| 5 Ways Not to Squander the Email Subject Line |
| Wednesday, September 15 2010 23:00 | |||
 As we know, email messages are most likely to get opened when they are personalized and relevant to the recipient. This is especially true for the subject line. A mere 50 characters (the length of a typical subject line) are all you have to grab readers' attention, enticing them to open your email and take the desired action rather than report it as spam. Here are the top five insights for writing subject lines that are not squandered, and that ensure email campaigns are destined for success.
Tip 1: Read the newspaper. Do you want to develop subject lines that result in higher email open rates? Pick up your local paper. News headlines provide an excellent example of how to highlight an important point with brevity. A good headline, and, by extension, a good subject line, is short and intriguing enough to compel the reader to read on. Where possible, the subject line should clearly state what readers can expect from your email: what's in it for them or what you want them to do as a result. Tip 2: Remember your objective. Before developing your subject line, think carefully about your objective as it is key to the success of your email marketing. If your objective is for your readers to buy something, your subject line should reflect that call to action. Ideally, try testing your subject lines on a small number of targets - or, at the very least, some co-workers outside your department - to see if their actions are on target with your objective. If not, re-work and try again. Tip 3: Remember where you're "from." A good subject line sells recipients on opening it, but that could be all for naught if they don't know where the email came from. Ideally, the "from" field should be the name of your company; then there's no need to include it in your subject line, freeing up valuable real estate. If you're emailing a recipient for the first time, make sure the subject line creates some familiarity and conveys credibility. Tip 4: Get to the point - quickly. As mentioned earlier, you only have 50 characters to develop an email subject line that gets noticed. This equates to an approximate two-second window in which a recipient will decide to keep reading and open the email, or press the "delete" button. Therefore it is critically important to include the most information most pertinent to your objective up front, always keeping your end goal in mind. Subject line length may vary based on email provider, so send a test email to yourself in order to make sure that important information, such as time and date, aren't cut off when they reach your inbox. Tip 5: Make it personal. In many cases, subject lines can be personalized based on past purchases or website visits. However, if your customer database is up-to-date, you may also want to try personalizing email marketing with first names, which may be even more persuasive. Be sure to use proper capitalization, such as "Alice" instead of "alice." In addition, always include a link in your email to where readers can update personal data and email preferences to ensure you're communicating with them in the manner they prefer. Squandering the subject line is one of the easiest ways to subvert an email marketing campaign. Here's to better subject lines, leading to even stronger email campaigns.
|
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
