Before the page is public
Announcing a Webinar Before Registration Opens
Tease the date, hold the link, then send one clear call to register. How to sequence an announcement so the sign-ups land on day one — while the page is still a draft.
What you can honestly say while the page is a draft
There is usually a fortnight between deciding on a session and publishing its page: the agenda still moves, the speaker biography is still being written, the date might still shift. Announcing during that window is normal and useful — but it has one hard rule. You can share a date and a promise; you cannot share a link to the draft. An unpublished page is invisible to guests, so the early enthusiast who clicks gets nothing, and people rarely come back to test whether the first nothing was their imagination.
A pre-announcement is therefore a deliberate holding-back: the news without the destination. It earns its place because people who have heard the date twice and the reason once arrive on opening day ready to register, rather than hearing about it for the first time on day nine and deciding to think about it.
The sequence, four beats
Beat one — the save-the-date
The occasion, the day, the shape of the hour. No link, because there is nothing yet to point at, and saying so honestly is part of the charm: the page lands Monday.
Beat two — the reason
Between the tease and the opening, one message on why this session exists — the question it answers. Still no link. This beat is what converts first-day curiosity into first-day registrations.
Beat three — the opening
The day you publish. One line, one link, one verb. This is the first time any address appears, and by then the audience is prepared enough that the send can be tiny.
Beat four — hands off
From the opening onward the flow runs itself: name and email register on the page, each person gets their own access link in a confirmation email, and reminders go out at 24 hours, one hour and fifteen minutes unless switched off.
Three pre-announcements, in order
The same session across the sequence — note that the word register appears only once.
save the date: supplier-quoting hour, Tuesday 4 March, 9.30. Marta's doing it properly this time, with the real quotes from last year. registration page lands Monday — I'll post the link here.
The question behind the session we announced: what does a fixed price actually promise a client, and what does it quietly refuse to promise? Thursday 12 March, 6pm CET. The page for registering opens at the start of the week — we'll send the link when it is live.
The page is live: Thursday 12 March, 6pm CET, the four-block quoting agenda, Marta taking it chapter by chapter. Places stop at the size of the room, and everyone who registers gets their own link to join by email. Register here: <page address>
What not to promise before the page exists
- That any link works yet. The first address you send is the published page, never the draft — guests cannot see an unpublished page.
- That the date is safely in everyone's calendar. It is not; the .ics file and Google Calendar link only reach people who register, inside the confirmation email.
- A second session riding on the same announcement. One page carries one session, so the autumn date is teased and built separately.
- A recording, a certificate, a number of places or anything about cost. Whatever will be true on the page is the most the teaser may say.
Why holding the link pays
The instinct to announce everything at once — agenda, photos, link — comes from wanting the excitement to land at full volume. It lands better staged. By opening day the audience has heard the date twice and the reason once, which is exactly enough for the opening message to do the smallest possible job: one line, one link, one verb.
The gap between the tease and the publish date is also the fortnight the page genuinely needs: chapters with durations, the speaker section, the start time with its zone label, the cap set to the size of your room. Publish only when the page keeps exactly the promise the announcement made.
How it works
Teaser to opening day
Lock the four facts you will announce
Session title, date, start time with its zone, and the question the hour answers. These four survive even if the agenda still moves underneath them.
Send the save-the-date and hold the link
Channel, newsletter, wherever your people already are — the news plus a plain statement of when the page opens. Saying when is the courtesy that makes the wait comfortable.
Build the page during the gap
Message Jitabi or open the studio: chapters with times, speaker section, the cap, a waitlist if a full room should keep collecting names. Then publish.
Open with one line and one link
The opening send is the shortest message of the whole sequence — the audience is ready. From there the confirmations, the private access links and the reminder emails all run on their own.
Questions
Common questions about webinar announcement
Can colleagues see the page before guests can?
Not through the link — an unpublished page is invisible to anyone opening it. For pre-launch feedback, add the colleague as a collaborator at their own access level, or share a screenshot; the address itself stays unready until you publish.
How early is too early to announce?
Two weeks ahead is the honest fit: long enough to build the page properly, short enough that nobody has to be reminded in March of something announced in November. The automatic reminders take care of the final day; the teaser should not try to.
Is it worth collecting emails before the page exists?
Only with your own list, and only as yourself. The product has no pre-registration mode — the webinar page starts collecting names the moment it is published. A note in your mail saying the page opens Monday is the whole pre-collection plan.
Can a pre-announcement mention a second date?
It can promise that one exists, but each session needs its own page to be registered for — there are no series or multi-date pages. Tease the autumn date as the autumn date, and link it when its own page goes live.
Get Started
Say the date, hold the link, keep the promise
A pre-announcement is a small act of trust: the news now, the page when it is genuinely ready. Stage the sequence and day one takes care of itself.