Crafting The Perfect Invitation Email: 30 Event Email Examples
Reading Time: 11 minutesThis article was last updated on March 29, 2022
Imagine you have some event or something that should attract a lot of attention. A special offer or a new office that you will open quite soon. What is the best thing to do? Spread the word, of course.
But attracting the right kind of customers requires something more than just offering free drinks.
It requires an event email invitation that will be convincing, straightforward, funny, and well-designed!
1. Grand Opening Event
Any business event invitation email sample that is related to a grand opening should have a few key details: date and time, location, and duration. These details are the core of the whole email, and avoiding any of those would lead to an unsuccessful campaign.
Example 1: Madewell / Source: Pinterest
This is the first example in our article. The template contains everything an email of this type should contain: date and time, duration, and location. Design-wise, it is simple yet modern. “PARTY TIME” font is bold, underlined, and with a bigger font size which presents the main idea – visitors to have fun.
Example 2: Parrotel Lagoon Resort/ Source: Behance
One common business practice in email invitations designs for grand openings is ribbon-cutting scissors. This particular element is associated with opening ceremonies, and your eyes will most likely capture the visuals first and then proceed with reading the text.
Example 3: Anthropologies
Whether you are opening a brand new store or reopening your business, you should focus on the visual elements that will be related to openings, such as keys. In this email, we have a new store opening and the text is to the point – no flashy messages and stunning designs.
Example 4: Oxford Jewellery
Jewelry companies sell gold and other high-price precious metals. This design creates the feeling of something premium which is being offered.
Tip: Unless you plan to have a lavish ceremony, you’d rather stick to more “basic” colors and designs. Purple, gold, and red are usually associated with a more luxurious atmosphere.
2. Countdown Event Email
Urgency can be a powerful factor in increasing conversion rates. Reminding customers that time is running out or that a special offer is only available for a limited time engages them and compels them to take action. For instance, offering a discount for a limited time provides a sense of urgency.
Example 1: Systemic
Systemic’s free trial expiry reminder is one of the best event email examples. If your company offers paid subscriptions, offering a free trial is a good way to promote what your clients could benefit from you. However, sooner or later you should send a reminder that you can’t get all goods for free. It’s a good idea to send a reminder 2 or 3 days before the end of the trial. 12 or 24-hour windows are not recommended, as clients will feel forced.
Example 2: KontrolFreek
Companies manage to make a lot of money on the back of a phenomenon called FOMO – or Fear of Missing Out. Limited-time deals often trigger this fear and marketers are well aware of this. Usually, these types of emails are good if you want to clear old collections or for particular events – like Black Friday, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, etc.
Example 3: Coming Soon Template
Alin effective way to remind people that your company will launch a new product or service is the “Coming soon” type of template. Enlightening your prospects on your intentions to go live in the near future is a good move, as you could boost your brand awareness.
Example 4: Countdown Event Template
Event countdown emails are quite powerful. They might serve as a reminder for the already subscribed users or promote an event to unsubscribed readers, creating an urge to join before it’s too late.
3. Conference Event Email
Like grand opening events, conference notifications must be announced in advance. The information that needs to be shared includes the meeting date, time, duration, and location. Conferences may also take place online, so it’s important to anticipate this. Remember to provide a list of guest speakers and describe how visitors will benefit from attending the conference.
Example 1: Hyped Marketing & Pro Drive
Email invitation designs are all different. This template points out the two main focal points of the email: the topic and the free breakfast (a unique value proposition). Hyped Marketing design in particular seems like a hybrid between a program email and a conference event email.
Example 2: Marketing United (by Emma) / Source: Pinterest
This email wants to turn the attention towards the event itself, rather than keynote speakers. At first sight, it looks bad, as it lacks any mention of keynote speakers. However, if you look at it, they are mentioned but will be disclosed at a later stage. The purpose of those who designed it was simple – to provoke the curiosity of the reader.
Example 3: KSL Jobs / Mailbakery
This is one of the email invitations examples we have crafted for one of our clients. Our task was to create a minimalistic design, with will the necessary details. Remember: do not get carried away with your conference design templates. Your readers should see who will be your keynote speakers, when and where the conference will take place. That’s it.
Example 4: Women’s Conference of Florida 2016
An invitation email might be a hybrid, to get the best of everything. In this example, we see an Early Bird invitation, a keynote speaker with a name, picture, biography, a personal quote, and an option for a hotel reservation (probably, the event organizer has some agreement with the general manager of the hotel).
4. Announcement Email
An announcement email is one of the many types of corporate emails. These emails can be as formal as a press release, as informal as a thank you card, or as personal as a cake recipe. The tone and flavor of these emails may be adapted to match employee personalities and personal styles. What matters more than anything else is achieving the purpose of the email: keeping everyone informed.
Example 1: Timeline by Anima
The first type of announcement email is regarding a brand new service or product that has been launched recently. The idea is to make the value proposition more recognizable among people. A key thing is to show more with fewer words. And the company’s done a great job by providing a video of how to use the software.
Example 2: Bosco Magazine
One of the events newsletter examples we created for a client of ours. The key detail here is our team’s attempt to bring new social media followers to The Bosco Magazine, which is why we have dragged the “Launch” button up top and social network channels below.
Example 3: New Employee Announcement Email
In many cases, the announcements are related to employees. Whether it’s about a new promotion, new employee, or resignation email, these types of announcement emails have their place under the sun.
Example 4: Employee Promotion Announcement Email
Here, we have an employee promotion email. Usually, these emails are quite formal and it will be better to avoid using catchy designs.
5. Livestream Event / Webinar
Webinar event emails need to be carefully drafted to avoid confusion. They should include clear information about the event’s topic, any guests who are attending, and whether there is a way for others to view the stream if they cannot participate.
Example 1: Dyspatch
Sending a reminder right before the start of the event is critical for any webinar. Dyspatch’s example comes to show that the organizers have thought about an alternative way to join if the original link in the CTA button doesn’t work.
Example 2: SEOWebinar
Unlike the previous examples, the reader hasn’t yet registered for this webinar. They should fill in their details to claim their spot. We can conclude the form is trustworthy since the Marketing Manager at the company comes with his name and picture. Also, all the topics covered in the presentation are mentioned, so the ones who will join the live broadcast will be aware of what information they will receive.
Example 3: Webinar Template
Our last pick from the webinars examples is the one from Buylandingpagedesign.com. The template has everything needed to succeed. A catchy subject line, a deadline to reserve a spot, an explanation, a keynote speaker info, and finally – a CTA button.
Example 4: Sprout Social
Sprout Social’s Webinar event is a typical example of a SaaS business looking to increase its brand awareness but also have users find more applications of the tools provided in the premium package (price justification). There are 3 CTA buttons, including a “Sign Up” one. This is the perfect example of how a software company should promote the usage of its features.
6. Program Event
When you schedule a program, a natural reaction is to send an event email that describes the schedule of events. When you do this, you should be specific about what part of the schedule is is next. What’s happening on day one of the program? Day two? One of the most effective methods for building this specificity into your email is through a visual representation.
Example 1: Amazon Web Services
Amazon’s event email examples are probably some of the best on the market. Explained in simple language, they enable readers from around the globe to understand the message and fulfill the purpose of the email. The Seattle-based company follows the 5 W’s but has twisted the questions. “When” – if the time frame is not suitable for readers, they’ll probably skip anyways. “What” – if the topic is interesting, they might continue with “Who” – the industry experts that will present.
Example 2: Gym Group Workout Sessions
Group workout sessions are a popular example of an event that may be promoted through email marketing. A good way to get members excited about visiting the center is to send out a few emails highlighting the benefits of being part of an active community.
Example 3: Baptist Church Program
Churches are well-known for documenting their activities and targeting their email subscribers with different sorts of emails. These types of emails typically have a high deliverability rate and receive plenty of positive responses.
Example 4: Udacity
Different courses can also be labeled as “Program events”. They take time. This email focuses more on the variety of courses offered, rather than what each course will contain as information.
7. Early Bird Ticket Event
Early bird tickets have a long history. Massive utilized in the air transport industry, early bird ticket events can actually be powerful triggers for many customers who want to purchase something for a quite lower price, and most importantly – guarantee a product, service (or a seat).
Example 1: Saturday.com
Early bird emails are some sort of countdown emails, as they aim to create an urge in the customer. However, in these cases clients are more likely to purchase, as they feel like they’re getting their hands on the product before others.
Example 2: EF College Break
Cheap airfare and hotel deals have been well-received by consumers who want to save money on travel. And it is quite a successful tactic that has been successfully implemented in the hospitality industry over the last few decades. EF College Break’s email is great in many regards, as it shows not one or two, but four benefits of early bird access.
Example 3: Skift: Tech Forum
When it comes to conferences and trade shows, early bird tickets are an important part of the marketing plan. By offering a price discount for those who purchase their ticket in advance, event organizers can generate excitement and attract more visitors.
Example 4: Butter
The content is well-positioned. Early bird content should highlight the benefits of being among the early adopters of any product or service. Also, depending on the email, it’s a good idea to remind clients that these offers have a limited amount of seats. After all, this is the true meaning of “early bird”, isn’t it?
8. Bonus Examples
As a bonus, we’ve decided to show you two examples that you will most probably utilize for any industry.
Bonus Example 1: Circles
Every single business should offer something for Black Friday. This is a good example of a simple, yet straightforward design. Remember: most companies offer promotions for all of their products/services. If you cannot give a flat percentage off all goods of yours, you’d better not target clients with email campaigns for Black Friday.
Bonus Example 2: Email Design Conference
Our last example is a conference event template and what impressed us was the usage of video content which is way more preferred to images, simplicity, and social proof. Sometimes, the best designs are the basic ones.
Conclusion
When it comes to event planning, there’s nothing better than a well-crafted invitation email! The invitation email is the essential bridge between your audience and the event, but it’s often neglected in favor of other marketing channels. The design should be memorable, attractive, and possess the right theme/style to match the event. You can use different images to target different audiences or even different parts of an audience based on feedback.