Event Espresso Feature Highlight: Automated Event Reminders

Event Espresso is a complete event registration and ticketing solution for WordPress that lets you set up automated reminders using the Automated Upcoming Event Notifications add-on.

Using the Automated Reminders, you can configure and send automated reminders to event registrants, attendees, and participants ahead of the event. You can customize the email notification to be sent any number of days before the event. For example, you can choose to send out event reminders a day before, two days before, or even a week before the day of the event.

Here are some of the key benefits of automated reminders:

• Saves effort. Setting up automated reminders for upcoming events saves you from having to send out reminders to your entire list manually. You can rest assured that all of your registrants will receive the reminder notification. The best part is that you don’t have to integrate with a third-party tool!
• Set it and forget it. You only have to configure and customize the automated reminders once and all of your registrants will receive the reminder based on your settings. In other words, you can customize the automated reminders weeks (or even months) in advance.
• Supports events with multiple datetimes. Automated reminders in Event Espresso have a built-in Automated Upcoming Datetime Notification template that lets you send out a reminder email for each date and time that’s on any single event. This is great for events that have a series of different dates. For example, if you’ve created an event for classes that happen once a week for six weeks, the reminder notification will be sent out for each date. In other words, registrants will receive a total of six reminder emails.

Aside from delivering a good event experience, sending out automated reminders leads to increased attendance and a reduction in no-shows. As a result, you’re able to effectively increase event engagement, leverage more up-sell opportunities, and potentially benefit from repeat attendance at future events.

Here are some common scenarios where you might need automated reminders:

• Classes. You can use automated reminders to send students an update about an upcoming class so they know what to expect.
• Parties. Automated event reminders let you remind attendees the day before an evening beach party. You can also use this as an opportunity to let them know what they need to bring with them.
• Festivals. Use the automated reminders add-on with the Printable Tickets add-on to send attendees their tickets a few days before a festival.
• Seminars. You can use automated event reminders to schedule reminder emails for booked seminars or business conferences.
• Workshops. On the day before a workshop, send a reminder to all attendees automatically letting them know the event details.

If you’re using Event Espresso to power your event website, you can purchase and install the Automated Upcoming Event Notifications add-on to send out automated reminders to registrants any number of days before the event.

The automated reminders add-on lets you customize the email notification and decide when you want to send out automated reminders. For example, you can send out reminders a day before the event or three days before the event.

For the purpose of this tutorial, we’ll assume you already have the Event Espresso plugin and the Automated Upcoming Event Notifications add-on installed and activated on your WordPress website.

Log in to your WordPress website and head over to Event Espresso > Management > Messages from the admin panel. Next, click on the Default Message Templates tab.

From the Event Espresso – Default Message Templates screen, scroll down to find the Automated Upcoming Event Notification and the Automated Upcoming Datetime Notification message types.

If you want to create an automated reminder for an event with a single datetime (i.e. you want to send out a single reminder for an event), use the Automated Upcoming Event Notification template. However, if you’re creating automated reminders for an event with multiple datetimes (i.e. you want to send out multiple reminders for a single event), use the Automated Upcoming Datetime Notification template.

You can choose to:

• Edit Event Admin. This option lets you customize and configure the automated reminder to be sent out to event admins.
• Edit Registrant. This option lets you customize and configure the automated reminder to be sent out to approved event registrants.
• Create Custom. You can use this option to create a custom automated reminder.

For example, if you select the Edit Registrant option, you can configure who to send the automated reminder to, indicate who it’s sent from, edit the subject line, and the main content of the email. With Event Espresso, all of this is possible using merge tags. For instance, you can use the merge tag [RECIPIENT_EMAIL] to send out the automated reminder to all registrants rather than manually adding a list of registrant emails.

The Main Content text editor contains a pre-built template that you can configure using various merge tags. It includes your logo, company name, recipient’s first name, a custom reminder message, and contact information.

You’ll also notice the [EVENT_LIST] shortcode added to the main content. This automatically inserts event details into your automated reminder. For example, you can use it to share a direct link to your event page, event venue details, and registration information. Use the [EVENT_LIST] text editor directly below the Main Content text editor to customize event details.

Once you’ve configured the email settings and customized the main content of your automated reminder, decide when to send out notifications using the Scheduling Settings widget. For example, you can set it to send out the automated reminder notification 3 days before the event.

In addition to this, Event Espresso’s Automated Upcoming Event Notifications add-on also lets you send out a test email to make sure everything looks good. To do this, simply enter a test email in the Extra Actions widget and click the Test Send button.

That’s it! Use the Preview button to see what your automated reminder email will look like.

Once you’re all done, click the Save and Close button.

How automated reminders make event registration management easier:

• You’re able to automate the entire event registration process
• Saves you a lot of time and manual work
• You can rest assured that everyone on your list will receive a reminder

If you regularly organize events, the Automated Upcoming Event Notifications add-on is a must-have. You won’t have to worry about manually sending out email reminders or integrating with third-party tools.

To recap, here’s how the Automated Upcoming Event Notifications add-on makes event management easier:

• You’re able to automate the entire event registration process.
• It saves you a lot of time and manual work.
• You can rest assured that everyone on your list will receive a reminder before the event day.

You can also use the automated reminders add-on with the Printable Tickets add-on to send tickets out along with your reminder email. This way, registrants can print them out at home instead of waiting to receive them in the mail. The tickets can then be scanned for a fast check-in on the day of the event.

Ready to automate your entire event registration process? Check out the Automated Upcoming Event Notifications add-on today!