Association Event Follow-Up: 5 Top Strategies for Success

Leading up to your events, you likely invest significant time and resources into promoting these opportunities and encouraging members to register. After all, your success depends on how many people sign up and show up to support your organization.

However, your event marketing strategy doesn’t have to end when your event does. After the day comes and goes, you still need to wrap things up and follow up with attendees to end the event experience on a high note.

In this guide, we’ll explore tips for properly communicating with attendees via email after an association event and engaging them long-term.

1. Thank attendees for their participation.

Start your event follow-up emails by showing your gratitude. Emphasize your attendees’ role in creating an exciting event atmosphere and driving results for your organization.

Make your thanks more impactful and personalized by:

• Referring to attendees by name. Addressing attendees by name adds a personal touch and shows you’re committed to developing individual relationships with each member. Import this information from your event registration software to ensure accuracy and automate the process.

• Segmenting your messages. Further personalize your messages by altering them for different attendee groups. For example, you may create a version for first-time attendees that thanks them for embarking on their first event with your organization and another for returning attendees that recognizes their longstanding support.

• Referencing their specific involvement. Pinpoint different contributions specific attendees made to your event. For instance, you may call out an enlightening comment an attendee made during a speaker session or acknowledge a member’s efforts to facilitate networking opportunities for other attendees.

Kicking off your post-event follow-up with personalized thank-you messages helps attendees feel appreciated immediately and eager to read the rest of your email.

2. Recap the event.

Next, remind attendees of everything their event experience entailed with a quick recap. This information transforms your email into a keepsake attendees can refer back to and relive your event through.

Your recap should include the following elements:

• Activity summary. Highlight your event’s main speaker sessions, workshops, presentations, and networking opportunities. Shout out your sponsors and speakers and include their contact information so attendees can connect with them.

• Key takeaways. What should attendees have learned from your event? Incorporate key quotes or messages from your speaker sessions and your main event goals.

• Photos and videos. Help attendees remember the liveliness of your event with photos and videos of the action. Make sure to obtain attendees’ permission before using any images of their faces.

You can also repurpose this recap for your email newsletter to reach a broader audience and entice people to sign up for your next event. Getting Attention recommends including testimonials that showcase members’ unique experiences to promote your membership program and encourage people to join.

3. Ask for feedback.

Invite attendees to share their feedback on the event experience so you can improve future events. Attendees will appreciate your willingness to consider and incorporate their opinions into your work. You may ask questions like:

• How would you rate your overall event or conference experience?
• What was the most valuable speaker session you attended, and why?
• Was the content covered during the event relevant to your professional needs and interests? Why or why not?
• How would you rate the event’s logistics and flow?
• Were there enough opportunities to network with other attendees? Why or why not?
• Did you feel our communications were sufficient before, during, and after the event? Why or why not?
• Would you be interested in attending another event or conference from our organization? Why or why not?
• Would you be interested in signing up for our email newsletter to learn about additional events and engagement opportunities?
• Is there anything else you would like to share about your event experience?

Look for an association event platform with built-in survey functionality to facilitate these surveys. That way, attendees can leverage the app they already used during the event, and you can keep track of all event analytics in the same place.

Then, note any relevant comments or suggestions in your association management software so you can easily reference them and incorporate this information into your future event strategy.

4. Provide additional resources.

Keep attendees engaged with event resources that expand their knowledge and help them remember key takeaways. These resources may include:

• Event recordings. On-demand recordings of different speaker sessions, workshops, or presentations allow attendees to revisit the magic of your event on their own time. While they rewatch, they may uncover new insights they didn’t consider the first time, helping them get even more out of the event experience.

• Presentation slides. Attendees who receive the slides presenters used can see the content in written form and access any links embedded in the presentation. Just make sure to get permission from your speakers before distributing their content.
• Supplementary content. Consider offering additional reading materials or tools related to your event’s core themes and content so attendees can further expand their knowledge. For example, you may send a link where attendees can buy the keynote speaker’s book about networking or share an article that discusses the science behind building strong relationships between patients and healthcare professionals.

In addition to sharing these resources in your follow-up emails, EventMobi recommends using a conference app to store and share event documents and recordings even after your event has ended. That way, you make it easy for attendees to revisit these materials and keep the spirit of your event alive.

5. Promote upcoming opportunities.

Excite attendees about what’s to come by promoting upcoming events and engagement opportunities. Encourage attendees to sign up by:

• Teasing what these events have to offer. Include future events’ names, dates, locations, central themes, and notable speakers to give attendees a sneak peek. Highlight what makes these opportunities unique and valuable for members to build anticipation.

• Providing early bird registration or member discounts. Induce urgency by providing time-based sign-up discounts. Let members know how long they can access these discounts and provide the relevant code to enter during registration.

• Including the registration link. If you’re already accepting sign-ups for your next event, include the registration link so interested members can easily get started. Track how many registrations came from your event follow-up emails to assess how effectively this channel drives sign-ups.

If you have many opportunities coming up, tailor the offerings you promote to different member groups. For example, you may encourage local attendees to attend a small gathering at your association’s headquarters and promote your annual conference to all attendees, regardless of location.

Additionally, consider motivating attendees to sign up for your email newsletter. That way, they can stay up to date on all of your events and engagement opportunities without missing a beat. Include a link in your follow-up that makes it easy to subscribe.