Have you ever received an email from a potential client or customer? If so, you know that the first thing that matters is the subject line. You should consider your subject line carefully, as it can make or break your business.
The subject line is often the first thing that a potential client or customer sees when they open an email. You should use this opportunity to showcase your value and make it easy for them to read more about you, whether they are interested in what you offer or not. This can also lead them down the right path so that they don't end up deleting your message!
Having good email subject lines for sales is important to increase open rates and to have the most effective marketing strategy.
I'm sure you've received emails from sales people that read: "Would like $20 off your new car purchase today?" or "Get $100 cashback on your next vacation." What do these subject lines say about what's inside? And how does this help them sell more effectively? Keep in mind, many people do not reply to these emails, and many more are too busy to read them.
The first thing you need is a catchy subject line that will catch their attention quickly. Then they can find out what it's about without having to click through the entire email (if someone does decide to open your email). So don't make them work for it! Here are some tips on writing effective Email Subject Lines for Sales:
1. If you have a lot of information to present, use action words or phrases that will make it easy for the reader to understand what your email is about. If possible, avoid using more than two sentences in your subject line.
Use action words or phrases that describe the main benefit of your offer. These include things like "free", "bonus" and so on. For example, if you are trying to get people to sign up for a free trial period, try something like this: Free Sample - Find out why everyone is raving about X-Ray Vision™ (From an actual email I received...)
2. Avoid 'selling' adjectives such as: "new," "latest" and similar ones with negative connotations . Instead try something like this: "Product review: Your new favorite pencils."
3. Keep it real
You don't need to sell the product in the subject line. Instead, try writing something related to your target market and their interests using a "how-to" approach or common experience that they share.
For example: How To Get an iPhone X for FREE
4. Keep it short & sweet
In general, most people check their emails very quickly before moving on with other things. A long subject line is less likely to be read.
Try and keep it between 5-15 words, for the best results. If you need more room, just break it up into multiple lines (use commas or spaces) with a short subject line at the beginning that tells people what your email is about: "This week's top tips..."
If you had unlimited email marketing space in your inbox, then yes, 2 sentences is fine because there will be no competition and people's eyesight won't get irritated by their bodies trying to decipher a long subject line too . However, the reality is that you are limited to 1-2 sentences, and far too many marketers would rather take up more space than what they actually require.
If this is your situation, then make sure each sentence segues into the next one as well as being concise enough to not confuse people by using long words but also wordy ones at a push (just don't go overboard!). The ideal subject line should be short and sweet; it should have all the information that people are really looking for and should not be confused with anything else in any way.
5. Keep them interested/motivated by adding clarity in an extra paragraph of detail after they've clicked on your link
To keep people interested and motivated, try adding something like "This is a brand new article" or "The next step." These two examples show how you can use the 'clarifying' approach to motivate readers.
6. Avoid using the word "and" or '&'
This is a common mistake email marketers make and one of the biggest tips I can give to you as well as everyone else that wants to become more effective with their email marketing. The reason this is so important is because your subject line needs to be simple enough for people's eyesight but also should get them interested in what exactly you are offering at the end without confusing them about what it actually is.
If your subject line uses the words "and" or '&' (also known as a conjunction) you simply cannot accomplish this at all because people will assume that what follows might be something other than what they are looking for in their inbox and thus instantly discard whatever you have sent them to read immediately without even reading it at all.
The exception to this rule would probably be if you were writing out of curiosity such as an article about a product that you have never seen or heard of before and are looking for feedback on its effectiveness.
7. Quote from an authoritative figure or quote from a popular blog post ruling out spammy subject lines.
Sending someone an email about a "snake oil" diet product doesn't make it sound like something they would want to read, so why would you send them such a message? When you add "quote" or "from" to the beginning of your subject lines, you are already stating that what follows is something to be read by someone who has a need for such information.
For example:
8. Avoid Subject Lines That Contain Personal Information or Brag About Your Product/Service. This includes things such as your name, email address and phone number.
As I've mentioned before in some of my articles, avoiding the use of personal information in subject lines is one of those areas that you should avoid at all costs because if someone decides to forward it on they will then have no idea who wrote the message which could potentially lead to a lot of confusion for them or even potential legal issues down the road.
While these days some businesses are legally allowed to use a person's name in their subject lines, the fact remains that it still makes people feel uncomfortable and unsure about what they are reading.
I personally don't like using my full email address as part of my company name because I'm not sure how many others will ever see it, but some companies do this as is legally required for them whereas others have chosen to keep their personal information out of their business names so you can choose whatever works for you.
9. Don't Use Exclamation Marks! Some people will highlight this one as don't say it, but that isn't entirely correct because when you do use exclamation points in your subject lines and emails, there is a very good chance that these are going to be opened by someone who doesn't like being told what to do or feel compelled to forward them on. So even if they aren't exactly identifying you by name, they are still getting an extra dose of your message and that is what they want.
10. Be Specific! I've seen some emails sent out with a subject line like "We're planning on ____" which isn't specific enough so the recipient will have no idea what the email might be about or why it's important to them when there are other companies using very similar words in their titles but forwarding products to their customers. So you want to make sure that your email is so specific and catchy that people will be compelled to open it but also not have any doubt about what the message actually means or why they should care.
11. Don't Just Tell People What To Do! Sending email subject lines for sales like "Send us your order information" might get someone in, but if they don't realize who you are, then all of the work you put into crafting a message to them will be wasted on someone who doesn't care. So you want the email that they open to really ask something of them like "We'd love your order information" or "Please send us all of your details so we can get this set up for you."
12. Be Comprehensive! In my opinion, there is no better way to catch someone's eye in an email than by first making sure that their inbox is clear so that they don't have anything else to read and then providing them with everything they need in one brief message. So be sure to include the most important pieces of information first, but also make sure you give a quick overview at the bottom as well if there are more details or other things someone might want from your company.
13. Give an Example! I know it's tempting to just write "We're getting ready for our opening weekend" and leave it at that, but you can bet your bottom dollar that if a customer isn't really sure who or what "we" are then they won't take the time to read the message. So give them an example of how your business works in some way so that they know exactly what's going on and why this is important information for them.
14. Don't Be Pushy! Many companies send emails like "We 'd love your order information right away -- it will only take a minute" or "Sign up today and be one of the first to get this set up." These are not very friendly, so try to avoid being pushy when you're asking for something. If someone already has an account with you, then they probably have at least some idea what's going on, but if they don't, there might still be a good reason why they need all of the information you're asking for. And there's no need to be rude -- people are usually more than happy to give you their details and get your business off the ground!
15. Be Simple, but Not Too Simple! I know that this is a very delicate line to walk when it comes down to catching someone's eye in an email because if everything on your contact form or website is so simple, then they won't even bother downloading anything from you. But if you're too complicated, it might be hard to read or very confusing, so try to strike a balance between being simple and not being too complicated.
Bonus Tip
Keep it casual (but not too casual).
This email is from the site The Big Day Out , which has sent out a ton of emails as I'm sure you're familiar with by now to promote their upcoming festival in New York City. This one, however, starts off with a very casual sentence: "Hey! We hope this finds you well." It then goes on to say that they've just launched some new products and they want people who are interested in what they're doing to contact them. And the last line of this email is a statement that says, "We love hearing from you," which really finishes it off perfectly!
I hope this post has been helpful for you and that it's starting you off on a great email marketing journey! If there are any emails out there that have really inspired your own, let me know.
In conclusion, I think that the best way to start off your email marketing campaign is by finding a great subject line. This will help you set up your entire email in a good way and get people excited about what they're going to read. After that, it's all about making sure you have a clear call-to-action at the end of each email so that people know exactly what they should do next and are more likely to see it as the best thing for them to do.
