10 online invitation design tips explained with real RSVPs

Your event experience kicks off with the initial invitation sent to your guests - so your RSVP email is the first opportunity to wow the right ones.

Attention is valuable. Your online invitation RSVP needs to grab it right away, or your event might suffer the consequences of low invitation engagement. Just as with paper invites, online invitation design is a critical component to making sure people pay attention to your invites, get excited about your event, and click that all-important 'RSVP' button.We've collected a few examples of exceptional invitation designs from across the web with tips to inspire you to create unique, outstanding RSVPs for your own events.

Documentary Viewing Invitation

This bold invitation effectively combines poster-like elements into an email-friendly format.Make it your own:

• The dark, full-screen background makes a strong visual statement that may be very different from the typical text on white background in your guests' inboxes.
• Get creative with font and text. This invitation uses a large, asymmetrical font to bring a clear visual identity that starts at the title of the event. Think about what you want to convey in a few keywords: some words that come to mind with this one are elegant, modern, and tech-oriented.
• Note that the link to reserve your seat appears three times! One at the very top for immediate access, one after the intro text, and one after the full description of the event. As the clear objective for the email invitation, having an RSVP button available throughout leads the guests to click at any point, and they are strategically placed right after an important new piece of info is introduced that might sway your guest to click 'yes'.

International Conference and Workshop Invitation

An invitation for an international digital festival boasts brightcolors and graphics that catch the eye.

Make it your own:

• Stray from monochrome and dark palettes entirely, and opt for a bright color scheme that will immediately lend a vibrant style to your event. This turquoise is bright, fun, and memorable, and combines similarly-bright pastel elements throughout.
• Be different but intentional with the details: unique "buttons" (swipes of color, in this case) and and splashes of colorful graphics are used to draw the eye to important pieces of information, and supporting rather than overwhelming the bold primary color.
• As far as content goes, this email conveys plenty of information but does not feel text-heavy or overwhelming. With several links available for more information, this invite tidily contains everything you need to know, and gives easy pathways where more detail is available.

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Facebook Live Event Invitation

This clean, millennial-pink invite is bright and simple with a glowing gif to catch the eye.

Make it your own:

• Keep it clean. This invitation has no extraneous text, information, or graphics, which is perfectly suited to an online event. Despite the simplicity, the design still maintains a creative and fun look. This is a great example of "less is more".
• Animate it! Especially with a simple design, adding a neat gif such as these illuminating letters helps the invitation come to life in a subtle but fun way.

Fashion Show Invitation

Though not directly an email invitation, thisfashion show poster has beautiful visual design elements that you can incorporate into your own online invite.

Make it your own:

• The image is the central element of this poster, which is simultaneously simple and striking. If you have a spectacular image that fits with your event, a natural choice for a fashion show, consider making it the centerpiece for a strong RSVP aesthetic. If you like the approach but might not have the right photo from your own collection, check out the best free stock photo sites for your events.
• With the emphasized time and date, the core event information still comes across very clearly! As an RSVP email, this is a great way to emphasize the day of the event. For clarity, add a bit more information about the event in the email or design so guests are impressed with both the design and the details.

Still figuring out your approach? Get more pointers from how Swiss Institute does their online event registration, or start asking yourself the 3 questions that lead to successful invite campaigns.