Gleaned from last week's Web seminar, here are our top 5 tips for increasing response from your next Webinar invitation:

1. Plan ahead

Sounds simple, but many Webinars fail simply because they're not given the time to succeed. Without sufficient lead time, invitations tend to get developed even as the event itself is still taking shape. The result tends to be generic copy that lacks any specific, compelling reasons for the reader to respond. If you're trying to plan a Webinar program, from scratch, in less than 8 weeks, think hard about your options. With that sort of lead time, there may be more effective ways to generate leads.

2. Sell the event, not the product

The #1 mistake the companies make in promoting any marketing event - Webinars, seminars, executive breakfasts, user conferences - is that they spend too much time on the product, and not enough on the event. The sole objective of your invitation is to get someone to register, not to convince him or her that your product is the answer to the world's ills.

3. Be specific

When Webinar programs are rushed (see #1, above), details like a formal agenda tend to fall into place at the last minute, far too late to make it into the invitation. But the more detail you provide, the more credible, and compelling, your event. Without a clear indication of what they'll learn or gain from investing their time, your readers will be asking "where's the meat?"

4. What's in it for me?

People attend marketing events for two types of reasons: 1) business-related: to learn how to save money, increase productivity, leverage IT investments, etc. and 2) personal-related: to improve their knowledge, impress the boss, win a free iPod. An effective invitation instills motivation in both categories.

5. Test, test, test.

OK, as advice, it's not limited to Webinars, but if you don't test every time you market an event, you're wasting money. Even a small lift in response can make your next event that much more successful. Test subject line, offer (free iPod vs. no free iPod), lead time (2 weeks vs. 3 weeks) - the more you know, the more successful you'll be.