Why Email Drip Campaigns Are a Game-Changer for Event Promotion

If you’re organizing an event—whether it’s a workshop, retreat, conference, or camp—juggling communication with attendees is no small task. After the event invitation, there are follow-up promotions, last-chance emails, and thank-you messages. How do you keep track of all the different email lists?  

The solution is email drip campaigns. These are a series of automated, pre-scheduled emails designed to guide potential attendees through the registration process. When well-executed, a drip campaign increases engagement, excitement, and registrations. And the best part? The automation lets you schedule everything in advance, which saves you a ton of time leading up to the event. 

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the best practices for crafting email drip campaigns that drive results.

Step 1: Understand Your Audience

To make your emails excellent, it’s crucial to know who you’re talking to. 

🎯 Define your target audience – We recommend using RegFox Contact Insights to learn key demographics, behaviors, and interests in your audience so you can tailor your message accordingly.

📌 Segment your list – Group attendees by factors like past registrations, engagement levels, or registration type. This allows you to send more personalized and relevant emails to each group. For example, you can offer a special promotion to previous attendees or people who purchase registration before a certain date.

📊 Leverage registrant data – Use surveys and signup forms to gather information and make your content even more relevant.

Step 2: Plan Your Drip Campaign

Even if the CTA is the same, each email will have a different message and purpose. Identify what you want to achieve with each campaign email—whether it’s driving registration revenue, increasing engagement, or providing key information—and consider including the following different types of emails in your drip campaign. 

➡️Invitation emails –Introduce your event’s key details, build anticipation, and set the stage for what’s coming.

➡️Reminder emails – Send timely reminders about important dates, such as a required waiver deadline or the early bird registration window.

➡️Exclusive offers and discounts – Encourage registration purchases with special discounts or enticing VIP upgrades. Consider implementing a demand pricing model that uses scarcity to drive action and distribute sales.

➡️Last chance – Emphasize that time is running out, but spots are still available. Keep registrants in the loop by informing them about any changes in attractions or logistical details. 

➡️Follow-up and feedback emails – After the event, send an email to thank attendees and request their feedback. Build excitement for the future by sharing pictures from the event and offering a discount for next year.

Step 3: Ensure Your Emails Get Read

Long, cluttered, or confusing emails lead to abandoned emails and lost registration. Follow these best practices to make sure your email gets opened.

📱 Make it mobile-friendly – Over 60% of emails are opened on mobile devices. Preview yours before sending!

🖼️ Use images and videos – Don’t just tell people about your event—show them! A quick video clip or high-quality image can dramatically boost engagement.

🎨 Keep it clean – Use headings, whitespace, and easy-to-read fonts. Stay on-brand by utilizing your logo, brand colors, and voice.

➡️ Choose an engaging subject line – As the first impression for the reader, your subject line should grab attention. Use action-oriented phrases, curiosity, and specificity to entice recipients to open the email. 

📨Create valuable content – Design each email to have a clear purpose. Whether it’s key event details, positive testimonials, exclusive offers, or early bird deals, it should provide value to the reader.

🔑Include a CTA – Always encourage email recipients to take specific actions, and make these actions (i.e., registration, visiting your website, sharing the event on social media) obvious and easy to follow through on.

⏰ Time it right – The optimal time to send your email will vary based on your audience’s behavior, but according to the research, emails have the highest open rate Tuesday through Thursday between 8 and 10 am.

Step 4: Automate Your Drip Campaign

Once your emails are written and designed, it’s time to automate and watch the results roll in. 

📨 Choose your email marketing platform – With RegFox, you can build your campaign directly in your account. While popular platforms like Mailchimp or Constant Contact allow you to create a series of emails, you can neither track registration sales nor prune registrant lists without extensive programming. 

🔄 Set up automated workflows – Create workflows that automatically send or stop emails based on triggers like sign-ups, registration purchases, or event dates.

📊 Track and manage email triggers – Monitor the performance of your automated emails and adjust accordingly. Evaluate different factors, such as email timing and signup rates, so you can continue improving the campaign over time.

Step 5: Measure, Optimize, and Improve

As the results roll in, keep a pulse on the following performance metrics to refine your strategy. 

📈 Monitor key email metrics – Keep an eye on open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates. These metrics are essential for understanding the performance of your emails and areas of potential improvement.

➡️ Experiment for optimization – Try out different subject lines and analyze the email drip data to see what resonates best with different audience segments. Use the results to refine your approach and create more effective emails in the future.

🔍 Review data – Regularly analyze your campaign data to identify trends, strengths, and weaknesses. Use the insight you gain to revise your strategy and continue to engage and delight your audience. 

Step 6: Stay Compliant and Respect Your Audience

Nothing kills trust quite like spam emails. Keep your campaigns compliant and subscriber-friendly by following these best practices.

✅ Allow people to opt out easily – Don’t force them to go on a scavenger hunt to find the unsubscribe button.
✅ Respect email frequency – Too many emails will annoy your recipients. Try to find a balance.
✅ Keep data secure – Protect your subscribers’ data by using secure platforms (like RegFox) and be transparent about how you collect and use their information.

🚨And whatever you do, don’t buy email lists. 🚨

Final Takeaways

With the right strategy, email drip campaigns can skyrocket your event registrations and free up your time. Want to learn more? 

Click here to download the full PDF guide on drip campaigns. As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact our support team.

Our goal is to help you have the best event ever!

— The RegFox Team

‍

‍