Event Invitation

An event invitation is a way to attract people to attend your event. You can use various channels, including email, SMS, web push notifications, and chatbots to encourage users to visit it. To create effective event invitations, you need to come up with a message that will intrigue your audience with lots of value, and ensure they will have a good time at your event.

Why should I create event invitations?

Event invitations are the best way to promote your webinar, conference, concert, course, etc. Create excitement around the speakers and activities your audience is going to have at your event. Without good promotion, only a few people will attend the event, so be sure to “sell” its value.

Look at Google’s event invitation email below. It’s so simple, but very intriguing, and shows how easy it is to take part.

Choose a channel for sending invitations based on the size of your event. Using email and chatbots, you can provide lots of details, say a lot about the speakers, and announce the event’s schedule with all the activities. SMS and web push notifications, on the other hand, are an excellent choice to create small intriguing messages, for example, for eCommerce events.

No matter what event you are planning, sending event invitations is a must to hold it with success, so let’s learn about the best time to send event invitations.

When should I send event invitations?

The larger your event, the earlier you should send your first event invitation. According to Everbrite, around 53% of companies start to promote their events 2-3 months in advance. This initial invitation works best for loyal subscribers. Decide for yourself when to send your event invitation.

Email is perfect for sending event invitations since it doesn’t limit your creativity and allows you to provide as many details as you need, including images, text, CTA buttons, and links. Let’s now find out how to write an event invitation.

How do I write an event invitation email?

Making a great first impression is crucial when it comes to event invitations. Use your initial event invitation email to grab as many event-goers’ attention as possible. Get creative with your subject line and design an appealing email template to achieve satisfying results.

No doubt, a good subject line is a key to increasing open rates. Here are some best practices to improve your subject lines:

• Create a sense of great value. Here are some examples: “Don’t miss out, it’s 2020 World Web Design Conference!,” “Largest fashion show in New York: Paradise/Paradox 2020.” And it doesn’t matter whether your event is small or huge — just address your invitation to the most interested segment of your audience.
• Use personalization. Personalized subject lines can increase your open rate by 50%. Try something like this: “Hi, James, free 19 May? Join our Recycle Everything Party!” Personalizing subject lines is a piece of cake with SendPulse. 
• Welcome returning attendees. Make your loyal fans feel special with a subject line like “Exclusive, early bird ticket price for our fans only!” Believe it, many of them will be happy to join your event early on. Besides, they will probably spread your event via word-of-mouth, promoting it to an even broader audience.
• Mention speakers or performers. Concerts or marketing conferences are focused on famous performers and experts in their field, so it’s a good idea to use their names in the event invitation subject line. For example: “It’s 30 days to 30 Seconds to Mars,” “Visit Ricky Gervais’s show this September!”
• Combine your subject line with the preheader. Often underrated, preheader text is a great tool to support your subject line. You can play with it, like in the following example. Subject line: “Digital Marketing Conference, Summer 2020.” And a preheader: “Something, you marketers, can’t miss!”

Let’s find out now what kind of content you can include in your email.

Include the following things in your event invitation email template:

• Insert an image. Use quality images and illustrations to grab users’ attention. If you’re going to hold a festival, add the map to your invitation email. This way, people will get a better idea of the event’s location, and they will be able to plan their time.
• Provide all the key info. Mention the date, time, and duration of your event. Remember, you can share less important details in the series of event reminders later.
• Include a call to action. Make sure it’s clear what recipients need do to participate, what is their next step? The CTA button in the event invitation email should say something like “Register,” “RSVP,” “Let’s get festive,” “Join the party,” “Watch live,” etc. Like all other elements, your CTA should be relevant to your type of event.
• Link your contact info. It will add a feeling of reliability to your event invitation. Your future attendees should know your event is legit and held by professionals who are available to contact.

Now, as you know what should be included in your event invitation email, let’s get inspired by some examples.

4 Stunning Event Invitation Examples

We’ve collected four event invitation examples that are gems for their industry.

This is an invitation to an exhibition of Shillington’s graduate students. From the large image, we realize the show is design-related. Other students’ feedback shows the event is high-quality and the teachers are passionate professionals. Since the event is targeted to future students and youth, this feedback section is just to the point.

Havaianas’s email invites people to celebrate the anniversary of the famous dance — Samba. This email has a large jolly illustration, tells the recipients what to expect from this party, and when it takes place.

The next example from AssemblePapers invites subscribers to celebrate the publication of their 11th printed issue. It has a marvelous art illustration, an RSVP button with the event’s date, and all the details about the event including the time, date, location and a list of the activities.

This is an event invitation email from Neptune. It’s an impressive example from the real estate industry, and it shows us how to make an event out of something dull. It seems like this email is targeted by geolocation, which is hard to perform technically. A beautiful image shows a cozy house, encouraging people to visit this place once the reconstruction is over. Imagine, with a piece of pie in one hand, a glass of mulled wine in another, somebody will decide to buy this house on New Year’s Eve.

After this theory lesson, let’s find out how to send an event invitation email.

We’ve divided this task into three main steps. You will get all the details on the fly when working in your SendPulse account.

Step 1: Upload your mailing list

Once you’ve registered, upload your mailing list from an excel document, import it from another bulk email service, or collect it from scratch with SendPulse’s free subscription forms.

Step 2: Create an email template

SendPulse offers several ways to create your invitation email template.

• Use our intuitive drag and drop editor;
• Choose pre-designed templates from our free library;
• Save any email from your Gmail inbox as a template to your SendPulse account with a Chrome extension, and customize it.

Let’s try the first way. Simply drag and drop the elements of your email to the working field and customize images, fonts, text formatting, CTA buttons to your liking. Below is an example of a webinar invitation. You can сreate an email like this in half an hour with this guide.

Step 3: Schedule email sending

At the last stage of creating your event invitation, schedule it for any date you need.

How can I invite users to my event with a Facebook chatbot?

Let’s start with an example. Below is a chatbot on Tony Robbins’s Facebook page. It allows you to choose the type of event, the location, and buy tickets.

This is a perfect example, but you can create something less sophisticated to invite your audience from social networks if you are new to chatbots.

Using SendPulse’s chatbot builder, design chatbots that can attract users, share all the necessary information about an upcoming event, answer FAQ, sell tickets, and allow people to contact a real person for more details. Follow these instructions and create up to three Facebook chatbots free of charge.

Congratulations, you’ve gotten acquainted with different ways to send event invitations. Let’s finish this guide by going over some actionable tips.

We’ve collected five killer tips to help you run a successful event without much sweat.

Provide an early bird discount

This will create a sense of urgency and help you attract more attendees early on. Registrants who grab the discount are more likely to share the news about your event with their friends. Check the excerpt from this event invitation email from Circle that encourages subscribers to buy tickets asap.

Combine invitations with event reminders

One event invitation won’t be enough to attract all potential visitors. Create a series of automated event reminders, and try to add more value with every new message as the event date approaches. Aside from email, you can use SMS and web push notifications. Below is an example of a series of event reminders created with SendPulse’s Automation 360.

Prioritize information in your message

Start with essential details and continue with more specific ones. In the concert invitation below, the prioritization is correct: the performer’s name is first, then — the time and date, the list of activities to expect, the vintage image to create the right mood, and a CTA at the bottom.

Use social proof

Social proof always works especially when feedback comes from a person your target audience associates themselves with. In the example below, the target audience is students and youth, so feedback from someone their age works perfectly.

Share photos and videos from previous events

Recipients will see what they could miss if they don’t attend your event. Use this technique to provoke an emotional response using FOMO. This excerpt from a Meetup invitation email proves that people have fun at their events.

That’s it! We hope you’ve learned lots of new stuff from this guide, and it helps your event invitation strategy.

Last Updated: 22.03.2023