4 Tips To Writing Killer Email Subject Lines
There’s a battle raging on inside your inbox right now
A battle for attention. Look at the 5 subject lines below. Which ones would you click on?
- Welcome to my newsletter
- Congratulations!
- 5 steps to become your own boss in 90 days
- eZine Issue #153
- Special offer. Buy now.
If you said #3 I don’t blame you. It stands out from the others, doesn’t it? And that’s exactly what you need to do with your subject lines.
Stand out.
See, most people get over 100 emails per day. Do you think anyone has time to read them all? Of course not.
They read the subject line and if it doesn’t catch their eye… DELETE! All that time you spent writing that email… all for nothing. Subject lines are vital to your email success.
So here’s my five top 5 tips for writing great subject lines.
- Keep your subject lines short (50 – 60 characters)
People read their emails on all sorts of devices. Desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile phones. The amount of space available to show your subject line will vary on each device. To be safe, keep your subject lines short, punchy and to the point.
- Use a proven template
I could talk about great subject line for hours. Instead, here’s a quick tip. The easiest and most effective subject lines you can write are “how to”.
- “How to lose 10 pounds”
- “How to get 1000 visitors in 30 days”
- “How to stop your dog peeing on the carpet”
For some extra punch and power use this formula: “how to [benefit] without [some pain]”.
For example: How to get hundreds of likes on Facebook quickly without spending a cent.
Want an interactive education on writing the best subject lines possible? Scan through your inbox and take note of subject lines that you can’t help but open.
- Avoid salesy words like “free” “special offer” and “sale”
Aggressive sales tactics don’t get you very far with email. You want to nurture and build a relationship with your readers. When you’re at home, how do you react to telemarketers? If you’re like me, I say ‘no thanks’ and hang up. Subject lines with sales tactics are the same.
Plus, email providers throw emails straight to spam if they detect “sales” words. Write subject lines that spike curiosity and provide real value.
- Always test your subject lines
Most email systems allow you to split test headlines. That means you can do a 50/50 split and see which subject line gets more clicks. Then once you’ve had enough results, you can test the ‘winner’ against another new subject line.
That way your emails get better and better over time. And in the end, that means more sales and commissions for you.
So there you have it. 4 tips to write better subject lines.