Event Marketing Glossary

Learn the language of event marketing

Are you confused by all the event marketing lingo and terms? We're here to help with this glossary of terms. Master these and you'll be an event marketing know-it-all.

Event Marketing Definitions

CAN-SPAM Act of 2003

Federal anti-spam legislation passed in 2003 that requires the following in each email: a legitimate header, a valid "From" address, a straightforward "Subject" line, an unsubscribe/opt-out link and/or instructions, and a physical address. It also requires that all unsubscribes are processed within 10 days of receipt. Event marketing-related emails must abide by these CAN-SPAM rules.

Certified Meeting Planner (CMP)

A certificate program offered by the Convention Industry Council that teaches uniform standards for planning events. CMP designees must pass an exam in order to achieve certification.

Click-through Rate (CTR)

The percentage (i.e., the number of unique clicks divided by the number of emails that were opened) of recipients who click on a given URL in your email.

Confirmation Email

An email sent automatically to event registrants verifying their information and confirming that they are indeed registered for the event.

Confirmation Page

In Constant Contact Event Marketing, this page is displayed immediately after registration as a validation that the registrant's information was received.

Email to Registrants

A feature in Constant Contact Event Marketing that lets event hosts send emails specifically to those people who have registered for a given event. These mailings could be used to update event information, as a reminder that the event date is approaching, or other event-related purposes.

Event

An umbrella term for all gatherings, such as classes, workshops, fundraisers, parties, webinars, open houses, food/wine tastings, seminars, etc. Some examples include:

Meeting

Two or more people coming together for the purpose of discussing a (usually) predetermined topic, often in a formalized setting.

Seminar

A class that has a group discussion format rather than a lecture format.

Conference

A pre-arranged meeting for consultation, exchange of information, or discussion. Conferences typically have formal agendas.

Convention

A large formal assembly. Many conventions include both a trade show floor and conference elements.

Trade Show

A convention at which related companies show and compare products and ideas. Some trade shows will have conferences included in them.

Virtual

A meeting, training, or presentation that utilizes web-based technologies and is hosted via the Internet. Examples would include webinars, teleconferences, and web conferences.

Unconference

A formal gathering of people where the content of the conference is generated by attendees and not a pre-set agenda.

Event Planner

Someone who plans events as a profession. These professionals usually have a Certified Meeting Planner (CMP) certificate from the Convention Industry Council.

Event Status

Within Constant Contact Event Marketing, there are four potential event statuses:

Draft

The event is not visible to the outside world.

Published

The event is visible to the outside world and registration can be open or closed. Registration is initially open when the event is first published.

Complete

The event end-date/time has passed and registration is closed. When the event is in Complete status, you cannot send invitations, edit event information, or edit the registration form. You can send emails to registrants and edit the event homepage for 30 days past the event end date.

Cancelled

Event is cancelled and registration is closed.

Guest

An event attendee. Within Event Marketing, a guest is a secondary registrant, such as a spouse, partner, or friend of the registrant.

Homepage

The first page of an event website that acts as a welcome, greeting, and promotional page for an event. It should include all of the details about your event, including a description, purpose, date, time, location, fees, and other pertinent information that will help someone make the decision about whether or not to attend.

Invitation

An email for the purpose of inviting the recipient to an event. Emails can be scheduled to go out at a date of your choosing and should include basic information about the event, including a description, purpose, where, when, and how to register.

Merchant

A person or company that accepts payment by credit card.

Merchant Account

A service or physical contract issued by a bank or third-party to accept credit card payments.

Merchant Account Provider

Examples of popular third-party merchant account providers are Nova (partnership with Costco), Quickbooks from Intuit, and Nationwide Payment Services. Banks also provide merchant accounts.

Merchant Gateway

A company that offers both Merchant accounts and a gateway. PayPal is a prime example of a merchant gateway.

Open Rate

The percentage of emails opened in any given email marketing campaign, or the percentage opened of the total number of emails sent.

Payment Gateway

An e-commerce service required to process credit cards over the Internet. The gateway encrypts the data to and from the merchant account and delivers the results to its final destination. Examples of known gateways are Verisign and Authorize.net.

Payment Status

There are six payment type statuses within Constant Contact Event Marketing:

Pending

This status appears for all registrants who select the Pay at Door or Pay by Check payment option.

Paid

Appears for registrants who select the Credit Card payment option and successfully complete the PayPal process.

Incomplete

Appears for registrants who chose to pay by credit card and then did not complete the payment in PayPal, exited out of paying in PayPal, or their payment was rejected by PayPal.

Not Paid

No payment has been made.

Refund Due

Appears when the amount processed by PayPal is greater than the registration fee for that registrant and the event holder's PayPal account is set up to charge tax on all transactions.

Balance Due

When the owner of the event issues a refund to a registrant and PayPal sends back a payment of $0.

PayPal

A service that acts as a payment gateway and merchant account. PayPal allows account holders to accept payment for goods electronically. Consumers have the option of paying via credit card, bank account debit, or by using funds held in their personal PayPal account.

PayPal Account Types

There are three types of PayPal accounts:

Personal

For individuals who purchase goods and services online.

Premiere

For individuals who buy and sell online. The account is under the name of the individual.

Business

A business that buys and sells online. Account is held under the business' name.

Registrant

The person who has registered to attend your event. Typically, this is the person who completes the registration process, but not in all cases.

Registrant Status

One of five statuses is listed for each registrant for a given event with Constant Contact Event Marketing:

Registered

Fully registered for the event.

Cancelled

Person registered for the event, then cancelled.

Attended

Registered and attended the event.

Not Attended

Registered, but did not attend the event.

Abandoned

Person did not complete the PayPal payment process.

These statuses can be useful for post-event follow-up because they allow the event holder to segment the list of registrants by who attended and who did not.

Registration

Data captured for a given registrant and guests. This information can include email addresses, name, mailing address, phone number, and answers to any customized questions added to a registration form.

Registration Limits

Event Marketing customers have two options when it comes to having registration close automatically:

At a maximum number of users

Set the maximum number of attendees for an event and registration will close when the number is reached.

At a certain date

Registration can be closed when the date entered is reached. Event holders can use both variables when setting up an event.

Registration Status

After an event hosted in Event Marketing has been published, there are two statuses associated with accepting registrations: Registration is Open and Registration is Closed. When registration is closed (see "Registration Limits"), you cannot accept new registrants.

Rental List (or Acquisition list)

A list of prospects or a targeted group of recipients who have opted in to receive information about certain subjects. Using permission-based rental lists, marketers can send email messages to audiences targeted by interest category, profession, demographic information, or other criteria. Renting a list usually costs between $.10 and $.40 per name. Be sure your rental list is a certified permission-based, opt-in list. Permission-based lists are rented, not sold. Don't be fooled by a list offer that sounds too good to be true; it probably is. Save the $19.95 (and the headaches) and buy yourself a George Foreman grill instead. Unlike the cheap list, the grill is worth the money.

RSVP

A response from an invited guest that says whether or not he or she is coming to your event. RSVPs are useful for determining headcounts for non-paid events such as an open house.

SubjectLine

The short line of type in an email invitation or email to registrants that indicates what the message is about. Your subject line should be short (30-40 characters including spaces, or 5-8 words), and it should include a specific benefit that accurately reflects your offer in order to be effective. Federal law prohibits the use of misleading subject lines (see "CAN-SPAM Act of 2003").

Ticket

A voucher that indicates one has registered and/or paid for an event and allows entrance to the event.