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How To Write Persuasive Subject Lines
By Karon Thackston
April 16, 2006
Three seconds and 40 characters. That's all you usually have to work
with when trying to get and hold the attention of someone reading
email. And with user behavior changing so much in response to
overwhelming amounts of spam, the attention spans of email readers are
getting shorter. Needless to say, it's vital to make the most of your
introduction via the email subject line.
Email marketing powerhouse DoubleClick.com conducts annual surveys
with regard to user behavior when it comes to email. A couple of the
statistics from their latest findings are interesting. The
second-biggest motivator in opening email is the subject line. (The
first is the "from" line.)
Because subject lines are often truncated at around 40 characters --
and because email readers usually have their index fingers poised over
the delete button -- we're left with about three seconds and
approximately six words to make an impression. So what works? Which
types of subject lines have proven to be successful? Here are my top
three:
1. Make An Offer
It's an old sales cliche that still holds true in the fast-paced world
of cyberspace: Lead with your best offer. Whether a product,
service, or proposal, you want to tell people up front about your
deepest discounts, your fastest delivery, or your grandest idea. Get
their attention right off the bat, and you'll likely have your message
read. (It's even better if your offer happens to be time-sensitive.)
Examples include:
"Half Off Leather Boots Until March 1st"
"Top 10 Reasons To Attend [Whatever]"
"Your Link on High-ranking Web Pages"
2. State a Benefit
Since the majority of consumer and B2B customers live in the "what's
in it for me" world, benefits always make powerful subject lines.
Telling the readers what the end results of their actions will be
helps them visualize the need for your product or service. Here are a
few examples based on the subject lines above:
"Wear Fall's Hottest Trends for 50% Off"
"Learn [Whatever] in Only Two Days"
"Build Link Popularity & Traffic for Your Site"
3. Evoke Curiosity
We're all nosy to a point. Our curiosity gets the best of us, and we
want to know more. That's not only true when it comes to watching
movie previews on TV. It's also true for email as well. Some of the
best subject lines hook readers by piquing their curiosity, and then
reel them in to read the entire message.
"Are You Still Wearing These Fashion "Don'ts"?"
"The Secrets to [Whatever] Never Before Revealed"
"Link-popularity Scams You Should Avoid"
Of course, the key to writing the best subject lines is knowing your
target customers, making the topic relevant, and testing, testing,
testing.
The other interesting fact from the DoubleClick email survey is that
relevancy is a major player. Over 55% of respondents said they
deleted email that wasn't relevant because they considered it spam.
DoubleClick also reported that the average open rate was 27.5% (for
text or HTML messages). That gives you a baseline to gauge your
success.
Not every type of subject line will work for every campaign. Testing
is vital. And it's easy enough to do. One of my favorite ways is to
set up a Google AdWords campaign and judge the clickthrough rates.
This quickly (and cheaply) tells you which subject lines will work and
which won't. You can also test your subject lines by sending your
emails to a smaller test list before broadcasting to the entire group.
Whichever styles of subject lines you choose, make sure you know your
target audience so you can develop relevant subject lines. Then test
and test again until you've created subjects that are highly
persuasive and deliver record-breaking open rates.
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