The average number of emails a person receives on a regular day is 121. That’s not a typo, you read that right. With all this clutter, there is not denying that you need to get creative to get recipients to open your emails!
Competition is ferocious but you’ll have the upper hand if you craft a subject line worthy of attention. Read on to find out what you can do to stand out from the crowd.
- Create a sense of urgency
According to the Email Institute, email subject lines that create a sense of urgency can lift open rates by up to 22%!
People don’t like to miss out, so coming up a subject line that creates a sense of urgency will make recipients want to move quickly. You can do this by offering limited quantities of a product that is popular, offering a limited time deal and a small window to sign up for something like a webinar, discount or a free e-book.
Whatever you want people to do doesn’t have to necessarily expire within a few hours, but you can’t create this sense of urgency if your offer is available at any given time.
- Build excitement with authority
Influencers are hot now. These people are in direct touch with their audience and they have millions of followers paying attention to everything they do, even the things they purchase and services they use.
Every industry will have a different set of people to choose from, but influencers will sort of validate your offer, which is very important in the current market where everyone has an opinion on every product/service out there.
Find someone relevant and leverage their presence and following to your advantage.
- Leverage personal recommendations
Before you start crafting your perfect subject line, make sure you think about your recipients. Do you know anything about them? Maybe their interests, or what they like, or even a problem they need to fix and with which you could help? Everything counts when making your message personal.
According to a recent study, personalized emails deliver six times higher transaction rates but less than 30% of brands use personalization. Don’t skip this step and you’ll see better numbers in your next campaign.
- Make a splash with emojis
Emojis aren’t just for texting and tweets. According to a study, 56% of brands that use symbols and emojis in their subject lines have a higher-than-average unique open rate.
According to the study:
The black heart symbol ♥ is the most popular but only lifts open rates by 2.2%
Of the five most popular symbols, the black sun with rays had the highest lift in open rates (14.9%)
Trying different symbols can add a ‘wow’ factor to subject lines. For example airplanes lift open rates by 10.7% while umbrellas generated a 50% lift.
Seeing a colorful emoji in an otherwise black and white inbox is definitely eye catching and adds a playful element to what may be considered an otherwise boring form of content.
Not every target audience will be receptive to emojis, however. Think about the context of your email and who you’re sending it to.
- Offer a free gift but don’t call it that.
Everyone loves a free gift, plain and simple. The problem is, you can’t call it that. Free is a no- no as it will trigger SPAM filters but there are ways around it. Get creative and offer something of value to your prospects.
This can be a webinar on an issue that’s affecting your industry, or a free e-book. It can also be free money that they can spend on your website. Whatever it is, make it relevant.
A worthy subject line is clear, brief, relevant and straight to the point. Always help your recipients know exactly what you offer and why it should matter to them and you’re on the right path to incredible open rates. Also, make sure the body of your email lives up to the expectations created by your subject line.
Need help crafting a catchy line? Reach out and we’ll show you how we can help!
