How to get opens/how get someone’s attention back.
In part one, we explored the reasons why your subscribers aren’t engaging with you. Now, we are going to give you some solutions to these issues. No, we aren’t just the bearers of bad news!
Now, you’ve got your ducks in a row. You are a well-oiled, content-creating machine with an optimized list that is ready to receive your carefully crafted messaging. But for whatever reason, people aren’t paying attention to you. They aren’t opening your emails, and here’s the reason why – your subject lines are lame.
Your subject line is the first contact you will have with a prospective customer. It needs to say just enough to get them to open your email, but not too much that they already have all the information they need. It is a tricky balance, but when achieved it packs some pretty awesome benefits.
Understanding customer partiality with regards to subject lines.
You need to get inside your readers’ heads. Knowing what they want to hear is the key to writing a great subject line that scores high in terms of opens.
Be clear.
Diluting the message will only frustrate your reader or deter them from opening because they don’t know that the information on the other side is important.
Be specific.
The more specific you are, the better idea you give your recipients of the content of your email. We already learned how to ensure our content is great in part 1, so let your subject line be a sample of the full course meal to be found within the email.
If all else fails be brutally honest.
If you still aren’t getting those opens after trying to be clear and specific, be straight up. Tell your audience exactly what your email can give them. Don’t hold back. Your candor might earn you more credibility than you think.
Story consistency starts with the subject line (Don’t be irrelevant.)
Being irrelevant is a waste of your time and resources. This is true in all aspects of your marketing, including subject lines. You know how magazine articles usually have a small, one to two sentence descriptor below the title? Think of your subject line as a shortened version of this.
The subject line is the beginning of the story, and your email is a continuation of that same story. Or if that doesn’t exactly tickle your fancy, see it as a few word synopsis of your email’s content.
These tips will help you think of your subject line in the terms above.
Think of your subject line as a tagline for your email’s content.
Figure out how your subject line relates to your content.
Does it start a story?
Keep your subject line short.
Use pre-header text to continue the story.
Subject lines may seem like small details in the grand scheme of email marketing campaigns, but, if written poorly, they have the power to tank all your efforts. Put some thought into it, and don’t be afraid to experiment a little bit.
Here are some great examples:
I Lost A Bet
Happy Tuesday
Can I Pencil You In?
Need some more help brainstorming? Check out the book “Advertising Headlines that Make You Rich” – David Garfinkel
