It's All About The Subject Line
Your email marketing can succeed or fail based on the words you
place in the subject line. That's where the whole "read or
delete" debate begins in the recipients' mind. Make no mistake
about it, nobody reads every piece of email in their inbox
anymore. Spammers killed that. How many male enhancement emails
can you read ?
As the sender, you have to get the attention of the sendee. A
subject line that stands out is the first step, and there are a
number of approaches to be considered:
Be brief. Think newspaper headline. Better yet, think magazine
headline. Catchy but short. Nike did it with eight letters.
Use the word free, but mean it. Free is oft-times a throw away
word that means you have to buy something else to get to the
free part. Don't insult your readers or play games with the free
offer.
Test, a lot. Like every other part of your email campaign, test
to make sure you know what emails are getting opened. If the
subject line isn't driving people to read your e-communique,
change the verbiage.
Make the subject line time sensitive. Use phrases like, "the
first 10 people to respond"--"offer good til midnight", "free
shipping today only". It creates some urgency and increases the
likelihood of having your message read.
Avoid spam words. Make sure you test your subject line and email
with a content checker. It will identify words, phrases or
problems that could land your email in the spam filter.
Be honest. Don't overpromise in your subject line headline. Can
you really think and grow rich in 30 days?
Like all aspects of advertising, the race is won by he who
differentiates himself--stands out from the crowd. Email
campaigns are the same. Work on your subject line. Craft it and
then test it. You'll know when it needs some work. You'll know
when you've got it right.