One of the most frequently asked questions we get from EasyWebinar users is, “What do I put in the subject line of the emails I send about my webinars?” Our users hope we have the magic answer that will result in more email opens, more attention to their webinars, and ultimately, more people in attendance on webinar day. Email subject lines are important to master, but even more important is building a solid email strategy to adhere to. In this blog post, we’ll cover basic email strategy as it relates to webinars, our tips and tricks to get more webinar attendees and how to talk to your audience via emails before and after your webinar presentation. And yes, we’ll go over subject lines!

Webinar Email Strategy 

Don’t waste your time and energy scrambling to think of subject lines just before you hit send. Before diving into the subject line of your first email, you should set yourself up for success by having an email strategy all planned out. The goal of these emails is not just for them to be opened and read, but also for people to register, show up at a webinar and engage with the content.

To get the most out of your email list, set up all of your emails as early as you can ahead of time, with emails prepared to fire off for the different phases of interaction with your audience. Decide who will receive the email (targeted vs broadcast), what they’ll get from reading it (e.g., registration form submit button), and why they would want to open an email from you.

EasyWebinar provides the tools you need to execute your strategy, but you’ll need to think about your particular business and audience to figure out what your strategy will look like. Here are some questions you can answer to help you find the right balance:

• How often do you want your audience to be reminded to attend your webinar? (Our recommendation is 24 hours prior, and 10 minutes before the event starts)
• How many webinar pipelines will your audience be in at one time? Is your audience segmented? (For example, will they be getting reminder emails for 3 different upcoming webinars? That can get confusing and feel like overkill in a person’s inbox.) 
• What do you need to communicate to your attendees after the webinar? Do you have anything to reach out to them about, like a webinar replay, or a freebie?
• Will you use the data EasyWebinar provides to segment your contacts and send them targeted emails? (For example, you can send an email to people who watched only part of your webinar, or those who signed up and didn’t attend.)

Here is an example timeline for emails pertaining to your webinar. 

Invitation:

Send all the details regarding your webinar to your contacts and personal network.  

Call to Action: Register Now

Thank You For Registering:

A follow up thank you note is a welcomed touchpoint.  Make sure to include confirmation of registration, a reminder of day and time, and a link to the event.

Call to Action: Add This Event To Your Calendar

24 Hour Reminder:

A quick reminder for your upcoming event increases your show up rate!  This email should be short and sweet.

Call to Action: Join us tomorrow! See you soon.

Starting in 10 Minutes:

Cut through the clutter of the day and remind your audience they have an event to attend with you!  

Call to Action: Event starts in 10 minutes.  Login and get settled now.

Post Webinar Emails:
Post webinar emails can take many forms based on your goals.  A few to consider are:

• Thank you for showing up, don’t forget to take advantage of my special offer.

• We missed you at the event, re-register for the next webinar here.

• The replay of [event name] is live.  

• The special offer is ending soon.  Grab your discount while you can.

As you can see, it’s important to have a comprehensive email strategy outlined that covers all the bases. Use this example to build your own strategy that makes sense for whatever you have to offer. Remember that nothing is set in stone, and if a piece of your strategy isn’t working or didn’t go as planned, you can change it!

Your email strategy is just one part of a larger sales funnel that you’re guiding interested contacts through (if you don’t know what I’m referring to, check out our TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU articles on using webinars in a sales funnel).   Simply having an email strategy will keep your confidence running high when you’re ready to hit send, as you’ll know that the email you’re sending is part of a larger system, one that is methodically compelling readers to open, show up for and register for your webinar, and then continue to engage with your content.

Crafting Compelling Subject Lines

The subject line is the first thing that your email recipient will see, so it’s one of the most important factors in getting them to open. It needs to be compelling enough for readers to want more information about what you’re offering, or they’ll quickly scroll past it in their crowded inbox without a second thought. 

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to writing a webinar email subject line, because your subject line should always relate to the content of the email and the information you are trying to impart to your audience. That is why we encourage you to have a fully outlined strategy first, and then tackle the emails one by one.  

It starts with knowing who your audience is – you are not aiming to appeal to anyone and everyone, but a specific group of people in need of a solution to a particular problem that you have an answer to. What would they be excited to see show up in their inbox? 

Here are some effective email subject line ideas to get you started:

-Here are five ways to improve your [overall health/financial situation/mood (a topic related to your webinar that your specific audience has interest in]

-Register for My Upcoming Webinar Today for a [Freebie/Free Gift/other bonus]!

– [Title of Webinar Here]: Hopefully, the title of your webinar is self-explanatory and will grab your readers’ attention. 

– Want to learn more about our upcoming webinars? Check out this article for a sneak peek!: (This does an excellent job at not only describing what’s in store, but also enticing potential attendees to click through to your landing page, where you can provide them a ton more information about your products or services.)

– Highlights from my webinar, in case you missed it! (With Easywebinar you can see who partially watched your webinar, or who registered and did not attend, and send an email with this subject line to only those people.)

-I want your feedback- Did you enjoy the webinar yesterday?

-I Have A Challenge For  You– Take what you learned at my webinar and put it to use!

Because it is the first empty box staring at you when you sit down to write an email, some people push themselves to think of a clever, effective subject line before they write the email. By all means, do what makes the most sense for the way you think, but we suggest writing the subject line last, based on the content you’ve put into the body of the email. 

Email Subject Writing Tips

Email marketing is a powerful way to reach out to your webinar audience. You can send reminders, announce webinars, and share things that are happening with your business on a regular basis. If you want to make sure people read what you have written, consider these tips below for writing email subjects for your webinar-related communications:

-Know what you want to say before writing a subject line. The subject line should be related to the content of your email and convey the information that is being expressed in an effective manner.

-Inside the email, use a headline that is different from your subject line, but also outlines what the body of the email is saying. Don’t just think of one catchy, clever headline – come up with five or more headlines for your message so you can choose the best one

-Testing, testing! Create one or two subject lines and test them out to see which has the best open rate. 

-Be concise and clear in your subject line. Your readers will more likely read the email if they can quickly understand what it’s about. 

-Remember that you’re writing for humans, not computers. Think of what would be most interesting and pique curiosity, but be real and honest about what is inside the email! People will see through it if you dishonestly trick them into opening, and not open your next email.

Have a favorite software for sending emails? Easily integrate EasyWebinar with your emailer, such as Active Campaign, Mailchimp, or Constant Contact, to keep everything in one place.

Conclusion

Emails will most likely be the only form of direct contact you have with your audience before your webinar, so they can make or break the rest of your pitch. As we mentioned above, the most important thing is to have an email strategy in place, so you understand what the goal of each email you’re sending is. You want  people to register, show up at a webinar, and engage with your content.

Don’t overlook the importance of a good subject line, either– As soon as someone sees something they’re not interested in and are back to scrolling through every email trying to find a message from their boss, it’s a lost cause. Get started on building a detailed email strategy, and let that guide you to effective subject lines that grab attention, make sense, and bring you closer to solving a problem for your audience.