This brings us to the next step in the audience recruitment process, and that is the development of messaging which is compelling enough to secure your group’s interest and attract them as audience members for your webinar. Of course, this means not only in email-based messaging but also on your registration landing page, which I’ll address on the next slide.
Apart from having the creative skills yourself, or someone that can provide them, there are 4 important elements to remember, particularly as they pertain to email-based messaging…
First, write your message in the language of your expected audience. That is, take the time to understand the vernacular of your profiled group, and use background information, press coverage, white papers, etc. to provide a “language framework” around your topic that will best resonate with your audience.
Next, leverage the credentials of contributing parties. Within the bio or experience of each party there are little jewels of information that can be woven into the message to increase resonance with your audience.
And, “Invite, enthuse, excite – but don’t sell, and don’t be over-exclamatory”. Naturally, in inviting your prospective audience to an INFORMATIONAL webinar, you most certainly do not want to be commercial in your outreach to them. However, projecting a degree of enthusiasm about the subject matter is important. Spark their interest, provoke their intellectual curiosity and make sure they understand how excited you are to engage them.
It also goes without saying that you need to communicate “what’s in it for them”. Why will this time be valuably spent with you? Again, in an informational webinar, as Mike covered off on before, the value is in learning best practices, “lessons learned” , metrics, ROI and case studies. You absolutely do not want to be product-specific, delve into pricing or relate “features & benefits” the way you would in a straight sales message.
Lastly, use a combination of HTML and plain-text messaging across multiple touchpoints. Think about it… HTML messaging is excellent for communicating your brand through the use of logos, colors, etc., and you don’t want to lose the opportunity for raising brand awareness in recruiting your audience. BUT, HTML messaging, which contains HTML coding, is one heckuva spam trigger. So by sending one or more of your messages in HTML, and the remainder in plain-text, you assure the best that each can afford…getting your brand effectively in front of the entire group, while making certain that the majority of contacts SEE your message.