Plenty of the people you'd invite to a party aren't reliably reachable through social media. Some left Facebook a decade ago. Some never used Instagram. Some are family who use email and nothing else. PopIn is built for exactly this case, your guests never need an account.
Mix channels. The invite link works identically by email, SMS, or pasted into a chat, and the same guest list tracks responses however they arrive. For the mechanics, see Inviting people without a PopIn account.
Meet them where they are
The most common mistake is sending one invitation through one channel and assuming it reaches everyone. It won't. Send the same invitation through whichever channel reaches each person fastest, PopIn lets you mix them freely from the Guests tab of Host controls.
Email: the most universal
Email is the only channel almost everyone has. It's the default for guests over 35, colleagues, and family who aren't on social media. Paste addresses into the email field of the Guests tab; each guest gets a clean invite with a one-tap RSVP link, sent on your behalf so it doesn't read as spam.
- Use personal addresses where you can, work email filtering is harsher.
- Send early, email gets less urgent attention than a text.
SMS: for quick replies
SMS read rates top 90% within the hour, ideal for close friends and family with a mobile number. Paste phone numbers into the Guests tab; each guest gets a text with the link. Best for lists of 10-20, beyond that, the shareable link in a group chat is kinder (and PopIn paces big SMS batches to avoid carrier spam filters).
The shareable link: for everyone else
Every event has a unique link in the Share tab. Copy it into a group chat, a Slack channel, an Instagram story, anywhere. Whoever opens it gets the full RSVP flow, no account needed; they just add their name and a contact for reminders.
Specific scenarios
- Your parents: email plus a phone call. If they tell you over the phone, set their RSVP for them, hosts can RSVP on a guest's behalf from the guest list.
- Colleagues / work events: email through their work address, professional tone, skip SMS unless they've okayed texts.
- The friend who never replies: send the SMS, then mention it in person, PopIn's auto-nudge handles the gentle follow-up.
- People overseas: email or the shareable link in WhatsApp. International SMS can be slower or fail silently.
PopIn doesn't import your phone's contacts, you paste in the emails or numbers you want, or share the link. Whichever channel you use, the same event page receives them and the same reminder flow nudges them.