Create Compelling Email Subject Lines for Effective Event Marketing

Research shows that 69% of recipients consider emails as spam based on subject lines alone. The subject line is the first thing your recipients see, and a captivating one can make or break the success of your email marketing efforts.

To maximize the impact of your email marketing in events, it’s essential to create subject lines that resonate with your audience and entice them to engage with your content. 

Don’t know how to construct the best event marketing emails? No problem! We’ve got you covered. From event invitation email to post-event lines examples, we have it all in this article.

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How to Write Compelling Email Event Subject Lines

Here are some pointers to consider as you draft event subject lines. These subject line suggestions are all meant to encourage recipients to notice and open your email.

1. Focus on Tone

The tone of the event subject lines should be consistent with the style of the rest of the email. For example, if you’re marketing an event in a formal tone, your subject line should reflect that.

“We’re gathering the Event Marketing community at the ABC Event Marketing Conference — hope to see you there,” sets a good formal and professional tone for an email. 

On the other hand, if you want to catch your registrant’s attention with a fun and casual email, your email subject for the event invitation should be amusing. Try something like:

“Your Future Self Called — They Really Want You at the ABC Event Marketing Conference.”

2.  Create A Sense of Urgency

Use an urgent tone so the recipient is tempted to open the email. But this sense of urgency must be followed through with an email that makes up for evoking that emotion by giving them solid reasons to attend the event. 

For example, you can excite attendees for your trade show with catchy pre-trade show email subject lines, such as “Don’t miss out on our next big trade show!” or “10 exciting things happening at our tradeshow!” 

Use this sparingly, as regularly doing this will numb the readers to it. Here are some more subject lines for event invitation examples:

• “We’re almost full; hurry up!”
• “The wait is over, [the event] is almost here!”
• “Hurry! 3 days left before [the event].”
• “Take action now!”

A good example here is the subject line for the Eventeer Awards final registration invite, which got a 41.21% open rate using a direct approach to create urgency:

• “Eventeer Awards: Final Chance to Register.”

3. Leverage the Fear of Missing Out

A sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) gets the best of almost all of us, as no one likes missing out on things. One of the best ways to see great results from event subject lines is by convincing the reader that it’s something they don’t want to miss out on. Here are some subject lines for event invitation examples:

• “Did you know?…”
• “Take a look at who’s attending [your event]!”
• “Here’s your chance to network with industry professionals!”
• “Your friends are attending, will you?”
• “4 out of 5 people won it big last year at [your event].”

4.  Make it Informative

If you can make the event subject lines informative, it’ll make you look professional and credible. It will also hint at additional value in the email for readers, nudging them to open it. Here are some best email subject lines for events to get you started:

• “[Leading industry professional] will be at [your event] on [date].”
• “Here’s the schedule for [event].”
• “We will be giving out 100 coupons for…”
• “Here’s what to expect from [the event].”

Bonus tip: Remember, your event email subject line is only the beginning of the story that you want to tell with your email. So make sure that the story continues and reaches a conclusion when the reader opens the email. Don’t leave them hanging!

5.  Personalize Your Subject Line

If you have access to a platform that can do so, personalize your event email subject lines with tokens for their first name. HubSpot, Mailchimp, and vFairs’ email tool can all help you do this easily. 

An excellent example would be when vFairs hosted a mixer for local contacts in Nashville. The registration reminder email got a 33.33% open rate, proving how crafting clever registration email subject lines is important. Here’s how we phrased it:

• “Hira, will I see you Thursday?”

This subject line had a personal touch with the personalization token and mention of “I”.  It was also a quick, straightforward question and incentivized action where people felt like they now had somewhere to be on Thursday, so they wanted to double-check.

6.  Segment Your Emails

Email list segmentation involves splitting your email list into various groups or segments. Then, you can create unique messages exclusively for each segment and see how it performs, commonly known as A/B testing in email marketing. The difficulties that your target audience faces and the primary reason they signed up for your email marketing list are taken into account at each level of email segmentation.

You can segment your email by the following:

• Email Engagement
• Email Domain
• When Subscribers Joined Your List
• Geographic Location
• Interest
• Profession or Role

Email Subject Lines Based on Your Event Goals

Goal 1: Get More Registrations

RSVP subject lines or save-the-date subject lines are a thing of the past. It’s time to move beyond such traditional event invitation subject lines.  To get more registrations, your event email subject lines will need to use the principles we saw before. Here are some more event invitation email subject line examples:

• “Tickets for this year’s [event] are up for sale!”
• “Invitation to register and join us….”
• “Register now and get 10% off.”
• “Join us as we meet this year’s presenters.”

Goal 2: Boost Attendance

People commonly miss the event dates once they’ve registered. This can be an even bigger problem if you’re hosting virtual or hybrid events, as people often overlook event dates due to their everyday routines, so reminders are necessary. To ensure maximum attendance, you can keep reminding your registered leads, but make sure to keep changing the email subject for the event invitation. Also, as a general rule of thumb, please don’t overdo anything. 

Here are some subject lines for event invitation examples you can try:

• “X days left until the event….”
• “You’re just X days away from an experience of a lifetime!”
• “Don’t forget!”
• “While we wait, here’s what you should know about….”

Post Event Subject Lines

It’s crucial to send emails post-event to build your relationship with the attendee. Post-event email subject lines can help sustain the connection and grab feedback from your audience even after the event. 

The event follow-up email subject line can also be used to drive more engagement after the event and keep the conversation going. For example, you can use the post-event emails to ask attendees to sign up for your event newsletter or an upcoming event. 

Here are some examples for post event email subject line:

• “That was a blast!”
• “We are delighted that you joined us.”
• “We’d like to hear from you….”
• “So, how did it go?”
• “X options to get started.”

Email Subject Line Recap: The Complete List

Here’s a list of event invitation email subject line examples that might come in handy for your next email campaign. You can use this cheatsheet based on your specific needs.

Urgency Based Subject Lines

1. “Don’t miss out on our next big trade show!”
2. “10 exciting things happening at our tradeshow!”
3. “We’re almost full; hurry up!”
4. “The wait is over, [the event] is almost here!”
5. “Hurry! 3 days left before [the event].”
6. “Only 2 Spots Left. Apply Now.”
7. “Take action now!”

FOMO Subject Lines

1. “Did you know?…”
2. “Take a look at who’s attending [your event]!”
3. “Here’s your chance to network with industry professionals!”
4. “Your friends are attending, will you?”
5. “4 out of 5 people won it big last year at [your event]”.

Informative Subject Lines

1. “[Leading industry professional] will be at [your event] on [date].”
2. “Here’s the schedule for [event].”
3. “We will be giving out 100 coupons for…”
4.  “Here’s what to expect from [the event].”
5. “5 Proven Techniques to Enhance Event Engagement.”

Subject Lines to Get More Registrations

1. “Tickets for this year’s [event] are up for sale!”
2. “Invitation to register and join us….”
3. “Register now and get 10% off.”
4. “Join us as we meet this year’s presenters.”

Subject Lines to Boost Attendance

1. “X days left until the event….”
2. “You’re just X days away from an experience of a lifetime!”
3. “Don’t forget!”
4. “While we wait, here’s what you should know about….”

Post Event Subject Lines

1. “That was a blast!”
2. “We are delighted that you joined us.”
3. “We’d like to hear from you….”
4. “So, how did it go?”
5. “X options to get started.”

Tips to Create the Best Event Email Subject Lines

Try emailing “from” an actual name rather than the name of your company or event. People will feel closer to one another and more personally invited. Using “I,” “you,” and other pronouns will also help establish a sense of familiarity and connection with the receiver.

Many receivers frequently prefer shorter email subject lines, especially those who view them on mobile devices. We advise you to stick to a maximum of 9 words and 60 characters. Since many emails aren’t opened if they’re too general or lengthy, the subject line must find the perfect balance. 

You can also start the subject line with a number or include an emoji. For example, “3 Steps to Achieve [event goal].”

Be mindful of the day and time. Email marketing platforms also allow you to stagger the send time to match the recipient’s time zone, so you’ll receive it at the set time regardless of where you are. 

Never pass up an opportunity to use emotional triggers and powerful wording. Humans are emotional beings, and you can easily use words in the subject lines of your emails to appeal to their feelings and emotions. For example, “5 Proven Techniques to Enhance Event Engagement,” or “Only 2 Spots Left. Apply Now.

Email Subject Line Mistakes to Avoid

Although it’s easy to make mistakes when composing catchy subject lines for events, they aren’t entirely avoidable. These subject line sins can significantly lower your open rates:

• Do not use “Re:” or abbreviations in the subject line.
• Avoid overusing phrases like “urgent” or “important” in your subject lines, as the recipient may see them as spam due to their frequent overuse.
• Avoid employing slang or acronyms that not everyone can comprehend.
• Watch out for using too many exclamation points!
• DON’T USE CAPS. Doing so gives the impression that you are shouting at the recipient.

AI Tools for Event Subject Lines: Work Smarter, Not Harder

We’ve streamlined the process of creating catchy email subject lines for events by providing examples. Now, we’d like to offer even more help.

Event planners can save time by using AI Tools to brainstorm catchy event email subject lines and quickly create samples.

With just a few prompts, you can easily generate the best event subject lines in seconds, thanks to the power of AI tools.

What’s more exciting is that partnering with an advanced event technology provider like vFairs ensures access to AI-powered marketing tools and a range of advanced event management technology. This comprehensive support ensures you can create a successful event from start to finish.

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