How the pros are using online and email invitations
These days, sending out email or online invitations for any event is way more common than posting print invitations. However, event planners are still not using email invitations, or e-vites as they’re also known, to their full advantage.
To improve the response rate to your next event, try these top 10 tips to make the most of your e-invitations!
1. Have Your Invitation Professionally Designed
If you have neither the time nor the talent to create an email invitation that will wow, hire a professional to do it for you. A professionally designed email invitation will stand out from the rest of the drab correspondence filtering through everyone’s email inbox.
Ask your graphic designer to dovetail your invitation with your branding and tie it in with the concept of your event. Insist on clean design with plenty of white space and a clear, legible web safe font.
2. Hire a Professional to Write the Text
Think writing copy for an invitation is an easy job? Think again! It takes special skill to craft text which is stylish, strikes the right tone, draws readers in, convinces them of what you’re selling, and compels them to act – and all in a tight word count. Hiring a professional copywriter to do the job right is worth the investment.
3. Keep it Concise Yet Comprehensive
An invitation isn’t an essay, but it still needs to include everything an invitee needs to know. To avoid dealing with a plethora of confused phone calls and emails about your event (where is it, when is it, what is it about), do remember to include all the details – date, time, venue, and an abbreviated agenda (a short, snappy summary of what your event is about).
For the best results, send an email invitation with the essential details of date, time, venue and one sentence on event purpose. Once the guest has accepted, an online confirmation form with richer information will provide further detail.
4. Don’t Leave RSVPs Open-Ended
An RSVP is a call-to-action – you want your invitee to email you or call you and let you know if they’re attending your event so that you can plan accordingly. Make it pop! Clearly point out the action you wish them to take and always set a specific deadline for RSVPs to drive that action. And of course, follow up with telephonic call downs, especially for your VIP’s.
5. Email “From” label
More people open emails from real people as opposed to, generic “from labels”. An email invitation from “Mark Zuckerberg” will get more opens than an email invitation from Facebook (assuming Mark is attending). If your invited guest knows you and the invitation is from a real person, they will be more inclined to open the invitation.
6. Work the Email Subject Line
Often a missed opportunity, the email subject line is your chance to grab a person’s attention and get them to open your email. Take the time to pen something quirky or interesting, but do remember to avoid words which may trigger spam alerts and send your email straight to the spam folder.
7. Personalise Email Invitations
Using guest’s names on their invitations, instead of using the blanket ‘Dear All’ approach, will make invitees feel valued and more likely to respond. Please edit the image to make the RSVP either orange or green – looks a bit bland at the moment.
8. Ensure Fast Download
Time Graphic-rich emails may look lovely but can be slow to download. And emails which take ages to download are often skipped entirely. Make sure images are optimised and that you test the download speed before sending.
9. Ensure your email invitations make sense without images
Sometimes, especially in corporate settings, images in emails are blocked from displaying. Ensure your email invitations make sense even if the images are blocked by ensuring you have the correct balance between HTML text and images. The correct text/image balance will also reduce the risk of your email invitation getting caught in a spam filter!
10. Proofread!
Before hitting send, cast your eye over the invitation copy to check that all information is correct and that there are no typos or other glaring errors. If you were the writer, then get a fresh pair of eyes to proofread the text for you. Not only do copy errors project your brand in a bad light, but erroneous information can impact on the success of your event.
11. Send Invitations to Appropriate People
A ‘warm list’ of contacts (people you know) will be far more receptive than a cold list (people you don’t know). Even worse, sending to a cold list could be construed as spam and get your email address blocked. Bonus Tip: Use a professional RSVP service Use The RSVP Agency’s online software solution to create, send, and track your customised email invitations. What could be easier?
