How You Can Create Winning Email Subject Lines
In last week’s post I gave you a challenge. (In case you missed it, click here to read.) I asked you to guess which email subject line resulted in more opens from two recent email blasts we sent. Did you guess right?
Here are the winners:
Campaign #1
A. Why You Don’t Need A Blog Calendar – The Winner
B. Why I Trashed My Blog Calendar
Campaign #2
A. Blogging is Not a Pain in the Arse
B. Afraid of blogging? Think About This: – The Winner
So what does this all mean? To create winning email subject lines, you must speak directly to your ideal client. You have to get into her head.
Subject line tests are a great way to find the language that resonates with your audience. Here are some questions to consider before you start writing: How does your ideal client speak? What kinds of words does she use? How does she feel about what you have to offer?
And you have to make it about her, not about you. Campaign 1 is a great example of this. The winning subject was the one with the word “you” rather than “I”.
What is her hot button or biggest fear? I know my audience struggles with creating blog content. The subject line that received the most opens in Campaign 2 speaks directly to the fear of blogging. So it’s not surprising that it was the winner.
The big take-away is this: Tie your subject lines directly back to your ideal client’s most pressing needs. Keep in mind that the only thing going on in her head when she makes a split second decision to take the next step (in this case, open your email) is…
“What’s in it for me?”
So next time you prepare an email blast, write the content first. Then, create a few potential subject lines. Choose two that you like the best and then conduct a split test to see what really works. After a few split tests, you’ll start seeing patterns in which subject lines get the most attention. And then you can refine from there and more consistently create winning email subject lines that catch the attention of your ideal customers.
Cool, right?
