Tick! Tick! Tick! Three seconds…
That’s all you have to capture the attention of someone reading your email. And if you fail, just say goodbye to all the time and effort you spent writing your message – because it’s gone! Right there in the same folder as all the SPAM and unwanted junk mail – ready to be deleted as soon as your reader finishes their morning coffee…
Did you know email reading behavior is changing in response to overwhelming amounts of spam? Can you guess how? Yep – the attention spans of email readers are getting even shorter! Needless to say, it’s critical to make the most of your introduction via your email subject lines.
DoubleClick.com is an email marketing powerhouse. They conduct a vast amount of surveys in regard to user behavior and emails. Several of the things they have discovered may shock you! However, they have found that the second biggest motivator in opening email are email subject lines? (The first is the “from” line.)
Because email subject lines are curtailed to about 40 characters, you have about three seconds to make your message stick! It is in this time you must supply your reader with enough information to make them “rip open” your message and start reading.
But how can you do this? Which types of email subject lines have proven to be successful? Here are my top three…
1. Email Subject Lines that Make Your Reader an Offer
In the fast-paced world of direct marketing, you should always: Lead with your best offer! Regardless of what your offer is, you want to supply your reader with your biggest discounts and greatest ideas up front! This ensures you seize their attention right off the bat. It’s even better if your offer happens to be time sensitive because it sneaks in a psychological motivator known as “urgency.”
A couple examples of email subject lines in this category include:
50% Off Jon Steel’s Powerful Marketing Psychology Tactics Today Only!
When You Get My Marketing Tactics Today – You Get These Too!
2. Email Subject Lines that State A Benefit
Features Tell, Benefits Sale! Let’s face it – No one cares about how many screws are in a bookcase. The only thing they care about is how many books that bookcase can hold. Benefits ALWAYS make powerful email subject lines. This is because they tell the reader what they are going to get when they open your message. This is powerful because it allows your prospect to imagine the need for your product or service. Here are a few email subject lines stating a benefit:
Ignite Your Profits with Marketing Psychology
Understanding Marketing Psychology Will Make You Rich!
3. Email Subject Lines that Evoke Curiosity
This is my personal favorite because it is one of the biggest psychological motivators of all! Everyone is curious to a point. It is how we learn and understand the world around us. But sometimes our curiosity can get the best of us – forcing us to want to know more! And this is a weakness you can use against them…
Some of the best email subject lines grab readers by stimulating their curiosity. A couple examples of curiosity generating email subject lines I have used include:
11 Marketing Tactics that Leave Prospects Begging to Buy from You!
Marketing Secrets the Experts Refuse to Share with You…
How to Make Wads of Cash using Marketing Psychology…
Of course, before you truly write powerful email subject lines that capture your reader’s attention, you need to understand what your audience needs! If you chisel out an email subject line that doesn’t appeal to your audience’s basic need – it will end up in the virtual dump in no time flat!
As I have learned the hard way, not every type of email subject line will work. Always test yours out first. The easiest way to do this is by setting up a Google AdWords campaign and analyzing the click through rates. This quickly tells you which email subject lines work without the risk of sending it to a massive list only to get a small response.
A second way to test is by sending your email to a smaller test list. If you “listen” to the response of these select few – they’ll tell you how the larger group will convert.
Whichever method you choose, make sure you know your target audience so you can develop relevant email subject lines! Then test until you create powerful subject lines that your readers beg to read – providing you with record-breaking open rates.
However, getting your prospect to open your message is only half battle! The next step is to know how to package and deliver your message so your prospect takes the action YOU desire. And this is where your persuasive skills are really put to the test…