8 Ways To Use Automation for Event Promotion and Follow-Up

Planning and promoting an event takes time and energy and involves a lot of moving parts—but automation can make the process smoother and more effective from start to finish.

Whether you're promoting a conference, webinar, product launch, or fundraiser, automation tools can help you reach the right audience, boost engagement, and stay organized. From scheduling emails to tracking attendee behavior and sending post-event surveys, automation frees up your team to focus on what matters most: creating a great experience. 

In this post, we’ll explore 8 practical ways to use automation for event promotion and follow-up. However, let’s begin by identifying the distinct advantages of both email marketing and social media marketing.

Email Marketing—Refined, Reliable, Remarkably Effective 

• Email takes advantage of a captive audience. When someone subscribes to your email list, they’ve already expressed interest in your company or your content. This means you’re engaging with an audience that’s highly receptive and probably interested in learning about your upcoming event.
• Email is direct. Emails land straight in a person’s inbox, cutting through the noise of social media feeds where posts often get buried. Direct delivery increases the chances that your event details will be seen and read.
• Email has high click-through and conversion rates. According to multiple studies, email still outperforms social media in ROI, often yielding a $36+ return for every $1 spent! Consequently, email is one of the most cost-effective promotional tools available.
• Email is more personalized and easier to segment. With email, you can tailor your content to specific audience segments based on demographics, behaviors, or past interactions. Personalization helps create relevant, targeted messages that resonate more deeply with each recipient.

Social Media Marketing—Easy, Engaging, Sharable

• Social media content is highly shareable. Hashtags, mentions, and shares make it easy for posts to spread organically, reaching new audiences without additional spend. This kind of engagement builds momentum and drives social proof around your event, creating a sense of excitement and community.
• Social media is highly interactive, allowing you to engage with your audience in real time. You can answer questions, respond to comments, and build anticipation by running polls, countdowns, or giveaways. A conversational approach strengthens connection and keeps your event top of mind.
• Social media allows you to run targeted ads. These ads help you reach your ideal audience based on factors like location, interests, behavior, and demographics. They ensure that your event promotion is seen by the people most likely to engage or attend, maximizing your marketing spend. Plus, with built-in analytics, you can track performance and fine-tune your strategy in real time.

🔥Tip: Use social media to grow your email list prior to your event! 

8 Ways To Use Automation for Event Promotion and Follow-Up

Promoting Your Event With Automation 

We’ve covered some highlights of both email and social media marketing, and hopefully convinced you that both are valuable avenues for spreading the word! Now we want to shine a light on specific types of pre-event communication you can automate to lower your blood pressure and fill up your event. 

1. Announcing your event and creating a buzz: Use automated emails to share key event details, highlight the benefits of attending, and deliver a registration link. Schedule social media posts that list featured speakers and share testimonials from previous attendees to encourage people to sign up!

2. Thanking attendees for registering: Once a person registers, send an automated “thank you” email. Make sure their contact information is automatically added to your email list for pre-event communication and post-event follow-up and lead nurturing. 

3. Providing event details: Once someone registers, trigger an automated email sequence that builds excitement and delivers useful information. Include a mix of practical tips and event highlights to maintain engagement. For out-of-town guests, offer hotel recommendations early on so they have time to arrange lodging.

These emails are also a great opportunity to feature speaker bios and offer behind-the-scenes glimpses of event prep—content that can be repurposed on social media to generate a buzz. As the registration deadline nears, use both channels to encourage last-minute signups.

Plan the timing of your automated emails to maximize impact—e.g., one month out, two weeks, one week, three days before the event, etc. And don’t forget a day-of email with all the key details: venue address, parking info, and directions.

Providing clear, timely updates helps attendees feel informed, appreciated, and confident about their decision to attend.

4. Facilitating event check-in: Event day is BUSY! Keep registration simple by automating an email that delivers a QR code participants can scan at a self-service kiosk when they arrive, or offer a mobile check-in option. Include information about your registration process prior to and the day of your event so everyone knows what to expect.

5. Updating attendees during the event: Once the event is underway, your focus should be on engaging with guests in real time. With that in mind, schedule an automated email that hits inboxes the morning of the event with key details—venue map, exhibitor booth locations, daily schedule, session highlights, special promotions, etc. 

For multi-day events, consider setting up a brief daily email to keep attendees informed, highlight upcoming sessions, and address common questions that could arise. These timely updates help streamline the experience and ensure participants feel supported throughout the event.

Automation Ideas for Event Follow-Up

Strong attendance and high engagement made your event a success, and gave you the chance to share your company’s mission with a new group of potential partners and clients. You’re on a roll! Fortunately, with automation, you can keep the momentum going even after your event is over.

6. Thanking guests and gathering feedback: Following up after your event is key—and automation makes it easy to do so promptly. Schedule a thank-you email to thank each person for attending and include a brief survey to collect timely, high-quality feedback. Insights from these responses can help you fine-tune future events and deliver an even better experience next time.

7. Creating emails to nurture new prospects: Leverage the data collected during your event to segment your list and tailor follow-up communication. Automated, personalized emails allow you to build trust with new prospects and gradually guide them toward a sale. Consistent, relevant follow-up keeps your brand top of mind and reinforces the value you offer.

Consistent automated communication keeps your event visible and encourages timely responses from interested prospects.

HubSpot Makes Automation Easy

HubSpot is a powerful marketing platform that helps businesses streamline event promotion through automation. With its email tools, you can build targeted campaigns to invite attendees, send reminders, and follow up after the event—emails that are automatically triggered by user behavior or specific dates. Its workflow features allow you to set up sequences that guide leads through the registration process and keep them engaged along the way. 

For social media, HubSpot lets you schedule event-related posts across platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, ensuring consistent messaging before, during, and after your event. You can also monitor engagement and track performance to see which channels drive the most interest. Custom landing pages and forms integrate seamlessly, making it easy to capture registrations and segment your audience.

Overall, HubSpot simplifies event marketing while helping you stay connected with your audience every step of the way.

If you’d like to use automation for event promotion and follow-up, but want help getting started, we’ve got your back! At Wild Fig Marketing, we leverage HubSpot’s automation software to streamline all your event communications, freeing you up to throw your best event yet! Set up a 30-minute exploratory call with Kari to learn more!