10 Tips For Creating A Winning Webinar Invitation
By Ivan Levison, Direct Response Copywriter
What if you give a webinar and nobody shows up? This won’t happen if you send your prospects a motivating webinar invitation that’s heavy on benefits. This article, loaded with practical tips, will show you how.
So, you're ready to create a webinar featuring your software?
Terrific. You've decided on a date and time, and your marketing manager or an industry guru is going to demo all your product's cool features.
But the truth of the matter is, getting people to actually attend your webinar is never an easy task. In fact, these days, with overflowing in-boxes, it’s a challenge to get prospects to register and show up.
Nope. If someone is going to attend your webinar, they really have to be motivated. And the place to motivate them is in your invitation! In fact, I've always believed the best measure of a copywriter's skill is how well they write webinar invitations. If they can get someone to actually give up an hour from their busy day and take the time to watch a presentation, they're pretty darned good!
So go ahead and put together an informative, compelling webinar that successfully promotes your software. But don’t neglect spending time and your best thinking on creating an effective invitation to your online event.
1. Create a powerful subject line. Start with the word “Webinar” so people understand what you’re going to be offering. Keep the subject line short. I’d suggest not going over 50 characters. Be specific about the purpose of the webinar. No clever teaser lines, please! Examples:
Webinar: How to use billing as a profit-making tool
Webinar on solving the document management crisis
2. Don’t forget your preview text. Your subject line is going to be short, so use the preview text to expand on the benefits of attending your event. A good preview line can dramatically boost your open rates.
3. Include a banner image. But make sure it’s relevant to your webinar topic. And be sure to check legibility. Is your image of good quality? You don’t want it to look pixilated or blurry.
4. Write a headline that gives prospects the details of your webinar, fast. For example, highlight the webinar title, date and time, and include the speakers’ names/expertise if your audience knows them. Don’t bury this must-have information.
5. Do personalize your greeting. Yes. I know. People understand their names are being pulled off a database. But who cares? Personalization works!
6. After your headline, jump right in and explain why you’re holding the webinar. Briefly explain who your speaker is, what material you’ll be covering, and how your software can cure the prospect’s pain. Benefits are everything!
7. Use bullet points to save space and quickly communicate important points. People are reading fast or skimming. You can convey a lot of information if you put the power of quick-hitting bullet points to work!
8. Tell prospective attendees what they’ll come away with. Perhaps it’s a list of best practices, a better understanding of how your software solves their problems, a chance to take a look at the future of your technology. Whatever works!
9. Create a call-to-action button that takes prospects to a landing page where they can register for your webinar. You can imprint the button with phrases like “Register for our webinar now” … “Save your place. Don’t miss out!” … “Click here to register” … “Register and attend from your desk.”
10. Close with impact. End on a personal note with some warmth (and invite prospects to share the registration page by including social buttons). Here’s an example of an ending (by necessity, generic) with some life and personality …
One final point … we know your time is valuable and you may be wondering whether it's really worth attending our free webinar. The simple answer is “YES!” Every moment spent at our webinar will prove of tremendous value in helping you meet the tough challenges you face.
The take-away message?
If you're preparing a webinar, and don't want to wind up talking to four people, pull out the stops and write an enthusiastic invitation loaded with valuable benefits.
About The Author
Ivan Levison is a direct response freelance copywriter who specializes in writing motivating emails, landing pages, lead-generation letters, and more for software companies. CLICK HERE for a partial list. Ivan can be reached at ivan@levison.com.