“Like almost everyone who uses e-mail, I receive a ton of spam every day. Much of it offers to help me get out of debt or get rich quick.” Bill Gates
It’s important to have a great email subject line, it’s your first impression, it will make or break your entire email campaign and you have 20 to 50 characters to make it work.
Creating email subject lines for online marketing is like choosing what to wear for a night out on the town.
You want something appropriate, something that makes you interesting and attractive.
You look for something that speaks to who you are and gets the results you want. You want to appear easy to like and communicate with, not too flashy or loud.
Of course that’s pretty humorous, and it illustrates a huge error many email marketers overlook. Having a targeted email list. I just wanted to cover this, because you could write the most appealing and enticing email subject line but if you sent the email to someone who has no interest or use for your product or service then it’s like sending a bucket of ‘Funky Monkey’ to Ben and Jerry.
Needless to say the body of the email should be congruent with the message. This is where you help them answer the question posed in the subject line of your email.
In the subject line you create a problem and in the body you solve it. In the subject line you will present a benefit, in the body you provide the feature that creates the benefit.
Here are the top 10 tips to creating a perfect email subject line.
1. The subject must be highly relevant to the targeted interests. We can go ahead and reiterate this point. Sending get rich schemes to Bill Gates will get you nowhere, so find out what your list wants and make your email subject line relevant to that desire.
Examples:
If the niche is weight loss: Burn Belly Fat Instantly
If the niche is Golf: Three Steps to a Better Swing
2. Ask questions to create involvement.
This is a great way to get them started interacting with you. If they
answer the question in their mind you have started a dialog. All you
have to do is keep it going.
Examples:Buried In Debt? I’ll help you get out
Need More Web Traffic? Follow This System
3. Piggyback Brand Names, popular terms and what the masses are doing. The old art of name dropping. It’s not tacky if it’s done right, just keep it relevant. Some great email subjects may be related to reviews, testimonials, mentioning what’s trendy, what’s in the news. These are subject people are already interested in and talking about.
Examples:
What Lebron James can teach you about Internet Marketing
How Jennifer Hudson lost 30 lbs.
What Mark Zuckerberg wants you to know about Facebook.
4. Use lists and numbers. Studies have shown that people like reading lists more than they would a paragraph that gives the same information. They tend to be easier and quicker.
Also, dollar amounts and numbers are attractive too.
Examples:
8 Exercises to Flatten Your Belly
The System That Made $21,372 in ONE month
10 Secrets of a Successful Marriage.
5. Tell them how they will benefit by opening the email. Give them the benefits in the subject line then when you show them the features in the email body restate the benefits again.
Example:
Need Money? Find Work Inside
6. Keep your subject short and to the point. A well know email marketing management site, MailChimp, compared 40 million emails and deduced that the best subject lines were “pretty straightforward”, “not very salesy or pushy or slimy.” and even “boring”. Yet on the worst side the email subject lines “read like headlines from advertisements you’d see in the Sunday paper.”
Examples:
Website news – Issue 3
We’re Throwing a Party
7. Make the subject line stands out visually, make it appealing. While not appearing to flashy you can still look appealing. Usage of brackets or single word caps, special characters is OK if not overdone.
Examples:
Invitation From [YOUR COMPANY]
**ANNOUNCEMENT** 50% Off Today
==>> Open For Your Free Download
8. Use a call to action. If you want someone to do something, the fastest, easiest way to get them to do it is, ask them.
Examples:
Open for your discount code. (the ‘from’ line should clearly tell them who is offering them a discount.)
[Alert] Read this important update
9. Use the problem/solution formula. This formula is as rock solid as any marketing principle can be. Market to a need, solve a problem and you will be successful. The more helpful you are the more in demand you are.
Examples:
Have Acne? Gone in 5 Days
Computer Running Slow? Boost Speed With This
Need Extra Cash? This system made me $856 in 3 days.
10. Create a sense of urgency. There must be a realistic need with this. Any expiring offer must be real or you will hear about it from someone. It doesn’t do much for your credibility if you don’t stand by your declarations.
Examples:
[ALERT] Get 75% off today only!
This requires your [ATTENTION]
We need 5 people today!
So there you have my top ten tips for creating the perfect email subject line. The secret formula that makes it all work is this: put yourself in the shoes of the person you are marketing to. See yourself as the prospect, read your email and ask yourself if it is something that would be interesting.
It’s simple, if you were Bill Gates, would you be looking for a way to get out of debt?
Please like and share this with your friends or anyone that may be able to use the information.
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