Improve Event Attendance With These Tips and Templates
Given the proven ROI of virtual events, it’s important to ensure that every single touchpoint is optimized for conversion. The first (and most critical) touchpoint is the email invitation. Lose your audience here and it’s hard to get them back. But, get them to click on the initial invitation and your chance of getting them to attend your event is high.
Following are five best practices for email invitations based on our experience partnering with the world’s best marketing teams to drive virtual event success. While these tips will work for all audiences, they were developed specifically for higher-end experiences that cater to senior executive audiences.
1 | Spend the time on personalization.
There’s no better way to drive attendance than to have the initial email invite come from a familiar name and leverage a personal connection. Here’s an example, with personalization in red:
Subject Line: Join us for Sips & Salaries
Hi [first name],
It was great to connect with you and the team last week. Based on our conversation around optimizing your strategy in 2023, I wanted to invite you to a complimentary virtual Bourbon Experience on Tuesday, February 7, at 4:30 p.m. CT.
Join leading marketers and strategists, including CMO John Smith and Vice President of Sales Jane Doe to learn how they {xyz}. As you listen, you’ll also have the opportunity to taste two top-shelf Bourbons with the Barrel Proof Duo.
Feel free to forward this invite on to Jon Anderson. With his focus on building engaging experiences for your website, I think he’d love this opportunity.
RSVP today and our vendor partner purple cork will send you an exclusive tasting set prior to the event.
Hope you can make it!
Note: Once you see that the initial email has been opened, follow-ups sent from your marketing team can follow a more standard event invite framework.
2 | Help attendees connect your topic to the experience
Connecting your topic to the experience helps your audience understand the entire event experience. For example during a cocktail tasting experience, share how attendees can learn how to “craft the perfect strategy for x,y,z.”
Some other examples you can leverage to tie your topic to the experience include:
Flavor of Innovation; How to…
Pairing X and Y for success
{Company Name} Mixology: Balancing X and Y for B2B Success
Spirited Solutions for…
A Taste of…
The Buzz About…
3 | Focus on Value
People are busier than ever, especially around end-of-month and end-of-quarter. Ensure your attendees know what value they will receive by attending the event. You can do this by highlighting your unique event offering. Perhaps it’s peer networking, or tasting a hard-to-find wine with the winemaker, or the ability to learn something new from a speaker, or the ability to meet your executives. It’s a treat to be invited, hype up the opportunity!
4 | Stress that your event will not be a sales pitch
There is a time and place for a sales pitch but you never want to surprise your event attendees with one. If you aren’t planning to talk shop, let them know in your event invitation. Stress that the purpose of the event is networking or socializing or learning something new – but make sure they know that the event will not include a sales pitch.
Here’s an example:
“Hi Nick,
I wanted to personally invite you to a fun event we have coming up on Thursday, June 17th. It’s a virtual networking event with a wine tasting with a world-renowned Champagne ambassador. It will be a great opportunity to unwind and forget about work for a few hours.”
And, here’s an example of how you can let prospects know that you will be doing a little pitch in the body of the email:
The invite-only event includes:
Two tastings of Blue Rock Vineyard’s flagship "Best Barrels" red wines
Access to a casual networking environment with your fellow peers in the data and analytics space
A sneak peek of our latest software release, guided by our very own CTO, John Dunn
5 | Tout the exclusivity of the shared experience
The bar is high for virtual events today and to improve the odds of your accounts attending, ensure they know that it’s an exclusive group with a high-value giveaway. For example, if you’re hosting a purple cork wine tasting event, let your guests know how exclusive an opportunity it is. And, be sure they know that seats are limited.
Here is an example:
“At this virtual event, we will be tasting two special wines from Red Car Wine, one of Sonoma’s most exclusive wineries. The tasting will be led by Brady Moran from Red Car’s rockstar winemaking team. With just ten professionals invited, there will be plenty of time for quality networking.”
Want to learn more about purple cork’s white glove event service?
