When an Event Registration Platform Isn’t the Right Fit

Let’s not kid ourselves—event registration platforms are pretty damn good. They save time, reduce stress, and make you look like the most organised person in the room.

But (and it’s a big but)… sometimes, you don’t need one.

Slightly contrarian, I know. A company that builds an event registration platform saying you might not need one? Stick with us.

Sarah, an event organiser for a national law firm recently found herself asking this very question: Do I really need a platform, or is this something I can handle with a spreadsheet and a bit of elbow grease?

Sarah’s Story: The Networking Breakfast

Sarah’s tasked with running a monthly networking breakfast—nothing too fancy. A couple of dozen attendees, some coffee, a few pastries, and a short presentation.

Her boss suggests looking into a registration platform to manage sign-ups and communications. So, Sarah checks out a few platforms. But here’s the thing: her guest list is 20 people. They’re mostly people she already knows. There’s no need for branded registration pages, automated reminders, or ESG reporting yet.

Sarah’s on the ball and quickly sees that a spreadsheet and a few emails are more than enough for this specific set of events.

When spreadsheets work:

• Small-scale events: If you know everyone by name and can manage RSVPs manually, why overcomplicate it?

• Low-stakes gatherings: If it’s just coffee and networking, you don’t necessarily need analytics or custom branding.

• Budget-conscious events: When there’s no wiggle room for extras, spreadsheets can still do the job.

Fast Forward 6 months: The Sustainability Conference

Six months later, Sarah’s small breakfasts have grown into a hit. Now, her boss wants her to organise a half-day sustainability conference.

150 attendees, corporate sponsors, event analytics, the lot.

Suddenly, her spreadsheet doesn’t look so clever. Managing registrations, tracking dietary requirements, and sending reminders all manually? That’s a meltdown waiting to happen.

When a platform like Mitingu is a lifesaver:

1. Bigger events: Spreadsheets get messy fast when your guest list hits triple digits.

2. Branding matters: Corporate sponsors want their logos front and centre on registration pages and event comms.

3. Time is money: Automation takes care of reminders, confirmations, and follow-ups so you don’t have to.

4. Data-driven insights: You’ll need reports on engagement and sustainability to show how your event went down.

The Truth About Event Tools

The truth is, not every event needs a registration platform. But when you scale up—whether it’s attendee numbers, complexity, or expectations—it becomes less of a "nice-to-have" and more of a necessity.

So, if you’re staring at a spreadsheet wondering if it’s time to make the leap, here’s the test:

• Are you juggling dozens (or hundreds) of attendees?

• Do you need to make a professional impression?

• Is tracking success and reporting on outcomes part of the deal?

If the answer’s yes, it’s time to ditch the spreadsheet. And if not? Keep it simple—for now.

Your Move
Whether you’re ready to upgrade or just testing the waters, we’re here when you need us. Because when the time comes, Mitingu helps you run events that people remember.

Spreadsheets vs Event Registration Platforms: What’s Best for Your Event?

How will you manage registrations and communications for your next event?

For smaller events, spreadsheets and email tools might do the job. But for larger or more complex events, an event registration platform with built-in email tools could save you hours of time and frustration by managing it all from one place. Let’s compare the options to find what works best for you.

Using Spreadsheets and Email for Event Registration

For lots of event organisers, spreadsheets paired with email tools like Outlook or Gmail are the default choice. They’re familiar, easy to set up, and low cost—but are they always the right choice?

Benefits of Spreadsheets and Email

• Cost-Effective: Often free or included with existing software.

• Customisable: Create your own fields and formats for attendee lists.

• Easy to Use: Most people already know how to use spreadsheets and email tools.

Drawbacks of Spreadsheets and Email

• Time-Consuming: Managing attendee data manually, sending individual emails, and tracking responses take up valuable time.

• Prone to Errors: Typos, forgotten updates, or lost information are common occurrences.

• Limited Features: No or limited automation, analytics, and integrated tools that help streamline the process.

Benefits of an Event Registration Platform with Built-in Email Tools

If your events are more complex, an event registration platform with integrated email capabilities can be a game-changer. Platforms like Mitingu (other platforms are available) are specifically designed to simplify the event registration and communications process and take a bundle of work away from your already burgeoning to-do list.

Advantages of Event Registration Platforms

• Automation: Automatically send invitation emails, reminders, confirmations, and follow-ups.

• Real-Time Data: Track registrations, responses, cancellations, and attendee numbers instantly.

• Branded Experience: Create custom branded registration pages and emails.

• Compliance: GDPR-compliant data collection, giving you peace of mind.

• Integrated Tools: Registration, email, and analytics are all in one place, saving you from multiple tools and tabs open.

Limitations of Event Registration Platforms

• Cost: Subscription fees can be higher than the cost of spreadsheets.

• Learning Curve: Familiarising yourself with a new platform takes time, though most are designed to be user-friendly.

• Overkill for Small Events: For small events, platforms might offer more functionality than needed.

Which Event Management Solution is Right for You?

It depends on the size and complexity of your event. Here’s a quick guide:

Choose Spreadsheets and Email If...

• You’re organising a small, one-off event like a local charity fundraiser or team-building activity.

• You’re working with a very tight budget and don’t need advanced features.

Choose an Event Registration Platform If...

• You’re managing lots of events or medium to large ones like conferences, corporate events, or workshops.

• You need a professional, branded experience for attendees.

• Saving time and reducing stress are at the top of your wish list - you get that with automation and real-time data tracking.

• Sustainability is a priority, and you need tools that help you report on your event’s ESG metrics.

What’s the Verdict?

Spreadsheets and email can handle the basics, but they quickly fall short as the number and size of your events grow. If you’re looking for efficiency, professionalism, and scalability, a registration platform like Mitingu give you the tools you need. From automated communications to branded registration pages, it frees you up to do what you do best—creating an unforgettable experience.

What’s Next?

Take a look at how Mitingu can save you time, reduce stress, and give your attendees a great first impression. If it’s not right for you, no problem.

Book a demo

Mitingu Demo Request

Do you need a native event app, and what are the alternatives?

First off, what is an event app? Well at its basic level, an event app is an application that is downloaded onto your attendees’ devices to provide them with additional information and features whilst they are attending your event and can also be used to share some useful information post-event.

Whilst it’s separate from event registration, the data from registered attendees can be integrated into the app to give them a more personalised experience.

So, do you need an event app?
The answer to this is basically, ‘It depends’. It depends on budget, your event complexity, which devices your attendees use, and what you plan to share with them. 

But, in general, for larger events that run across multiple days an event app is a great choice. There is a lot of information to share, and opportunities to interact with and add real value to the attendee experience by providing them with an app, especially one that is personalised to them. Good event apps include features like interactive maps, personalised agendas, networking tools, and real-time updates, lifting the overall attendee experience.

However, for smaller or single-day events, an event app might be overkill. Why? We've all got more than enough apps on our phones, and downloading another one for a single-day event may be one app too many. You might argue that the app can be used post-event, but let's be honest, how many of us look at an event app after the event has finished? In addition, developing a high-quality event app can be pricey, and it may not justify the expense for a smaller event.

The Alternative: Browser-Based Apps

In short, browser-based apps look and act like mobile apps but without the need to download anything. They cost less too, and nowadays, there is no need to compromise on functionality and user experience. Browser-based apps can offer a similar level of interactivity and personalisation as native apps, making them a compelling alternative, especially for shorter or smaller events.

How to Get People to Engage with Browser-Based Apps?

The key is to make the onboarding process easy and convenient for attendees. QR codes or NFC (Near Field Communication) technology are great ways of getting attendee engagement with a browser-based app. Most people are now comfortable with QR codes, and they know scanning them will take them to a web page. NFC technology allows attendees to tap their devices on designated tags or surfaces to launch the app directly in their browsers.

Both QR codes and NFC provide an easy way to get attendees engaged with the event's browser-based app without the hassle of downloading and installing yet another app on their phones. In addition, this approach can be great as it eliminates potential barriers related to device compatibility or storage limitations.

Get the balance right

Ultimately, the decision to use a native event app or a browser-based alternative depends on factors such as the size of the event, its duration, target audience, and budget. For larger, multi-day events with a tech-savvy audience, a native app might be the way to go, offering a highly personalised and feature-rich experience. On the other hand, for smaller or one-time events, a browser-based app accessed via QR codes or NFC could be a cost-effective and convenient solution, providing a balance between functionality and ease of use.

There is no right or wrong, but event organisers should assess their specific needs and consider what their attendees will prefer and engage better with to determine the best approach. You could offer both options – a native app for those who prefer it and a browser-based alternative for those who don't.

As they say, the decision is yours. But… if you need help in making that decision, get in contact. We do both, so we don’t have an ulterior motive to suggest one over the other.

How to reduce event registration form abandonment

From the event organiser’s perspective…

Let’s face it, for an event organiser, fewer things are more frustrating than getting a load of form abandonments especially if they could be avoided. It’s not a nice thing to have to report back in either.

According to Convertica, 27% of people abandon online forms because of their length, and 10% drop off because of unnecessary questions.

The biggest stat of all is that 70% sail off into the sunset and never return if they encounter an issue with the form.

What happens if your event is undersubscribed and one of the main reasons is a dodgy reg

From the attendee’s perspective…

“Too much hassle”, “I’ll do this later” or words to that effect are what goes through the mind of someone interested in registering but faced with a conference registration form full of tedious questions that make it as burdensome as Mariah Carey’s tour rider.

First impressions do count and if a long, irrelevant registration form is their first experience with the event then it’s not a good one.

A form with a technical issue should never get to the stage where it’s in front of the person registering. Testing avoids that or if there is some sort of technical issue, good messaging will help.

A possible solution?

Groundbreaking stuff is this! How about making the form short and sweet and only collecting the information you really need at the point of registration?

Then once they have registered and are “in” why don’t you go back to them with some follow-up questions that are relevant to them?

Another option is to create a registration form that only shows questions relevant to the person filling it out. They’ll never see the questions that aren’t relevant to them, so they’ll never have the opportunity to get frustrated by a long, dull, and irrelevant registration form.

You already know this, but it’s worth pointing out as time is normally a scarce resource for event organisers, make sure the whole registration process including the form is tested properly. That’s all permutations and all elements before you sign it off.

To conclude, take a step into the world of the person registering. Would you want to see a long form? What would you think if it was irrelevant in parts or didn’t work properly? We’ve all experienced this at some point and we all think we could probably do it better. Now’s your chance!

Feature Highlight - Contacts only

Is it important to you that the only people who register for your event are the ones that have been invited?

Protecting the event with a unique password for each invitee or giving them a unique code to use when registering doesn’t stop them from sharing it with a colleague/friend if they can’t attend. The friend/colleague can then override the invitee’s details with their own.

What if they couldn’t?

What if the only people that could register were the invitees and their email address (and name) couldn’t be changed?

That’s what the Contacts only function in Mitingu does.

If you run events that need that extra level of security and you’ve been frustrated by the lack of options, let’s talk.

Event registration for internal events

If you run internal company events, you'll probably be well versed in some of the unique challenges of event registration and comms that come with them.

A few questions that need answering

How do I send the invitations?
How do I make sure that it's only employees registering?
How do I make sure the registration site and emails are on brand?

Invitations
If the event platform that you're using to create the registration site has the option to send personalised email invitations, that's probably the easiest option. To throw in a curveball, what if the IT police don't want you using another external system to send emails from?

Need some options?
1. Send them out via the events platform if you're allowed;
2. Send them out via your email marketing platform;
3. Send them out via your local email client (Gmail, Outlook, etc) using a merge function.

We've already mentioned option 1 is the easiest, but it's all down to your friends in the IT team.

Options 1 and 2 present another issue, how do you get the personalised links from the event platform into the email marketing platform/local email client? Unless there's an option to bulk export the invitation links from the event platform, you're in for a long day (or days depending on how many employees there are) exporting the links one by one. Check with your provider to see if this is an option.

Employees only
How do you make sure the only people registering are employees? It’s difficult because there is nothing to stop an employee from sharing their unused invitation with someone from outside the business, but there are some things you can do.

1. Make registration accessible via a secure login for each invitee;
2. Mark the event as private which can only be accessed via a unique invitation link that expires once used;
3. Restrict the domain(s) used in the email field to company ones only;
4. Only allow email addresses that are in the database;
5. Make the first name and last name fields view only.

It’s worth noting that the above are only options if your event software has that functionality.

Keep it on-brand
“On-brand”, it’s a widely used term. What we mean is that it looks like all your other company marketing stuff. Website, social media, print, etc.

If that’s not important to you, there’s a number of platforms that you could use such as Eventbrite.

If it is important but you don’t have the time or budget (could be both) to engage with a web designer, make sure your current event platform has at least the following:

1. The option to use a custom domain/sub-domain (e.g. yourcoevents.com), for both the event registration site and the email comms.

2. The ability to add your logo, colours, fonts and footers as a minimum.

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Are you using a registration platform that has developed functionality specifically to cater to these types of events?

If the answer is yes, then it sounds like you're covered.

If the answer is no, we might be able to help and it’s a simple next step, send an email to hello@mitingu.com or fill out the enquiry form.

Feature Highlight - Domain Restriction

Domain restriction is a great tool for internal company events that want employees to register using their work email and not a personal one.

It’s not restricted to just one domain, so if your company is part of a group, each with separate email domains, that’s no problem as you can add multiple domains that are allowed for the registration process.

If you’re running business events but want attendees to register with a business email address rather than a personal one, the ability to forbid certain email domains, such as hotmail.com and gmail.com, could be useful.

If you run internal or external events, think this would help with your registration process, and would rather see it in action than just read about it, please get in touch.

Post-event communications, yes or no?

Let’s face it, the tendency is to focus on good communications before the event and during it. There's a valid argument for this, before the event we need to get people excited and keep them informed to make sure they show up. On the day itself, communications are a great way of keeping attendees updated.

Post-event comms are a bit like the poor relation that can be either completely ignored or done as a bit of an afterthought.

Just because the excitement of the build-up and the actual event has passed, it doesn't mean the opportunity to keep the conversation going should be missed. Sending surveys, thank you emails, highlight reels, popular slide decks are all decent examples of post-event comms.

Surveys
An effective way of getting honest feedback (especially if you let the respondent answer anonymously). Make them short and snappy - people like quick response options like check boxes, radio buttons and dropdowns. Try and keep free text fields to a minimum, perhaps just a comments box at the end of the survey.

Send them out 24-48 hours after the event whilst it's still fresh in their minds.

If you've got the budget something like a prize draw is a good way to encourage attendees to respond.

If you're sending out surveys, the key thing is to have an easy mechanism to view and download responses. Don't ignore the results, act on them and share the key points.

Thank you email
A simple "thanks for attending" email is an easy way to acknowledge and thank people for coming to the event. Make it more relevant to the individual if you can, a bit more than just their name if you can.

It could be used as a standalone email, include a link to take the post-event survey (see above), or an attachment/link to the highlights reel.

Highlight reels
Most of us haven't got time to watch a 60-minute film of an event we attended, no matter how good it was. Most of us can find the time to watch a condensed summary of the event if it's about 5 minutes or so. It's also something that can easily be shared and used to promote the next event.

Promoting future events
A good time to get early bookings for upcoming events is straight after the last one. We're taking it as read that this applies to attendees who got something positive out of the last event.

Neglecting post-event comms, might mean you’re missing out on an opportunity to differentiate your events from the rest.

Feature Highlight - Tagging

Tagging is a really simple way of adding labels to your contact data.

Why bother with tags? Because they let you organise and filter your data in a simple way. So, if you know that Joe is a vegetarian and likes rugby, he could be tagged “vegetarian” and “rugby”. You can use those tags to create personalised comms, tailored registration forms, and export data.

Mitingu has 2 ways of creating and adding tags to contacts:

1. Manually - you add them individually or include them in a bulk upload

2. Automatically - it adds certain tags automatically such as invited, registered, declined, etc.

If you think tagging would help with your events and comms and would rather see it in action than read about it, please get in touch.

Email... still cool or is it old school?

You have plenty of options when it comes to choosing which channels you use to create buzz for your event and communicate with your attendees, one of them being email.

Is email too old school?

No! Email is still the preferred and most effective channel for sending and receiving direct event communications. Here's a few reasons why:

1. You collect one with each registration;
2. They are delivered directly to the inbox;
3. They can be dynamic, showing personalised content that makes them more likely to be read.

It's important to make sure you've got an email comms plan in place that includes who you'll be sending to and when.

What sort of event communications can we use email for?

In a nutshell, there are quite a few!

1. Save the date or to take pre-registrations;
2. Invitations with a direct response mechanism built-in (accept, decline);
3. Registration confirmation with a response mechanism built-in (Edit details or cancel);
4. Updates and reminders - don’t overdo it by sending every couple of days;
5. Joining instructions;
6. Survey requests;
7. Post-event follow-ups.

How about personalisation?

According to a recent study by Salesloft, the increase in response rate for a personalised email vs a non-personalised one can be up to 250%!

It's worth pointing out that personalisation done badly can have an adverse effect on response rates, so make sure you invest some time into getting it right.

When we talk personalisation, it’s much more than “Hi {{ first name }}”. We'll take it as read that it should include the basics, but where it comes into its own is where the content is dynamic I.e. tailored to the receiver based on what you know about them.

Confirmation emails could show some of their selections made during registration. For example, their dietary requirements, accommodation preferences, and session times. It's also an opportunity for you to go the extra mile so you could include things like links showing how to get there and local places to eat.

The point is to make sure it gets read. Relevant and interesting content makes that more likely.

Do event platforms have built-in email functionality?

Most event platforms have at least a basic capability to send emails with some having more advanced functionality like scheduling and template options (Mitingu falls into the latter category, but you knew we’d say that!).

My platform only has basic email functionality, what are my options?

Check with your provider to see if they have an API. An API makes it possible to automatically pass attendee data to your email marketing platform enabling you to send from there. That's not a five-minute job and you'll need the services of a web developer too.

If your platform has an export attendee data function, you could download it and then manually upload to your email marketing platform. It’s a bit long-winded but it’s a decent option if you don’t have the time or money to get an automated integration built using an API.

To sum it up

Email is still the most effective communications tool for your event if it's planned properly and the content is tailored to the attendee. Yes, it’s been around for a while but there’s a reason for that, it works.

Feature Highlight - File Upload

New for 2022!

We’ll be releasing regular feature highlights that give you a bit more detail on Mitingu’s functionality and some real-life examples of how they can be used.

File Upload

We are starting with this one because, at the time of writing, it has a lot of relevance.

A number of countries (including the UK) require attendees to provide proof of vaccination prior to gaining entry into the event.

Adding a mandatory file upload to your registration form means that guests cannot complete registration until they upload their proof of vaccination. This is then stored against their name in the attendee data.

File upload isn’t just about uploading vaccination passes though (as we all hope they are just a temporary thing). It could also be used for event waiver forms, proof of identity and accreditations.

Contact us for more info.

Event registration - Out-of-the-box or custom build?

A custom event registration site is built to your specifications including the design and functionality.

Depending on which event registration platform you are using, an out-of-the-box site is normally created from a template on your event registration software that can be customised to a greater or lesser extent. The minimum customisation could simply be adding a logo, while a more advanced customisation could include the logo, layout, fonts and colour scheme - nearly a custom site, but with the bonus that it utilises tied and tested functionality.

There are a few factors that come into play when you’re making that decision.

1. Time
2. Budget
3. Infrastructure & support
4. Frequency

1. Time

How long have you got?

Depending on the size of the event, the amount of content, and the required functionality, a custom event website is likely to take weeks to build. If it includes email communications (even if it's just an integration with a platform like Mailchimp), analytics and database management, it will add more time, complexity, and cost.

A simple out-of-the-box site could be built in under an hour! A more complex site that is heavy on content, with personalisation and filters should take no more than a couple of days. Most out-of-the-box solutions also have built-in email communications, analytics and delegate management functionality.

2. Budget

How much have you got?

When it comes to building a custom website with specific functionality, pretty much anything is possible. I'll qualify that by adding in that it depends how deep your pockets are. Custom sites can get expensive even if you have provided a clear brief and agreed on the scope of the build.

An out-of-the-box event site will almost always cost less than a custom site. There is normally an upfront outlay that includes customising and branding templates and then a usage cost (some charge per registration, some, like us, charge a monthly licence). You don't have to account for additional costs such as hosting and support because they are included with your event registration software (see item 3 below).

3. Infrastructure & Support

If you've commissioned a business to build a custom site, they may factor in hosting and support but it will be an additional cost and will need to fit with your requirements.

If they haven't, it will fall on you to source a secure hosting environment with adequate levels of support.

Event registration software comes with secure hosting and full support to make sure your site is always available. Regular security updates and testing are carried out to make sure your attendee data is secure.

4. Frequency

Is this event a one-off or part of a series? Do you run events all through the year?

Custom-built sites could get really expensive and time-consuming if you run lots of events throughout the year, even if you're using the same or a similar theme.

If you run your events through a dedicated events platform, you could have a choice of branded templates and set up a new event in minutes. Most have copy event functions too, making it possible to generate a new event at the click of a button.

In summary...

Custom sites - you could get exactly what you want, but it comes with a hefty price tag and a much longer timeline. It's super important to get your brief and requirements agreed upfront or it could get even more expensive.

Out of the box - you'll have to make some small compromises on the look and feel, but will benefit from a lower price tag and a much quicker time to get your event sites live. You won't have to worry about technical stuff like servers and support and can utilise a number of existing functions that have been tried and tested.

One last thing, how does an almost custom site sound but with all the benefits an out-of-the-box solution brings? That is something we can definitely help with!

Event pre-registration and how it could work for your events

Event pre-registration is the process prior to actual registration when people register their interest in attending an event rather than committing to attend it.

Why use event pre-registration?

• It gives event organisers the ability to get important information up front in terms of expected numbers and popular content.

• It gives attendees the opportunity to pre-register for an event without committing themselves.

Here are a couple of scenarios where event pre-registration could help event planners:

1. You're running a public-facing event that you expect to be oversubscribed

You could be running an event that you are pretty confident will be a sell-out. How do you know? It could be an event that you've run in the past and have first-hand knowledge of its popularity or you might have an "A-lister" headline speaker that consistently sells out venues globally.

How it could work:

i. You open up the site to take pre-registrations;
ii. Visitors go onto the site and register their interest to attend;

iii. You can see everyone that has pre-registered and select who will be sent an invitation to register and who won’t;
iv. The invitation email is sent to those who you want to invite and a decline email is sent to those that haven't made the list.

Using pre-registration for this type of event helps manage oversubscription upfront, rather than at the registration stage.

2. To determine if an event is worth running

You may be considering running an event, but you're not sure how popular it will be. Events are expensive in time and money to organise, so you'd like to get a good feel upfront of how feasible this event will be.

Running an event pre-registration page is a good way to accurately gauge interest, get valuable feedback and save yourself a bundle of time and money if uptake is low. The only outlay you have is to set up the pre-registration page and form.

How it could work:

1. Create an event pre-registration page and form;
2. Visitors go onto the site and register their interest;
3. You get an immediate and clear picture of the level of interest;
4. If it's good, an email goes out to all pre-registrations inviting them to register, along with opening the main event site up to the public;
5. If uptake is low, an email is sent out to all pre-registrations letting them know the event will not be happening yet.

The end result is you'll know if the event is a go or no-go. If you've asked for suggestions regarding popular content, you'll have that information upfront giving you the opportunity to tailor the event accordingly.

How to avoid landing in the email spam folder

Do any of these sound familiar?

"I've not received my invitation yet."

"I've just registered and I haven't received a confirmation or my ticket."

"It was in my junk folder"

Deliverability - getting your email into the recipient's inbox

Event emails are an essential way of communicating with your audience. It's important to do everything you can do to make sure they land in the recipient's inbox. Here are some tips that will help you achieve that.

We'll cover the techie stuff first!

1. Authenticate your domain - this is a way to allow your email sending service (e.g. Mailchimp, Mitingu if you're a client, etc.) from you with your permission.

Domain authentication is done in the place where you bought it (e.g. GoDaddy, Namecheap, 123-reg, etc), by adding SPF and DKIM records to your DNS. It sounds complicated, but it's just a case of getting these from your mail sending service and adding them. If you're a Mitingu client, we can help with this.

These records tell the receiving email servers that the email is safe and sent from a reputable business.

2. A dedicated IP address

Most email service providers such as Mailchimp use shared IP addresses in order to maintain a good sender reputation and deliverability for all of their users. We do exactly the same at Mitingu.

If you're sending large volumes of emails per month (upwards of 20,000 for example) it might be worth looking at getting a dedicated IP address. This means that the IP address is only used for your business and no others. That means your reputation is solely in your hands and can't be influenced by other users.

It's not quite as simple as just buying a dedicated IP address and off you go, because it needs to be "warmed up" over a period of time to improve your reputation and deliverability.

If you're a Mitingu user and want to find out about a dedicated IP address, we're happy to organise it for you.

3. Cleanse your data

In general, there are two types of bounces:
Hard - this is usually where the email address doesn't exist or the server has blocked you
Soft - this is normally a temporary issue such as the receiving inbox is full, a message with file is too large or an out of office is on.

Too many bounces can damage your sender reputation and affect deliverability.

Make sure that your data is up to date and any records that have previously hard bounced are removed (Mitingu automatically stops sending to any email addresses that have previously hard bounced).

Validation tools can be the quickest and easiest way to cleanse your data.

4. Make it easy to unsubscribe

Unsubscribes don't affect your deliverability, but getting Spam complaints do!

Make it easy for people to unsubscribe if they don't want to receive any more emails from you by adding an unsubscribe link to all your emails.

5. Avoid "Spammy" subject lines and content

Subject lines can often trigger spam detectors which means your email can end up in the spam folder. Common things to avoid are using ALL CAPS, over punctuation!!!!???? and Re: and Fw: in the first send.

There are some really good lists of words/phrases to avoid, here's a useful one from Hubspot.

Here's a great free subject line tester tool subjectline.com. It will give you your score out of 100 and show you where it can be improved.

When it comes to the content, a lot of the same principles apply as in the subject line. It's good practice to personalise the content to the receiver, avoid red text (other colours are fine), use links to quality sites and avoid shortened URLs like bit.ly links (spammers like to hide content behind these types of links).

Make sure your content adds value to the person that is reading it. Email providers track how your recipients interact with your emails, including both their positive and negative actions.

Positive actions include: Opens, click-throughs, moving from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab (Gmail), marking email as "not spam" and adding the sender email address to their address book.

Negative actions include: Unopens, deleting your email prior to opening and marking them as spam.

Here is a good tool to use to spam test your email (it has a free version) mail-tester.com

There are some really good paid for spam test tools too, such as Litmus.

6. Add a recognisable and consistent send from name and email address

If you receive an email from a friend, you generally open it, right? You recognise and trust the sender.

The same applies if you're sending as a business. Use your name or a consistent business brand name as the "send from" name and your domain. If you send out event communications, you could use: "ABC Event Team" and eventsteam@abc.com.

Consistency is everything and doing this will help increase open rates and decrease the number of spam complaints.

All this leads to improved deliverability.

Out-of-the-box doesn't always cut it

What to do when registration isn’t “out-of-the-box”

The beauty of using a platform like Mitingu for your event registration sites is that it helps you create them quickly and effortlessly.

As most of us know, nothing in life (and events) is perfect, and occasionally an out-of-the-box solution doesn’t give you everything you need.

What if your event requires something specific that your event registration software can’t handle?

Do you:

1. Go to a web developer and get something bespoke written? Maybe… but that depends on how much time you’ve got and how deep your pockets are.

2. Make do with what you’ve got and feel a bit frustrated and disappointed that you’ve not got exactly what you want?

Or… we could do it for you.

How?

We've got templates that are easy to customise exactly to your required look and feel complimented by functions that cover most requirements. Anything over and above the "out-of-the-box", we'll create for you.

Here are 2 reasons it will provide you with value for money without compromising on quality:

1. We're not starting from scratch, we're just building onto what we've already got.

2. It's what we do. We know how to scope, build and deliver an event registration site.

P.S. we speak plain English, no blinding with science, and no BS around pricing and timelines.

How much does it cost?

We can’t give you a straight answer! Not because we don’t want to, but because if it’s a custom build we can’t just advertise standard prices.

What we can say is that it will almost certainly cost you less for us to do it than it would to do it yourself - both in money and sanity.

If you need help with your next event registration site, get in touch and we’ll have a chat to determine if we can or can’t help you.