If you are familiar with email marketing, then you understand the importance of email open rates. Only a portion of the people that you send emails to will actually open the email.
Intense effort goes into every campaign that we create: the design, the content, the subject line and send time are all subject to scrutiny to get the three core metrics of opening rate right.
For this reason, you need to grab your reader`s attention with the subject line. Unfortunately, creating an effective subject line isn’t an easy task. People get a lot of emails and don’t have time to read everything that comes through their inbox.
You don’t need to rethink your entire email marketing strategy. With a little bit of tweaking, you can learn how to improve your email open rates.
Your Subject Line Needs to Be Short
Subject lines are the gatekeepers to your emails and the first thing that the recipient sees in their inbox. A good subject line can dramatically increase the likelihood that your email will be opened.
Your subject line should contain no more than 8 words, It should be short, clear, concise and to the point. If the subject line is too long, it’ll take too long to read, which will result in lower open rates.
Keeping the subject line short also forces you to strip away unnecessary words and you are forced to create a clear, direct message with your subject line.
Leave the Recipient Wanting More
Leave a little bit of mystery to the subject! While you should be direct with your subject line, you likewise would prefer not to give everything away. The recipient should want to read more.
For instance, you might state, “Your best online marketing tips are ready.”
With this subject line, the reader knows that the email will contain marketing tips or a link to tips. However, they don’t know much else. This is easy to do. Typically, you just need to cut your headline in half.
A full headline might have read, “Discover the best online marketing tips for increasing conversion rates.” By removing the last half of the headline, and personalizing the beginning, you’re left with a short, powerful subject line.
Use Alliteration in Your Subject Lines
The repeated occurrence of the same letter is known as “Alliteration”. It makes titles, headlines and subject lines stand out. They’re more amusing to read and more prone to bring about an opened email.
Using the previous instance, “More marketing tips to help you make money.”
When you’re scrolling through multiple emails in your inbox, the repetition of the same letter attracts your eye to the subject line. This small difference can have a big impact on whether or not you open an email.
Use Second-Person Narrative
When crafting your subject lines, you should maintain the use of second-person narrative. The words that you’re reading right now are written in second person. Second-Person narrative is a little more personable than third-person, where there is no pronoun. It involves the use of “you” and “your” in your subject line and copy.
Look at the following two examples:
Your best online marketing tips are ready
The best online marketing tips are ready
The second illustration doesn’t have an indistinguishable effect from the first, and it doesn’t make any connection with the reader.
Basically, you need to include “you” somewhere in your subject line.
Always Test Multiple Subject Lines
Since no two email lists are the same, it is extremely important to test two separate subject lines when you send out a round of emails in order to maximize your email marketing efforts. A/B split testing allows you to compare two variations of the same email. You can look at the results and easily see which subject line worked best.
Each time you check these results, make a note of the difference between the two subject lines. This will enable you to realize what works and what doesn’t. Crafting effective subject lines requires practice. Therefore, remember to test multiple subject lines, keep them short, and speak to your reader.
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One Response
Wow this is a really great. Keep up the good work!