Here’s the thing about event emails – they’re not just another marketing message in someone’s inbox. To past participants, they’re the announcement of their favorite event returning. To potential participants, they’re a window into their next big challenge. And for your registered participants? They’re the essential updates they’ve been waiting for.
Let’s make sure your emails look as polished as your event runs. We’ll show you how our email tools can help you craft messages that your participants will love opening (and sharing!). Get ready to boost those open rates and showcase your event’s professional touch with every send.
Essential Email Marketing Features at Your Fingertips
Connecting with Past Participants
Nobody loves your event quite like past participants! They’re your event’s unofficial ambassadors – they know the course, love the vibe, and are probably already thinking about coming back. Our email tools make it easy to keep that connection going. To identify and reach out to past participants, follow these steps.
Managing Your Contact Lists
athleteReg makes it easy to keep all your contacts in one place:
- Once a participant registers they are automatically added to your email contact list
- Upload an existing contact list directly to the platform by sending your contact spreadsheet to customer support.
- Send multi-event emails for series updates and standings
Need to use another marketing platform? No problem. You can export your registration data to a spreadsheet or connect with the Mailchimp integration. But we recommend you stick around – our built-in email tools might be all you need for engaging your participants.
Communicating with Current Registrants
Keep your registered participants informed and excited throughout their event journey. Send pre-event instructions and important updates, ensuring everyone knows what to expect on event day. You can target specific categories with relevant information, making sure each participant receives details that matter to them. After your event, share appreciation messages and photos to celebrate their accomplishments. For events with fundraising components, you can easily communicate with fundraisers about their progress and keep them motivated to reach their goals.
Creating Professional Emails
Design Tips for Impact
- In your confirmation email, we recommend adding a logo.
- Create an email template for regular communication with these design recommendations:
- To create organized layouts, click the 1×1 cell at the top of your email, set the table width to 90% in properties, then use this container to properly scale and position your images.
- Insert your event’s cover photo or logo into the 1×1 cell to create a professional email header.
- Take advantage of merge tags to personalized your emails.
- Did you ask custom questions during the registration process? Help participants find their information all in one spot by including their registration responses, such as t-shirt size selections.
- Use consistent colors and borders to create a polished look, customizing with HSL values to match your brand.
- Highlight sponsor acknowledgments to show appreciation and add credibility to your event in your email footer.
Watch a step by step tutorial to create a professional email:
Merged Tags: Making Every Email Feel Personal (Without the Extra Work)
Merged tags automatically insert participant-specific data like names and bib numbers into your event emails. Here’s how they work:
- Click the “Merge Tags” dropdown where you want to add personalized content
- Select your tag (like [FirstName] or [Bib])
- When sent, the system automatically replaces these tags with each participant’s data
Use tags strategically – personalize key touchpoints like greetings and event-specific details. Merge tag options:
A couple of extra helpful tips:
- Edit Entry Link: gives participants direct, password-free access to modify their registration details. The edit entry link is also used to transfer an entry, change category, remove from a waitlist, or remove the entire entry. These edits can only be made if you allow these in your event setting tools. If given access, this is how it looks for a participant.
- Referral code or Referral code URL: A participant registers, they receive a code to share, and when their friends apply the code when registering, the code gets counted. Once a participant’s code is used enough times to reach a threshold you set, they receive a reward. The reward can be an automatic partial refund, or you can choose to reward them outside of the platform. Set up your referral codes to incentivize your participants to invite others to join.
Please note: When you send yourself a test email and you have merge tags included, the test email will only display the merge tag label. For example if the [FIRSTNAME] merge tag is used, that’s what displays in the test email.
Email Templates: Work Smarter, Not Harder
Save time and maintain consistency by creating templates for common messages. Save emails as templates for future use to include:
- Registration announcement
- Price increase dates
- Race logistic instructions
- Fundraising updates
- Thank-you notes
Pro tip: If you need extra help crafting your message, use AI tools (like ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude) to generate an initial draft. Customize the AI-generated content to include your event’s unique details and personality. Start with clear prompts about your event’s tone, audience, and key messages.
Best Practices for Event Email Marketing
Timing Your Communications
Our scheduling tool helps you plan ahead – from reminder emails based on event date to automated thank you messages after registration. Once set up, these communications run smoothly in the background while you focus on other aspects of your event.
Create a strategic email schedule:
- Send event announcements 3-4 months before registration opens
- Schedule registration reminder emails at key milestones
- Increase frequency of updates in the weeks leading up to your event
- Follow up within 48 hours post-event
Take Action Today
Ready to enhance your email marketing strategy? Log into your Event Director account and:
- Organize and identify your target audience
- Create email templates for common communications
- Format and design your email to give it a professional look
- Send yourself a test email
- Send an email or schedule an email for a later date
Need help maximizing your email marketing potential? Our support team is ready to assist. Send us a message or call us at 888-956-9560 for personalized guidance on using athleteReg’s email marketing tools.
