# Planning follow-up communication after the event > What to send attendees after the event: a thank-you e-mail, a feedback survey, materials, a follow-up invitation. How to segment by attendance. - Canonical article (Help Center): https://help.happenee.com/en/articles/65-planning-follow-up-communication-after-the-event - Česká verze: https://aidocs.happenee.com/cs/planovani-follow-up-komunikace-po-akci.md - Collection: Communication and invitations - Updated: 2026-07-22 --- > **Overview** > Follow-up is a sequence of post-event communication that maintains the relationship and gathers feedback. It typically contains a **thank-you e-mail** within 24 hours, a **feedback survey** within a week, optionally **event materials** (slides, photos, recordings), and an **invitation to a future event**. In Happenee, follow-up runs through **E-mail campaigns** with attendance-based targeting — one message for those who attended, another for those who did not show. You can prepare campaigns before the event, then just trigger them. ## Getting started - Decide **what to send and to whom** after the event: at minimum a thank-you e-mail (attendees) and a survey (attendees). Optional: event materials, an invitation to a follow-up event, an apology / motivational e-mail for no-shows. - Prepare **campaign templates in advance** — ideally before the event, so it does not land on a tired team at the last minute. - Agree with the team **who processes the survey results** and by when. Without follow-through, a survey is just volume. ## Details ### The sequence: a typical follow-up timeline Most events get by with this sequence: 1. **T+24 h (the day after)** — a short thank-you e-mail. Just the thanks, no sales CTA. 2. **T+3 to 5 days** — a feedback survey. Short, 5–10 questions, max. 3 minutes. 3. **T+1 to 2 weeks** — event materials (slides, photos, session recordings) if they were promised. 4. **T+4 to 6 weeks** — a soft invitation to the next event or to follow-up content (newsletter, blog). Treat this as orientation, not dogma. Smaller events get by with 1–2 e-mails; large conferences with extensive programs may split follow-up across more waves. ### The thank-you e-mail (T+24 h) The first e-mail after the event. One purpose: **closing the experience**. Short text (3–5 sentences), thanks for attending, mention of a concrete moment from the event (the keynote topic, an audience photo, the headcount), and a heads-up that a survey or materials are on the way. In Happenee you send it through an **E-mail campaign** with targeting on the **Attending status**, or alternatively the **Checked in** check-in status (if you want strictly those who physically arrived). The day after the event has the highest attention — open rates on thank-you e-mails are usually well above other campaigns. You do not put a sales pitch in it, but you can include a link to the materials or the survey arriving in the next wave. ### The feedback survey (T+3 to 5 days) The post-event survey is the most valuable input for planning the next iteration. Two approaches: - **External form** (Typeform, Google Forms) — link inserted into an E-mail campaign. More design options, easier response segmentation. - **The *Survey* engagement feature in the attendee app** — if the app is still active after the event, the survey reaches those who open the app. Those who do not use the app will not see it — combine the two. Key rules for a post-event survey: - **Short** — 5 to 10 questions, max. 3 minutes. Longer surveys have a steeply dropping completion rate. - **A mix of scales and open answers** — NPS / 1–10 ratings + 1–2 open questions (*"What would you change next time?"*). - **Target attendees only** — the campaign goes to *Attending* or *Checked in*. Do not send the survey to non-registered or no-show contacts. ### Event materials (T+1 to 2 weeks) If you promised attendees slides, photos, recordings, or handouts, an **E-mail campaign with links** is the standard route. Prepare: - A central link (a Google Drive folder, a dedicated landing page, or a section on the microsite). - A short description of what is and is not available (often a recording from one speaker who did not consent is missing — better to say so up front). - A link to the survey, in case it has not been answered yet or the response rate is low. Targeting: same as the thank-you e-mail (attendees). Materials usually do not go to no-shows — if you want them to receive the materials, that is a separate decision (often *"no, those people only saw an invitation from me"*). ### Invitation to the next event (T+4 to 6 weeks) If it makes sense to invite attendees to a follow-up event, send it **after you have processed the survey** — you know who was happy and what format resonated. This wave often runs in parallel with the kickoff campaign for the new event and has its own logic — see *Creating and sending an E-mail campaign*. ### Targeting by attendance — who gets what Happenee can target campaigns by registration status as well as by check-in status. Mapping: - **Registration status *Attending*** — everyone who registered and confirmed. Target for the thank-you e-mail and the survey. - **Check-in status *Checked in*** — physically arrived, were checked in. A stricter segment; fits the survey when you only want those who actually experienced the event. - **Check-in status *Did not check in*** — registered, did not show up. Optionally an apology / motivational e-mail (*"Sorry you could not make it — here is at least the recording"*). - **Unregistered** — invited, did not register. After the event, typically leave them alone; if you want to follow up, wait for the next event campaign. ### Resending to newly assigned contacts If new contacts are added after the campaign was sent (for example someone signs up late for follow-up materials), an E-mail campaign can reach them afterward — the **Mailings** tab has a **Resend campaign to newly assigned** panel and a **Newly assigned** button. It saves you from creating a duplicate campaign with the same content, and every wave stays in the history of a single campaign. ## Common pitfalls ### The thank-you e-mail scheduled for Monday morning arrives too late after a weekend event Send the thank-you e-mail within 24 hours of the event ending, ideally the same evening or the next morning. After the weekend the attendee's priority shifts to work and the thank-you message gets lost. ### The survey goes to all contacts, including the unregistered and no-shows who never experienced the event Target the survey campaign on *Attending* or *Checked in*, not on *All*. Otherwise you collect confused answers from people who rate the event blindly and skew the analysis. ### Materials promised in the thank-you e-mail but sent three weeks later If the thank-you e-mail says *"materials coming next week"*, deliver. If you do not know when they will be ready, do not commit to a date — *"materials coming once we have collected them"* is more honest. A missed promise is harder to recover from than no commitment. ### Follow-up gets prepared after the event when the team is exhausted and the writing quality drops Prepare every template **before the event**. After the event a short final tweak is enough (a concrete moment, the headcount, links to materials). The team is in low gear in the days after the event and copywriting suffers. ### The invitation to the next event lands too soon and feels like an immediate up-sell Leave at least 4 weeks between the current follow-up and the invitation to the next event. The attendee needs a pause; otherwise you come across as pushy. ## Related articles - [Creating and sending an E-mail campaign](https://aidocs.happenee.com/en/creating-and-sending-an-e-mail-campaign.md) - [Targeting communication by groups and statuses](https://aidocs.happenee.com/en/targeting-communication-by-groups-and-statuses.md) - [Communication flow on the event day](https://aidocs.happenee.com/en/communication-flow-on-the-event-day.md) - [When to use the Invitation e-mail vs. an E-mail campaign](https://aidocs.happenee.com/en/when-to-use-the-invitation-e-mail-vs-an-e-mail-campaign.md)