Subject Lines Can Make or Break Your Email Success
Email marketing can be a smart marketing investment. “Can” meaning unless the email is ignored, doesn’t get opened or if opened, is so boring it doesn’t get read. Or if you send too often as to be annoying. Otherwise, you can see why stats show that every dollar spent on email marketing generates about $40 in ROI (according to Direct Marketing Association).
Contractors have a lot to gain from a cost-effective strategy that pushes enticing messages into hundreds of inboxes at a moment’s notice. And the place to start being smart is in your subject line.
Choose clarity over cleverness. Clever is good; we like it. But don’t sacrifice the opportunity to convince someone to open your email just because you enjoy your own copy. Just go straightforward, no-nonsense.
Copywriting experts have devised this formula for headlines and subject lines – make it useful, ultra-specific, unique and urgent. When you can do all four, great. Use two or three, and you’re still ahead of the pack. Example: “This month, get healthier air – without paying through the nose.”
Don’t lie. Yeah, this should have been obvious. But it has to do with whether the content of your email keeps the promise you make in the subject line. Make sure you live up to the reason someone opened your email. Otherwise, you lose the lead, and your next email tanks because of lack of trust.
Be concise. Your email subject line has a big job to do to stand out among oodles of others in the inbox. Brevity joins clarity and honesty in your subject line success lineup. Sticking to 6 to 10 words tends to work best.
Avoid those pesky spam triggers. As incredible as your offer and services are, it seems some spam filters just don’t want you to get the word out. So watch your words, particularly those like “free” “sale” “cheap.” Sadly, they sound so salesy.