Planning in-person, virtual, or hybrid events takes considerable time and resources. You want to ensure that your event goals and message are clear and communicated effectively to your audience for maximum impact. Clear marketing and strategic touchpoints with your audience are critical for event success. However, the question remains: How many touchpoints are needed? What should I communicate? Am I repeating myself too much?

We’ve outlined the optimal roadmap for you or your event planner so that you can maximize engagement for your event and create strategic and impactful touchpoints for your audience. 

The Strategy

When it comes to event communication, the best practice is a multi-touchpoint strategy to effectively engage attendees while not overwhelming them. At a minimum, you should be sending out 6-10 emails per event. This includes save-the-dates, registration announcements, general event information, last-chance reminders, and general announcements. Once you’ve identified and segmented your audience (e.g. new registrants, returning attendees, sponsors, etc), you can customize the touchpoint journey for each audience. 

The Roadmap

1. Save-the-Date Announcement: As soon as the event date is confirmed, send out a “save-the-date” to potential attendees and your audiences from past events This is particularly important for in-person components of hybrid events, where attendees may need to make travel arrangements. Be sure to add the venue or city to any communications. 
2. Official Invitation and Registration Opening: Send this out 3-4 months before the event, depending on the scale and audience. This announcement should include key details about the event and a call to action to register. Ask registrants to share the event information with their network to help cross-promotion.
   1. Pro-Tip: Create ready-to-use social media graphics and captions that registrants can easily copy and share If you can minimize their effort, the more likely they will be to share the event on their platform and with their audience. 
3. Early Bird Registration Reminder: If you offer early bird pricing, send a reminder as the deadline approaches, usually a few weeks to a month before the deadline. Be sure to send another reminder on the last day of early bird registration to encourage attendees to buy while prices are lower.
4. Regular Updates and Engagements: Send periodic updates leading up to the event. This should include speaker announcements, session highlights, networking opportunities, and what to expect announcements. Depending on the event’s timeline, these can be sent monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly, gradually increasing in frequency as the event approaches. Include key information that will get attendees excited.
   1. Announce new speakers that might have been added to the lineup. 
   2. Highlight key sponsors and showcase their involvement. 
   3. Showcase highly anticipated sessions or workshops.
5. Last Chance to Register Reminder: Send this out about 1-2 weeks before the event to catch late decision-makers.
   1. For hybrid events, this is a great time to focus on selling additional virtual tickets. Virtual attendance doesn’t require travel and is less of a commitment for attendees and therefore an easier choice to opt into for an event.   
6. Pre-Event Preparation Email: About a week before the event, send an email preparing attendees for what to expect, how to participate (especially for virtual components), and any actions they need to take beforehand, such as downloading apps or pre-registering for workshops and networking sessions.
   1. Write these emails in an easy-to-follow format with clearly outlined steps. Avoid long blocks of text by using a 1-2-3 format with bold headlines for key information. 
7. 48-Hour Reminder: A detailed reminder 48 hours before the event provides attendees with critical information, such as how to log in details for virtual attendees, event schedules, and last-minute logistics like available carpools from the airport for travelers.
   1. Again, follow an easy-to-read format with key details at the top of the email. 
8. Day-Before Reminder: A brief, engaging reminder the day before the event to build excitement and ensure attendees have everything they need for the event. 
9. Day-Of Reminder: Send a final reminder on the morning of the event. For virtual attendees, include direct links to join the event for easy accessibility. 
10. Post-Event Follow-Up: After the event, send a thank you message to attendees, along with a survey for feedback, links to session recordings, and other relevant post-event resources.

Best Practices for Communications:

1. Keep it short – Keep it short: A single event could have 10+ communication touchpoints. Evaluate the most important information for each touchpoint and remove extraneous details. 
2. Include event details – Always include the key event information including the date, time (with additional time zones), location, and the agenda. It might be helpful to also provide a key contact for the event if attendees or participants have questions before they arrive. 
3. Personalization – Use a friendly and inviting tone. You want to help build the community before the event to set the stage with the right tone to make your audience feel welcomed before they step foot in the venue or log onto the virtual platform. 
4. Consistent Branding – Keep the content in line with branding for the event whether that be in the emails, social media reminders, or direct messages to participants. This creates a cohesive journey for the participants and is a visual representation of the event as they prepare for it. 
5. Automate Reminders – Template your main emails and reminders all at once and set them to be automatically sent out on a set schedule. This should be done early in the planning process and can take the stress out of the planning process. The more items you can cross off your list early, the better prepared you will be. 

Key Takeaways:

The key is to ensure that each touchpoint adds value and keeps attendees informed and excited about the event. Build your community early in the planning process to ensure maximum impact before, during, and after the event. 

Leverage various communication channels, such as email, social media, SMS, and platform apps to diversify your content. 

Personalize communications based on attendee type (in-person vs. virtual, returning attendees vs. new attendees) and their interests to further enhance engagement and keep information relevant to each audience. 

This roadmap is meant to be a starting point, remember that each event has different goals and audience interests. Keep your audience engaged in a way that resonates with them while driving home the most important event information. 

Ready to elevate your event? Book a call with our team to start planning today!

Earth Coast Productions

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