NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED & EASILY OFFENDED. "Open Now", we see this all the time... So here I try to understand why a subject line matters and relate it to shockingly common attitudes many of us have witnessed.
"Why would I worry about a subject line, it's clicks I need"...... yes, ultimately it is clicks you need.... but where will they come from if no one opens your email in the first place?..... How will you make revenue from emails if no one looks at them, let alone engages with them. If you are reading this blog, there must be a scratch of intrigue or intention to improve your current emails / ways of working - but please bear in mind, this is a very blunt and basic blog, which people from inside and outside of the marketing sector will (hopefully) enjoy.
Now I know this sounds like a really simple and painfully easy topic, but it is shocking how many marketing professionals do not value their email marketing subject lines. A subject line is 90%* of the time a last-minute decision.
Imagine a subject line is like a shopping bag.... you need one, it's going to carry your email for you. Let's say your email is new jumper (sweater, if you're reading this from across the pond), and you need a bag (subject line) to wrap up your jumper. But then to your annoyance, the bag pulled out by the sales assistant to place the jumper in is disgusting - It's been used countless times before and it even has the odd hole in it (maybe in email terms this is a missing piece of data which its personalisation is reliant on; and with it missing, it looks pathetic). It just really doesn't suit you; the shop or your jumper.... "I can't walk down the street with this?!"
So here you have a great new jumper, it's just what you want and you cannot wait to show it off...... but it's in a shit bag.... a really... shit... reused bag. When you question about the bag before you leave the shop, you're told by your older, 'sensible' friend standing next to you "It's only a bag! It'll do the job". You reluctantly walk away - disappointed and thinking your mate Dave is a cheap bellend.
Now an email is not a Jumper. And shopping bag (which costs 5p in the UK!) is not a subject line.... now let's flip that back to my point.
Now imagine you have an amazing email. It's beautiful, clearly represents your brand, gets your message across, mobile-responsive and tagged up to the eyeballs! MWAH!!! You could kiss your designer Steve!! (that's if he didn't grin at you across the office with a bit of biscuit stuck in his beard). Then you need a crisp, edgy and attention grabbing subject line.... you look around, searching for inspiration..... Nadda....
"Well the email is about summer isn't it?" asks Jenny, the young know-it-all.... "Yesss" you answer with one eyebrow raised; waiting for a spark of brilliance but preparing for let down bigger than Tony Blair's Millennium Dome.... (google it)
"So let's do "Here's some great items for the summer".......
Okay, don't lose your shit.... Gold medal to Jenny for pointing out the obvious here.
Then, Simon comes over to you. Simon is the Head of CRM / Email Marketing. He takes one look at you struggling to decide a subject line and says "Just go with 'Don't miss out - check out our great new items'... It works every time, it'll do the job."
Now.... think back to that bag. That rubbish bag did the job... Bellend Dave said the same thing...
The difference is you've already invested into the contents of your shopping bag, your customers however have not even seen, let alone invested in the content of your email.
Why will they bother opening another email with yet another generic, half-arsed subject line. If you go with a subject line with no intelligent use of preview subject line, no smart use of data, no personalisation, no reference to brand personality, no seasonality or psychological triggers (just to name a few) then sadly you're never going to break through the 215 BILLION emails sent in the world every-fricking-day.
So please, by the power of Greyskull, the Queen or Grumpy Cat (what ever floats your boat) start planning your subject lines from the moment you come up with the purpose of your email. And, learn to love your preview or super subject line just as much.
Would you like to know more? (Yes, yes 'Starship Trooper' reference)
Subject line 'dos and don't' blog will be available by the start of September.
'Super' preview subject lines blog coming by the 10th September.
Until then, love your subject lines just as much, if not more than your content - without them you might as well make your designer Steve, and his biscuity-beard, redundant.
OB x
*Not a scientifically proven percentage - an estimation on my experience.
** Bellend - British slang for penis.
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