Email marketing is a huge opportunity for your business. From brand building to nurturing leads to making sales,
email marketing is crucial for a fine-tuned marketing system.
According to
Constant Contact, 60% of consumers reported making a purchase as the result of a marketing email they received. However, sending out enticing offers
means nothing if your recipients don't open your emails.
That’s why crafting a compelling subject line is so
important, and why we’re going to give you five easy tips to help jazz up your
subject lines and boost your open rates, resulting in more conversions.
1. Contain at least one of these elements
Regardless of your industry or goals for email marketing
(i.e. sharing company news, generating engagement, or promoting your products/services), your subject lines should contain at least one of these elements.
Urgency
Urgency
and scarcity in an email subject line, when phrased creatively and
strategically, can encourage readers to click (or act).
Example: Your 5,000 Free Postcards Disappear Today
Curiosity
Piquing
the interest of your recipients will help get you higher open rates – since
they need to open the email to get more information. Just be careful you’re
actually giving them what the subject line promises.
Example: Yep! You’ll never believe what happened
next…
An offer
Free or discounted offers are often enough
to open up the email to see what kind of savings they could get.
Example: 40% off Valentines Day Special ends tonight
Personalization
Modern-day marketing lends itself to learning a lot about your subscribers.
So when you send them content, make it catered toward the
individual.
Example: Dave, are you still accepting referrals?
Relevance and timeliness
Trending topics or timely headlines can help you establish your
brand as an authority within your industry.
Example: Use your tax refund to get the car you
always wanted
Name recognition
Inserting a recognizable name from your industry or someone that your
audience admires can draw attention to your subject line and encourage
clicks.
Example: Warren Buffett and Bill Gates agree this skill is critical
Stories
Including
a compelling allusion to a story that can only be read if the email is opened
is a great way to create an intriguing subject line.
Example: How you can cash in on the Cryptocurrency
craze
2. Keep it short and
sweet
Many email providers have a set length they display for
subject lines, and they’ll get cut off if your subject line is too long. With
more email opens taking place on mobile, we recommend using subject lines
with fewer than 50 characters.
This requires some brainpower to figure out which words are
crucial, and which can be removed or replaced. For example, instead of saying, “Order
#9435893458358 is being processed" you could simply write, “Your order is
being processed.” It’s shorter, snappier, and can boost customer
satisfaction when people open and read your email.
3. Start with
action-oriented verbs
Subject lines are similar to "calls to action" in that you
want to encourage people to click. That’s why subject lines that start with
action verbs tend to acquire more clicks.
For example, if you were hosting a cooking class at your
restaurant, you would want to use language like, “Learn to Make the Best Pizza
in Chicago!” instead of just “Pizza Cooking Class.” The first subject line uses
“Learn” to help the reader envision themselves in the class.
4. Use numbers to catch the eye
Being vague isn’t always the best way to entice interest.
Sometimes, people are more drawn into seeing numbers in a subject
line because of their specificity.
There are various ways to use numbers, for instance, you could say how many tips are in
your article, a specific discount,
or another statistic that tells a story, such as "Discover why we donated
40,397 pairs of socks last year!”
5. Pose a captivating
question
“Are you making these tax return mistakes?”
“How much house can you afford?”
“What are your customers saying?”
Asking a question in a subject line can draw in your
readers, especially if they don’t know the answer to the question. This is a great opportunity to provide value in
your email marketing by providing the answers for them (even if they have to
fill out a form to get it). Additionally, it can help further your prospects down the
customer journey.
Craft Emails That Attract Attention
There are many benefits of email marketing, but if your subject lines are lackluster, then you won't see much of an ROI for your efforts. That's why it's vital to write subject lines that are catchy, clear, and succinct to attract your recipient's attention and invite clicks. Furthermore, make sure that you have a well-crafted strategy to guide your email marketing to maximize results.
Editor's Note: This post was originally published in February 2018 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.