Everyday people are slammed with e-mails from multiple sources, many a result from inadvertent or impulsive sign-ups. Rather than hit the unsubscribe button (it takes time!), sometimes e-mails with uninteresting headlines get moved to spam or are ignored altogether. An unfortunate reality is that the e-mails people want to see get lost in the ocean of uninteresting, irrelevant, and often unnecessary e-mails. So how to stand out other than to inundate with daily e-mail blasts?
Quality content.
With growing technologies, responsibilities, and distractions, people’s attention spans have become increasingly limited. Limited attention coupled with an e-mail inbox overflowing with offers, reminders, and work demands is a recipe for magnified impatience (and intolerance for “same old, same old”). The good news? There are tips and tricks for winning e-mail subject lines. To help you get started, we’ve compiled five hacks to shake up your subject line game to ensure higher open rates.
Lead with a Number
Just as blogs beginning with x number of strategies, hacks, options (on and on) do better than wordier headlines, the same applies to e-mail subject lines. Quantifying what the recipient will receive provides direction and immediacy. “5 Tools to Improve LinkedIn Lead Conversion” will do better than “Learn LinkedIn Conversion Easily Today.” The second subject line is too nebulous whereas the former is much more concrete—value is built in from the outset. If the recipient knows immediately what’s included (tools, and 5 of them) inside the e-mail the likelihood of opening is increased.
The Magic of “How To”
Like the incorporation of numbers, how to subject lines also provide direction, immediacy, and instant value. People are busy and overwhelmed. “How-to” e-mails insinuate distilled solutions to recipients’ outstanding problems or frustrations. It’s important to focus on the benefit, rather than the process. “How to Become a LinkedIn Influencer,” “How to Gain 1,000 Instagram Followers.” Learning something quickly in an e-mail is a lot faster than Google research. Follow-up your how-to subject line with video and images relative to your recipients’ location. As a rule of thumb, be as personalized and unique as possible.
Dwindling Time or Supply
Whether you’re offering a service or a tangible product, your e-mail subscribers will respond to subject lines playing into their fear of missing out. Subject lines like “5 Days Left to Get Free Consultations!” or “1 More Day to Grab 50% Off ALL Coffees!” drive people to act. The key is to be mindful of the offer itself. #1 make sure it’s real and not just a ploy to get people to open e-mails (It happens…) and #2 ensure the offer itself has value.
The Event or Product Launch Broadcast
In a world dominated by digital media, instant gratification is more than just a “thing”—it’s a way of life. To that end, receiving news before anyone else can create feelings of excitement, inclusion, and satisfaction. In a recent study conducted by Campaign Monitor, the word “Introducing” increased the chance of opening by 9.45%. Finding content on the inside that is laser focused on customers’ location (i.e. events or launches catered just to them) will also enhance the e-mail experience.
Starting with a Clever Question
Beginning e-mails with questions is a quick way to get into recipients’ heads. Reading subject lines with questions can create curiosity about how the question pertains to their lives or what answers lurk inside the e-mails. Funny or seemingly ludicrous questions also can pique email recipients’ attention- “Have Your Blog Subscribers Ghosted on You??” “What’s Up with All These How-To E-mails?!”
By starting with better subject lines, you set the precedent for better content. Once this step is completed, you’re on your way to even more dynamic and personalized e-mails. Of course, bear in mind, the more your recipients become accustomed to your e-mails containing fantastic content on the inside, the more they’ll open your e-mails without a second glance at the subject line. This does NOT mean it’s time to get lazy in your e-mail subject copy, but, remember to take the dynamism from the inside out.
Interested in learning more on how to make your email content dynamic and relevant – let us know!
