We hear it all the time – the money is in the list! However, building a list simply isn’t enough to grow a sustainable, profitable online business.
Just because you have the chance to land in someone’s email inbox doesn’t mean they will take the time to read what you say. People are busy, and if your email subject lines aren’t captivating, they will likely be deleted without being opened.
Below, we will look at seven things you can do to improve the subject lines of the emails you send your subscribers, which should help increase your open rates!
Short and Sweet
More and more people use mobile devices and tablets to check their email these days. If your subject line is 100 characters, most of this will be cut off. In some cases, the most effective part of your subject could be hidden from view.
Remedy this with shorter, more substantial email subject lines. Keep the character count to 50. Remove words that aren’t important, such as “Newsletter”, and pack more punch with a shorter, more direct phrase.
Personalize the Subject
The “know, like, and trust” factor is essential when you are trying to communicate with someone via email. They need to feel like you are speaking directly to them, and not sending a mass message to thousands of people.
Personalizing the subject line with the recipient’s first name is a great way to make it feel more individualized – and therefore, more likely to get opened and read. Most email providers allow you to use a special tag that will populate the subscriber’s name into the subject line when the broadcast is sent out.
Use Open-Ended Questions
Incorporating a question into your subject line is an effective way to get your subscribers to click through. They may be struggling to answer the question and feel that your email will help.
Close-ended questions, those that require a single word answer (usually yes or no) aren’t good for this type of interaction. If the reader can answer the question without much thought, they likely won’t click through to read.
However, if you use an open-ended question, your subscriber may not know the answer right away – so they will open your message to learn more. A good example of an open-ended question: “In what area of [your niche] are your struggling most?”
Include Irresistible Adjectives
A subject line really falls flat if it isn’t enticing. Including adjective that grabs your subscriber’s attention is a great way to make your email stand out in his inbox, and hopefully garner a read.
Words like “sizzling hot” or “tantalizing” will always get more clicks than “good” or even “great”. Use a thesaurus to help you find appealing words that capture your list’s interest.
A/B Test your Subject Lines
Split testing your subject lines will give you a more customized look at the words and phrases that work best for your subscribers. If your autoresponder provider offers this feature, take advantage by crafting two subject lines for the same email.
Over time, running these tests will start to show important results on the styles of subjects get more opens from your list.
Avoid Spammy Language
If you aren’t careful, your email subject line could land your entire message in the spam or junk folder – which will tank your open rates. SimplyCast has put together over 100 Email Spam Trigger Words that you should avoid at all costs when crafting your subject lines.
Add a deadline
Creating a sense of urgency in your subject line is likely to get your subscriber to open the email as soon as they receive it. This is just one of the reasons why you should make products or even free offers time sensitive.
Adding phrases like “read now” or “ends tonight” will boost your open rates and have more people interacting with your emails.
No matter how great your message, if your email subject lines aren’t capturing attention, you will likely fail with marketing to your list. It’s vital that you learn how to create subject lines that makes someone want to click every time they see your name in their inbox!
