E-Mail Promotion - How Far Out Should You Drop One To Promote An Event?
We're getting ready to promote and event and will be using E-mail as part of our marketing. From your experience, how far out should you drop the first E-mail and does it make sense to hit the list several times leading up to the event?
Clarification added September 4, 2008:
Some questions that have been asked... the event is a local FREE investment seminar. The idea is to get them in the top of the funnel and then drive them to purchase an intensive 2-day program. The event will not require any real travel or accommodation needs.
Answers (10)
Joyce M.
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The timing and follow up will depend on the event itself:
1. Does it involve travel? (e.g. conference)
2. Is it online only? (e.g., webinar)
If you could clarify what type of event you're planning I would be happy to provide you with some parameters that work.
Nigel M.
Creating reputations with PR & social media, helping companies make sense of & money from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn
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Likewise a little more information allows for a greater precision in the answer!
Some of the best event management emailing I have seen starts out quite a few months in advance as it would be competing with similar events and wanted to be the first to flag their conference.
Initially look to alert people and encourage them to register for updates and offers relating to the event - perhaps time or number limit it to encourage prompt response.
Once they are registered aim to contact them regularly with news of what is most likely to appeal to them. Analytics on several varying components of your email will help you refine your lists.
Be sure to give them the chance to unsubscribe at any stage unless you want people to start complaining to anyone who will listen about how (insert your event here) has been spamming them.
Use traditional marketing to reinforce news about your event ahead of the email campaign, so people who saw the adverts and the PR will immediately appreciate what the email is about.
Hope that helps and good luck with your event!
PS. Julian Wellings is a guru when it comes to email campaigns so it may be worth hearing his take on this!
Links:
Nigel M. also suggests this expert on this topic:
Boris M.
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Depending on the type of event you're promoting you may want to start "hitting" your email list up to 6 months in advance. If the event is a paid conference or seminar, for which tickets are in the $1,000s, then 6 months in advance is not too soon.
If you're promoting an event that is only going to draw a local crowd, i.e. no travel/accommodation worries, then 60 days should be sufficient.
For smaller, cheaper events, with travel, I'd say 2-3 months.
Definitely promote this to your list more than once, increasing the frequency as you're nearing the deadline for registration.
If you have an early bird discount, then that is your 1st deadline, so you can send emails once a week, increasing to 2-3 times per week as the deadline approaches.
Make sure you give your audience a chance to opt out of your event promo email, but stay on your list for other stuff, such as your educational e-newsletters, and other promotions.
Don't forget to also mention your event in your e-newsletter. If you have other lists, approach them carefully with info about your event, if they see it as something that's not in line with their expectations, they may un-subscribe - or worse - label your email as spam, so thread softly.
Hope this helps.
Boris Mahovac - Email Marketing Coach
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Samantha T.
Seasoned Public Relations, Marketing and Communications Specialist
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Hi Lance,
My experience comes from six years of planning seminars for an accounting firm, where the total attendees range between 30 to 60.
I begin marketing events six weeks out. Email invites are done on a weekly basis – Tuesday are the best day. Hard copy mailings are done at the six-week mark and the two-week mark.
Good luck!
Hi Lance. I think email marketing boils down to how qualified the list is and how targeted the subject line and associated content is. Be concise in the message as possible and 2 or 3 emails is plenty for the event. I hope this helps.
A big part of your answer will depend on how you acquired the names on your list. If this is a permission based list, then you should hit them up multiple times starting at least a couple months out to get on your prospects' calendars. Your messages should be varied and personal, so that they don't appear to be just another piece of spam.
If this isn't a permission based list, then a teaser e-mail that invites the prospects to learn more about your seminar would be in order. That should go out a couple months in advance as well. You'll want to make sure there is a compelling reason that the prospective client will want to become a permanent part of your list. (i.e. a discount to the seminar.)
Cisco A.
Adler Media Group – Experienced in marketing strategy, design, and online conversion optimization.
Lance,
I would start 2-3 months out since there is no travel required. Otherwise, people will see it as too far out and opt out of your list before you get a chance to really sell them.
My experience has been that you should develop a drip campaign where each email you send highlights a different benefit for the recipient. This helps to eliminate the repetitiveness of the message but still allows you to reach out to your list multiple times.
I also agree with earlier answers: How targeted is your list and are they subscribers to your email newsletters or are they just prospects? If they are subscribers to your newsletter, then I would highlight the event in each one as well as have an additional "announcement" email interspersed.
As far as timing, I would view it like this where each dot represents an email as it nears the time of the event:
. . . . . . . . EVENT
Again frequency is based on your particular list.
I hope that helps and if you have any other specifics, feel free to ask.
Regards,
Cisco
Six weeks. More than six weeks and there is no urgency to act. Less than six weeks and schedules will fill up depending on your target market.
I would spend the first few days at a minimum A/B testing subject lines and content. Depending on the size of your list, I would try 6-8 subjects and track conversion rate, not open rate. Be clear in your subjects, make them relevant to your targets and give them a sense of urgency to act.
I wouldn't send more than a single invitation, followed by a more urgent reminder, especially if these are your regular clients as opposed to purchased lists. You don't want them to unsubscribe.
Lately I've been testing longer, more descriptive subject lines and my click-to-open rates have soared while my unsubscribes have greatly reduced. The idea behind this is by being more clear (long subject lines), those who have no interest aren't tricked into opening the email, making them less likely to unsubscribe. You then have future opportunity to present them something they may find of more interest.
Hope this helps.
It's audience dependent but what I've used in the past is 311. 3 months out provide an overview and date.time reminder. 1 month out remind them of the previous invite and 1 week out send out a "Don't forget, next week" notice. If you send anything the day before no one has time in their schedule to get out and see you. Hope this helps.
