We all know the almighty power of email marketing and how effective it can be for making sure you’ve got people flooding through the doors for your next event but how can you up those conversion rates? We all know that email is a far more cost effective option than direct mail or personalised, printed invitations but are you making the most of this channel?
We asked our very lovely email marketing partner, MailAway, why event organisers should be using email and how we can do it better. They’ve come up with some great ideas for revamping your email strategy, breaking it down into nice bite sized chunks for you.
Get Your Content Right
Email can be used to communicate a whole host of different information so consider what your aims are and who you’re communicating with. You might be trying to:
- Drive registrations for your event
- Promote your seminar sessions
- Remind your exhibitors to send you key information
- Follow up afterwards for feedback
Whatever it is, make sure you stay focused on what you’re trying to achieve by sending that particular email and make sure you’ve got some strong CTA’s in there. It’s also worth considering where you’re driving traffic to – make sure you’re sending everyone to the right place that meets their needs.
Don’t Ask Too Much
A natural lead on from our last point – keep it simple and don’t ask too much. Stay focused on your objectives and don’t ask your subscribers to jump through too many hoops – do ensure that what you do collect is relevant and useful.
If the objective of the email is to encourage readers through to a form to sign up for an event, ensure that the required fields are kept to a minimum so you don’t lose out on a potential visitor.
Make A Great Impression
Email is most likely one of the first points of contact you’ll have with your visitors so make sure you make the right impression. Create a strong HTML template that reflects and extends your brand – this is something that will work much better than a plain text email!
It’s worth creating several different templates depending on the purpose of the email – a newsletter will look very different to a simple ‘postcard’ reminder but both have a place in your email arsenal.
Keep It Personal
This is a big one – personalised emails will always gain greater results than generic ones so if you can, keep it personal. This will depend on the limitations of your database and the information you’ve already collected but even addressing it to the right person goes a long way and you’ll at the very least have this information!
If you have the right database power, don’t just limit yourself to a salutation or ticket reference number either – go the whole hog and use dynamic content to display each visitor with relevant information to match their interests. You’ll need to splash a bit of cash on some professional email marketing software (just say no to MailChimp!) to do this but you’ll soon reap the rewards.
Keep It Relevant
If your event is covering a range of topics or sector relevant information then segmenting your database could be a wise move. You’ll win big points for tailoring the content within the email for different groups and stakeholders – prioritising the most important and relevant information for them. It’s amazing what you can achieve with dynamic content and you’ll see your conversion rates rocket.
On The Day
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to grow your database whilst at the event itself. You’ll probably capture most of what you need in registration but make sure you have thought about ways to get your hands on this data on the day.
Emails are instant, meaning updates and messages can be communicated to visitors right up to the last minute – most people come armed with a smartphone and access to email on the go so use this for any last minute communications.
__________________________________________________________
About Noodle Live
Noodle Live brings a seamless social experience to events, conferences and exhibitions using a combination of mobile applications and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) swipe cards to streamline information sharing.
For more information check out our video or visit www.noodlelive.com
Join us on Facebook: facebook.com/noodlelive
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/hellonoodle
This post was written by Clemi Hardie, founder and MD of Noodle Live.