Email marketing gives event directors the power to turn interested browsers into committed participants through direct, targeted communication. We brought together two experts, Eric Engel, Outside’s Email Manager overseeing hundreds of email campaigns a month, and Johnny Morin, Senior Customer Success Manager and director of the sold-out Bike Fights Cancer event, to break down the foundational strategies that drive consistent registrations in 4 proven steps.
Step 1: Set the Strategy: What Is Your Goal?
Before crafting your first email, get crystal clear on what you want to accomplish. Eric emphasizes keeping it simple: “Pick one goal per send and match it to your audience. Don’t try to do too much in one email.”
Johnny’s Bike Fights Cancer event demonstrates this focused approach perfectly. “We focus on increasing fundraising and engaging participants through consistent storytelling about our impact. But before we get there, we need to fill that pipeline with registrations first.”
The key: Ask yourself two questions before hitting send:
- What’s the one action we want someone to take from this email?
- Who is this email for, and where are they in the funnel?
Step 2: Timeline & Cadence: When Should You Send?
Smart timing can make the difference between an email that drives action and one that gets ignored.
Launch Early: “It’s never too early to start building excitement for your event,” Eric notes. “You want to capture past participants while they’re still excited from this year’s experience.”
Use Strategic Pricing: Johnny leverages fee increases as natural email opportunities: “We send about five past participant emails based on fee increases. It’s a monthly reminder instead of just one ‘registration is open’ email six months out that they’ll forget about.”
Best Send Times:
- Days: Tuesdays and Thursdays (avoid Monday clutter)
- Times: Late morning or early evening
- Frequency: Increase as deadlines approach – don’t be afraid to email your audience
Step 3: Content That Converts: What Should You Include In Your Email?
Your subject line is your first and sometimes only chance to capture attention. Eric shared five proven strategies:
Subject Line Strategies That Work:
- Clarity over cleverness – “Half Marathon price jumps tonight at midnight” vs. “Don’t miss the run of your life”
- Use numbers and specifics – “3 days left to save $20” vs. “Early bird discount ends soon”
- Front-load important words – On mobile, users may only see the first 30–40 characters.
- Match Tone to Audience – Speak to cyclists vs. runners appropriately
- Test continuously – Use tools like ChatGPT for subject line variations
Email Design Best Practices from Johnny’s experience:
- Use consistent branding with the same header image and logo
- Create clear call-to-action buttons instead of plain text links
- Personalize with merge tags (“Hi Kelly” feels personal even in mass emails)
- Keep it simple and clean – one topic per email
“When I have a really clear call-to-action button, we see more clicks than when it’s just a link,” Johnny reports.
Step 4: Target the Right Audience: Who Are We Emailing?
The most effective emails feel personal and relevant. Smart segmentation makes this possible.
Segment Your Existing Lists using athleteReg’s filters:
- Past participants for registration reminders and exclusive offers
- Age filters for age-appropriate content
- Geographic filters for travel packages and local partnerships
- Event history to reward loyal participants
- Don’t forget volunteers – they want impact stories but need different logistics
Building Your List from Scratch: Starting small is perfectly fine. Eric’s advice: “You could have 10,000 people who don’t care about your event, or 300 people who do. The smaller, engaged list will be much more powerful.”
List-building tactics that work:
- Capture emails at every touchpoint (expos, race day, website)
- Use QR codes for easy signups
- Offer value (“Be first to know when registration opens”)
- Leverage past participants as ambassadors with friend discounts
- Partner with sponsors, local clubs, and running groups
Your New Secret Weapon: athleteReg Email Templates
We’ve just launched new email templates based on your feedback, and they’re designed to implement everything we discussed above.
How to Access the New Templates
- Go to Marketing Tools in your left-hand menu
- Choose Email All Participants or Email Past Participants
- Select your template:
- Event Details – Perfect for logistics, parking, routes
- Thank You – Post-event highlights and photos
- Registration Announcement – Past participant outreach with register buttons
- Simple – Blank slate for custom content
What Makes These Templates Special
- Professional containers that look great on all devices
- Automatic branding pulls in your cover photo and logo
- Built-in social sharing buttons for participants to spread the word
- Smart merge tags for personalization and edit entry links
- Clear call-to-action buttons that drive clicks
“The template does the heavy lifting for consistent branding,” Johnny explains. “Just by using it, you’re hitting the marks of what makes a successful email campaign.”
Your One Key Takeaway
If you remember nothing else from this webinar, remember this insight from Johnny: “When I send emails to past participants, we see a spike in registrations every time. But a lot of the new registrants have never done our event before, which means it’s people telling their friends to sign up. The best way to grow a new audience is reaching out to those past participants.”
Your email strategy doesn’t need to be complicated to be effective. Start with clear goals, maintain consistent communication, create simple but professional-looking emails, and never underestimate the power of your past participants as your best marketing advocates.
Ready to put these strategies into action? Log into your athleteReg dashboard and explore the new email templates. And remember – don’t be afraid to hit send. Your audience signed up for a reason.