The most important 50 characters of your email

(part 1) No matter how great your marketing email is, if you don’t entice subscribers to open it, you won’t benefit from the effort. That’s why your email subject line is so important. Those quick little phrases or sentences have the power to help subscri

If you have great marketing emails but still want to improve your open rates, there are methods you can use to spruce up your subject lines to better grab people’s attention. In this article, you’ll learn how to write enticing, compelling email subject lines that are more likely to get your emails opened and read.

Understand the importance of your subject line

The content of your marketing email is, of course, important. But subject lines are part of each and every email, and since they’re usually the first part that subscribers see, they may be the most important.

Your subject line has the ability to get people’s attention and give them a taste of what’s included in your email. The wrong subject line could turn people off, bore them, or cause them to overlook your email altogether. But the right one can entice them to keep reading; once you have their attention, you can share your actual message with subscribers to get them to support your business.

Marketing emails can be powerful, but they’re only as powerful as the people who read them. That’s why you need great email subject lines.

Have a goal in mind

In general, the goal for each of your email subject lines should be to get people to open and read your emails, but you can (and should) get more specific if you want to accomplish that main goal.

For instance, you may choose to try to get people’s attention by being informative. Pique their curiosity, or shock or surprise them with some new information. Be clear about what you want your email subject lines to accomplish and how you’re going to do it. That should give you a better chance of actually accomplishing your goals as opposed to just hoping for the best.

Keep it simple and short

If your subject line is so long that readers can’t get through it without losing focus, it doesn’t bode well.

Generally speaking, if you stick to 50 characters or less, subscribers should be able to quickly get an idea of what they can get out of reading your email. Sometimes even shorter, snappier titles can get a message across better. Your goal should be to use as few characters as necessary in order to provide a message of value to your readers.

Be specific.

Just because you have to be short doesn’t mean you have to be vague. Your subject line should include keywords that very clearly tell your audience what the email is about. You don’t have to give the whole thing away, but let readers know what they can get out of reading your email, rather than just offering a general subject area.

Additionally, the more specific you are, the more likely you are to get your message in front of the right people. For example, saying, “Double your leads in two weeks” is much more compelling — and thus more likely to get people to open an email — than, “Improve your business fast.”

Next week, we’ll look at how to “Write the right subject line for your subscribers”.