If your email marketing campaign involves mass email (hopefully this is all of you), then you know just how difficult it can be to craft great subject lines on a mass scale. How do you come up with something catchy without coming across as spam? How do you convey information without your subject line sounding like a sales pitch? The best marketers have already mastered this skill, so read on to take your email marketing game to the next level.
LET’S START WITH THE BAD
What don’t you want your email subject line to be? Well, take a second and think about all the email you get on a daily basis. Chances are it’s a lot, and changes are you delete most of it. Most companies now use email autoresponder messages to “check in” with you on a daily (hourly? sometimes it seems that way) basis.
I throw most emails away, because most subject lines tell me immediately that I’m not interested in what they’re offering. For example, “Take Our Customer Survey” is a pretty common email subject, and I usually delete those on the spot. Why? Because I don’t want to take a survey! I think I speak for most of us here when I say that I tend to think that I’m too busy (whether or not I actually am) to take some company’s survey.
A better line might be, “We want to hear from you!” or better yet, “Want to complain? We’re listening!” Each of these subjects is provocative, yet calls the reader to action. In an inbox full of generic mass email messages, this one stands out and gets clicks.
NOW FOR THE GOOD
I’ve spent enough time talking about what you don’t want, so how about what you do? Here’s what I’ve learned in a career of both sending and receiving mass emails.
First, it’s got to have some meat to it. I’ll explain what that is – each subject needs to either highlight a deal, ask a question, or be flat-out catchy – a term that can include a clever reference to the news or an urgent “call to action.” The best emails I’ve seen combine all of these things – they pitch a great deal to the reader while signifying a certain urgency, as in “Don’t miss your chance to save 30%” or “Save up to 50% with this week’s coupons.”
Second, it needs to be short. Remember that the high volume email client that you sent this email blast from might display text differently than other people’s email programs. Say what you need to say in 35 characters or less.
Third, your email needs to be from a trusted source. Think about setting up a dummy account with employeename@companyname.com. People respond better to personal-seeming emails, and since it’s a dummy email you don’t have to worry about replies clogging up your inbox.
A CLOSING WORD
You’ve probably seen enough mass emails to know what you’re doing by now, but hopefully the above tips have helped you get a better feel for your strengths and weaknesses. Just remember, when sending a mass email, to make it something that you might want to open if it showed up in your inbox. Follow that rule and you’ll have mad bread to break up before you know it.