Email is back with a vengeance. People keep on saying its dead and that coming up with terrific email subject lines that aren’t destined for the trash can is a futile pursuit, but it really isn’t. I believe that social media has saved email in a way and they make for a potent combination. Fact of the matter is that email is still the best way to reach out to all of the lucrative mainstream niches such as elderly men or even slightly older men. Younger types will not be bothered by even the best email subject lines since they will see it as spam, but this is not true of older people. Email subject lines need punch since they decide the fate of your email. But email has its own funkiness that needs to be injected for it to really work, like so.
Email subject lines are just like advertising headlines, just in a completely different context. An advertising headline decides whether you read on and whether you are interested or not. But check any email subject line you use and see if it is all of these four ‘U’s’
- Useful
- Ultra-specific
- Unique
- Urgent
Be uniquely identifiable
Getting the headlines right is one thing, but beyond that there needs to be quality too. Your emails should be easily identifiable from you. The look, the feel, the language, the flow and tempo, the urgency; everything should have your unique imprint. For instance, if I were to create a mailer for eBay, I’d say [eBay] before anything else in the subject line. Little things like this make a big difference. And keep thing short, because you’re not going to hold attention for very long, so make what you get count.
Grow the trust
At one time, people gave out email addresses more readily. Not anymore they don’t. So when someone does give you their email address, repay their trust and make it grow over time. Confirm the fact that they were right to repose their faith in you. You don’t bother with the subject line when you know it’s an email from that quirky high school friend, right? Similarly, fostering trust means email subject lines can grow irrelevant because there is a certain implicit trust. There is something special about being given the keys to someone’s email inbox. Don’t abuse that trust.
