Email Marketing for Events: How to Bring Past Attendees Back

Why email still beats social for repeat sales

A social post reaches whoever the algorithm decides to show it to, and that reach keeps shrinking. An email reaches the inbox of someone who has already bought from you. You don't pay per send or per click, and nobody can change the rules on you. Social media is great for finding new people (see our social media playbook). Email is how you keep them.

Step 1: Build the list where people already are

The best moment to get someone's permission is when they're already excited: right as they buy a ticket.

• At checkout. On Bloom, buyers can tick a box to be notified about your future events. They're added to your followers automatically.
• On your host page. Every Bloom host has a public page listing upcoming and past events, with a Follow button. Link it from your Instagram bio and website.
• At the door. Walk-up buyers who give an email at the door can be invited back too. See selling tickets at the door.

Every buyer also gives you an email address to deliver their ticket, so after an event you can reach recent ticket holders even if they didn't follow you.

Step 2: Know the rules (CASL)

Canada's anti-spam law applies to commercial email. The basics for event organizers:

• Buyers: a purchase generally gives you implied consent to email that person for two years from the purchase.
• Followers: someone who opts in to hear about your events has given express consent, which lasts until they unsubscribe.
• Every email needs your name or organization's name, a way to contact you, and a working unsubscribe link. Honour unsubscribes promptly.

Bloom's email tools only target your own followers and ticket holders from the last 18 months, and include unsubscribe handling. This isn't legal advice; if email is a big part of your business, read the CRTC's CASL guidance.

Step 3: Send the emails that actually sell

You don't need a newsletter. You need a short sequence tied to each event:

1. Thank you (1 to 2 days after). Thank people for coming, share a photo or a highlight, and tell them the next date if you have it. This is the email most organizers skip, and the one with the most goodwill behind it.
2. Next event announcement. Send it to past attendees and followers before you post publicly. Being first feels like a perk, and early sales create momentum you can point to on social.
3. Early-bird reminder. A few days before your early-bird tier closes or sells out. A real deadline is the strongest reason to buy now.
4. Last call (2 to 3 days before). Short and practical: date, time, place, how many tickets are left, and the link.
5. "We miss you" (occasional). For people who came once or twice and then stopped. Lead with what's new.

Bloom's email tool includes templates for each of these: Thanks for attending, Next event announcement, Early-bird unlock, Schedule change and We miss you. Edit them to sound like you.

Step 4: Segment by loyalty

Someone who has been to ten of your events shouldn't get the same email as someone who followed you last week. Bloom groups your audience automatically:

You can also email everyone who bought a ticket to a specific event in the last 18 months, which is ideal for "this event is back" announcements and schedule changes.

Step 5: Write emails people read

• Subject line = the news. "Summer Night Market is back: July 12" beats "Our latest update".
• One email, one action. Put the ticket link near the top and repeat it at the bottom.
• Keep it short. Date, place, what's new, price, link. People skim on their phones.
• Sound like a person. Sign it with a name. "See you there, Maya" outperforms a corporate sign-off.
• Give a reason to act now: an early-bird deadline, limited capacity, a lineup reveal.

Step 6: Recover abandoned checkouts

Some people start buying and get interrupted. On Bloom, if a buyer enters their email and doesn't finish, they get a short checkout recovery email with a link back to your event. It's on by default for each event, and recovered sales are shown in Analytics under Checkout Recovery.

Step 7: Measure ticket sales, not opens

Open rates have become unreliable because many email apps pre-load messages. What matters is tickets sold. On Bloom, Analytics shows sales from new-event follower emails and from checkout recovery separately. For anything else, create a tracking link for the campaign and use it as the button in your email.

Email works best as part of a bigger habit of turning first-timers into regulars. Read how to build a following for recurring events next, or see more ways to sell more tickets.

Frequently asked questions