Webinars are extremely useful for advancing leads in the sales cycle.
Once your potential customers have been informed of your goods and services and are familiar with the industry, they will be ready to have discussions with your sales team and become hot prospects. However, here is the essential factor to consider: how well the webinar’s contents and presentation are done is significant in determining how prospects will perceive it, consequently affecting the leads attained.
If the details you provide your prospects do not match up to what they require, you might discourage them from working with you any longer. If the webinar is tedious or extended, you could potentially lose out on leads before you present the ultimate offer in your conclusion.
If you don’t make the suitable invitations to take action in an opportune manner, you may not get an adequate amount of participants or be unable to demonstrate the financial return to your company’s upper management.
When creating a webinar, the stakes are high. It is an absolute necessity to adhere to the best practices and use a checklist for webinar planning. In the discussion below, I describe the ideal approach to constructing invitations for webinars and offer guidance for managing webcasts.
What to Include in The Webinar Invitation Email?
Marketers send emails inviting people to webinars to increase the chances that people will click and sign up for their event.
In your webinar invitation email, you should not use an approach that is too overt in its salesmanship, as it is also being used to advertise your online event.
The emphasis is on creating a situation that encourages people to accept and observe the benefit to them.
Here are all the must-include ingredients in your webinar invitation email:
- WHAT: Your webinar title
- WHEN: Time of the webinar (date, time, and duration)
- WHO: Introduce the people presenting, guests, hosts, etc.
- HOW: Calls to action to register (buttons, links, etc.)
- WHY: What value and learning outcomes are you offering your attendees.
Yes, you need to mention all the smallest details you have about the webinar:
- Required skills,
- If there will be a Q&A or not,
- Speakers biography and their achievements,
- And any relevant information you want to provide.
After sending out your webinar invitation email, your viewers should be aware of the value of attending your webinar!
Once you have enrolled, it is necessary to provide further details on how participating is beneficial and remind registered participants of the date.
When to Send Webinar Emails
A webinar email strategy does not just involve sending out one email. You’ll send multiple emails, each with a different purpose.
In this section, we will go through each element carefully and explain the significance of it.
Webinar invitation email
You will send a message about your webinar beforehand so that individuals are aware of the time and location of it.
The objective of this communication is to ensure that the maximum number of participants sign up for your occasion.
The success of a webinar invitation email campaign can be seen through the amount of people who register.
It is advantageous to transmit your webinar announcement email prior to the webinar occurring, ideally between 2 to 3 weeks before the planned date. This allows your audience to plan properly and allocate the necessary time to attend.
Here is a fact.
If people sign up to attend your webinar, it doesn’t mean they will actually participate. Some might forget about it.
You can combat a low attendance rate by sending out reminders for the webinar via email.
Webinar reminder emails
A high turnout rate implies that not only are there a lot of people signing up, but also those who enrol are actually engaging in and attending your webinar.
According to the data in the webinar indicators survey, the typical turnout rate for webinars is 46%.
This email reminder for your webinar can help boost the turnout for your webinar.
The purpose of this is to give registered attendees a reminder that the event is drawing near and should not be overlooked.
Webinar reminder emails have a higher open rate.
When you take the time to alert people to your webinar, you’re not merely indicating when it begins. You’re also providing supplementary information on why attending the webinar is important.
This increases attendance rates.
The more time people spend at your event, the higher the likelihood of them buying something in the aftermath of the webinar.
How many reminder emails to send and when? Here is what I recommend:
- First reminder: 5-7 days before your webinar
- Second reminder: 1 day before your webinar
- Third reminder: 2 hours before your webinar
- Fourth reminder: When your webinar goes live
Rather than risk appearing too aggressive with multiple reminder emails, only send the last reminder message to people who didn’t open any of the prior ones.
Post-webinar emails
You’d want to segment your post-webinar emails into 2 groups:
- Those who attended your webinar
- Those who did not attend your webinar
It is essential to classify these 2 sets of people separately since it would be inappropriate to send them the same kind of post-webinar emails.
For those who didn’t show up, it’s recommended to shoot them an email pointing out the fact that they were absent from the webinar, and provide them with a connection to watch the recording.
It is advisable to send an email of appreciation to those who took part in your webinar, expressing gratitude for their attendance.
Include the link for the replay in the thank-you message you send. It is likely that your guests will want to show it to their colleagues or acquaintances.
Webinar Invite Best Practices
Getting people to join your webinar can be the most difficult aspect.
Typically, you’ll send a formal invitation over email. You can advertise the webinar using your organization’s social media presence, LinkedIn profile, website, and blog. However, the invitation to participate in the webinar will be sent out through email.
The main point of this email is to make sure prospects understand the value of your event so that they will necessarily have to sign up.
Let’s go over how you can do that.
Create a short sentence with your value proposition.
Prior to beginning your webinar invitation email, compose one succinct statement articulating the advantages your attendees will gain from participating. Use this as a reference point when composing the invitation.
Craft a subject line that shows the value of the event.
Next, compose a headline that demonstrates the talents and approaches that participants will acquire after the event. Be sure to write “webinar” in the subject section.
Here are some good examples:
- [Webinar] Grow Your Brand 3X with This Proven Method by [Industry Leader]
- [Webinar] Learn How to Close More Deals with [Industry Leader]
- [Webinar] Want Your Company to Become the Next Apple?
Here are some so-so webinar subject lines you should avoid using:
- You’re Invited to a Can’t-Miss Customer Service Webinar
- Come to Our Marketing Webinar on February 15
- Don’t Miss Our Next Webinar About Social Media Strategies
Include an engaging banner image.
Your banner should feature the webinar’s name and a straightforward request to take action. It is not necessary to include the date and time, but it is an option. Keep it light on text.
Animate your webinar invitation emails with GIFs
GIFs have become the main form of communication for any young person today. Most marketers use GIFs to capture attention to their emails and increase the number of people who click through.
Including animated Gifs in a campaign can bring a fun and enjoyable quality that cannot be achieved with a non-animated design.
Include question to resonate with your audience
Listrak used a colorful webinar announcement email template. The email had a list of queries to be discussed during the webinar.
The email you send will spark your audience’s interest in joining your webinar because one of the questions is sure to relate to them. They will recognize the value of participating and act on it.
Use different call-to-action buttons
Short & minimalist copy. The title, time and date are well placed.
The extraordinary element of this B2B training invitation email is the call-to-action towards the end which inquires ‘are you planning to attend?’. Using another phrase in place of “register now” would be a good way to avoid sounding repetitive.
Include video in your webinar invitation email
Regardless of whether you’re accessing a web-based training program or hosting mini online lectures, online training and video media are growing in immense popularity.
An email invitation example from Billy Gene for a Facebook training webinar incorporates humor by utilizing a comical video for its image.
The webinar details outlined in the email remain unchanged.
- Capture your attention with a funny pop-cultureÂ
- Mention the exact date and time of their webinar
- Add two call to actions (check out the video or register)
Webinar / Webcast Best Practices
Schedule your webinar for 60 minutes.
How long should your webinar be? The answer is one hour. It is generally accepted that a webinar of 60 minutes is most effective, as people generally stick around for an average of 56 minutes according to ON24.
Host it on Wednesday or Thursday at 10 AM or 11 AM.
It is reported by both ON24 and GoToWebinar that the most successful times of the week for hosting an event are Wednesdays and Thursdays. Two time slots, 10 o’clock and 11 o’clock in the morning, have historically delivered the most satisfactory results when it comes to both attracting a lot of people and keeping their attention.
Send reminder emails.
Send two reminder emails in advance of the webinar–one the day before and one an hour prior to the start. It should be an option for the webinar platform to dispatch reminders automatically to those registered.
Practice accessing the webinar with a teammate.
Have someone from your group verify the online event connection two days before the webinar to make sure it is functioning properly for guests. Request this person to inquire of you, signify they wish to speak, provide you a demonstration of what the introduction appears like on their side, and participate with the virtual seminar program.
Establish proceedings for the Q&A section.
In the beginning, make it clear to the listeners how you will address their queries – will you respond to a few inquiries at the conclusion or reply as you move through the material? It is advised that we allocate fifteen minutes at the conclusion for inquires.
Move slowly through product demonstrations.
When demonstrating or displaying a program, try to refrain from advancing too hastily or quickly scrolling through web pages. It could take between 2 and 5 seconds for everyone to observe the variation whenever you modify the display.
Create a clear stop to the presentation.
End the core material at approximately 50 to 55 minutes. It is alright to go beyond the planned completion time provided that the previously established plan ends on time, allowing those who need to depart to do so.
Keep your desktop and digital workspace clean.
Shut down any programs that you don’t need, especially your email, file explorer, and web browser. If it is feasible, host the webinar from a different desktop (both macOS and Windows OS enable you to create an extra desktop). You would prefer to not have confidential or personal data exposed, and it would be best to not be interrupted during the webinar with any notifications that appear.
Start 2 minutes after the hour.
This allows individuals to phone in, but does not make those punctual wait an excessive amount of time. As a presenter, it may seem attractive to wait for more people to arrive, however, a maximum waiting time of two minutes should be respected.
Enter the webinar room early.
Enter the event at least 15 minutes early. You will have the opportunity to plan ahead, identify and remediate any difficulties, and confirm that your microphone and camera are on the right track.
Use pre-webinar slides and announcements.
Present a slide that outlines yourself and your firm. Provide connections to your website, social media accounts, and other relevant sites.
Send out a recording and the slides to attendees (with a call-to-action).
Complete this task within a day and announce during the online seminar that you will carry it out. A prompt response invites participants to stay connected to your business (or turn into customers) while the online seminar is still fresh in their minds. This follow-up should contain a clear call-to-action button.
Use Webinar Best Practices to Host a Great Webinar
Organizing an online seminar has shown to bring in a high rate of return. By utilizing the advice in this post, you can guarantee that your event will bring in leads, increase your brand’s reputation, and boost your earnings.
