6 Ways to Learn How to Pick Catchy Email Subjects Every Time
No matter what email marketing strategies you incorporate into your marketing efforts at large, a common thread is an age-old question, ‘What do I put into the subject line?’ We all struggle with this. Even when we’re emailing a colleague or reach out to a sales prospect we have already met in person. Yet, the email subject is what makes the difference between being read and being thrown in the trash box…
You don’t want to be in the trash bin or marked as spam. Fewer read emails mean fewer sales! And we can’t have that now, do we? This is why you should have a whole philosophy behind the way you craft them. We’re more than happy to give you a briefing of the cardinal principles that are work here. You better be ready to take notes.
Nobody Has Time to Read - Be Short
You may be tempted to give all the relevant information in the subject line so that your email is perceived as important. However, what happens is that you’re trying to put the entire body of the email into the subject line and nobody has the patience to read it all. The subject line is supposed to be short so that it can be processed even if you’re casually browsing. It’s the announcement of your email and what’s within. The average professional in the office doesn’t have the time (also, certainly doesn’t want to spend it) to sort through their inbox. A short subject line helps them get on with their day.
Action-oriented Verbs Are Your Best Friends Now
Gone are the good-old-days, when you could command ‘Act now!’ and have the customer follow your lead. You don’t have the space to feature both a call to action and relay the information that’s within the email. A good subject line should inform and instruct. This is where a strong verb at the start of the subject line makes the whole difference. It’s dynamic, informative and immerses the person reading it into whatever scenario you want. You also create a healthy those of excitement and who can resist clicking on something exciting.
Avoid It Being a Baseless Clickbait
Everything shared on the Internet is clickbait nowadays. News stories choose the most outrageous titles in order to get shares. Buzzfeed punches up titles to titillate and promise shock, but almost always it’s an empty promise. If you’re going to build up excitement for your email, there better be something exciting once the recipient clicks on it, otherwise, they will unsubscribe or just stop paying attention to what you send them. Neither scenario is appealing. Create some buzz, yes, but set accurate expectations.
Use Numbers Whenever You Can
Rather than just rely on a vague emotion, which might be deemed manipulative by some recipients, incorporate some numbers where possible. Everyone loves numbers and pays attention. How many times have you clicked on an article, because it promises to give you a set amount of actionable tips (like this one!). You get to create the same effect, but with your email subject line. Given that you are trying to convert more sales or are in the B2B line of work, numbers are helpful to anchor interest.
Maybe a Question is the Right Way to Go?
Sometimes you don’t have an actionable angle for your subject line, but that doesn’t mean you’re all out of tricks. People do not like the unanswered question. The human psyche craves certainty and the satisfaction of an answered question is one form of that. Posing a question in the subject line of an email creates a call-and-response situation. The subject line is the call, and curiosity generates the response: opening the email to find out what the answer is. It’s that simple.
