5 Best Practices for Crafting Effective Event Follow-up Emails

After a successful event, the energy is high, and you’re ready to bask in all the glory. You’ve expanded your network with new contacts and successfully promoted your brand to potential customers and partners. So, the job is done, right?

Wrong.

Although 77% of marketers consider events as the most effective marketing channel for generating leads, it doesn’t mean all those leads will convert into sales on their own. You still need a strong follow-up process to get them to take your ultimate desired action

That means if you don’t have a strong follow-up process in place, all the hard work you put into organizing and planning your event might just amount to nothing for your business.

In this article, let’s talk about how you can create an effective event follow-up email to nurture those connections and convert leads into valuable opportunities for business growth.

What Is an Event Follow-Up Email?

An event follow-up email is the first communication sent to attendees after an event. More than just thanking participants, it’s essential for sustaining interest and deepening engagement. 

This email opens a dialogue about your event, and products or services, extending the conversation beyond the day itself. 

It’s also a chance to remind attendees of the value they gained. You can provide key event highlights, share additional resources, or introduce new opportunities to amplify the impact of your event.

The Significance of Event Follow-Up Emails

Follow-up emails are an important link in the chain of communication that begins at your event and continues beyond. Here are reasons why you should consider event follow-up emails:

They Transform Attendees into Advocates

Follow-up emails are your opportunity to turn one-time event attendees into recurring participants and even brand advocates. By keeping attendees informed and involved, you make them feel like part of a community, not just spectators.

They Promote Continued Engagement

By summarizing key moments and offering related resources or follow-up events, you provide a clear path for attendees to continue their journey with your brand. 

This active brand engagement is facilitated by your other high-quality content pieces and calls to action that are relevant to the attendee.

They Facilitate Feedback and Improvement 

Follow-up emails are an excellent tool for collecting feedback. 

When you can ask your attendees to share their input via follow-up emails, you gain insights that are essential for refining future events while making them feel valued.

They Can Help Sales 

If you’re in the B2B industry, you know that events are one of the most effective B2B SaaS marketing strategies. However, we can all agree that it wouldn’t be ideal to pitch your products right after an event. That’s where a follow-up email comes into play. 

By sending follow-up emails, you’re showing attendees that their presence alone was valuable and that you appreciate their time and engagement. This recognition fosters goodwill, which can easily result in sales when you finally start introducing your product offerings to them.

But wait. How do you get the contact details of your event attendees so you can send them these follow-up emails in the first place? Simple. Ask for their email addresses when they sign up for your event. You can also create and distribute your virtual business card to attendees on the day/s of the event itself. With its two-way contact sharing feature, each recipient can easily share back their contact details via a form in the card with you. These new leads are then stored chronologically into your digital address book. 

5 Tips for Creating Impactful Event Follow-Up Emails

You already know creating effective follow-up emails is key to nurturing and extending the connections made at your event. Now here are five tips to follow to ensure your emails not only capture attention but also inspire action.

1. Use a Compelling Subject Line

The email subject line is often the deciding factor in whether an email is opened or ignored.  More than 40% of email recipients open emails based on the subject line alone. 

But what is an effective subject line? A compelling subject line should capture the essence of your message. Also, it should be personalized. Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened. 

Follow these other tips to create a compelling subject line:

• Keep It Short and Sweet: Aim for 50 characters or less. This ensures the subject line is fully visible on mobile devices.

• Provoke Curiosity or Offer Value: Use language that piques interest or clearly communicates what the recipient will gain by reading more. Questions and teaser phrases can be particularly effective.

• Avoid Spam Triggers: Words like ‘free’, ‘help’, ‘percent off’, and ‘reminder’ can trigger spam filters or turn off recipients if overused.

Here’s an example of an email subject line that ticks all the boxes: “Missed Something at [Event Name]? Get the Highlights!” It’s more likely to generate clicks than a generic “Thank you for attending our event” subject line.

As a final tip, A/B test your subject lines so you’ll know which one resonates the most with your target audience. Then use it or similar ones in your email campaigns to boost your email opens.

2. Include Personal Touch

Personalized emails improve click-through rates by an average of 14%. But effective personalization goes beyond just sprinkling in the recipient’s name in the email. It’s about crafting a message that resonates on a personal level.

Here’s how you can do that:

Leverage Other Data Attendees Gave During the Event: Did they sign up for specific workshops? Did they tell you the specific topics they’re most passionate about? Use this information to tailor your message.

Mention Specific Interactions: If they asked a question during a Q&A, reference that in your email. This not only shows that you were paying attention but also that their participation was valued.

Recommend Relevant Resources: Based on their activities and interests shown at the event, recommend specific resources like white papers, blog posts, or future events. This adds value and shows that you are attentive to their needs.

All that said, here’s a sample event follow-up email you can get inspiration from:

“Hello [Name],

It was wonderful to meet you at our recent conference, especially during the breakout session on sustainable business practices. I remember you mentioned your challenge with implementing green technologies in your operations. I thought you might find this case study on recent advancements in sustainable tech helpful [link].

Make sure you use casual but professional language. You want your email recipient to feel comfortable interacting with you, but, at the same time, you don’t want them thinking you’re presumptuous and are acting like you’re one of their closest friends.

3. Keep Email Body Brief 

When writing follow-up emails, you might be tempted to share with your recipient all the information discussed at the event. 

Don’t be.

The average attention span is now less than nine seconds. So, if you want your recipients to read your entire email, you need one that gets to the point quickly. Moreover, concise emails reduce cognitive load, making them easier to comprehend and remember. 

Follow these tips to write concise emails to complement your short and sweet subject lines:

• Prioritize Key Information: Start with the most critical information. If the recipient reads only the first few lines, they should still be able to grasp the essential message.

• Use Bullet Points for Key Takeaways: Organize information into bullet points to improve readability and ensure that key messages stand out.

• Employ Clear Call to Action: Be explicit about the next steps. If you want them to register for another event, download a resource, or complete a survey, state this clearly and provide a direct link or a single, simple action they can take.

The good news is that you don’t have to craft these emails from scratch. You can use AI templates to streamline your email creation process, helping you write compelling messages efficiently and effectively.

4. Pay Attention to the Email Footer

A footer is often the last thing people see in an email, but this doesn’t make it any less significant. In many jurisdictions, it’s a requirement to include an unsubscribe link and your company’s physical mailing address. This section is strategically suited for these requirements. 

Beyond compliance, a well-crafted footer serves as a gateway to further engagement. By including social media icons and website links, you can invite recipients to continue exploring your brand and its offerings.

Here are other email footer best practices:

• Include Necessary Contact Information: Always provide a way for recipients to reach out or learn more about your organization. Include your website and social media details, for example.

• Keep It Organized: Arrange the elements in your footer neatly. It should be easy for readers to find exactly what they need.

• Use Subtle Footer Calls to Action: You should also include a short invitation to connect on social media or to visit your blog for more insights. The CTAs here are apart from your main email body’s CTA.

Make sure you A/B test your email footers as well. Experiment with different elements–from the colors to the CTAs–to come up with an email footer that yields the most engagement.

5. Master Timing of Sending Email

The timing of your follow-up email is a critical element that can significantly impact its success. If you send it immediately after the event, it risks being just another unchecked notification. And if you wait too long, the initial excitement from the event may have already diminished. Your attendees may have even forgotten about your event.

You can send your follow-up email 24 to 48 hours after the event. It’s enough time to let attendees settle back into their routines, but soon enough to keep the memories of the event fresh.

Here are other tips to follow to send your event follow-up emails at the right time:

Use Email Marketing Tools: These tools automatically send your follow-up email at a time you set. With this strategy, you don’t just ensure you send your event follow-up emails at the perfect time. You also ensure you don’t forget to send them in the first place.

Be Mindful of Time Zones: If your event had international event attendees, consider the time zone differences when scheduling your emails.

If your first email doesn’t get a response, don’t be afraid to send a polite reminder a week later. Sometimes, emails get lost in the shuffle, and a gentle nudge can make all the difference.

Conclusion

Crafting an effective event follow-up email is a must if you want to get the most out of your events. But you need to follow best practices to ensure your email yields optimal results.

You learned these best practices with this article. Use a compelling subject line, include a personal touch to your email content while keeping it brief. Pay attention to your email footer as well. Finally, send your message at the right time.

By following these best practices, you transform a one-time event into the start of an ongoing conversation with your attendees. Ultimately, you can ensure strong relationships that can help you achieve business success.