How to Market Your Event Registration
Although email can be one of the most effective platforms for upping registration for your organization or event, pulling this off properly is no small task.
There are just so many challenges when it comes to emails! People have a lot going on in their inboxes and in their lives. A lot of us don’t have time to click on every single message that comes our way, and even if we do, there’s a good chance we’ll click away the minute we realize it’s just another marketing tactic.
Although you’re never going to get anything like a 100% response rate to your call to pay, some ways of doing this are better than others.
Here are a couple easy tips for crafting effective messages!
Short and Sweet Is Hard to Beat
Before you can really master any kind of email writing, you’re first going to need to understand the platform.
Emails are not meant to be long-winded. Instead, above all else, they are always about communication.
Say what you want to say. Be catchy and engaging if you can, but don’t expect anybody to spend more than a minute or two reading your emails. It’s just not going to happen!
You always want to get to your point within the first one or two sentences. Let your audience know who you are, why you’re writing this email, and why they should register with you. That’s all you need!
Spend Time on Your Subject Line
You also want to keep in mind what your emails actually look like when they show up in people’s inboxes. Typically, all your readers see is your subject and about the first 50 to 90 characters of your message.
These are what people rely on to decide whether or not they want to click on your email. If your subject is just something vague and boring like “Registration”, you’re probably not going to get much of a response!
Good email headers stand out from the pack. They’re exciting, they’re engaging, and they tell people what they want to hear.
Spend some time working and reworking your subject line into something you think people will actually want to click on. Don’t just use the first word or phrase that pops into your head!
Don’t Over-Format
This next tip is probably the easiest one to follow on this list, since it doesn’t actually involve you doing anything. That means it will actually save you time!
Basically, you want to keep your email clean and clutter-free. You can use images, but don’t go overboard. Don’t use a ton of different fonts, and also don’t include attachments!
Most people check their emails on their phones, which makes accessing email attachments a royal pain. If you feel like you need to attach something, try including it as a picture. You can even use a link to a Google docs if you have to, but steer clear of those attachments!
Your mobile users will thank you.
Be Both Professional and Engaging
This last point is a little bit more subjective than the others, but it’s still no less important.
The writing in your email should reflect the way you want your audience to view your organization. There’s actually a bit of an art to this, since it all depends on who you are and who you’re writing to.
How do you want to be perceived? Are you fun-loving? Businesslike? Enthusiastic? Realistic?
There’s a fair amount of flexibility here, but all good call to register emails should demonstrate the passion you have for your organization. They should look and feel professional, but they should also engage the reader and get them excited about registering for whatever it is you have to offer.
People respond to personalities. If they can hear a real person behind the words on the screen, they’re going to care a lot more about what you have to say.
Conclusion
If you’re following these general guidelines, your response rate is sure to grow. Don’t just resign yourself to letting your emails go unread!
People do care about what you want to tell them—you just have to say it properly. So present yourself well, be deliberate in your writing, and draw your audience in.
In the right hands, email blasts can be hugely powerful tool. See how well they can work for you!
