Do you know where webinar marketing really begins?
Before the emails, the social posts, the online ads…you have to create a compelling webinar title!
This is probably obvious, but creating a motivating title can be tricky. Your webinar title has to be catchy – even spicy! Zest and character go a long way in spiking interest in potential attendees.
Most importantly, the title has to present the topic in an identifiable way. Audiences immediately need to know: Who is it for? What is it about? Why is it important?
There’s a lot to capture in your webinar title – and little space to do it.
In this blog, we’re going to run through the right ingredients you need for a desirable webinar title. The goal is to convey a clear message while remaining true to your brand and audience.
Many factors come into play. Finding the right balance is critical. The right ones have helped us, and they can help you.
Pssst… Get the worksheet that goes with this blog!
Constructing an Attractive, Informative Webinar Title
Creating a webinar title can be done in many ways. There are simpler approaches that work just fine. There are also more technical aspects that can add intrigue to your title. Knowing what works is vital.
We will start with the more basic elements, then work toward those more complicated options.
Building out a Webinar Title
Imagine we’re making chili or stew.
What are the basic spices you need? Definitely salt. Pepper. A little garlic (or onion) powder. These three are the basics for making a great meal. (In my house, turmeric is a staple as well.)
These ingredients correspond to three factors at the foundation of a webinar title: Numbers; “How To” or Steps; and Brevity.
Including Numbers
Concrete numbers give potential attendees a definite sense of what they can expect to learn, how much information there will be, and how the information may build.
You’ll also see that numbers bring value to topics geared around research and trends. Consider this example:
The use of the number 5 suggests the topic was very well researched. The number here helps legitimize the topic and speaker. I’m not even in L&D, and I was intrigued!
Including “How To” or “Steps”
Suggesting instruction immediately demonstrates applicability. A registrant will attend because they know they are getting the information needed to complete a task or job.
(Of course, “How To” or “Steps” can be substituted with “Ways,” “Stages,” or “Strategies For.”)
Brevity
If Pulp Fiction had been named “The Story of Two Hitman, a Boxer, a Gangster’s Wife, and Two Diner Bandits,” Quentin Tarantino wouldn’t be a household name. Your webinar title must be brief if you’re going to get any interest. Try to keep the title under 10 words.
We’ve created a webinar or two in our day, at MeetingOne. And, of course, we’ve utilized these essential elements when devising webinar titles. Let’s deconstruct one that covers all three: “Move Your Training Online in 6 Steps.”
( Intriguing topic for you? Watch the On-Demand recording of this webinar HERE! )
It’s all right there in the banner.
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Specific audience: Corporate Trainers.
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Obvious topic: Moving training online.
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Number & “Steps”: Six steps to move training online.
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Brevity: All of this is conveyed in seven brief words.
The Right Words for the Right Audience
Let’s add a little complexity to our dish. What spices can we add? How about a little cumin. A sprinkling of thyme. A pinch of cayenne to liven things up!
This complexity plays out, too, in webinar titles. At this stage, the focus must turn to more exact words to ensure you’re connecting with the desired audience. Let’s identify three more ingredients to consider: SEO Visibility; Action Verbs; and Value Propositions.
SEO Visibility
In today’s world built on search engines, your webinar title must utilize highly visible keywords (or long-tail keywords) to be picked up by Google. Using the right keywords can help draw organic interest to your webinar.
Action Verbs
There’s nothing quite like an action verb to “get the people going.” Action verbs are more engaging and emotive, stimulating more interest in attendance. Also, going with more specific action verbs can add clarity to the value of the webinar.
Here, we have a lovely metaphor: The future is compared to the sea. Through squalling storms and the massive swells of change, we must follow the right course to keep manufacturing efficient.
All of this imagery is derived from the powerful action verb “to navigate.” Hard to deny it’s emotive quality.
Value Proposition
Making your webinar more relevant to your audience comes back to insinuating value. A person will only attend a webinar if they feel it will benefit them. Selecting the right word can help proposition the value of a webinar and, in turn, get more registrants.
To illustrate these ingredients further, I want to use a few more MeetingOne examples. We’ll look at three separate webinars.
“Bridge the Distance: Addressing Challenges of Virtual Teams” hit upon an important, long-tail keyword for our SEO visibility: “challenges of virtual teams.” This speaks to the audiences who use products like ours to communicate with remote teams successfully.
“Mastering Online Events with Adobe Connect’s Event Module” employs that strong, commanding action verb: “to master.” Not only are you going to learn something about Adobe Connect’s Event Module – you’re going to learn how to master online events.
“Use the Brain Rules to Deliver Your Best Learning” includes that nice little word “best” to suggest attendees will be able to improve their training methods by attending. That’s a solid value proposition.
Adding Personality to Your Title
So, we’ve laid down the basic spices and a few more complex. Now is the time to give that meal a truly memorable flavor. Best way to make it unique: the secret ingredient. Maybe Grandma passed down a recipe for spice blends. Perhaps you just stumbled upon a rare spice (saffron, grains of paradise, wattleseed?) in your local spice store.
When it comes to webinar titles, our secret ingredient could be called “personality.” (Maybe not as secret as you’d expect.) While the above components are essential, at some point, you have to add a little more humanity to your events. Otherwise, a robot could do your job.
Adding some personality to your webinar titles can be tough. We’ve learned a few tricks to make it a bit easier.
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Imagery
There’s a long-held principle in writing (and in much of life) that holds for webinar titles: Show, don’t tell. Using imagery helps.
Imagery immediately evokes a message or an idea that doesn’t need extensive elaboration. As a result, you can keep your titles brief while still conveying enough information.
Here’s a MeetingOne example: “Millenials Inbound: How Training in the Workplace Should Change.” ‘Millennials Inbound’ imparts the image of a group of swanky young bucks rolling into an office. ‘Millennials’ alone evokes emotion – everyone has an opinion of the generation. Pair it with ‘Inbound,’ and the impact is very apparent.
(The “Navigating” example above is another example of an imagistic title.)
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Alliteration & Rhymes
Interesting factoid: Old English poets prized alliteration (the repeating of consonants – “poets prized,” “babbling brook”) over rhymes. Nowadays, either option can be beneficial. Both add poetic flair to your title.
Consider these two titles.
“Let the Learner Lead” – that’s about as alliterative as you can get! The repetition of the ‘L’ sound takes a strong statement and makes it an imperative.
“Engaged and Empowered,” two active verbs, one emotive assonance. Excellent! (Assonance is vowel alliteration, by the way.) The two ‘E’s bring electricity to the title. It excites you. You feel energized as you register. See what I did there?
There’s something to be said about adding poetic elements to webinar titles!
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Pathos & Ethos
Tapping into an emotion (pathos) or a cultural sentiment (ethos) can prove powerful motivators for webinar titles. These factors are at the core of many people’s identities, so they can resonate on a level not easily reached otherwise.
Here’s a great MeetingOne example: “Cultures Unite! Creating Multicultural Virtual Classes that Work!“
The first statement, “Cultures Unite!” screams of ethos. I imagine we all want harmony between cultures. By including “Cultures Unite!” we’re suggesting this webinar is a step in that direction. The rest of the title indicates the webinar will help trainers engage learners no matter their background. Equally important, it evokes the idea cultures can come together in one space and successfully collaborate and learn.
That’s a pretty darn compelling notion. And it taps into the wellsprings of both our personal pathoses and cultural ethos.
At the end of the day, though, you’re going to have to fall back on your creativity to find the right blend. Don’t force all of these ingredients together. Maybe you hate garlic; perhaps your webinar topic doesn’t involve a “How-to.” No problem. Work with what you have.
Creating Your Webinar Titles
Now, it’s time to get those creative juices flowing.
To help you create some of your Webinar Titles, we’ve developed a fun worksheet that offers formulas you can test. Download it now!
A Few Gaffs to Consider
Creating a stellar title is hard work. Sometimes a topic is too narrow or broad. Sometimes it’s dry. And the sad truth is that many webinar titles are off the mark. I’ve included a few here for you to digest.
This title is long. I count 19 words. It’s also a bit telling and maybe too matter-of-fact. There’s not a lot of nuance here.
Yet, some things are going for this title. The discussion is around a relevant topic: Learning Experience Platforms, and how they change the eLearning game. Very relevant to many L&D professionals. And the use of “disrupting” is evocative. Consider all the articles written about tech disruptions in the last ten years!
The best thing they could have done was to cut out the second half. It’s not necessary. Anything “disrupting” the “Digital Learning Market” will probably be on L&D professionals’ radar.
Lastly, they might have also benefitted from putting a positive spin on the topic. “Disrupting” is an active verb that makes people pay attention. I read it and thought LEPs sounded a little scary. Truth is LEPs may prove beneficial for L&D professionals as they work toward personalized learning.
Where the first title was long, this one might be a little short. And it’s not exciting.
“Digital Strategy” is a bit vague for me. As a Marketer, I wondered if it wasn’t about companies that moved from traditional advertising to an SEO strategy. Nope. The topic is about how businesses make the move to a data-centric, digital approach for their operations and management.
A bit more detail might have made the title more interesting and engaging. I wish this one were more like the “Navigating” webinar. The topic is very similar, but the title here is lackluster in comparison.
To be fair, the speaker also wrote a book with the same title. So, many members of their intended audience might recognize the topic immediately. Still…something could be done to add a bit more drama here.
Pairing the Right Ingredients
Pairing all of these spices (or at least some of them) with a meaty topic is a sure way to create a webinar title that will resonate with and intrigue an audience.
Creating a title designed for your audience is an important first step. The next step is to prepare the content to meet your audience’s needs on many levels.
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