You’ve heard me mention the term “invitation strategy” a number of times today. So what exactly IS an invitation strategy? An invitation strategy is your overall plan for developing and broadcasting your invitation content at pre-determined times leading up to the event.
In formulating your invitation strategy you need to ask yourself questions like How many email touchpoints? In what rhythm will they be sent? How soon before the event?. And I say formulate, not determine. That is, determine how many times, and in what rhythm, and when before your webinar, is not a subjective exercise. It is one informed by both best practices and industry knowledge.
SO what do I mean? Well, let’s cover off on best practices first. Most emarketers will tell you that you should begin 3 weeks before the event’s date, touch the audience no more frequently that twice, and in intervals of once per week. OK. Now ponder that for a moment. Then, if you’re using this approach, tell me…are your registrations as large as you’d like them to be? Many of you, in registering for today’s webinar, cited that as exactly your challenge.
Invitation strategy should be informed by best practices, but it also should not be confined by them. Just as you should test various subject lines, you should experiment with the number and frequency of your invitations. I find, for instance, the following to be optimal in many cases: 1) start inviting 2.5 weeks prior to the webinar, 2) send 3 invitations and 1 list-wide reminder, 3) send the invitations in a rhythm of 3 business days, instead of once a week.
Now I also commented that industry knowledge should inform invitation strategy, and this really is important. For instance, in my experience, a retail audience is usually more receptive to additional touchpoints than an insurance audience. A telco audience is more receptive to more frequent communications than a public sector audience. A healthcare audience may prefer more advance notice than a financial services audience, and so on.
Remember, too, that you want to have an adjustable invitation strategy. What do I mean by that? Fundamentally, I mean you should use the intel you’re collecting from your audience along the way to the event. For instance, each time you do an e-broadcast, and a number of people then register on your landing page, utilize their answers to expand or refine your eventual presentation, and to enhance your invitation’s effectiveness.
Importantly, though, modify your messaging with your mind’s eye to remaining consistent with the expectations already set with your audience