New StoneShot Research Reveals Factors Driving Event Engagement and Attendance

StoneShot’s 2019 Event Marketing Report offers in-depth analysis on email campaigns for marketers looking to boost specific event registration, attendance, and leads

StoneShot, an automated email marketing and event management platform for financial marketers, recently announced their latest research published in StoneShot’s “2019 State of Financial Services Report.” This edition, which focuses on events, compiles StoneShot’s proprietary research and analysis of over 3,000 events and 21,000 event campaigns sent from their app, spanning across more than 65 different clients. The findings offer financial marketers guidelines and best practices for boosting the success of email marketing campaigns promoting conferences, roadshows, and webinars.

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With the markets for banking, asset management, and wealth management experiencing high levels of saturation and competition, financial professionals are increasingly seeking ways to communicate more efficiently with clients while optimizing their level of personalization. According to research by Accenture, 40% of clients said they would be more loyal to their financial institution if their experience was more personalized, especially in a world in which 79% of clients saw their relationship with providers as purely transactional.

Transforming client interactions from a transaction to an ongoing loyal relationship requires that financial professionals go beyond day-to-day exchanges. Hosting client events can serve as an effective tool for both client networking and valuable relationship-building. So, what factors contribute to an outstanding event that distinguishes firms from their competitors? Some of StoneShot’s key findings include:

• Event Duration: Conferences and roadshows lasting between 2-3 hours tended to outperform those that lasted less than 1 hour or more than 4 hours. Webinars lasting between 1-2 hours tended to outperform those that were shorter or longer.
• Invite Timeline: Event registration was highest for conferences and roadshows promoted 4-8 weeks in advance – depending on if travel was required. For webinars the most registrations came from email invites starting 3 weeks in advance.
• Email Length: content with 100-500 words saw the highest open and read rates for conferences and roadshows, while emails that were a bit heavier on the content performed better for webinar promotion.
• Confirmation Emails: campaigns that included confirmation emails after users registered saw a 25% increase in attendance compared to those that did not.
• Follow-up Timing: financial marketers who followed up within a week of the event boosted engagement 300% more than those who waited longer.

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“We are always seeking new insights and best practices to help financial marketers advance the way they communicate with their clients,” says Gavin John, CEO and co-founder of StoneShot. “Hosting an event can be a forgotten art that offers an excellent avenue for firms to engage with customers they serve, which is especially important in the client-driven world of financial services. Whether launching a new fund or looking to expand their networking opportunities, we are proud to share our latest findings with financial marketing ecosystem.”

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