How the slightest change in invitation wording affects your guests’ response
So, you’ve designed a brand new, beautiful online invitation for your next event, but have you considered just how important your invitation wording is? The way you word any invitation is the first point of contact your guests have with your event, which means it’s essential that your copy paints an accurate, and more importantly, appealing picture.
Just like any other online marketing strategy, the success of an online invitation boils down to the quality of the content.
Think about how you’d like your guests to view your event.
Is it a business-like conference for professionals? Or a time-out for employees in the form of a fun-filled day of teambuilding? Or is it a star-studded, celebrity-soaked awards ceremony? Regardless of the type of event you’re hosting, your invitation wording must make your event sound enticing, or it might put guests off attending entirely. Instead of using a generic phrase like “Annual Awards”, get creative and make the event sound like something your guests will want to be a part of. For example: “The X Awards– a night of celebrating our industry stars”, is a lot more appealing.
Your invitation wording should convey the benefits of attending.
Your aim is to make your guests feel important. For example, the word “exclusive” appeals to our intrinsic need to belong, whereas merely saying: “You’re invited to our annual golf day” doesn’t convey any sense of exclusivity or privilege. Try these: “You’re personally invited to a private soiree at The Table Bay” or “Join industry heavy-weight Elon Musk for his personal insights into entrepreneurship”. More often than not you need to get your RSVP’s back as soon as possible. An example of your wording could be: “Seating is extremely limited at this sought-after presentation so RSVP soonest to avoid disappointment”
Make it personal.
Ensure your invitation wording demonstrates that you know your guest and always ensure their name is spelt correctly. Depending on the event, you can word your invites differently to suit the segments of your guest list. For example, if you’re inviting existing customers as well as those who’ve shown an interest in your product to a seminar, your invitation wording should differ. Existing customers could receive an invite that says: “We’re honoured that we’re your brand of choice. We’d like to show our appreciation by inviting you to….”, and for those who haven’t yet purchased anything, you could say: “We’re excited that you’ve shown an interest in our brand, so we’d like to take this opportunity to invite you to our latest seminar as a thank you.”
The tone of your invitation wording is the difference between a full and empty guest list.
Address your guests as an equal – no one wants to be patronised, or made to feel inferior. Use copy that’ll position them as unique, valuable assets instead of merely a number on a list. Make sure your tone is in line with the type of event you’re holding. If it’s a serious conference, don’t use slang or colloquial expressions. If it’s an office Christmas party however, you can let your imagination run wild and use a conversational tone.
Pay attention to your subject line.
Since this is the first thing your guests will see, ensure that your subject line identifies you (the sender) and the event. Make it stand out from the many other e-vites people receive: instead of the generic “Invite – Brand Y Annual Conference”, say something like “Brand Y is excited to see you at our Annual Conference”
Keep it simple.
Above all, strive to keep your copy simple and to the point. No one wants to wade through reams of text merely to deduce that they’ve been invited to a business breakfast. Aim to convey all of your information in as few words as possible.
Image Credit: Online Learning Tips
