How to Leverage Webinars in Your 2024 Content Strategy
Reena Aggarwal
Nowadays, everyone is trying to avoid the 'hard sell' approach. Brands want to be top of mind for consumers without being pushy or salesy. And while this is a tough row to hoe, marketing channels like webinars are providing enthusiastic CEOs, business owners, and marketers with wiggle room to thrive.
This blog post will discuss everything you need to know about winning with webinars. We've covered everything, from how to design a successful webinar email sequence to examples, tips, and tricks. All you need to do is continue to read!
What is a Webinar Email Sequence?
A webinar email sequence is a series of emails you can use to invite, remind and follow up with subscribers of your webinar presentation. The idea is to get people who registered for your webinar to show up and then take action after it is over.
Successful webinar email sequences begin with a post-registration email, multiple reminder emails, and a handful of ‘thanks for attending’/follow-up emails.
Why Do You Need a Webinar Email Sequence?
57% of the webinar registrations come from email compared to other communication channels. Stats aside, you need a webinar email sequence to help existing clients, leads, and prospects understand the importance of your webinar.
For example, let's say you're a digital marketing enthusiast. You broke the barriers of conventional wisdom and landed a foolproof strategy to help ecommerce owners win new clients.
After much research, you concluded that a webinar is the easiest way to reach out to your audience and make them listen. But as you're about to draft a hot topic for your webinar, you begin to wonder:
- How do I get these busy individuals to attend?
- How do I make business owners fully invested in advancing their business’ growth to block their schedule in favor of my webinar?
- How do I make my webinar idea exciting enough to attract the right audience?
Well, a well-thought-out webinar email sequence can help you tackle all the above and move the dial on your webinar marketing strategy.
4 Key Benefits of Webinar Email Sequences
The primary goal of a webinar email sequence is to ensure subscribers show up for your event. But that's not all.
Sometimes, a webinar email sequence doesn't benefit only subscribers; it also, in some ways, helps you gain deeper insight into your key message. Read on for some key benefits of a webinar email sequence.
1. Creates a platform for your webinar idea to thrive
Building hype around your webinar topic is crucial to event success. If you can't hype your event to an extent where your webinar idea becomes a recurring theme in the mind of your target audience, subscribers will quickly forget they signed up for your event.
A webinar email sequence allows your webinar idea to thrive. It keeps you in the faces of existing customers and helps prospects/leads gain an overview of your expertise in the said topic.
2. Helps you target a specific subset of the market
Email blasting and other generic marketing strategies lost their salt a long time ago. If you can't practice well-targeted marketing, you will get a better bang for your bucks by investing in something else.
Webinar email sequences support list segmentation, allowing you to target a specific subset of your market. An automated series can help you categorize subscribers into multiple subsets and reach them with the right message exactly when they need it.
3. It supports a personalized messaging sequence
Subscribers love it when they find their names, location, or other personal information in a marketing email. It helps validate the idea that the brand cares.
Unlike most other marketing channels, a webinar email sequence allows you to send customized messages to subscribers. Including personal information and segmenting your list based on subscribers' preferences gives you an edge in an oversaturated market.
4. Allows you to keep your audience in the know
Leaving everything aside, we believe you chose webinars as your preferred marketing channel because it supports active interaction between the participant and the presenter.
Whether you're hosting a traditional webinar or an automated webinar with live chat, a well-designed email sequence helps you not get carried away by the many nuances of getting your message out.
Each email requires that you restate your key message—the theme of your webinar—ensuring that subscribers are in the know at all times, in the moments leading up to and after your webinar.
7 Examples of Effective Webinar Email Sequences
Since you know how powerful a well-planned webinar can be, let's bring home the idea of an effective webinar email sequence by highlighting seven emails it must have.
1. Post-Registration Confirmation Emails
Okay. This is the point of contact with your first registrant—the blissful moment your email service provider notifies you that someone signed up for your webinar. You are excited, energetic, and eager to get your email sequence working.
It's natural to want your first email to be perfect; to want to awe your first set of subscribers and get them talking to their friends about your webinar. But how do you start? What do you say in your first email? Which information takes precedence? So many questions!
Like a simple LinkedIn connection or Tinder date request, a simple 'thanks for honoring my invitation' message does the trick.
The goal is to make subscribers feel welcomed and comfortable with your emails while letting them know that their sign-up was successful. Don't forget: this is the first of many emails; using kind and gentle words will pay off in the long run. Also, make sure your email is compliant enough not to land in a spam box! This can negatively affect bounce rate and, in turn, your attendance. Cyberattacks often target email inboxes, so make sure your email is delivered and protected against ransomware.
Design your post-registration follow-up confirmation email in a simple and accommodating way. Include answers to all the obvious questions: time, date, guest, theme, brief description, and a bold call to action.
2. First Reminder (a week or two before the webinar)
At this point—a week or two until your webinar—you’d have a good number of subscribers. But the thing is, a handful of subscribers might have forgotten they signed up for your webinar. Others are expectant but may no longer be sure your webinar will be worth their time.
The first reminder email puts you in the driving seat. It's an opportunity to show how mind-blowing and insightful your webinar will be.
Start your email by adding context and establishing credibility. Allow your knowledge of the subject matter to shine. Inspire with intriguing questions. Provide exciting hints and snippets to attract customer engagement.
The goal is to be in the face of your subscribers in the most exciting way possible. So, while it's still essential you include the basics—date, time, guest speakers, etc.—ensure your first reminder email subtly but firmly puts your webinar top of mind.
3. Second Reminder (a day before the webinar)
We've all got a lot on our minds. You've got a webinar to host, and we need to help you scale—that's to show that we are all busy. And so are your subscribers.
Your subscribers want you in their faces a day before your webinar. A second reminder email is not optional, it's mandatory. The goal is to show subscribers that you mean business, boost excitement, and place everyone in the groove.
Your second reminder email doesn't have to be as long or detailed as the first. Plain and simple will do the trick. Use a catchy subject line to state the basics, create a sense of urgency with your text, and provide a calendar link for users to effortlessly block out the date.
4. Third Reminder (webinar day)
The hourly countdown has begun. You're almost there. Presumably, everyone is excited and anxiously waiting to tune in.
But also know that this might not be the case. Many interested subscribers might have forgotten. A third reminder email is your last call or appeal for subscribers to join the live conversation.
You don't need complex or bulky copy for your third reminder email. The goal is to make your call to action work its final magic. Create your third reminder email with simple words and a bold CTA, you can use a webinar reminder email template to do so. Automate it to go out an hour or few before your webinar begins.
5. Thanks for Attending!
Take a deep breath. The hassle of hosting a webinar is finally over. Subscribers have already made up their minds whether your webinar was fun or not. It's time to take charge of what comes next in your sequence—follow-ups. Here’s where you can add a pulse survey to get a grasp on your performance.
Kickstart the follow-up phase of your webinar email sequence by starting with a thank you message. Show heartfelt appreciation to all the subscribers who blocked their calendars to attend your webinar.
You can spice up your ‘thank you email’ by including a webinar recording. Or, if you run an eCommerce store, excite attendees with discounts and incentives. The goal is to show subscribers that you're grateful. Send this email an hour or, in the worst-case scenario, 24 hours after your webinar.
6. First Follow-Up (additional resources)
Most subscribers might have forgotten they attended your webinar two or three days later. Don't worry about whether or not they remember what you said because, from experience, we can tell you that your webinar won't excite every subscriber.
But don’t worry! You will have enough loyal and satisfied subscribers to keep you moving. Use this opportunity to share additional resources about your webinar. It might be about hot topics that time didn't allow you to explain or relevant blogs.
Don't get salesy or become inconsiderate by drafting a long follow-up email. Keep your email simple and straight to the point. You can also include a webinar replay link for those who might have missed previous emails.
7. Second Follow-Up (future events)
At this point, your webinar theme is no longer a hot topic. Subscribers have gained the required knowledge and moved on with their day-to-day. It's okay if you have nothing more to say—a second follow-up is not mandatory.
However, if you have another webinar coming up or an event that might interest your audience, use a second follow-up email to spread the word.
The Bottom Line
The good thing about working with a webinar email sequence is that you can reach out to already registered users and skeptical customers—killing two birds with one stone.
On the downside, a successful webinar email sequence requires stringent strategic planning. If you haven't hosted a webinar before or don't know how to design interactive webinars, it's best you work with a marketing expert. Good luck!
Author: Skirmantas Venckus is a writer by day and reader by night. He hates talking about himself in the third person. He is also the growth hacker at Sender.net – the email marketing provider that is focused on user-friendliness, affordability, and utility.
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