Marketing to Customers: What's Working Now in E-Mail Subject Lines; The Top 10

The Job Of E-Mail Subject Lines is To, Well, Get Your Message Read, Isn't It?

Is This Your Current Top 10, Too? (With a nod to Dave Letterman's Retirement)
By Steve Lanning

Having spent the better part of my working life with direct mail, I've got to confess that I'm still working to get the hang of digital marketing. People have told me, hey, you did OK in direct mail marketing, this is the same thing only electronic.

I suppose it is, but...

Like many in the Quad State business arena, I am glad I have access to some great marketing people when I need to tap into the thinking of others. And we all should have an 'iron sharpens iron' attitude, yes?

We have compiled a list of subject lines that you may have seen in your In Box recently. See how many of these you can use in your business. Remember, everyone's business audience values things a little differently--even a competitor's audience may.

1.  BREAKING NEWS

This is really an attention grabber when you have a special occasion, a special sale a once-only event that you need to get noticed. All of the subject lines listed here have enjoyed right around a 7% to 10% open rate from an in-house list. They are listed in the way they should look in your customer's Inbox. For instance, 'breaking news' should be written in bold, all caps. The promise is that the reader will indeed find something new if they open it up.

2. Facebook Traffic Is Dead...

This was for an information product that was sold in a variety of ways with an autoresponder series. (Note: all these lines are to be used in an autoresponder series of some type.) The ellipsis after the headline invites the reader to ask why--especially if they are or are planning a Facebook campaign. This is different than the native ads that show up in the darnedest of places once you have shown an intereTst. This is looking for a direct sell from a website. Not to create leads.

3.  Everybody's Waiting For You...

This really works on me--on a webinar that I signed up for but it conflicts with what I'm currently doing. This subject line really puts the reader who never likes to inconvenience anyone on a great guilt trip. "You signed up for this and now you are keeping your fellow attendees waiting until you show up? How rude."  Yeah, right. You KNOW you are not keeping everyone waiting but , gee whiz, I don't want people to think ill of me. Ha! This would probably work even better in a Google Circle event where the audience is only around a dozen or less.

4. Kindle Bestseller in 4 Days?

This appeals to the writer in all of us. We know Amazon's Kindle to be 'the' publishing powerhouse so this will get us to look at information product type offers. The type of subject line works best for an information product. Many Quad State business owners could develop one, two or several additional revenue streams by developing and selling a 'teaching' type of information product.

5.  How Are You Making These Mistakes in Your Business?

Developing a pitch for a professional service aimed at small business owners is a tough nut to crack as most business owners have been around the proverbial block a few times themselves. I have used this line as a heading in a direct mail letter with go a od success in years past. Naturally, the thrust of this subject line is to get the reader thinking "Yes, I may be under selling my business potential. I'd better click on this to see what this person is saying..."

6.  Facebook Closing Down?

Now you KNOW Facebook isn't closing down, but inwardly you are thinking that maybe something happened to Facebook and you have to see what it is. It kind of hits the same nerve as BREAKING NEWS above. This got a huge 8% open rate for a lead generation product. Having subject lines boarding on the preposterous is a two-edged sword however.  The same 'blade' that can cut through an audience's attention span can also backfire and cut the response with the other side. The tie-in copy must flow from the opening line. NEVER 'fool' an audience. The 'just kidding' type e-mail subject lines get you into more trouble than they are ever worth.

7.  Need My Help?

This is mostly for the singleton marketing their services. It is a solid qualifier for many types of services: legal, accounting, consulting and so forth. The body of the e-mail usually contains a testimonial or two o f happy customers along with how a problem was sold. The big connection between problems and services should not go unnoticed. "Have you ever known someone with a wet basement with that damp, dark musky smell? Well, we fix basements like new so that you can invite friends over with confidence. Recently..." And then the copy goes on to tell a success story.

8.  Will This Kill Your Business In 2014?

This is taking a news event or some development in your industry and explaining the problem, the solution and how your product or service will help the reader's business do great things in 2014 rather than close. This is a good subject line because the reader's curiosity gets the best of them and they click to open.  Good for products, services, webinars, seminars or one-to-one meetings, people have a great fear (as in Maslow's Fear, Need, Greed hierarchy) to 'watch over their business with all diligence' to commandeer a biblical quote. 

9.  Questions Answered About Our....

Fill in the word after 'our.' This is for your in-house list that you have been cultivating over time.  You have just come up with a new product or service--or there is a seasonal offer. These are people who have followed your  business perhaps for years. The body copy would consist of something like, "Spring is here with a vengeance and you are itching to get out into the yard. If you had questions about our landscaping course here at Sam's Nursery and Garden Center, Dave Thomas, the terrific instructor we had last year is available to take your lawn and garden questions right now. Give Dave a call at..." This is not a prospecting headline but is most effectively used as a continuing customer gambit. Of course it can work with prospects, too.

10. This Single 'Weird Trick' Is What Is Helping (target audience) to (problem solved)

You have seen this in so many variations over the last few weeks and months. The phrase 'weird trick' is what many different kinds of businesses have found useful in getting attention in their subject lines.  Inquiring minds always want to know a weird trick!

 

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First published: www.QuadStateBusinessJournal.com