A "Save the Date" is an early communication sent to an event's target audience. It provides the date and location, often before the program is ready, and is intended to give interested parties the opportunity to block the date in their calendars before other commitments take precedence.
Also known as: STD, advance notice, hold the date
Timing: Usually 6–12 months before the event
Channels: Email, newsletter, social media, website
What is a Save the Date?
A Save the Date is the earliest stage of attendee outreach: long before the final program is set or ticket sales begin, a simple notification is sent to the target audience—including the date, location, and perhaps the topic. The sole goal is to secure a calendar slot before other appointments claim the space.
For recurring events like annual conferences or large congresses, a Save the Date is now standard—and an surprisingly effective early indicator of future booking rates.
What a Save the Date message should include
- Date – precise, no ifs or buts
- Venue – city and country, or specific location if available
- Event type: congress, symposium, annual conference
- Organizing association or organization
- Anticipated topic or focus (optional, if already known)
- Expected registration opening as a date reference
- Option for pre-registration or to join the mailing list
- Link to the event website – even if it is just a landing page
- Visually appealing design – builds excitement for attendance
Timing
The optimal timing depends on the format:
- Large congresses: 9–12 months before the event, often immediately after the previous year's event
- Mid-sized conferences: 6–9 months
- Smaller symposia: 3–6 months
Sending too early risks being forgotten; sending too late means losing the calendar slot. In sectors with a dense schedule of events (e.g., medical professionals with many mandatory training sessions), it pays to be early.
Impact and measurement
A Save the Date is measurably valuable:
- Conversion rate: recipients who book later are a direct KPI
- Click-through rate to the event website
- Pre-registration sign-ups as a qualified lead
- Social media sharing as an indicator of reach
- Number of early bookings during the sales phase
In practice, it is often shown that those who open and click through a Save the Date email are significantly more likely to book than cold traffic.
GDPR and data basis
Save the Date mailings are marketing communications and require an appropriate legal basis:
- Recipients must have provided consent (newsletter, conference attendance with marketing opt-in)
- Previous year's attendees only receive a save-the-date if consent for follow-up communication has been obtained
- A clear unsubscribe option must be provided
- Document the storage of consents with version control
A best practice for platforms: Include a dedicated opt-in for "information about future events" in your GDPR concept, clearly separated from mandatory communication regarding the current event.
Best practices
- Clear brand identity: The save-the-date must be clearly recognizable as part of the event series
- Simple pre-registration: Interested parties can register with a single click
- Mobile-optimized: Recipients primarily read emails on their smartphones
- iCal file to add the date directly to their calendar
- Reminder strategy: A second wave 4–6 months later featuring initial program details
- Event-specific sender – sent as an individual email rather than from the general newsletter pool
Save the Date with Converia
Converia supports early communication: Attendee databases from previous events can be used for targeted save-the-date mailings, and interested parties can sign up for pre-registration to be automatically notified when ticket sales begin.
Turning previous attendees into new registrations
With Converia, you can build a systematic save-the-date communication strategy – GDPR-compliant and based on data from your past events.
- Pre-registration – Ticketing & Registration
- Event registration – Ticketing & Registration
- Annual conference – Formats & Trends
Use data from previous events for save-the-dates in a GDPR-compliant way – with a seamless transition to registration.