If you haven’t noticed, Webinar emails have become extremely formulaic:
* A couple of lines of copy stating the business problem to be addressed
* 3-4 bullet points summarizing the agenda or main topics
* a call to action, normally accompanied a desperate plea of “don’t miss this event”
It might be another symptom of our AI-driven times, where creativity takes a back seat and what matters is how quickly and cheaply we can generate copy and put campaigns in market. And it’s producing a sea of sameness.
Here a few simple tips for helping your Webinar email stand out in the inbox:
1. Don’t tell people what they already know.
Avoid the trap of opening the email with a statement of the problem your Webinar is going to show people how to solve, or the business condition that underlies the topic.
Here’s an opening for an email I received a few weeks ago:
One of the hardest parts of managing an organic social strategy is the need to churn out compelling posts at the speed of…well, the internet. Enter Artificial Intelligence (AI).
No social media manager needs to be reminded about the need to produce content quickly. You’ve lost the reader already. Instead, open with an immediate promise of value:
Join our Webinar on March 7 and learn six easy, practical ways to create and deploy social content faster than your competition by leveraging the power of AI.
Now, suddenly, I have a reason to read further.
2. List benefits, not topics.
Avoid the temptation of telling the reader what the Webinar will “cover.” Don’t list topics or key themes, or worse yet, the agenda. Instead, tell recipients what they’ll learn or gain from attending the event.
Be as specific as possible. Talk about lessons, tips, techniques, strategies, templates, best practices – anything that conveys an immediate learning benefit, and something tangible that the reader can take away from the event and put to practical use.
Quantify, if possible (“3 mistakes to avoid”, “6 point plan”). Yes, it’s a cliché. But it works because it conveys something concrete vs. vague and general.
Here’s how a recent email listed “themes” for an upcoming event:
* Key marketing use cases for AI
* Crafting an effective AI strategy
* Team preparation and AI roadmaps
The issue is that these topics are all far too general to convey value. They read like an internal creative brief or planning document. They should be more specific and tangible and communicate how the reader will benefit, for example:
* Learn the 3 key marketing use cases for AI
* Discover a 5-point plan for crafting an effective AI strategy
* Hear first-hand how to develop a roadmap for implementing AI in your organization
3. Use second person.
A Webinar email should be about the reader, not the company hosting the event. Don’t tell the reader what the speakers will talk about. Avoid reference to “we” and focus on “you,” as in: you’ll learn, you’ll hear, you’ll discover …
Here’s another recent example from my inbox:
During the webinar, we’ll explore the capabilities of the document model and [Product X], coupled with [Product Y} and [Product Z.] Learn how seamless integration empowers cutting-edge ML models at scale, ensuring more efficiency and scalability for your applications.
As the reader, I’m not interested in your product, what it does, or even what you have to say. I’m interested in what’s in it for me. Skip the product mentions and focus on the recipient:
In 45 minutes, you’ll see first-hand how new technologies empower you to deploy cutting-edge ML models at scale …
Remember, every word of copy in a Webinar invitation needs to sell the value of the event, and why it’s worth 30, 40 or 60 minutes of my time. Sell the event, not the product.
For a more detailed discussion of email creative best practices (and real-life examples of what NOT to do), check out our recorded Webinar: “A Crash Course in B2B Email Creative.”
