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Get more leads to register for your webinars, show up live, and buy with these perfectly persuasive emails

 

You’ve got a mind-blowing webinar.

You’re product is hotter-than-a-jalapeno.

So why aren’t you getting the sales you expected?

Scratching your head about about where to start to fix it.

Then it sneaks up on you…

… that creeping loss of confidence because you’re leaking revenue like a sieve.

RELAX…

It’s not your fault.

Before you chuck it all in…

Or waste more time revising your webinar…

Or {gasp} eat that Jalapeno, seeds and all…

Tackle what matters first and sack the rest.

Your emails are the first (and easiest) hole to plug in a leaking webinar sales funnel.

Try these quick fixes to your webinar emails and watch the sales come rolling in like you know they can.

Warm Up Your Audience

Who to send to: Everyone in your target audience

Your first email is all about warming up your audience with a flagship blog post, podcast, or Facebook LIVE (easier to do than you think), video series and promote it via an email to your target audience and on social media.

This works even if you’re already running your webinars.

Just re-post your original flagship content, or create new flagship content to refresh interest in your webinars.

For your primer content, ideally, pick one big pain point your audience experiences frequently (operative words: “experiences frequently”) in your industry that is directly related to your webinar and tease your audience with a blog post that, if used, will fix their problem.

Identify the problem in your opening hook and then twist the knife to remind your readers that their problem can get worse if they don’t something about it.

Then give them “a fix:” a solution to their problem…that your reader can implement right away.

Don’t get complex or overcomplicate with this… ahem… like I tend to do.

This “primer content” puts your readers in a “buyers” state of mind because you’ve ALREADY shown them results.

People buy results.

Don’t mention your webinar… yet.

It’s okay to hint at an “upcoming” training, but this is a pure freebie content share.

One flagship post should be enough, but you can do two if you want.

I’ve got a colleague that is currently running three blog posts for one webinar to test which one works the best.

I’ve even seen big-wigs like Todd Brown and Jeff Walker create a video series as their primer.

Don’t worry; you don’t need to get that fancy-schmancy unless you want to.

Bonus tip: If you want to explode your audience, run Facebook ads driving traffic to this blog post. The ads are inexpensive because Facebook loves it when you to push quality content. You can get clicks for as low as 10 cents per click. Best deal around to grow a list. More about that later.

Invite Your Email List

Now you’re ready to invite your email list to your webinar.

Within a week of posting your primer content, send your webinar invite email to your full list with clear benefits for your subscriber to attend your webinar: exactly what they will get from spending a precious hour of their time with you.

If the only thing they will get is a sales pitch, shut it down and start over.

Otherwise, list what they will get out of your webinar, and what that means to them.

Careful not to list what you deliver, but what they get, or “discover” that directly bridges them to a result:

Good examples I’ve seen entrepreneurs use: You will discover:

• The cheat code to building an Instagram audience of buyers
• Three kid-friendly healthy recipes that can be made ahead of time to shut down post-work stress in the kitchen
• How to get more brides queuing up to buy your pre-wedding fitness plan than you can handle
• How to get more hot prospects attending your webinars LIVE and buying

Proven Title Formula

If you’re not already using the following formula for your webinar title, definitely use it for your email invite subject line:

How to (benefit) in (time frame) without (the most common objection or obstacle)

Example: How to turn Instagram followers into buyers in the next 30 days, even if you have fewer than 50 followers today

Wait 24 hours after you send the first invite to send it out again with a different subject line to the people that didn’t open the first one.

Why?

You’ll get more opens with a different subject line.

More importantly, you’re going to send one more invite 24 hours in advance of your live webinar to everyone who opened those emails, but didn’t register to get a bunch more registrations.

You’re in for a pleasant surprise at how many new registrations that 24-hour-before email gets… and how many of those folks show up live.

It’s the nature of webinars.

I suggest you stay away from using the words “webinar invite” in your subject line—unless you already have a stellar live webinar training reputation.

I think the word “webinar” in the subject line causes people otherwise interested in your product or service skip opening the email.

Why is that important?

Later in this blog post, I show you how to send a special sales email sequence to people who opened your invite, but didn’t register.

They showed interest in your topic and are a hot lead to buy even if they don’t register for your webinar.

Maybe they were out of town, or just aren’t into webinars.

Whatever, there is some gold in those leads.

And we’re going to mine that gold.

Don’t worry, we’ll also give people who opened either email one more chance to buy before you close the cart or end your promotion.

See how we’re already plugging your revenue holes?

Here are a couple of great example invites I wanted to show you.

Be sure to include two – five takeaways, or discoveries your reader will get from attending.

Here’s a good example:

The “Nothing gets you motivated like a deadline” Email

Who to send to: Everyone who opened your first two emails, but didn’t register. AND, it’s okay to send to your entire list again.

Send one more invite 24 hours prior to your live webinar and watch the registrations flood in.

Remember this volume when you’re worried about how many sales you got on your webinar. It’s why your post-webinar email series is so important. Your buyers will exhibit the same “I need a deadline to act” behavior.

It’s human nature.

Don’t fight it.

Roll with it.

Use your first invite copy with a lead and stronger emphasis on the date and time of your webinar.

Emails to Boost LIVE Webinar Attendance

Who to send to: Send the next set of emails to people who registered for your webinar only. If you can segment who attended and who didn’t go for it. But if not, send to all who registered, EXCEPT anyone who has already bought. If they bought on the webinar, they should not get these emails. If they buy during these emails, they should immediately be taken out of the audience.

The bulk of your sales will come from people who attend your webinar LIVE.

So let’s pull out all the stops to get them to show up LIVE with these next few emails.

This is where you leave your competition in the dust…

… because your competitors are just sending “reminders” while you’re charming people into attending live *and* putting your attendees in a buying state of mind.

Here’s a tested pre-webinar series:

Pre Webinar E1 – Confirmation Email

This is not the transaction email your webinar service sends out with login details. That can go out simultaneous to this personal email.

This email is from you, personally, and will have the highest open rate of any email you send so make it count with an origin story (often called your “why”) or backstage-pass that grabs your reader and “shows them” the direct benefits of attending your webinar live.

If you’re telling the origin of why you’re hosting this webinar, remember to pull your audience into your story by tying your story back to them.

Sometimes entrepreneurs get excited and go on and on about their own journey too long and lose their readers…

Always relate your story back to what it means to your reader, so they know they are in for something special.

Offer a guide or workbook to download to use on your webinar to make the benefits of attending live even more tangible.

If you have a testimonial(s) about how great your webinars are, your training is, use it in this email.

Pre Webinar E2 – Paint a Vivid Picture Email

If your attendees registered more than 48 hours in advance of your webinar, you have the chance to send an email that we call “forward pacing.”

It’s where you paint a vivid picture of what your attendee will look and feel like AFTER your training or solution.

Write this in terms of a transformation…

Will they be smarter than their competitors?

Will they be relieved?

Will they be out of pain?

Will they be admired?

Will they have a clear path?

Will have a step-by-step plan for more sales?

These are all great outcomes that inspire LIVE attendance.

If you have a testimonial(s) about how great your webinars are, your training is, use it in this email.

Pre Webinar E3 – 24 Hours Till We’re “LIVE”

If you have a testimonial(s) about how great your webinars are, your training is, open your email with it.

Your webinar service will likely generate an auto-email with log in details 24 hours in advance of your webinar.

Edit that auto-generated email, or send an additional email 24 hours in advance, with a bullet list that shows your reader the direct benefits of attending live.

List out each benefit and then be as clear as possible what that benefit means to your attendee.

Example: You’ll get proven email copy that converts that you edit and use right away.

Remind your attendees to bring their questions live as you’ve set aside as much time as needed to get to their questions.

Pre  Webinar E4 – Today is Already a Win Email

Send an email at 6 am or 7 am in the morning to generate excitement and keep your place as one of today’s biggest accomplishments on your attendee’s calendar.

You can tease with some “last-minute” content additions you’re going to cover if you have some. (I always do)

Most important is to use forward-pacing to remind your attendee that no matter what else happens today, they will finish today stronger, better, smarter, happier because they attend your webinar LIVE (with proof points).

Pre Webinar E5 – One Hour Till Start

This is a very brief email.

Mention that the countdown is on and give your attendee recommendations for what they need to get the most out of this training: Remind them:
• To download your worksheet
• Grab pencil and paper
• How to take screenshots on their computer because they will want one of your [highlight a takeaway from today’s training]

Pre Webinar E6 – ***Starting Now***

15 minutes prior to going live send an email with the log in details and that you’ll see them there live.

That’s all because the Subject Line of this email is all that matters. I like to use the asterisks exactly as you see above to make it stand out in their inbox.

Post Webinar Sales Emails to both Attendees and Non-Attendees

Who to send to: Send the next set of emails to people who registered for your webinar.

You’ll get sales while you’re still live on your webinar, but will get more sales from this email series, so these emails need to be some of your best work.

Post Webinar E1 – Replay Email

Here’s a winning formula for this email.

Reinforce your “big promise” from your product or service.

Offer a link to your “time-limited” replay. (I like 48 hours)

Introduce or continue with your urgency/scarcity offer, e.g. time-limited discount, time-limited bonus, or limited availability on a first-come, first-served basis.

Close with a strong call to action in your “easy button” big finish paragraph that talks about how easy it is to click, buy, and get started.

A nice-to-have: Add social proof like a testimonial about your product now, or secure online transaction, or your money back-guarantee.

I’ve seen both long and short copy work for this email, so test this one with your audience to see what works best.

Short copy *should* work since they’ve seen a lot of content from you and are “educated.” However, I’ve seen long copy convert really well too.

Here’s a great example of a “replay” email. I’m not endorsing the products promoted here, just thought it was a well-crafted replay email.

Post Webinar E2 – Benefit Bullet Email

The next email you’ll send in the sequence, you’ll list the primary benefits to your buyer of using your product or service, with proof points for each benefit in this email.

Remind your readers of any expiring bonuses or discounts, and close with your “easy button” big finish.

By “easy button” I suggest you make it easy to buy from you and get started, but more importantly, I want you list each step so that your buyer feels in total control and that there won’t be any unpleasant surprises.

Post Webinar E3 – Beliefs Email

List all the beliefs, specific to your product or service, your buyers need to believe before they buy.

It’s ideal if you can use a story to introduce these beliefs, but if you’re starting out and don’t have the right story yet, this too can be a bulleted list after a stunning opening.

This is a good email to spend a sentence or two on “why your product and not your competitors.” What is special about your offering that they can’t get anywhere else?

I like to insert my “why me and not my competitors” copy in my close with my “freedom of choice” copy.

“Freedom of choice copy” is where you let your buyer know that the choice IS completely up to them and how they can believe your product or service is the right choice compared to all the other competitors or choices out there.

Post Webinar E4 – Overcoming objections email (my personal favorite)

This is a “must send” email because it’s where people will mentally buy from you even if they wait a day or two to click.

I know what you’re thinking.

It’s your worst fear putting the reasons people don’t buy from you into an email to your hottest leads.

I get it.

But it’s creates relief, trust, and confidence in your buyers, because they are secretly not buying because of these reasons ANYWAY.

You will win them over when you face those objections head on.

Speak directly to major objections your buyer might be secretly thinking about your product or service.

These could be “it works for other people, not me;” “it’s too pricey;” “I don’t have time;” “I can get this information for free off the internet;” “I have to buy more and fancy equipment in addition to this.”

Close with your “freedom of choice” copy, if you haven’t already in your “Beliefs Email” above.

Note: Sometimes it makes more sense to combine E3 and E4 into one email. Test this and see what works for you.

Post Webinar E5 – Payment Plan

You’ll only use this email if your original offer didn’t include a payment plan…

Or…

If you don’t address the payment plan in E4 – Overcoming Objections Email, then you might need an extra email squeezed in here to goose sales.

You can simply let readers know that you’ve gotten requests for a payment plan and you’ve created a two-payment, or three-payment, or four-payment plan that buyers can use to start getting benefits immediately at an affordable payment plan.

Note: It’s customary to charge a small premium for a payment plan, or in the reverse, offer a discount for full upfront payment.

Post Webinar E6 – 29 Hour Urgency and Scarcity Email

Why 29 hours?

I recently got a 76.9% open rate for this email subject line: “registration closing in 29 hours” and I want you to get the same.
I suspect people have grown desensitized to “24 hours to close” because it’s used so widely, so zag while everyone else is zigging to stand out.
Let your buyers know that your cart is closing with no exceptions, bonuses are going away, or you’re almost sold out, or early-bird discounts are disappearing like a puff of smoke on a windy day.

Add prominent social proof, such as testimonials, how many people have already bought, reviews, and secure online check out.

Remind your buyers of any money-back guarantees with careful wording because the word “money-back-guarantee” can trigger spam filters.

Wrap it up with your “easy-button” copy so people know what to expect when they click the buy button.

Post Webinar E7 – 10 Hour Countdown Email

This email can be 13 hours left or 9 hours left; test what works with your audience.

Just let them know it’s today or never, and if you can keep it short, what they stand to lose if they don’t act now.

Add social proof, such as how many people have already bought, reviews, and secure online check out.

It’s okay to remind your buyers of any money-back guarantees, but a word of caution: the words “money-back-guarantee” can trigger spam filters.

Wrap it up with your “easy-button” copy.

Post Webinar E8 – Going, going, gone Email

Unless you know it works for you, avoid using “last chance” language because it’s been proven that people are desensitized to it.

Instead use language that drives home the big promise or main benefit of your product or service, e.g. 1.5 Hours Left to Double Your Email Income

Plus…

What they stand to lose by not acting.

Wrap it up with your “easy-button” copy and that this is the last email you’ll send to remind them.

Post-Webinar Sales Emails to Everyone that DIDN’T Register for Your Webinar

Who to send to: Send the next set of emails to people on your email list that opened your webinar invites, but didn’t register for your webinar

There is a group of hot leads in your list that didn’t register for your webinars.

Webinars aren’t everybody’s thing.

But, that doesn’t mean your product or service isn’t.

These folks are further along in their buying cycle—which makes them blazing-hot leads.

They already know their problem, the solution, and maybe even your solution.

They didn’t need to spend time on a webinar. They are “ready to buy.”

They just need a solid offer… like bait on the surface at sundown, those fish are ready to bite.

… and you’re going to give them one in these emails:

Ready to Buy E1 – Exclusive Offer

Offer short story intro and get to your offer quickly and make it irresistible.

It’s okay to speak to what they lose by not acting on this offer.

Ready to Buy E2 – “Saw Offer” Exclusive Offer

Audience: Segment your audience from here on out to send to those who “saw the offer”

Benefits + your proof points of each benefit + easy button copy
How you differ from your competition
Motivate them with a deadline or some scarcity (supplies limited)

P.S. It’s okay to stretch this series out to three emails, but I wouldn’t send more than three.

Downsell Emails to After Your Cart is Closed

Who to send this email to: Anyone on your list that arrived at your shopping cart, but didn’t buy. Some people target anyone who hit the sales page, but didn’t buy. It’s worth testing. See what works for you.

A “downsell” is when you present your prospect with something less expensive than your full product or service.

If that’s not possible for you to offer, skip this email series.

But if you can, why not get the extra sales?!

Some entrepreneurs have the email technology in place to track if a buyer is getting ready to leave the checkout page without checking out, and offer the full product at a discounted price.

I’m not a big fan of this.

It can anger your loyal buyers that pay full price if they find out they could have just stalled and gotten a better deal.

You’ll see your sales in later campaigns suffer for that kind of behavior.

I *do* recommend a few emails to pitch your downsell, though because…

…the bottom line is: downselling people with a lower-cost item *after* your cart closes results in more sales… with no additional cost to you!

Downsell E1 – 48 Hour “Lite Version” Offer

You’re going to use reverse loss-aversion plus loss aversion!

Let your buyers know they don’t have to completely lose out if they didn’t opt for the full-priced program, product, or service… but only if they act quickly.

Offer a bite-size chunk of your product or service. If possible, offer a self-study, package of 10 photos instead of a monthly subscription to your photo service, a smaller professional photo session than your full session, or maybe a trial period?

This sales email is meant to capture people suffering remorse for not buying, so only offer the deal for 48 or 72 hours. Then it’s gone forever.

Downsell E2 – Lite Offer Going, Going, Gone Email

Remind buyers of the major benefits/outcomes they still get with the “lite” version and why it’s the right choice (remember freedom-of-choice) right now.

Forward pace with how they will look after using, implementing, or consuming.

Remind them this offer is exclusive to them and cuts off tonight at midnight.

Now, kick-back and watch the extra sales roll in.