Email Marketing Best Practices for Business Events

Use clear branding

Generally, hosting an event is a way for your business to show its expertise in a certain area, as well as demonstrating professionalism and attracting potential new clients. For this reason, it's critical that your event emails are representative of your corporate identity.

When designing your initial announcement emails, be sure to tie in all your usual branding elements. On a visual level, this includes your logo, typeface, color scheme, email layout etc. However, it's also important that your email copy reflects the tone and standard of the copy used on your website and other marketing literature.

Creating a consistent brand image in your emails will only work in your favor, as both potential and existing clients will be more able to form a connection with you.

Although simple, this email perfectly matches the overall branding and style of F8.

Tip: Mail Designer 365 has all the tools you need to truly customise your email designs for your brand. With support for custom color schemes and over 1000 available web fonts (including easy import options for custom fonts), your emails will be truly reflective of your brand's core identity.

List all key details in the email

No matter the size of your event, the initial invitation / announcement email will be the main point of reference for your invitees.

Ensuring all the key event details are listed in one place is a good way for invitees to know exactly where and when your event is taking place, as well as other important information such as:

• How to register for the event / purchase tickets
• Online events: Where to access the webinar/livestream/meeting/etc.
• Equipment needed
• Travel and accommodation tips
• Contact information for support and questions

Clearly presenting this information in your email will make it much more useful and informative to the recipient.

Create an event agenda

One way to get invitees really excited for your event is by including an appealing event agenda in your email - this is particularly effective for bigger events like conferences, launch events or retreats.

Not only does this help registered attendees plan for the event and know what to expect, it's also a fantastic way of convincing those on the fence that your event isn't one to miss.

Zapier include a useful breakdown of what to expect in this webinar, including the estimated duration.

Tip: Using a bold table layout is a great way to clearly present an event agenda, as shown in this Event Agenda Design Idea -  exclusively available in Mail Designer 365:

Attach calendar event

Most leading calendar services allow users to export events as a practical ICS file that others can import into their own calendars. Attaching this file to your email is a great way to make it easier for invitees to keep track of your event.

Here's how to attach a calendar file or link to your Mail Designer 365 email.

Tip: Include a reminder with the event file to ensure invitees don't forget!

Share exciting content from past events

If your event is a recurring one (i.e. an annual conference or monthly webinar), you may want to consider sharing some highlights from previous years. This could include video snippets, presentations, or podcast recordings from successful events of the past.

Not only does this give those first-time invitees a sneak peek of the kind of thing that's in store, it also helps reinforce the value of your event to previous attendees by reminding them of how interesting and entertaining it was the last time!

Include social media cross promotion

Utilising social media is an effective way to generate a buzz around your event. For example, coming up with a dedicated event hashtag allows attendees, hosts and guest speakers to network before the event and also can help attract the attention of those who have not yet registered or purchased a ticket.

Use your event marketing emails to simultaneously promote your social media platforms and encourage guests to join the online conversation. This will also help you grow your social media following longer term!

Litmus do a great job of cross-promoting their Twitter account with a dedicated event hashtag.

Tip: Mail Designer 365 has all the resources you need to build eye-catching social media call-to-actions and direct readers to your Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, etc.

Send out reminders

Even with an automated calendar invitation, sending out a final reminder email is a friendly way to give attendees all the last minute information they may require before the event.

If there were any final details missing from your previous emails (i.e. specific start times, last minute changes), this email is your chance to keep invitees informed and up to date.

CI Radar provide invitees with a really useful overview in this reminder email.

Be sure to include positive phrases such as "we are looking forward to seeing you there...", "can't wait to connect..." in order to generate more excitement around your event and also make guests feel reassured and welcomed.

Tip: Mail Designer 365 supports custom mailto, sms, and telephone links. Utilise these and add your contact information so invitees can easily get in touch. You can even add a pre-filled message and subject line to help your team keep track more easily.

Thank attendees after the event

Especially if events are a regular part of your business strategy - sending a warm thank you email to attendees is an important part of their overall experience with your organisation. A positive experience all round can also help ensure guests will return again for future events.

You can also use your thank you email as a way to gather feedback after the event has taken place. For example, including a simple star rating will give you a good idea of how satisfied guests were overall.

If you want to go one step further, you could even link out to a more detailed feedback form or survey - especially if there are particular elements of the event you wish to optimise. As an incentive for taking part in the feedback, you could create a giveaway or offer a discount or free gift. The more creative, the better!

Build Up Your Event Marketing Strategy with Mail Designer 365

We hope you will find these tips useful when planning the email marketing strategy for your next event.

Mail Designer 365 is an essential tool for creating stylish and functional emails for your business. As well as email templates for events, Mail Designer also offers a wide range of designs for dozens more use cases, including seasonal, sales, automated, and announcements. See all our HTML Design Ideas here!

Want to create your own design from scratch but don't have the time? Thanks to the intuitive drag & drop editor, Mail Designer 365 makes it easy to build flawless campaigns in no time. Try for free today and see what you can create for your business!

With spring fast approaching, now is a great time to take another look at your email marketing calendar and start planning your upcoming campaigns for the next few months.

Spring hosts an array of exciting holidays and occasions that you can easily incorporate into your email marketing strategy and produce exciting email content your subscribers will love.

To help you get inspired for the new season, we've listed 5 major events coming up in spring plus, ideas and examples of awesome marketing emails you can try out in your own spring email strategy.

How do seasonal changes affect consumer behaviour?

Weather and seasonal changes play a great role in the way customers perceive your business and how they choose to spend money. Over the years, many studies have been carried out on the correlation between seasonal changes and consumer behaviour and the general consensus shows a change in season influences many shoppers to start stocking up.

For example, with the first glimmers of spring sunshine often comes:

• a new wardrobe,
• different recipes and food choices,
• the urge to get active or start working out at the gym,
• vacation planning,
• seasonal events and holidays,
• a surge in spring cleaning and DIY,
• a rise in outdoor activities and gardening,
• and much more!

For this reason, the transition from winter into spring poses the perfect opportunity to target customers getting ready for the new season with a fresh, new campaign.

The start of spring encourages many people to start changing their habits, including taking up outdoor activities again.

5 Major Spring Holidays You Need to Plan for

Recognising major seasonal events ensures your email content remains relevant and interesting to your audience. Spring is a great time for new campaigns, as it welcomes a wide range of key events, including major religious holidays and public holidays.

Want to get started? Check out this list of major spring holidays and discover campaign examples to get inspired!

More Inspiration for Spring Marketing Campaigns

Our Spring Pinterest board contains tons of great examples of spring email campaigns, designed by the biggest brands. Follow us on Pinterest today to discover our hand-curated collection of top notch email designs and get inspired for spring and the rest of the year!

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In particular for fashion brands, having an effective email automation strategy in place plays an important role in determining the experience customers have with your online shop. Setting up automated emails for certain key "trigger" actions is a great way to keep website visitors engaged and personalise their journey with your business.

Although it's great to get creative with your automation strategy, having a solid foundation in place is the best way to ensure you have all bases covered.

In this post, we're sharing 5 essential automated emails every online fashion retailer needs to set up to help boost sales and drive customer engagement.

Why Should I Set Up Automated Emails for My Online Store?

Big name online fashion retailers such as ASOS, Boohoo, Zalando and Missguided have a lot in common, including an indestructible email marketing strategy.

As well as creating a more personalised experience for your customers, automated emails have a number of other advantages:

• Save time: Having an automated strategy in place saves you time in the long run and allows you to focus your efforts on larger campaigns
• Great ROI (return on investment): Building one set of templates won't cost much and will help you maximise sales
• Onboarding made easy: Welcome newcomers on board with a pre-made set of email templates
• Reduce support demand: Provide customers with useful billing and shipping information without them having to ask for it
• Reengage customers: Stop customers slipping through the net by chasing up lost sales and dormant subscribers

5 Automated Email Ideas for Online Fashion Retailers

Here are five useful ideas of automated emails to set up for your online clothing store.

1. Welcome Email

Sending a welcome email is a great way to introduce new customers to your brand. Typically, these emails will be sent following a customer's first purchase or when they first sign up to your email newsletter.

Remember to include a short thank you message to show your appreciation. In addition, a small welcome offer is often the perfect way to start off a new customer relationship on the right foot.

In these examples by Vivienne Westwood, new subscribers are sent two onboarding mails:

The first email is a standard welcome email with a direct pathway to their online store. However, in the second email, new customers instantly learn more about the iconic brand in a brief biography, helping them to quickly form a connection.

2. Abandoned Cart Email

Abandoned shopping carts is one of the biggest reasons for sales falling through. Oftentimes, this is caused by an interruption to the checkout process and not necessarily because the customer is no longer interested in your product.

Some common interruptions to the checkout process include:

• Loss of internet connection
• Entering an incorrect payment method
• Phone battery dying
• Receiving a phone call or message

To make sure you don't miss out on a sale for an avoidable reason, make sure to set up abandoned cart email reminders to draw those customers back in.

When creating these automated emails, remember to make the product placeholder nice and big so the customer instantly notices the product they originally wanted to purchase. Timing is also key, as sending the email too late could result in the customer losing interest.

In this abandoned cart email by Kate Spade, the product takes center stage and draws the reader in straight away. In linking to their new in items, Kate Spade also offer the reader an alternative enticement onto their website:

3. Shipping Information Email

Giving customers peace of mind after they place an order from your store is super important. As well as an order confirmation email - which is standard practice for any online business - providing detailed shipping information is also essential.

Knowing how long an order will take to arrive and being able to plan for the delivery both make things much easier for your customers. For this reason, it's a good idea to include a tracking link to your delivery service as well as an estimated delivery date.

As well as being a useful service for your customers, it will also help reduce the number of support enquires you receive about delivery times, freeing up your team's time for other tasks.

This tracking email by Timberland is a good example of best practice. In addition to including all the relevant information about the order, Timberland also include a prominent tracking link which the customer can use to follow the progress of their order.

4. Feedback Email

Receiving reviews for your store and products is valuable for every business owner. Feedback emails are really easy to integrate into an email automation strategy and can be set up to send after any purchase from your store.

Browse through our top tips for putting together excellent feedback emails

In this example, ASOS sent an interactive feedback email to make it easy for customers to rate items they have recently purchased. Not only does this help the brand learn more about what their customers like, it also helps other undecided shoppers to determine if the product is right for them.

5. Happy Birthday Email

Last but not least is the Happy Birthday Email. This is another really effective email to add to your automation strategy and only takes a moment to set up in your ESP.

Celebrating with your customers by giving them a discount or special offer for their birthday reminds strengthens the relationship and reminds them you appreciate them.

It's also really likely your shoppers will be in the mood to treat themselves to something special for their birthday - whether it's a new outfit for the big day or that one item they've had their eye on for a while - your birthday promotion could be the final push they need to make that final purchase.

In this fabulous birthday email promotion, New Look give their shoppers more than enough time to scout out their birthday treat and get 20% off! The bold countdown at the top of the design also adds a sense of time pressure, encouraging the customer to buy sooner rather than later:

Setting Up Automated Emails for Your Online Clothing Shop

We hope you've been inspired by these automated email ideas. Setting up email templates for your automation strategy is easy in Mail Designer 365:

1. Open Mail Designer 365 or download for free on your Mac
2. Create a new email design with the responsive, drag and drop editor or choose from one of our automated email templates
3. Export your finished design directly to Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor or another email automation tool of your choice. Find a list of all compatible services on this page

Abandoned Cart automated email template - exclusively available in Mail Designer 365

Use Mail Designer 365 to create a stylish range of email templates to use together with your email automation platform.

Until next time!

Your Mail Designer 365 Team