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Event Marketing Email Examples: Crafting Engaging Campaigns
Boost Sales With These Templates
Elna Cain
October 10th, 2024
Is there a marketing method that can effectively raise brand awareness, promote your latest products and services, and build strong customer relationships?
Yes! And it’s by organizing events and leveraging email marketing to drive conversions.
Eighty percent of professionals see in-person events as the most trusted marketing channel, a noticeable increase from previous years. With 92% of attendees expecting to participate in more in-person events in 2024, the message is clear: face-to-face interactions are still vital.
Despite this, 63% of marketers admit they're still figuring out how to get the most out of their event content.
This is where event marketing emails come in. They’re not just a communication tool—they’re a strategic asset. By sending targeted emails, businesses can increase attendance, enhance engagement, and track performance more effectively.
Table of Contents
The Art of Event Marketing Emails: Setting the Stage
Event marketing emails promote upcoming events, such as conferences, trade shows, product launches, and networking events.
A typical email provides information about the event, including the date, time, location, agenda, and any additional details.
But that is one part of the entire event preparation process.
In this insider look at a recent live event, you can gain insight into future events you might host.
Why Event Emails Matter: The Power of Promotion
Julia McCoy, president at BrandWell, hosted her first event, Content Hacker Live, in Austin, Texas, on March 15, 2024, during the popular South by Southwest (SXSW) event.
McCoy used email marketing to market her event and send targeted emails to segments of her email list.
"We sold 200 tickets, had a few sponsors, and a bunch of SXSW walk-ins. I sold the tickets through nearly 50 different emails spread throughout campaigns which I wrote/scheduled and published in sequences to our list of roughly 60,000 recipients."
The bulk of ticket sales came from a smaller, highly engaged list of fewer than 5,000 subscribers from her personal newsletter, where trust was strongest.
McCoy set up her event email marketing campaign seven months before the conference. After analysis and feedback from her subscribers, earlier promotion would have helped in securing more ticket sales.
"[S]tart earlier next time–we got a lot of folks that said '[I]f only I knew sooner, I would have planned for travel.'"
Sponsors were brought on board through cold and warm outreach, resulting in several successful partnerships.
When looking at the ROI, McCoy knew her live event wasn't profitable.
"We were not profitable with this one. We would’ve been profitable AND had the same amount of folks if we didn’t hire the celebs (that alone ran us $53k+, and no ticket sales from their mentions). I didn’t plan for a profitable conference as much as I planned for “big names…” but those big names didn’t bring us a single ticket holder! Lesson learned."
McCoy knows that leveraging other communities is important to ticket sales. She was able to market to her owned audience on top of the community built by Content at Scale.
"Being in other communities is a HUGE win. 50–60% of the people there were from other communities I’ve helped (not paid)."
And email marketing is where she would double down again and again.
"Email works. LOTS of email reminders were the main reason we sold tickets (but I know this from 10 years of content): outside of the communities, the other 50% of ticket holders were from 50+ emails I sent."
Based on her event, would she host again?
"Probably not. I wouldn't do it again unless I had a full marketing team to help – it's entirely too much work if you're under the $4M/year revenue mark. I would definitely host another conference if we were at $10M+ and could onboard a marketing or events team to do it with me."
The lesson here is to ensure you have a dedicated team to execute all the moving parts of creating, hosting, and running a successful event.
Defining Your Goals and Target Audience
One thing McCoy knew inside and out was her audience.
In the ten years of her online career, she's built a strong following that trusts her.
To start building a raving fan base, define your end goals for creating an event marketing campaign by:
Setting key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of your email campaigns. Common KPIs include open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates
Defining a schedule for sending out emails such as the frequency and timing of your campaigns to optimize engagement and avoid overwhelming your audience
Developing your content strategy for marketing your event. This could be newsletters coupled with promotional offers, educational content, or personalized recommendations
With these goals in mind, next focus on your target audience- Who would want to spend considerable time and money on an event you host?
This would entail researching and understanding your target audience's interests, pain points, and preferences.
If you're a fitness influencer interested in hosting a Live Workout Event with you and other bodybuilding gurus, pinpoint your audience's challenges to help form your marketing event emails.This may include the following:
Lack of motivation to stay consistent with a workout plan
Limited knowledge of different fitness routines and exercises
Struggling with a fitness plateau
Crafting the Perfect Subject Line: The Key To Unlocking Attention
Your event email marketing efforts all begin with a clickable subject line, but if no one clicks on your email, does the event even make a splash?
Well, with the right format and the best conversion copywriting principles, your event will make a splash and a tidal wave.
The Anatomy of an Irresistible Subject Line
There are plenty of ways to craft a clickable subject line. One of the best ways to increase open rates is to use certain emotional trigger words, like free.
For example, Legiit, a freelance platform, used free along with another trigger word – my name in the email subject line to share their event.
While some would say Legiit's subject line was a tad click-batey, it clearly stated in the first sentence or two what I needed to do—spend $497—to earn a free live ticket.
Another win for Legiit's event email is the sender's name. Legit used a person's name and not their brand name. Average open rates are 85%, compared to email marketing open rates of 20-25%. This means you can increase your open rates by 325% by using a name instead of the sender's brand name.
Top Tips for Writing Subject Lines That Sizzle
Most businesses that host events use straightforward copy when announcing their Live event.
From the event marketing email examples I've seen in my inbox, the subject lines were specific and informative.
Teachable is a course platform, and they send regular newsletters about various workshops, in-person and virtual events, and collaborations they've done.
For their Live Event at VidCon, their subject line noted this special event and invited their subscribers to join them.
Other subject lines I saw were:
Short and to the point
Time-sensitive
Piqued subscriber's interest
For example, The Marketing AI institute hosted their annual MAICON Event in September 2024.
Each of their email subject lines had all three of these elements.
Designing an Eye-Catching Email Template: A Visual Feast
Hosting events, whether in-person or online, involves many people and requires a lot of time to execute. Because of this, ticket prices aren't cheap.
That's why creating a cohesive buyer journey with your brand's visual elements can have a big impact on sales—up to 33% more.
Branding and Consistency: Aligning With Your Event's Theme
Delivering a predictable and reliable experience with your event marketing emails goes a long way to building trust with your audience.
Remember, in this buyer journey, the end result is a subscriber giving you money in exchange for a ticket. Familiarity and trust can nudge them to purchase a ticket.
To create a cohesive brand around your in-person or virtual event, incorporate:
Clear brand messaging with your call-to-action (e.g., "Buy Tickets" or "RSVP Now") so that it aligns with your brand’s tone and messaging
Professional brand designs in your email design will reflect your brand’s professional image, with consistent use of your logo, color palette, and fonts
Social proof with case studies and testimonials to reflect your brand’s authority and reputation
Incorporating Visuals: Images, Videos, and Graphics
Part of your branding has a consistent color palette, using visuals (or lack thereof) and any graphics – stock photos, your face, or AI-generated – to promote your event. For example, Marta Spirk is an empowerment and marketing coach for women business owners.
Her brand is spunky, fun, and joyful – and pink.
So, when I get an email about events she's hosting or promoting, I know who it's from based on her emojis, gifs, and branded copy.
In contrast, Jon from Fat Stacks is a content creator – and a lawyer in a past life. His emails aren't flashy, aren't image-heavy, or filled with emojis.
Most of his promotional emails for events are text-based with minimal images, like this event email example, in which he thanked those who attended his Niche Site Summit.
Mobile Optimization: Ensuring a Seamless Experience
With the right branding elements that appeal to you and your audience and solidifying your copy, it's time to create the branded emails that coincide with your event.
SitePoint is a company that helps developers learn web design and development.
Most of their emails are for event registrations, webinar signups, or summit enrollments that they collaborate with other businesses on.
They use branded images when crafting these event marketing emails. When a subscriber clicks on the button to register, the page they see seamlessly continues the branded experience, featuring consistent design elements such as logos, color schemes, and typography.
Writing Compelling Copy: Captivating Your Audience
Let's break down how to write an email for an event.
The Art of Storytelling: Crafting a Narrative
When writing your event email marketing campaign, focus your messaging on the benefits attendees will receive from attending your event.
You can easily do this by addressing the recipient's pain points or aspirations and then explaining how your event provides a solution or fulfills those needs.
Highlight the specific advantages of attending, such as:
Acquiring new skills
Networking opportunities
Exclusive content
Free swag or giveaways
Your email copy should underscore the immediate value of the event and how it can have a lasting impact.
By clearly outlining what attendees stand to gain and how it will benefit them, you create a compelling reason for them to register.
For example, Moxie is a freelance project and client management tool, and they often run workshops to help new freelancers.
In their event emails, they clarify what a freelancer would get out of attending a workshop, helping improve their registration numbers.
Highlighting Key Details: Date, Time, Location, and Agenda
One thing you don't want your subscribers to do is to have to hunt for the details of your event. Make it clear by highlighting the date, time, location, and agenda of your Live event or virtual hangout.
McCoy shared crucial information about her Content Hacker Live event at the start of her event marketing emails, making it easy for subscribers to decide whether or not they can attend the event.
Persuasive Language: Emphasizing Benefits and Creating Urgency
The best methods for creating urgency in your event emails will leverage psychological triggers, such as fear of missing out (FOMO) and time sensitivity. These well-known tactics will boost event registration rates.
Scarcity Tactics: Emphasize limited availability, like “Only a few tickets left.” This taps into FOMO and motivates recipients to act fast
Limited-Time Offers: A widely used method of offering discounts or special promotions for a limited period. This encourages subscribers to act quickly to take advantage of the deal
Urgent Language: Using phrases like “Last chance” or “Act now” is a straightforward and direct way to convey urgency and prompt immediate action. The Marketing AI Institute does a stellar job of using urgent language in email subject lines and copy for its summit
The Call-to-Action: Your Conversion Catalyst
With the subject line and copy out of the way, end your event email with an engaging and converting call-to-action that makes registering a no-brainer.
Crafting Irresistible CTAs: Motivating Action
Your call-to-action for your event needs to be visually distinct to encourage clicks.
The majority of the event marketing emails I read use buttons to disrupt the subscriber when reading the email.
Using contrasting or standout colors from your event marketing graphics will make your call-to-action pop and get noticed.
Finally, your words can entice subscribers to register or learn more about your event.
Some call-to-actions I've seen are:
RSVP Now
Register Now
Learn More
Sign Up
Strategic Placement: Ensuring Maximum Visibility
With 85% of emails read on mobile, where are the best placement and visual elements for call-to-actions (CTAs)?
Above the fold: When reading on mobile, catching skimmers or those busy is important. Introduce the event and give critical details with your CTA
Use a variety of design elements: Use buttons and within-text links to attract different subscribers to register
Place them in the postscript: If subscribers didn't catch everything in your event email, place your CTA throughout your email and the postscript (P.S.)
Testing and Refining: Optimizing for Success
Tracking your event email campaigns can help you find the best emails and copy for future events.
You can test, analyze, and improve your campaign efforts.
Sending Test Emails: Identifying and Fixing Issues
When promoting your event emails you may run into spam triggers. These are red flag words like "no investment" or "cures." If it's "too good to be true," well…you know the rest.
Many promotional words for your events will use this language, so it's a good idea to test emails to check your subject lines.
Use a tool like MailTester to see if you receive your campaign emails.
Make sure to test emails by sending them to various email service providers and devices. Your email may look different on mobile devices than on an iPad.
Before you send out those event emails, fix all errors, including any grammar or spelling errors.
Analyzing Performance Metrics: Open Rates, Click-Through Rates, and More
After sending out your event marketing emails, it's time to review their performance. Look at your:
Open rates
Click-through rates
List growth rate
Conversion rate
Even registration rate
Continuous Improvement: Refining Your Strategy
Based on your performance, you can tweak, change, or refine your process to make your next event more successful.
As you move forward, choose the campaigns with the best results for these metrics.
Event Marketing Email Examples: Inspiration at Your Fingertips
Let's check out some event marketing email examples to help you with your email campaign.
Promoting an Upcoming Event
Type 1: Promoting an Upcoming Event
Driving Event Registrations
Type 2: Driving Event Registrations
Sample Type 3: Sharing Event Highlights and Recaps
Leveraging beehiiv for Event Marketing Success
Let's look at how to use beehiiv for your next event marketing email campaign.
Email Automation and Drip Campaigns
With beehiiv, you can easily set up email automation and drip campaigns for your upcoming event.
While it's best to tap into your established email list to gain sign-ups and funnel them into your event drip campaign, you can also set up a landing page for your event to gain new subscribers.
With these new subscribers, you can create an automated welcome email and provide logistical information about your event.
Based on their behavior of clicking or not clicking to sign up, you can send them drip emails to entice them to register for your event.
Audience Segmentation and Personalization
To capture the right audience for your event, you need to add segmentation and personalization to your strategy.
Start segmenting your email list based on interests, past behavior, and engagement levels. This way, you'll avoid sending the same generic invite to everyone and craft messages that speak directly to the needs and preferences of different groups.
With beehiiv, go to Audience > Segments. From there, name, describe, and choose the type of segment you want to use. Then, define your conditions and let it run.
Personalization goes beyond just using the recipient’s name. Focus on what interests your subscribers and what will motivate them to attend your event.
For instance, if you're hosting a webinar on creating a minimalized home, target those interested in similar topics in Marie Kondo, decluttering or no spending.
Use those terms and ideas to develop a trusting relationship with your subscribers when creating your drip campaigns.
Integrations and Data Syncing
One major thing McCoy would do differently with her event was to use a team to help her manage it.
You can start this by leveraging beehiiv's integrations with WordPress, Shopify, Zapier, and more to streamline and simplify your efforts.
Syncing data helps you maintain a single source of truth, reducing errors and saving time. For example, integrating with CRM systems lets you use real-time data to personalize emails and track engagement more effectively.
Analytics and Reporting
beehiiv puts data first.
As a creator or business owner, you get a comprehensive view of your subscriber's behavior, interests, and engagement patterns, front and center.
Referral Programs and Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Referral programs and word-of-mouth marketing are key to boosting your event’s reach and credibility, and beehiiv makes this process straightforward.
With beehiiv’s referral program, you can set up and manage incentives, offering rewards for attendees who refer new participants. This not only encourages sharing but also fosters a community of engaged attendees.
beehiiv boosts your event’s word-of-mouth marketing by offering tools to streamline and track referrals. You can encourage your attendees to share their excitement on social media and use beehiiv’s referral links to make inviting friends simple.
With beehiiv’s tracking and analytics, you can monitor how well your referral efforts are working and see how they influence your event registrations. This way, you can effectively gauge and enhance the impact of your referral program.
Monetization Opportunities
Aside from gaining registrations to earn money, there are other ways to monetize your event emails with beehiiv.
The two main methods are placing ads in your newsletters and using beehiiv's referral program so that attendees promoting your event have some skin in the game to keep promoting your event and beehiiv.
Final Thoughts
A lot goes into creating, marketing, and promoting your event. beehiiv makes the event marketing process easier with tools that streamline your efforts and maximize your results.
From building and managing your email lists to setting up effective referral programs and tracking their success, beehiiv’s comprehensive features simplify the logistics.
So, start planning your event today with beehiiv!
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