Top tips for creating event EDMs that work

It does not matter how well-designed your event is if the right people do not know it is happening. As full-service event producers, we look at the marketing side just as seriously as programming, venue, and catering. And when it comes to promoting an event to a warm audience, email marketing is one of the most consistently effective tools we have.

Email marketing, or EDMs, should never be treated as an afterthought. The earlier you start planning them, the better. A well-run EDM programme reaches past customers, current clients, and anyone who has explicitly opted in to hear from your business. These are your warm leads and the people most likely to register, buy a ticket, or bring a colleague. Getting the EDM strategy right will do more for your registration numbers than any single-channel campaign on its own.

For a broader look at how email fits into an integrated event marketing mix (alongside social media, PR, and event website), see our companion post on Event Marketing: Turning Moments Into Momentum. It also includes real performance data from the National Multicultural Health and Wellbeing Conference EDM campaign we ran, which is a useful benchmark.

What EDMs actually do for an event

A well-planned EDM programme carries five distinct jobs across the campaign:

• Communicate. Share the essentials, the when, where, and how of your event, in a form your audience can easily scan and act on.
• Promote. Give people compelling reasons to attend. A registration link with no reason to click is a wasted send.
• Engage. Keep readers interested between the announcement and the day. Regular touchpoints, thoughtful updates, and interesting content build anticipation.
• Announce. When something changes (a new speaker, an added session, a moved deadline), your EDM list is where you tell them first.
• Build the relationship. Stay connected. Establish trust and familiarity. Treat your list like the community it is, not a broadcast channel.

Ten tips for creating EDMs that actually work

1. Choose the right software

There are plenty of email marketing platforms available. Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, and MailerLite are three we see most often, each with strengths depending on list size, template flexibility, automation needs, and budget. Choose one and stick with it long enough to build real reporting continuity, rather than switching platforms every campaign.

2. Consistent branding

Have your EDMs professionally designed so readers recognise your brand the moment the email opens. Consistent colours, logos, typography, and tone build trust across every send. When your EDM template looks like it belongs alongside your event website and social content, readers register faster because they trust what they are seeing.

3. Engaging, scannable layout

Use headings, subheadings, columns, sections, and images to break the content into digestible sections. Most subscribers scan an email in seconds before deciding to act on it, so the layout has to reward the scanner as much as the deep reader.

4. Short and simple

Everyone is busy, attention spans are shorter than they used to be, and most emails are opened on a phone. Give people bite-sized snippets that link out to more detail on the event website, rather than large blocks of body copy inside the email itself.

5. Plan a series, not a single blast

If you have a lot to say (and for a multi-month conference campaign you always will), map out a series of shorter EDMs across the timeline. Announcement, registration open, speaker spotlights, milestone reminders (One Month to Go, Last Chance to Register), and post-event follow-up. A cadence beats a single monster email every time.

6. Be reliable with cadence

Set a regular day and time for your EDMs. Consistency helps subscribers know when to expect your email and quietly boosts open rates. Mid-week sends generally outperform Mondays and Fridays for most audiences, though the exact best day varies by industry and audience. Test with your own list and let the data confirm what works.

7. Segment your list

Your database is one of the most valuable marketing assets you own. Nurture it and protect it accordingly.

Segmentation is where email pulls ahead of every other channel. Address people by their first name. Send different messaging to those who have already registered versus those still considering. Trigger a personalised follow-up when someone abandons a registration form. Add sponsor-facing segments if your event has partners. The more precisely you can speak to each group, the higher the response rate lifts.

8. Compelling subject lines and preview text

The subject line and preview text do the heavy lifting on whether an email gets opened at all. Test different framings. Ask questions, tease speakers, invite curiosity. Avoid clickbait language that damages long-term trust. A good subject line makes the reader feel the send is for them, not the whole list.

9. Clear calls to action

Every EDM should have one primary action you want the reader to take, usually “Register now” or “Read more”. Make that CTA visually prominent, use action-oriented language, and put it above the fold as well as at the end. Secondary CTAs (share, calendar invite, add to LinkedIn) can support it but should not compete with it.

10. Track, measure, and iterate

One of the best things about email marketing is how measurable it is. Every send generates data you can use to sharpen the next one.

At minimum, track:

• Open rates. How many recipients actually opened the email? Compare to your own historical average, not just industry benchmarks (which vary widely by sector).
• Click-through rates. How many opens led to a click? This is the truer measure of whether your content and CTAs are working.
• Link performance. Which links inside the EDM did people click? That tells you what your audience actually cares about.
• Conversions. How many recipients registered, bought a ticket, or completed the specific action you wanted?

For real-world benchmarks, our Event Marketing case study includes actual results from a 12-EDM national conference campaign, which is a useful reference point when setting internal targets.

Email is one piece of a bigger picture

The event experience starts the moment someone first hears about it and continues well after the venue lights go down. Email is one of the strongest threads running through that timeline, from the first announcement to the post-event thank-you and next-year save-the-date. When it is planned as a series rather than a scatter of one-off sends, it does real work.

Since 2013, JTPM has delivered more than 1,200 events across Australia, and we run integrated marketing programmes for many of them. Email always has a seat at that table. For more on how it connects to other channels, our post on Event Marketing: Turning Moments Into Momentum covers the four pillars we use, and the recent case study Australian Health Design Conference 2025 shows what integrated event marketing looks like in practice.

Ready to plan a stronger EDM campaign?

If you would like a hand planning, writing, and sending EDMs that actually drive registrations, our team at JTPM offers full-service event management in Melbourne and Australia-wide delivery, including event marketing, conferences, digital events, and PCO support under one roof.

Book a design session with us, or get in touch to start the conversation.