How to create an engaging post-event email campaign

Do you know that a post-event email campaign is something that can keep your attendees hooked up with your brand? It is also one of the best methods to convert your event visitors into potential customers. However, every email campaign strategy for post-event engagement differs from business to business. So, you need to be clear of the objectives of the event before laying out the campaign.

But, unarguably, every post-event email strategy must include some specific elements to thrive. So, here we will be talking about tactics that you can mix and match to build a perfect email campaign to engage your visitors again. In fact, around 80.2% of virtual event organizers have a record of reaching a broader audience than ever before with a post-event email campaign. 

Here are a few tips for creating an engaging post-event email campaign

Sending a “Thank You” email

You should appreciate that your event guests took out some time to attend your event from their busy everyday schedules. So, you must show your gratitude towards them. 

Compose an email thanking them for showing up. It will not only make them feel good, but also you get another chance to reconnect with them. So, right after your event ends, send your guests a follow-up email. The immediate 24 hours after any event is the best time to grab the interest of your visitors, so do not let this opportunity go. 

You should start planning the content of your Thank You email even before the event takes place, so you don’t have to rush everything within 24 hours. 

Sending a “We missed you” message to people who didn’t come

You must not restrict your follow-up emails to only your visitors, but you should also contact your guests who were about to show up but couldn’t. Let them know you haven’t forgotten about them and they are still crucial for your company by sending a “We missed you” email. In the post-email content, make sure to include event-related pages. 

Additionally, to make sure you haven’t missed any recipients from the email listing. Add QR codes at the time of sharing your event registration emails. So that receiver can scan it and quickly fill out their information directly in your system. 

Then you can efficiently separate who didn’t show up and send them an appealing email later. You can create a QR code by simply using a QR generator website. 

Creating a page for post-event

What would be better than enabling your attendees to relive the entire vibrant experience of your event? Or showing those who didn’t attend what they missed! Create a post-event page by simply editing and adding it to the existing event landing page that you have created on your site. 

Ensure your edits must display all the happening parts of your event; in an in-person event where you can share pictures of drinks, foods, entertainment, speakers, people who own specific awards, etc. In a virtual event, you can take screenshots of live Q&As, fun polls, chats among excited attendees, snaps of special guests, and takeaways from the event. 

Here are a few ideas that you can use while making edits for your event landing page:

• Add a recap video clip or reel. 
• Multiple images or a photo booth gallery.
• Playlist of the event music (For in-person event).
• A gallery for all the tweets that contain event-related hashtags.
• Fun content relevant to the event and presentation slides as well.

Asking your guests to participate in a post-event survey 

Create an email with an attached post-event survey page and send it to each guest who showed up to the occasion. Ensure the survey questions mainly focus on how your guests liked the overall event organization, which things they enjoyed the most and which ones were not impressive or a turn-off for them, and so forth.

You must send the follow-up survey within 24 hours so that guests can answer a variety of questions effectively with their fresh memory. Such feedback will help you to improve your upcoming events. Adding a few personalized touches on survey questions for your audience will help you understand your target audience better.

You can either use the visitor’s contact number or email address that you collected during the event day or use the invite listing that you used to send event invitations in the first place. Sending a follow-up email is an effective tactic to enhance visitors’ satisfaction. The outcome of doing so will give you vital first-hand data regarding the factors that made the event better, as well as helpful feedback to learn where you need to work for future satellite/online events. 

Asking your customer service or sales teams to carry out a personal follow up

In case the main aim of your event is to increase customer engagement or drive more sales, you need to get your customer or sales teams to reach out to each guest post-event personally. They can use any relevant content from the event or simply ask them what they think of the event. 

Doing so will help teams to understand where the guest is currently in the buyer’s journey. Hence, provide information to your customers that is not solely focused on sales, but also give them valuable information to help them make an informed decision for a possible purchase. 

However, if your event was big enough, you need to prioritize specific visitors that your team needs to follow up. Ask your team to consider the following prospects: 

• Guests who open the email invitation within a short time after you send it. 
• Guests who were your event’s attendees.
• Prospects who were engaging well. 

As per studies, 76% of email marketers have seen a rise in customers engagement through emails throughout the last year, 

Performing data segmentation and content personalization

Focusing on segmented data and content personalization is one of the great tactics to use in email follow-ups. Despite the fact that you need to put some additional effort to pull this off, it is completely worth it. Segmented email campaigns tend to experience email open rates over 14.31%  compared to email campaigns that are non-segmented. 

For example, suppose you have the data of how many attendees were engaging better during a specific speaker or session of the event. In that case, you will be able to target the same attendees with personalized content to streamline future marketing. 

By providing a personalized experience to each of your attendees through targeted content, you will increase their chances of attending your future events. It is because personalizing content will possibly provide something of value to your attendees. 

Attracting guests post-event with the help of event speakers

Usually, speakers of the event tend to be the highlight of the show as they share valuable insights from specific sectors with your attendees. Listening to them, your attendees get the opportunity to grab knowledge and information about other industries, people, and success stories. 

So make sure you record their presentations and add a few clips of their videos in your follow-up emails. There is a possibility that your attendees will share the clips with their colleagues or friends, and indirectly they will be promoting your event to others. 

Also, hosting the content on your site or posting a blog about it can make this tactic better and effective. Further, it will help you to showcase your event with better details as well as you can show off the main highlights. You can also share the information of the speakers to attract more attendees in the future. 

In addition, if the speakers had talked about or presented specific content during the event ,such as videos or decks. Ensure to put those content in the email as well. 

Sending invitation for the upcoming event

If you have an upcoming event that is most like the one your attendees visited. Then it is a perfect opportunity to create momentum using the recent event to anticipate your attendees for the next one. This email also targets those who open your invitations but skip registering with them. With a vibrant invitation, you can convince them to show up next time. Make sure to include how attending the event will be beneficial for them. You can add the following pointers in your invitation email: 

• First, of course, you need to tell them the time and venue of the upcoming event.
• List out a few important reasons for them to come.
• Offer a sneak-peak of what and who is going to be there. 
• Also, you can give a run-through of activities that are going to happen. 
• You can also offer an additional incentive or a promo code for visitors. 

It would be beneficial to go through some available ideas to make your online event better and engaging than the previous one. 

Conclusion

Apply all the tips as mentioned earlier while creating a post-engagement email campaign for your brand. Once you get your visitors engaged, start planning to convey your next virtual event considering all the feedback from previous attendees. Always try to exceed the expectations of your attendees and openly show them that you care about their opinions by making necessary improvements. This way, you will be one of the priorities of your audience even in their busy schedule.

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Guest post by Claron Kinny