How to reduce no-shows at Zoom events: reminders that carry the link

The short answer

People miss online events for two main reasons: they forget it’s on, or they can’t find the link when it starts. Both are fixable with emails that arrive at the right moments and always carry the join link:

1. The ticket email, with calendar links that put the event and the link in their calendar.
2. A reminder the day before, so they plan around it.
3. A reminder on the morning, so it’s top of mind.
4. A “Starting in 15 minutes” email with the join link, so getting in is one tap.

On One Ticket all four go out automatically for an online event. This post explains what each one does, how to make the most of them, and how to see who actually turned up.

Why online events lose people

An in-person event has friction that works in your favour: people plan the trip, arrange a babysitter, tell a friend they’ll be there. An online event has none of that. It’s easy to book in a spare minute and just as easy to forget, and on the night the link is buried in an email from three weeks ago.

Free events often lose more people than paid ones, because nothing is at stake. Even a small price changes behaviour; see paid or free webinar. But whatever the price, the biggest win is making the link impossible to lose.

Email 1: The ticket, with a calendar entry

The ticket email has Add to Google Calendar, Outlook and a calendar file. The calendar entry carries the join link once ticket holders are allowed to see it, so on the day, their phone’s calendar alert has the way in. Ask people to add it in your confirmation wording, such as “Add it to your calendar now so you don’t miss it.”

If someone’s clock is in a different time zone, their ticket shows Your time as well as the event’s, and emails link to Check your time. For national audiences in Australia, that alone saves a lot of people who would otherwise turn up an hour late. Our post on running a webinar people actually show up to covers timing in more detail.

Email 2: The day before

About 20 to 24 hours before the start, every ticket holder gets a reminder with the event, the time and their ticket. A day’s notice is enough to move a meeting or arrange to be home.

Email 3: The morning of

From 7 am in the event’s time zone, a second reminder goes out. It catches people who glanced at yesterday’s email and moved on.

Email 4: Starting in 15 minutes

Just before the start, everyone with a ticket gets a “Starting in 15 minutes” email with their join link (or, for a premiere, their Watch button). It goes once per ticket and is on for every plan. It reaches people at the moment they need the link, with nothing to search for.

You can switch it off in Settings › Preferences, under buyer emails, but for online events it’s the email that arrives when people actually need the link.

Getting the link timing right

Under Ticket holders see the link, you choose when the join link appears: as soon as they book, or 15, 30 or 60 minutes before the start. A later reveal keeps the link from being forwarded, but it also means the earlier emails can’t carry it. The ticket and emails say when it will appear, and the “Starting in 15 minutes” email brings it.

A good rule: for free events and webinars, show it as soon as they book, so the calendar entry carries the link. For paid workshops and classes where the link matters, 15 or 30 minutes before is a sensible trade. Our post on keeping your Zoom link private explains the trade-off.

Use a link that works for this session

A reminder only helps if the link in it opens the right meeting. A link for each event, or each session of a series, avoids the classic mistake of last month’s link in this month’s email. With your own Zoom account connected in Settings › Zoom, choosing Generate with Zoom means One Ticket creates the Zoom meeting for you when you save the event, and the link goes straight into every email. Creating Zoom meetings for you is on Pro and Team. Pro and Team are open now: upgrade any time in Settings › Plan. Limited-time offer: A$1 for your first year (first 100 organisers), then A$29/month for Pro or A$79/month for Team. Cancel anytime. See how to create a Zoom link automatically.

If you ever change the link, ticket pages and reminders still to come carry the new one, but calendar entries already saved keep the old one, so tell people about the change too.

Late bookers

People who book in the last hour get the join link straight away (as long as the link is showing by then), on their ticket and in their ticket email. You don’t need to do anything.

Your own messages help too

The automatic emails are the backbone, but a personal touch lifts attendance further:

• Make the event description specific about what people will get in the first ten minutes, so they want to be on time.
• Mention a live-only part, such as a Q&A or a giveaway, if there is one.
• Remind your community in your usual channels on the day: a post or a message in your group.

See who came

Online events don’t use Check-in, because nobody needs scanning. Instead, Attendees shows who opened the join link from their ticket. After a few events you’ll see your real show-up rate, and whether a different time, price or reveal setting changes it. For a series, Roll call on the series page shows your regulars and who has stopped coming.

When people still can’t make it

Some people book knowing they might miss the live session. On any plan, a replay sends the recording to everyone with a ticket once it’s over. Pro and Team are open now: upgrade any time in Settings › Plan. Limited-time offer: A$1 for your first year (first 100 organisers), then A$29/month for Pro or A$79/month for Team. Cancel anytime. If you plan to offer one, say so on the event page. See replays.

The complete guide to selling tickets to a Zoom event links the rest of this series, the webinars page shows the emails and tickets, the online events guide has every setting, and fees are on the pricing page.