Coming up with an effective subject line for an email marketing campaign isn’t as easy as you might think. Emails that look like spam will either get deleted by the reader or junked by spam filters, wasting your marketing investment.
When opening an email, the first thing people notice is the subject. This is where they decide whether or not they are going to open the email. Since many people have inboxes with many incoming emails each day, you’ll want yours to stand out from the rest.
One way to write an attention grabbing subject is by using the word “you” or “your”. This tells the recipient that you are speaking to them and not a bunch of people. This strategy is effective in web and print for catching people’s attention.
Also, you should be descriptive in your email subject. Consider the following email subject which isn’t so descriptive.
“Monthly Newsletter 06”
The subject above tells the recipient that it’s the 6th edition of a newsletter sent monthly. It’s not very descriptive in terms of what the email is going to cover. I’ve seen this type of subject used over and over but it’s not something I would send in my newsletters. The subject should relate to the content of the email. Once they are interested in the topic(s) within the subject, it increases the possibility of them opening the email.
Consider the following subject:
“Discover an All Natural Way to Loose Weight in 6 Months”
The subject above works because it gives description of what the email will be about. From reading that one line, your recipient knows that he will learn about a way to grow their hair naturally.
When writing email subjects, you should split test different subjects. Split testing subjects is where you send an email to your subscribers with different subjects. Some receive an email containing Subject A and some receive Subject B. When you check your statistics in AWeber you’ll notice which one was opened by more people. Consider the two sample subjects:
“Want To Grow Your Hair Naturally?”
“Do You Want To Grow Your Hair Naturally?”
With the two subjects above, there is a slight difference of two extra words in the second example. It may not seem like much of a difference but in the world of marketing, this can make a huge difference. In this case, two subjects are only mentioned but there can be many more. Trying different subjects to see which one works best is recommended.
Once you find out which subject was more effective, you can take it even further with more split testing. By adding more words, you can find out which words are better for making people open your email.
“Do You Want To Grow Your Hair Naturally? Discover How.”
“Do You Want To Grow Your Hair Naturally? Learn How.”
“Do You Want To Grow Your Hair Naturally? See How.”
In examples above, make sure to determine which one would work best and the way to find out is by split testing. There are many different variations and as you practice you’ll realize that some headlines will work better than others.
Another type of subject that works well is a How-To headline. How-To headlines are the ones that stir curiosity and make people click on them. Readers click on these because they have an interest in learning how to do something. Consider the following headline.
“How To Increase Your Online Profits Using Social Media”
Once someone reads the descriptive title above, they’ll open it if they want to increase their profits with Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites.
Another subject that is often used is a headline containing a quantity. Consider the following headlines:
“5 Ways To Relieve Stress in Your Life”
“7 Interesting Places You Should Visit”
The two subjects above work because they inform the reader of what to expect and how much of it. An email containing the first subject will teach you how to relieve stress and find ways to do it. Now the reader can consider whether or not they have enough time to read through your email now or save it for later.
A common mistake is to leave the subject line until last and not spend enough time trying to get it right. You’ll need to keep testing to find out which subject line works best for each of your email campaigns. What works for one might not work for another. It’s crucial to spend time perfecting your email subject line is to ensure your email campaign isn’t considered spam.
Writing subject line cannot be deceptive, this is one of the rules set by the CAN-SPAM act. If your email subject says “Free Samples. Get Yours Today,” the email’s content should correlate to that title. If the body of that email says “We decided it wouldn’t be cost efficient to give out free samples, but check out our new products below,” this is deceptive. It’s a marketing practice that’s used far too often and could get your emails marked as spam if you do it. Nobody likes to be cheated so make sure your email body relates to the subject.
