The subject is the subject
A quick word on the subject line. It’s your opportunity to intrigue, grab attention and prompt a click. So be intriguing, be creative and put as much thought into your subject line as you do you email headline. Think of it like this - if your email subject made front page news what headline would the editor use to prompt his readers to pick up the paper and read the story?
Here’s a few tips on writing an effective subject line:
- 40-50 characters max’ - so be concise
- be creative - intrigue your recipient
- DON’T USE ALL CAPS - IT LOOKS LIKE SPAM
- Don’t overuse punctuation such as exclamation marks!!!!
- Don’t overuse the word “Free” (’at no cost’ is usually better)
- Don’t lie or pretend to be something you’re not - that’s a spammers trick
Yeah - that’s completely right - 95% of the emails I delete, I haven’t even looked at the content - I’ve just read the subject, and it looks like it’s not worth reading.
I think this is especially the case when reading email on a mobile client (Blackberry / Smart phone etc.) - I preview most my mail on a PDA - and by default, only the subject and sender details are downloaded - All the mails with irrelevant looking subjects get deleted immediately, without even downloading.
There you go. That illustrates perfectly how important the subject line is and yet it’s probably the most neglected element of most campaigns.
Doesn’t matter how good your email, product or service is. If your subject line doesn’t intrigue, it isn’t going to get read.