Pre-Event Outreach Sequence

Use this sequence when reaching out to target accounts before an event — whether you are attending, sponsoring, or hosting. Pre-event outreach should start 4-6 weeks before the event and aim to book meetings or at least establish name recognition so your booth or dinner invitation lands with context. SDRs and AEs should split the target list by account ownership.

Sequence Overview

Step	Type	Timing	Goal
1	Email + LinkedIn	5-6 weeks before event	Introduce, invite to meet at the event
2	Email	3-4 weeks before event	Add value, confirm interest
3	Email	1-2 weeks before event	Lock in a specific meeting time
4	Email + LinkedIn	3-5 days before event	Final confirmation or last-chance invite

Target List Preparation

Before launching the sequence, build a prioritized list of prospects who will be at the event.

How to Identify Event Attendees

Source	How to Access
Event attendee list (if available)	Request from event organizers — some share the list with sponsors
Social media signals	Search LinkedIn for “excited to attend” plus the event name or check the event hashtag
Speaker list	All speakers will be there — high-value outreach targets
Exhibitor list	Employees of exhibiting companies are confirmed attendees
Past attendee data	If this is a recurring event, pull last year’s attendee list from CRM
Company announcements	Check if target accounts posted about attending on their company LinkedIn page
Account intelligence	Use your data enrichment tools to identify contacts at target accounts who fit the persona

Target Prioritization

Priority	Criteria	Action
Tier 1	Active opportunity or recent inbound lead who is attending	AE sends personal email, books meeting
Tier 2	Target account on your ABM list who is attending	SDR sends sequence, aims for meeting
Tier 3	ICP-fit contact found on attendee list but no prior relationship	SDR sends sequence, aims for booth visit or coffee chat

Step 1: Initial Outreach (5-6 Weeks Before Event)

The emails in this sequence are filled in for a fictional example: Sam from Ridgeway Data wants to meet Maria, VP of Sales at Northwind Logistics, at the made-up Northbound Sales Summit (14-15 May). Names, dates and details are illustrative; replace them with your own.

Email — Subject line options:

• Northbound Sales Summit — let's meet up
• Will you be at Northbound Sales Summit?
• Quick meeting at Northbound Sales Summit?

Body:

Hi Maria,

I noticed you’re speaking on the renewals panel at Northbound Sales Summit.

I’ll be there too — we’re hosting a small dinner for sales leaders on the evening of 14 May.

Given Northwind’s expansion into the Denver market, I think there’s a useful conversation to have about splitting territories between two offices.

Would you have 20 minutes to meet during the event? I’m flexible on timing — happy to work around your schedule.

Sam

LinkedIn action (same day):

• View their profile
• Send connection request if not connected: “Hi Maria — I’ll be at Northbound Sales Summit too. Would be great to connect and maybe meet up.”
• If already connected: Like or comment on a recent post

Step 2: Value-Add Follow-Up (3-4 Weeks Before)

Subject: Re: Will you be at Northbound Sales Summit?

Body:

Hi Maria,

Following up on my note about Northbound Sales Summit.

In the meantime, I thought this would be relevant given your role at Northwind: a short guide on territory planning for multi-office sales teams (link to a blog post, benchmark or template from your site).

The section on rebalancing accounts maps closely to the challenges I hear from sales leaders at logistics companies.

Still keen to meet at the event if you’re open to it. What does your schedule look like on 14 or 15 May?

Sam

Link to something genuinely useful from your blog or templates library — not a product brochure.

Step 3: Meeting Lock-In (1-2 Weeks Before)

Subject: Re: Will you be at Northbound Sales Summit?

Body:

Hi Maria,

Northbound Sales Summit is coming up fast — 10 days out.

I have a few meeting slots open:

• 14 May, 10:30 — coffee at the venue café
• 14 May, 15:00 — our booth (B12)
• 15 May, 09:00 — hotel lobby before the keynote

Any of these work? If another time is better, send me what works and I’ll make it happen.

Looking forward to it.

Sam

Key rules for this email:

• Offer 3 specific time slots
• Suggest a specific location (lobby, café, booth #, nearby restaurant)
• Keep it short — they have already seen two emails with context
• Include a calendar link if you use Calendly or similar

Step 4: Final Confirmation / Last-Chance Invite (3-5 Days Before)

For prospects who responded and booked a meeting:

Subject: Confirmed: 14 May, 10:30 at Northbound Sales Summit

Hi Maria,

Just confirming our meeting at Northbound Sales Summit:

When: 14 May, 10:30 Where: Venue café, ground floor What: Quick chat about territory planning — I’ll come prepared with a couple of things relevant to Northwind.

My mobile is 555-0142 — text me if anything changes on the day.

See you there.

Sam

For prospects who did not respond to Steps 1-3:

Subject: Last chance — Northbound Sales Summit

Hi Maria,

One more try before the event — I understand schedules get packed.

If a formal meeting doesn’t work, I’d be happy to do a quick 5-minute hello at our booth (B12) or grab coffee between sessions.

No agenda required — just putting a face to the name.

See you there.

Sam

LinkedIn action (same day):

• Send a DM: “Looking forward to Northbound Sales Summit this week. Let me know if you want to grab coffee — happy to share what we’re seeing with sales teams in logistics.”

Event Meeting Tracker

Track all pre-event outreach in a single sheet:

Contact	Company	Title	Priority	Email 1 Sent	Email 2 Sent	Email 3 Sent	Email 4 Sent	Meeting Booked	Meeting Time	Attended	Post-Event Follow-Up
			Tier 1, 2 or 3					Y/N		Y/N	Owner’s name

Expected Metrics

Metric	Target
Outreach volume (per SDR)	30-50 prospects per event
Reply rate	15-25% (higher than cold — event context helps)
Meeting book rate	8-15% of prospects contacted
Meeting show rate	70-85% (in-person events are high-commitment)
Pipeline generated per event	Track in CRM with event source tag

Report event pipeline in your weekly GTM report and feed it into the event ROI calculator.

How to Customize

• For large conferences (5000+ attendees), start outreach 8 weeks before the event instead of 6. Competition for meeting slots is intense at big events, and the best prospects get booked early. Also consider hosting a side event (dinner, happy hour) to create an exclusive meeting context outside the conference chaos.
• For virtual events, adjust the meeting format from “coffee at the venue” to “15-minute Zoom before/after the event sessions.” Virtual events make meeting logistics easier but the commitment is lower, so expect 40-50% show rates instead of 70-85%.
• For events where you have a booth, add a “booth visit CTA” option in Steps 3 and 4 for prospects who will not commit to a formal meeting. A 3-minute booth conversation is better than no interaction. Brief your booth team on which Tier 1 prospects to watch for using the event marketing coordination tools.