Email is the most popular way to promote webinars. But postcards are an easy way to grab extra attention. Discover the key elements to include on your postcards.
Email is by far the most popular way to promote a webinar. And for good reason. It’s easy, affordable, quick and delivered via computer or phone – the same way your prospects are likely to attend your webinar. One simple click of a link or button takes them from your promotion to the registration page.
That said, don’t overlook the power of incorporating direct mail into your promotional mix. Marketing messages delivered in tangible forms stand out precisely because so many marketers have shifted away from direct mail to digital promotions.
Postcards are a great way to employ direct mail. They’re affordable. They’re easy to create. And they deliver your message instantly, without the bother of an envelope.
A simple way to start using postcards is to create one mailer that gives a “heads up” about multiple events. For example, send a postcard that highlights the webinars that are coming up over the next three to four months and ask prospects to reserve the dates.
When ready, start incorporating postcards that focus only on one event. Here are the key elements to include:
Attention-grabbing headline. Write multiple headlines to find one that does the best job of grabbing attention. For greatest effect, try identifying your target audience, the key benefit of what they’ll learn (or the biggest problem you’ll solve), and the topic of your event.
Snappy title for your event. If your title is strong enough, you may be able to skip the headline. Specifics increase the attention-grabbing power of your event.
Consider the title for an event that I recently rewrote. The speaker suggested “Internet Safety.” Although accurate, it’s way too broad and generic. I rewrote the title to “Internet Safety Essentials for K-12: Practical Strategies to Keep Kids Safe in a Constantly Changing, Always Connected World.” Now we know that the presentation is geared for families of students, that it will deliver information that can be used immediately, and that it will give the basic strategies that all parents should be using.
Background. Help prospects understand why it’s vital to attend your event. This should be no more than two sentences long. If space is tight and your headline and content description are strong, you may even be able to skip this section.
For example, in the Internet safety example I just shared, the background information could be skipped. The title hits the pain points – that things are constantly changing and that parents are worried about keeping their kids safe online – enough that it can be used alone.
What you’ll learn. People attend webinars to learn things. Include a few bullet points (4 is adequate for a one-hour webinar) about they’ll discover if they participate.
Speaker bio. If you have room, add a photo, name, and title for the expert who will be teaching.
Who should attend. Including a short description of your target audience can be a great way to grab attention and tell prospects that “Yes, this IS something you should attend.” (Tip: An easy way to do this is to use a prehead above your headline, such as “Attention <insert titles here>….”)
Call to action. Tell prospects how to register – and make this copy jump out so it’s easy to find.
One final tip: Don’t ignore the side of the postcard where your prospect’s name and address will be printed. This is typically the side of the postcard that is face-up when it’s delivered. Include some copy that will prompt recipients to flip the card over and continue reading.
Will postcards payoff for your webinars? The only way to know is to test. Start with a small sample – and be sure to set up a tracking system so that you can see how many registrations the postcard produces.
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