3 Critical Attendee Emails You Should Send for Every Event

Apr 04 2016 Updated Mar 16 2023

This post was updated on June 17, 2020.

Attendee emails are a critical component of event marketing. Long before guests arrive and check in for your event, they’ve already formed an impression of you based on your email communications.

There’s an art to figuring out the right number of emails to send to your attendees. If you’re planning a conference that sells tickets nearly a year in advance, you’ll likely send more emails than someone planning a local workshop that happens in one week.

Though the frequency and type of emails you send will vary based on your event, these three messages should make up the core of your email communications.

3 Must-Send Attendee Emails

#1: Registration confirmation email

When you’re selling tickets or gathering RSVPs for your event, it’s important to provide an email confirmation that serves as an easy reference with all of the information attendees need. Key elements to include:

Event name
Date
Event time
Event location (map links are very helpful)
Ticket details
Any special information
Contact for questions

This confirmation is one of the most important emails you’ll send to your attendees. Even if they don’t open it immediately, it’s the email they’re least likely to delete, thanks to all the important info inside.

Pro tip: Automate your registration emails (and all your other emails) with Promoter, an email marketing tool that integrates with The Events Calendar.

#2: Reminder email

A friendly reminder email helps prepare attendees for your upcoming event. Aside from reminding them of the date and time, you can also use this email to answer last-minute questions. Helpful details to include:

Directions
Parking information
Dress code
What to bring
Event hashtag and/or social media information
Links to relevant blog posts about the event

In general, your event reminder email should be sent 24 to 48 hours in advance of events that do not require travel and 10 to 14 days in advance of events where travel is involved.

#3: Attendee thank-you email and post-event wrap-up

One of the most underrated attendee emails is the thank-you message. This touchpoint provides a valuable opportunity to promote other upcoming events, collect attendee feedback, and guide attendees towards the next step you want them to take.

Here’s a sample thank-you email you can modify for your own events:

Dear (First Name),

Thank you so much for attending (event name)! We are so glad you could join us with (audience and/or speaker type) to (describe event topic).

Please take a moment to help us improve future (event types) by taking a brief (survey length) survey. Your feedback is extremely valuable to our ongoing effort to offer (event goal).

(Event materials) can be found/will be posted (location or timeframe).

Be sure to mark your calendars for (next event) on (date). Registration information is/will be available on our website.

Thank you again for being part of such a wonderful (event type) experience. (I/we) look forward to (future action) again soon!

(Salutation)

(Name or event team)

This is how it might look for a real estate agent that just hosted a workshop for first-time homebuyers:

Dear Jill,

Thank you so much for attending our first-time homebuyer’s workshop this past Tuesday! We hope you enjoyed hearing from local experts to help new home buyers sort through the options for financing your first home.

Please take a moment to help us improve future workshops by taking a brief five-question survey. Your feedback is extremely valuable to our effort to offer free educational resources to home buyers like yourself.

The finance worksheets and loan calculators used during the workshop can be found on our resource page: awesomemadeuprealtor.com/resources.

Be sure to mark your calendar for our Minneapolis home tour on Sunday, May 13. Registration information is available on our website: awesomemadeuprealtor.com/hometour

Thank you again for being part of a wonderful workshop group. I look forward to working with you soon!

Thanks,

Katie HomeSeller

Final thoughts before you press send

Before you hit send on any of the emails we’ve outlined above, be sure you proofread carefully. Pay attention to grammar, punctuation, and spelling, as well as your use of headings for easy scannability.

Whenever possible, segment your email list and customize your messages for each group of recipients. The better you communicate with your attendees, the more likely they’ll be to return for your next event.

Looking for a tool to help simplify your email marketing? Check out Promoter, a plugin that makes it easy to stay connected with your attendees every step of the way.