In short
- A good reminder email gives a reason to come, not just the date. One insight or question that comes back in your webinar or workshop, and one link.
- Send more than one: a confirmation right after sign-up, a reminder a day or two before and a short one on the day itself.
- Attendance isn't a goal in itself. Only people who are in the room can buy at your counter. That's why the reminder email deserves as much attention as your invitation.
In this article (6)
Tomorrow at eight you’re giving your webinar. You quickly send a reminder email: “Don’t forget, tomorrow at 8 pm! Here’s the link.” Sent. And tomorrow evening you’re looking at a room that’s half empty.
That’s not your participants’ fault. It’s your email’s. It told them something everyone already knew, and gave nobody a reason to get off the sofa.
In this article you’ll read how to write a reminder email for your webinar, masterclass or workshop that does work. When to send it, what goes in it, and three examples you can adapt as they are.
What is a good reminder email?
A reminder email is a message you send shortly before your webinar or workshop to everyone who signed up, so they actually show up. A good reminder email does that not by repeating the date, but by giving a reason: what does someone get out of it, and what do they miss if they stay at home?
That difference is bigger than it looks. Signing up costs one click. Showing up costs an evening. Between the two, the interest cools, and the reminder email is your last chance to warm it up again.
In our Sold-Out Recipe that step is called the oven: making sure people really show up, via email, WhatsApp and reminders. Why we hammer on about that is in how to reduce webinar no-shows. Here it’s about the email itself.
When do you send a reminder email?
Not once. A reminder is a sequence, and every message has its own job. CustomerThink recommends a confirmation right after sign-up, a reminder one to two days before and a final reminder on the day itself. That matches how we build it:
Right after sign-up: the confirmation
Not just "you're registered". Say what someone will take away and add a button to put it in their calendar. Then it's there, even if your email goes unread.
One or two days before: the reminder with substance
The most important message of the sequence. One insight or question that comes back, so staying at home feels like missing something.
On the day itself: the final reminder
Short. What time, and one link. One click and they're in.
Organising an in-person workshop or open course? Then the reminder with substance shifts a little earlier, because people have to travel, park and take time off. That comes with practical information you don’t need for a webinar.
What goes in a reminder email?
Less than you think. A reminder email isn’t a newsletter.
A reason
One insight, question or taste. Why should this particular person come tomorrow?
The practical details
When it is, and one link or one address. With a calendar button.
A way out
An unsubscribe link. Warming up is helping someone come, not backing them into a corner.
What doesn’t belong in it: three links, a PDF, the full programme and a discount code for something else. Every extra choice is a moment where someone drops off.
Three examples of a reminder email to adapt
Three templates, made up for this article. Replace what’s in brackets. And write them in your own words: an email that sounds like a template gets read like a template.
Example 1: the reminder the day before (webinar or masterclass)
Subject: Tomorrow: [the one question or the one insight]
Hi [first name],
Tomorrow at [time] we’re together in [title of your webinar].
One thing in advance. Most [audience, e.g. coaches] I speak to think that [the problem they think they have]. Usually it’s somewhere else: [one sentence about the real problem]. Tomorrow I’ll show you how to recognise it, and what to do about it.
Bring one question you’re wrestling with right now. There’s time at the end to ask it.
[button: add to your calendar] · [link to the webinar]
See you tomorrow, [name]
Why this works: the subject line promises something, not just a time. And the question someone brings makes them a participant before they’re even in.
Example 2: the final reminder on the day itself
Subject: We start in an hour
Hi [first name],
In an hour we go live with [title]. Here’s where you get in: [link].
Come a few minutes early, so you’re settled in when we start.
See you shortly, [name]
Why this works: nothing to think about. One link, one time, done. This isn’t the moment to persuade. You did that yesterday.
Example 3: the reminder for an in-person workshop or open course
Subject: Thursday: what to bring to [workshop title]
Hi [first name],
On Thursday at [time] we’re expecting you at [venue, address]. Parking is [where]. Doors open a quarter of an hour early, with coffee.
Bring [what they need, e.g. a laptop or a tricky case from your own practice]. We’ll work on that case in the second part, so you don’t just listen, but go home with something concrete.
Can’t make it after all? Just hit reply and let us know, and we’ll give your place to someone on the waiting list.
See you Thursday, [name]
Why this works: the case makes it personal. And the request to cancel isn’t a formality. Anyone who has to say they’re not coming thinks once more about whether they really aren’t.
Where reminder emails go wrong
Factory bread
"Reminder: our webinar tomorrow at 8 pm."
They already know that. It gives nobody a reason to come.
Fresh from the baker
"Tomorrow: why your intakes don't turn into a programme."
The subject line says what someone gets. Staying at home then feels like missing something.
Factory bread
One confirmation, then three weeks of silence until the day itself.
On the evening of your event you're a stranger in the inbox.
Fresh from the baker
A short sequence: confirmation, reminder with substance, final reminder.
You stay in view without nagging, and every message has its own purpose.
Factory bread
A reminder that already sells the offer.
Anyone who hasn't been in the room yet isn't ready for your counter. You chase people away before they're in.
Fresh from the baker
A reminder that only gives a reason to come.
You make the offer in the room, at the moment it feels logical.
My position, and you’re welcome to disagree: the reminder email matters more than your invitation. The invitation gets a yes. The reminder decides whether that yes actually shows up. And yet most experts spend five minutes on it, the evening before.
And after the reminder?
That’s when it starts. A full room is the start, not the finish. Your reminder email gets people through the door. What they buy afterwards depends on your structure and your offer. How to build that is in a webinar that sells.
And the people who didn’t show? Don’t let them quietly vanish from your list. Not showing up isn’t a no. Send them the recording quickly, with one moment highlighted, and the same next step as in the room.
Want to know where your room is leaking: in the filling, the warming up or only at the counter? Take the free leak test. Thirteen questions, three minutes. Want the whole sequence, from invitation to follow-up, tightened up in one half-day? We do that in the Sold-Out Session, for €3,000 one-off.
A sign-up is a promise. Your reminder email makes sure it’s kept.
Terms in this article
- Reminder email
- A reminder email is an email you send to someone who has signed up for a webinar, workshop or appointment, to remind them it's coming up. A good reminder email also gives a reason to actually turn up.
- No-show
- A no-show is someone who has signed up or made an appointment, but doesn't turn up and doesn't cancel either. At webinars, workshops and sales calls, it's one of the biggest leaks in your funnel.
- Webinar
- A webinar is an online presentation, training session or conversation you deliver over the internet to an audience that has signed up in advance. Viewers see and hear you live or via a recording, and can usually respond through chat, questions or polls.
- Masterclass
- A masterclass is a session in which an expert shares in-depth knowledge on one topic with a group, live or online. Where a training course teaches skills, a masterclass mainly shows how a master thinks and works.
- Follow-up email
- A follow-up email is an email you send after a point of contact, such as a webinar, workshop, proposal or sales call, to keep the conversation going and lead the recipient to a next step.
Rubin is the founder of Online Marketing Bakery in Roermond. You take the stage, we fill the room. And we make sure it buys.
[email protected] · More about the bakers
Further reading: How to reduce webinar no-shows · How to organise a webinar: the step-by-step plan · A webinar that sells · Take the free leak test · The Sold-Out Session · Marketing for training providers · Outsource your event marketing
How we work: first the offer, then the room. Want to get going with a brief like this? We do that in the Sold-Out Session: your offer and your event structure in one half-day.