Before the emails, the social posts, the online ads…you have to create a compelling webinar title.
There’s no doubt about it. 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?
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 distinct 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.
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 add to the intrigue of your title. Knowing what works is vital.
We will start with the more basic elements, then work toward those that are more complicated.
Imagine we’re making a 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 basics correspond to three factors that correspond to the foundation needed for building out a webinar title: Numbers; “How To” or Steps; and Brevity.
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.
Suggesting instruction immediately demonstrates applicability. A registrant will attend because they know they are getting the information needed to complete a task or job.
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 basic elements when devising webinar titles. Let’s deconstruct one that covers all three: “Move Your Training Online in 6 Steps.”
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.
In today’s world built on search engines, it’s important that your webinar title utilize highly visible keywords (or long-tail keyword) to be picked up by Google. Using the right keywords can help draw organic interest in your webinar.
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.
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, 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.
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. Maybe 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 important, 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.
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 briefer 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 young bucks, swanky and impulsive, 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.
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 flare to your title.
Before we decided on “Like Apples and Oranges: Comparing Top Web Conferencing Platforms,” we’d considered a variation that went: “Different Styles, Different Aisles: Comparing…” that hinged on rhyme. While it was fun, it didn’t quite capture what we needed.
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; maybe your webinar topic doesn’t involve a “How-to.” No problem. Work with what you have.
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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