Email Marketing That Works:

Subject Lines, Short Messages and No Jokes

Is there anyone breathing who CAN’T spot junk mail in an inbox? A lot of us get spammed in Chinese! I can’t read Chinese so why are you sending me a pitch for your products? Most email spam gets dumped without opening. You don’t know if it contains a virus or even what the point of the email is. And why am I getting Chinese spam?

Web hosting provider explains direct email

Direct email works well – especially for start-ups. Web hosting provider explains direct email - It’s low- or no-cost, it’s directed at a specific buyer and, if handled properly, it will get you some site traffic. If done incorrectly, it’ll waste your time and the time of the thousands of people who send you straight to the digital dumpster.

The Subject Line

This isn’t a top secret strategy. It’s a strategy you use everyday when you send email to friends, co-workers, clients and customers. You include a short message in the subject box to let the recipient know who, what, where and other pertinent information – primarily information that tells the recipient that this isn’t spam.

So, when undertaking a direct email campaign your subject line should be straightforward and straight to the point. Forget the humor. Forget the curiosity factor (it doesn’t apply to spam – too many scammers). Just give the reader the straight facts.

Here are two subject lines for the same email. Which would you most likely open?

50% pre-holiday savings from the Craft Basket

or

Aren’t You the Crafty One?

If any reader picked the second subject line, please go stand in the corner. That second subject line is only cute if the reader opens the email and sees it’s from a website called the Craft Basket.

The 50%-off subject line gives the facts, gives the reader a reason to open the email and tells the recipient the email is from a trusted source – a name they recognize.

A couple of other subject line tips: Some e-tailers try to cram an entire pitch into the subject line. Keep your count to less than 30 characters. Less is more when subject lines are involved.

Avoid jargon: The New A-43s have arrived!!!

Great. What’s an A-43? You can’t assume the recipient is the expert. It may well be an administrative assistant or someone other than the intended reader, so even if the long-awaited arrival of the A-43s is big news, who’s going to know it? The intern who sorts through the email?

The Greeting

Your clever, straightforward subject line gets some people to open your email. Especially people with whom you’ve conducted business previously. Nothing like a repeat customer and an email address in the database.

Greet your reader by name and don’t start the hard sell right off the bat.

Hi, Bob,

Just a quick note to see if you’ve had time to consider that business opportunity we discussed last week. Etc., etc. etc.

No hard sell. Just a friendly follow up – personalized as much as possible.

If the best you can do is Dear Customer or Dear Sir or Madam, you’re not making that personal connection. You’re also not making as many sales as you could be.

The Message

Please, please, please – keep it short. No one – not even the most motivated buyer in the world – wants to read page after page of hype, followed by a sign-off followed by a PS, a PPS AND a PPPS. (Why can’t you get it all in the main body of the email? Is your memory really that bad?) Forget the PSs. It comes straight out of the “What Worked in 1997” handbook.

A paragraph or two – that should do it. In fact, if you can’t sum up the purpose of the email in a couple of paragraphs, the deal, the opportunity is too complex. Absolutely no more than a single email page – 150-200 words tops!

Here’s what readers want to know and in this order:

1. Why are you sending me an email?

2. What’s in it for me?

3. What do I have to do?

4. Is it worth the hassle?

Pretty simple. A five-year old can give you the answers you need – even of you’re selling those new A-43s everybody’s talking about.

The Call to Action

Absolutely every human being on the entire planet hates hype. Natives living in mud huts hate it. Your next-door neighbor hates it.

Subject Line: You Have Won $1,00,000!!!

Email text:

Dear Sir or Madam: <Warning! Danger! Run away; run away.>

Congratulations on your recent selection as the recipient of this year’s Person of the Year. Along with this prestigious honor, you will received a certified check….blah, blah, blah.

The call to action:

There’s $1 million dollars in a trust account in a U.S. bank that belongs to you. All you have to do is provide your bank account number and routing number and your winnings will be wired directly into your account. (You might just as well give them the keys to the safe deposit box, too.)

Forget the hype and keep the call to action simple because that’s what a call to action is – simple. People want direction. They want to know what they should do next. Your call to action provides those directions in a simple, accessible way.

We’re here to help you. Please contact us using the information below. No sales pressure. Just the facts about this unique business opportunity from someone who’s already found financial freedom using our revenue model.

You’re one click away from a better quality of life for you and your loved ones. Don’t miss this opportunity.

Click now.

Now that’s a call to action. It appeals to the instincts and emotions of the reader. Who wouldn’t be interested in a better quality of life for themselves and their loved ones? And, the reader receives an assurance of “no hype, just facts.” That’s what potential respondents want to hear.

The Embedded Link

You want the reader to access additional information from various pages of your website. Some people may want product information. Others may be looking for a local service provider (one of your franchisees, maybe).

So, make it easy for the reader to learn more, to sign up for additional information via email or newsletter. Capture that email address and add it to your growing database. Even if you aren’t making more sales (you will be) you’re gathering opt-ins for future email marketing. And, if that direct email does the job it’s supposed to do, you’ll be seeing more traffic and an improved conversion rate when you let your customers know about the:

Big 60% End of Season Blow-Out Sale on A-43s

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