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Successful Email Subject Lines for Event Invitation Letters

GEVME how to write a successful email subject

I want to share with you my personal story. I faced this event email subject lines problem 4 years ago when I just started my career in marketing. Luchia, my marketing manager, gave me a task to create, don`t really remember, I think, 15 different event invitation letters, that we were going to send over by email.

“Well, not a problem at all”, I said. A mysterious smile appeared on Luchia`s face and she mentioned that I have to pay an extra attention to the subject lines. “Do not screw up. Do the research”, she said. A deep and serious tone of her voice gave me a clear understanding, that that`s going to be not that easy peasy lemon squeezy. And, seriously, it wasn`t! I was not mistaken at all. I passed through all these research stages, that I described below and discovered the true power of words. Hope, my story will help you.

Stage #1. Panic

Tons of information. All these dos and don’ts. Headache. Frustration. What a great start, right? 🙂

Stage #2. Well, OK. All Kidding Aside. What Is an Event Invitation Letter?

There are quite a few marketing channels, which help to promote your activities. Inbound marketing: online advertising, SEO, SMM; outbound marketing: print advertisements, cold calls, etc. But the only one, which helps to build personal relationships, is email marketing. That`s the beauty of this channel.

An event invitation letter is a way to start a private conversation with your potential customer right after he or she will buy an event ticket.

But pay attention, you are not alone; many of your rivals are knocking on a recipient’s mailbox as well. Therefore, you have to grab reader’s attention from the very first sight.

Stage #3. What You Should Write in the Subject Line for Event Invitation

Statistically proved, 33% of recipients decide whether or not to open an email based on subject line alone. Usually, people read 700 words per minute, classically, a subject line`s length is about 50 characters.

That`s mean, you have only 4 seconds to engage your reader. Only 4 seconds! To make a tempting and yummy offer.

I want to share with you some useful tips for writing a winning and an eye-catchy event invitation`s subject line. They will increase your Open Rate.

1. Be Smart, Be Specific

Do you remember the well-known SMART-approach? Everything starts from a specification. An event invitation letter is a kind of notification. And, to be honest, it’s not a good time to be mysterious here. You need to be 100% clear about your goal and let customers know exactly what they’re about to open.

While planning your event, you’ve been thinking about your targeted audience (the “WHO”). Now an e-mail invitation has to inform your attendees why they have to attend your event.  The “WHY”. Write an attractive and specific sentence.

2. Use Name in the Subject Line

I want to quote Dale Carnegie’s words. “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language”. He is right and we have to use this wise advice.

3. Use Action-Oriented Words

Inspire your readers and make your emails more clickable adding a call-to-action vibrant verb at the beginning of a subject line.

4. Be Sweet and Make Recipients Feel Special

No need to explain, here are two awesome examples:

“An exclusive offer for you”

“Private invite”

See? Yummy! Already want to open 🙂 True magic!

Stage #3. What You Should NOT Write in the Subject Line for Event Invitation

1. Don’t Make False Promises

Be honest. No one likes liars. You have to be reliable. Build a win-win position.  Don’t try to make your recipients open an email using fake statements in a subject line. Broken promises have consequences. It makes lover Open Rate and higher Unsubscribe Rate. Is that what you really want? Nope. Then don’t play this game.

2. DO NOT OVERCAPS or Overuse !!! Exclamation !!! Marks!!!

Queen Anne is dead! Such emails look spammy. They are irritable and ugly. People ignore them and that’s not a surprise.

3. Do Not Avoid Numbers

Numbers talk. People like to use measurements, it helps to evaluate, predict payoffs and see the big picture at the same time. That’s a proven good practice to use numbers either in blog posts` titles or emails` subject lines. Use it!

Stage #4. How to Test Your Subject Line

You cannot rely on your own predictions. Achtung! A good A/B test recipe: choose two really different variables. Try to play with various value propositions, emotions, subject line`s length, statements vs questions, including numbers vs not including numbers. There are many things to try.

Then, show these two versions to two similarly sized audiences, and analyze which one performed better.

Seems difficult. Gevme can solve all your test`s problems. Find out more here.

Stage# 5. Mistakes with Subject Lines for Invitation Letter

1. You Are Trying to Cram All and That`S Make Your Subject Lines Too Loooooooong

Email subject lines will get cut off if they’re too long, especially on mobile phones. No more than 50 characters. Read it twice and repeat it. Try to compose your proposition using fewer than 50 characters (five to seven words). That’s quite a common mistake, that’s why I’m so annoying and persevering here.

2. Wrong Spellings and Grammar Errors

People will not open your illiterately written event invitation letter. Period. Please, proofread your content.

3. Never Reuse Event Invitation Email Subject

That`s disrespectful. Do not waste either your or recipients` time.

4. You Can Be Funny, but Do It Carefully

All things are good in moderation. Sometimes it’s better to leave jokes to professionals; comedy writing is a difficult skill to master.

5. Say No to “RE” and “FE”

Do not “reply” or “forward” an email multiple times, because you will end-up with this: “FW: FW: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: You’re Invited to Startup Award”. Looks pretty bad.

Stage #6. Examples of Good Subject Lines

Here are 4 good email subject lines for events:

  • Free Workshop: Winning Marketing Strategies
  • You’re Invited to Gummi Bears` Party
  • Don`t Miss Out: 5th Event`s Management Conference
  • Monday: English Speaking Club 7PM at the Golden Park

Stage #7. Finish. Heaven

We’ve just discovered the true power of words and it’s time to take a break. Take a breath, drink your coffee and get creative juices flowing.

The Importance of Good Subject Lines

How do the best event email subject lines affect your email open rate? Are some subject lines better than others? Actually, there are certain subject lines that are proven to boost open rates. On the other hand, the more ineffective words you use, the less of an effect it will have on your open rates. Use email marketing subject lines that are intriguing to gain higher open rates and boost your event ticket sales.

Factors to consider before writing your subject line

To come up with good event marketing email subject lines, first consider the following factors.

Consider your audience

For any writing project, it is important to first consider your audience. Event invitation email subject lines are no exception.

Establish your writing style

Use experiences as a springboard. Start with what you know, and create a strong, authentic voice.

Be smart about diction

Diction is most effective when the words are appropriate for your audience. Make appropriate word choices to write your best event invite email subject lines.

Choose the overall tone

Choosing the tone of your email subject line is essential. When you carefully examine the words you choose to construct your subject line, you will be successful.

Add personalisation

Personalise your messages to make them unique to every addressee.

Strong words to use in subject lines

With so many emails received every day and so little time to connect, subject lines are crucial. The truth is that there are no “magic” words for subject lines, but you can easily find a few keywords that help to create the best email subject lines for event invitations. Try using descriptor words, strong arguments, and facts.
For example, words that imply time sensitivity–like “urgent”, “breaking”, “important” or “alert”–are proven to increase email open rates.

Writing subject lines

There are several ways to write email subject lines. Here are some of the most popular: 

  • Your first invitation to an event

When it comes to your first invite to an event, you need to create urgency in your subject line to get the recipient to open it. 

  • Welcoming returning attendees

Highlight discounted prices or unique perks for returning attendees since they want to feel special and appreciated. To show them you value them, especially if they’ve been attending your event for many years, give them a special welcome in your subject line. 

  • Speaker and performer announcements

Your speaker or performer’s invitation should be a formal letter or email with a personalised message.
Use event invitation email subject lines examples to figure out the best subject line for any situation.
Also, later on, you will need to write a business event invitation email. Learn how to make it effective here. Use templates for event invite email subject lines.

Good luck! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you and wishing many successful email subject lines!

Create subject lines that will make users open the letters with GEVME Email marketing

And also check other useful features on Gevme platform.

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