How to create event invitations that stand out from the crowd

Is your dealership getting as many event attendees as it should be? Check out our guide on how to grab attention and stand out with your event invitations.

We all know the jokes about VIP events and getting customers to attend, but let’s be serious for a moment. How are you inviting customers in the first place?

Content is king

When all is said and done, the main purpose of your invitation is to invite people! Your event invitations should be to let your customers know exactly what your event is all about, why they should care, and how they can attend. You want to answer the 5 Ws- the who, the what, the where, the when, and the why.

When crafting your invitation, try to answer these questions:

Who is attending the event?

What is the event about?

When is the event?

Where is the vent being held?

Why should they attend?

If you can answer these questions in your invitation, you’re doing great. Don’t forget to leave a link to find out more though, which leads us on to our second tip…

Less is more

Time is precious, we all know that, and it’s the same for our customers. I’m sure you crafted a beautiful event invitation, but the truth is that customers most likely won’t read it if there’s a lot of copy to take in.

When customers are faced with large blocks of text, their most likely course of action is to immediately close your invitation, so keep it short and simple, but still eye-catching and informative. If you have more to say, say it on your website! All you need to do is direct your readers there with a link in the invitation body. Easy peasy.

Jazz it up (design)

We’re simple creatures when push comes to shove, and we love a design that makes us go “oooooh”. Remember how cool you thought your mate’s Thomas the Tank Engine birthday party invitations were back in Year 2? That’s the feeling you want to inspire. Maybe leave Thomas out of the picture though, or don’t- we won’t judge.

Nobody likes an ugly invite, so if you’re sending invitations out by post or email, get your design team to create visually appealing invitations that will catch your customers’ attention.

The devil’s in the details

You know your customers and dealership better than we do. Think about any little details that help your invitees. If you know customers sometimes have a hard time finding your dealership, consider adding a map or directions. With emails invites, think about a subject line that can grab attention rather than the using ‘Weekend Sale Now On’ again.

If you can make your invitations personalised to the audience you’ve selected, even better. Make a pun or make a reference, do whatever you want as long as you do something a little different than the norm. Yes, you’re approaching customers, but customers tend to appreciate the personal touch, so there’s no need to keep it corporate on your invitations.

Mind your tone of voice

Sounds like something your nana would say, doesn’t it? When we say ‘tone of voice’ we mean it in the marketing kind of way- the sound of your business, the way you present yourselves to customers in print and video.

One of our Clicker received a text invitation earlier this month that read:

“VIP Event this w/end at [redacted]. Click this link to hold your place [link]”

Not very inspiring, is it? The link provided took them to an event page that featured a “video greeting” from the dealership manager and a little bit of information about the event. It was friendly and welcoming, completely the opposite of the generic and abrupt text that they received. In fact, the dates on the text message were different from the dates mentioned in their video, unintentionally shortening their event window by two days in the eyes of customers who only read the text!

So, let’s look at the difference between a text invitation that was written a little bit more like the tone used on their business’ event page and video:

 “Hi Clicker,

Just a quick message to let you know that you’re invited to our upcoming VIP sales event at [location]. Our event is on from Thursday to Sunday this week where we have exclusive limited-time offers that we’ve secured for our VIP customers.

If you’re interested in learning more about our event, check out our event page ([link]) or give us a call on [phone number].

Hope to see you there!

– The team at [Dealership Name]”

Much better, wasn’t it? The difference in the tone of voice between those two text messages conveys completely different things to your customers. Yes, it may take a little bit longer to put the latter together, but the payoff is worth it.

Be Honest

Most importantly, be honest in your invitation! Don’t exaggerate what will be available and what’s happening. As salespeople, it’s tempting to promise everything and more to our invitees, but if your promises aren’t realistic, it’s best to just leave it out. The last thing you want is a group of disgruntled customers who feel let down by your event.

If you’d like to find out more about how Click Dealer can help you with your content and marketing, then please get in touch with us on 01782 478 220 or by email using marketing@clickdealer.co.uk