, and customise it with the person’s name (e.g. “Dear Mr/Ms X”). It is also important to customise each invitation.
9. Communicate with your audience after the event too
After the event is over, wait a couple of days before sending a thank you note to your attendees. You can include a report about the event or a link to a video of the event. You can even send one to people who have not attended the event as it may encourage them to attend the next one. You can also send a customer satisfaction survey to assess your strengths and areas for improvement, and implement the feedback for your next event.
It’s in your hands now! Easily create online invitations using Weezevent by clicking on the link below:
