6 Ways to Harness the Power of Email Marketing
If you have a list, email marketing may be your best channel for promoting your event. After all, these are people who have signed up to your list and are therefore predisposed to be interested in what you have to offer. If you don’t have a list, you may ask partners, speakers, or friends to mention the event in their emails.
Whether you already have a list of not, here are a few guidelines that will help you to get the most out of your email marketing.
1. Craft Killer Subjects
The subject is your headline when it comes to email, and as such it should get people’s attention. Subject lines that inspire awe, anger, or anxiety lead to higher open rates. Subject lines with lukewarm emotional content, conversely, are less likely to be opened. Try a subject line such as “10 things you’ll miss if you aren’t at this event”.
2. Send During the Weekend
You may want to consider sending an email on the weekend. Since few companies do it, open and clickthrough rates may be higher. And when possible attendees see it on a weekend, they may feel less stressed for time and more willing to commit a few hours to your event. They may be in a social mood and even invite a friend.
3. Utilize Video
Video thumbnails in emails can improve clickthrough rates, so it’s definitely a strategy worth trying. You could include an interview with a speaker from your event, or perhaps a testimonial from a past attendee.
4. Don’t Send Just One Email
You aren’t the only one who is busy and it’s possible that they may have missed your first email so don’t be afraid to send out reminders and follow-ups! Using subjects with wording like “Last chance…” can help your open rates by creating curiosity.
5. Create an Editorial Calendar
This will help to ensure that you don’t let too much time go by between emails, or send too frequently. As you get closer to your event, your emails should include new speaker announcements, invitations to pre-event activities, links to new blog posts, and other general updates.
6. Send and Send Again
Plan to send an event marketing email several times. For large events, email once months in advance to announce the speaker lineup and to announce early-bird registration discounts. Email just before this discount ends, and again as the event approaches. Finally, send an email a few days before with reminders of time, place for registrants and a final pitch for new registration.