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Created by
Ashley Budd, last updated on Dec 22, 2020
3 minute read
Event emails
Total marketing timeline: 2-4 weeks recommended
No more than 3 registration emails
*The following serves as recommendations and may need to be tailored based on your event, holidays, and the academic calendar. See the DEI calendar guide for more specifics as needed.
Example of an online event email suite:
PRE-REGISTRATION SAVE THE DATE (optional)
Audience: alumni
Segment: all
Considerations: Is a “Save the Date” really needed? Can this announcement be combined with registration or in an upcoming newsletter instead?
FIRST INVITATION, REGISTRATION
Audience: alumni
Segment: all
Considerations: Can this be combined with any other announcements?
REGISTRATION REMINDER
Audience: alumni
Segment: send to those who opened/clicked the previous emails or demonstrate an interest
Considerations: remove those who have already registered
FINAL REGISTRATION REMINDER
Audience: alumni
Segment: send to those who clicked the previous emails or abandoned the event registration process
Considerations: remove those who have already registered
SEE YOU SOON
Audience: registrants
Considerations: a reminder to registrants that the event is coming up, including any event updates, and a zoom link. This helps to reduce attendee drop off and ensure the link is at their fingertips.
THANK YOU AND SURVEY
Audience: attendees and registrants
Considerations: Send a separate “sorry we missed you” note with the event recording link to registrants.
iModules vs. Zoom registration
We recommend online events be run with Zoom Webinar or Zoom meeting. Zoom offers event registration tools that are easy to set up and offer automated email communication and post-event follow-up. Consider setting up different tracking registration links for zoom webinars to track the source of registration (email, newsletter, social media, etc).
Adding an iModules event landing page does come with added benefits, including visibility on the alumni website and the ability to add an optional donation to a Cornell fund.
| iModules | Zoom |
|---|---|
| PROS | PROS |
| Data integrity - talks to PeopleSoft, allows us to easily capture attendee information and automatically update our systems based on new information gained from the registrant | Easy to build, just check the box while setting up your Zoom meeting/webinar |
| Can accept money for event registration or donations | Automatic email reminders to registrants as the event approaches and automatic post-event communication |
| Ease of reporting - all iMods users can access a list of who has registered and a quick link to see who’s coming can be shared with event collaborators and speakers | Form confirmation includes an add to calendar feature that includes the Zoom link |
| The event appears on the alumni website automatically | |
| iModules | Zoom |
| CONS | CONS |
| Time-consuming to create an event registration | Only the owner of the Zoom meeting/webinar can access the list of registrants |
| Email reminders need to be sent by the event planner | Cannot accept money for event registrations or donations |
| Files from AAD event listing ‘add to calendar’ feature does not contain Zoom join link | The activity does not appear on the event calendar, a separate iModules landing page is required |
| iModules | Zoom |
| End-user experience | End-user experience |
| Individual clicks on the registration link, then completes a short form and receives a confirmation email with the Zoom link | Individual clicks on the registration link, completes a short form, and receives a confirmation email with the Zoom link |
iModules event page design
Coming soon!
Need help with an iModules page now?
Contact Rob Babuka
Email content design
Image with the anatomy of an event email
Link to free photo resources
Need more help with email marketing?
Contact Coreen Robinson, Associate Director of Email Marketing
Cross-promotion
Get your event in front of more people! Cross-promotion is great for online events that are open to all with unlimited capacity.
How do events get promoted?
- Social media
Contact Michael O'Neill for the Cornell Alumni Association accounts
Email | Teams chat
Contact Amanda Massa for the Cornell Young Alumni accounts
Email | Teams chat
Newsletters (College newsletters, West Coast Digest, NEC newsletter, etc.)
Website
Contact Thomas Deneuville, Director, Web Services & User Experience
Email | Teams chat
Lin Xue, Web Services and UX
Email | Teams chatDeb Muncey, Web Services and UX
Email | Teams chat
West Coast
NEC
Class Programs
Regional Clubs
Best practices: Xiomara Grossett has best practices from CEN
When notifying partners include the following details:
Share event date/time
Event description
Is it open to everyone, including non-alumni? Open to the media?
Is there a registration limit?